Mrs. Russell and the Message of Romans

I learned today that a very special woman, Karen (Huston) Russell Mott, has gone to be with the Lord. 

Years ago, for our church's inaugural "Back 2 School Sunday" event I wrote the following sermon in which she played a major part. 

I share it here as a tribute to her wonderful influence in my life and a wish for many more to know her Savior.

 

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"Mrs. Russell and the Message of Romans"

Back-2-School Sunday :: Lanse Evangelical Free Church

August 29, 1999

I've been a student in school for most of my life.  In fact, I went to school for 21 straight years, from the time I was 4 (and went to preschool) to the time I was 25 and graduated from seminary, I never took 1 year off.  Every Fall, it was the same story--Back-2-School.  This is only the second Fall that I can remember that I didn't have to buy school supplies, and school clothes, and get my schedule and find out who my teachers are going be, and so on.

And you can imagine that in 21 straight years of school, I had a wide variety of teachers.   Some were brilliant people who gave stimulating lectures and led thought-provoking discussions.  In Bible School and Seminary, I had the privilege of sitting under some of the leaders in their fields of study–a truly awesome educational experience.  On the other hand, I've had some teachers who were as boring (to me) as watching golf re-runs on television, and some who I would pay large sums of money to not take again.  Counting substitutes, I have easily been taught by over 100 different teachers.

And this morning, I want to pay tribute to one special lady who taught me 9th grade English.  Her name was Mrs. Karen Russell.

Mrs. Russell was a 9th Grade English Teacher at Shelby Senior High School in Shelby, Ohio.  She had been teaching for a number of years there and had children about my age, one a couple of years older than me, the other a couple of years younger.

Mrs. Russell had a great sense of humor, an infectious laugh, a bright-red head of hair,  and a winsome and attractive way of conducting her class.  She knew how to bring the best out of her students, of which, I was glad that I was one.

Mrs. Russell taught us about parts of speech (like verbs and nouns and gerunds and adjectives) and made us read stories like The Lottery and plays by William Shakespeare, and write our own stories.  She was one of those people who encouraged me as a writer--and you folks who have to listen to my sermons from week to week are the judge of whether or not she was doing a good thing!

In many ways she taught me a love for English.  I had already obtained a great respect for English because my mother was also an English teacher.  But, right about the time that I had Mrs. Russell, I began to realize that English was not just grammar and vocabulary and hard work, but that words in English put together in the right way could convey great thoughts and important ideas.

But English wasn't the only thing that I learned from Mrs. Russell.  I also learned that a teacher and a student could be friends, too.  Many days after school was over and the bell had rung, I stopped by Mrs. Russell's room.  My locker was just down the hall from her room, and after stuffing my things in my locker, we'd talk–sometimes for 1/2 an hour!  She never stopped being a teacher or my elder during those discussions, and I never stopped being a student or respecting her, but during those discussions we didn't just talk about English.  We talked about life and about choices–and about Jesus Christ.  You see, Mrs. Russell was a Christian.  And though you didn't hear about it every day in class, it affected everything that she did and said–and after school hours, we could talk about how her faith and my faith in Jesus made a difference in how we lived.  I visited her classroom, and we had these discussions long after my 9th grade year.  In fact, after Heather and I got engaged, one of the people I wanted her to meet before we married, was Mrs. Russell.

One of the most poignant lessons that I learned from Mrs. Russell was how to go through tough times.  It was during that year I had her for English that her husband Mr. Terry Russell, died.  He had some disease in an internal organ–I never paid attention to the details–that was a constant, up-hill battle that year.  Mrs. Russell missed a lot of school that year, taking him to different doctor's appointments and dealing with the painful truth--we had a lot of substitutes for 9th grade English.

But Mrs. Russell didn't fall apart.  She was obviously going through something incredibly painful–some subjects in our class and in our discussions would bring tears to her eyes.  But even though she was in pain (and she didn't deny that), it was obvious to some of us that she had something or someone who was getting her through her trials and suffering–even with joy.  And it was also obvious that that something or someone was the Lord Jesus Christ.  I've never talked with her about it, but her example of persevering in faith even through adversity was a great example for me.

I'm really grateful to God for Mrs. Russell.  From interacting with her, I learned about English, friendship, Christianity, and persevering through trials.  I'm thankful that God brought her into my life.  I hope that you all had a Mrs. Russell in your life at some point, and that you will in some way try to be a Mrs. Russell for someone else.

But there was one thing that she taught me that I hated with a passion.  In fact, all of my classmates in 9th Grade English hated it.  We used to joke about it scornfully behind her back.

It was a exercise that she made us do to everything that we read for her class.  It was something she called–“Universal Truths.”

Ugh.  Just the thought of it makes my blood run cold.  My classmates and I thought that finding Universal Truths was a dirty rotten trick that English teachers had thought up to torture 9th grade students!

The process of finding Universal Truths in a piece of literature is really quite simple.  First, you read the book or story or poem and then you pick out its key themes.  And you do that by choosing just a few sample sentences or passages that you think are key to the whole and that explain the whole thing...and...(this is the key)...you state the key thoughts that explain the whole thing in terms that affect all people everywhere.

Ugh.  I hated looking for Universal Truths for Mrs. Russell!  And so did my classmates.  We always seemed to get it wrong.  Or, when Mrs. Russell would say what a sample Universal Truth might be from a particular story, we would just shrug and say, "I would have never thought of that!  Where did you get that?"  Did you have this experience with English teachers?  If I hadn't been raised by one, I would have thought that they were a sinister bunch of people!

But, as you might guess, even Mrs. Russell's Universal Truths have been helpful to me in my life. Especially in interpreting the Bible which is full  of Universal Truths that are backed up with a divine guarantee.  In fact, talking about Universal Truths is what I want us to do together this morning as we look into God's Word.

We're going to take one Bible book, the book of Romans–and look at the Universal Truths found there, using Mrs. Russell's technique.  Remember, to find Universal Truths, you read the entire book (which I've done for us in advance), and you pick out its key themes by choosing just a few sample sentences or passages that you think are key to understanding whole book and...you state the key thoughts that explain the whole thing in terms that affect all people everywhere.  Got it?

I've picked the book of Romans because Romans is the clearest explanation of the whole Bible in one book.  It is the Capitol City of the Universal Truth Nation.  Someone has said that all roads in the Bible intersect at some point in Romans.  So if you want to know in a nutshell what the message of the Bible is, first, learn the message of Romans.

So, to make my 9th Grade English teacher happy, and so that we can learn the central message of the Bible, let's look together at the Universal Truths found in the Book of Romans (God's principles that affect all people everywhere).

The first 2 universal truths come under the heading Our Universal Problem.  This problem is one that affects everyone on the face of the planet–you and me and everyone.  And it's bad news.  The first Universal Truth is found very simply stated in chapter 3, verse 23 or Romans (1114).  Romans 3:23 encapsulates the ideas found from chapter 1–all the way up to this point.  Let's read it together.

[Read Romans 3:23.]

Simply put, the first Universal Truth is this:  Everyone is a sinner.

Notice this verse says, "ALL have sinned."  All. There is no one that is outside of this sentence. God, through the writer, Paul, is telling us that all humans have rebelled against God.

Sins are disobedience to God's laws of right and wrong.  This doesn't just include big sins like rape, and extortion, and murder, but also stuff like lies, and cruelty, and losing your temper, and cheating, and drunkenness, and lust, and self-centeredness, and gossip.  I don't think that there is anyone in this room who would not admit that they have done at least one of those things and probably recently.

Those are sins.  They are rebelling against God.  And every human alive has practiced sin.  Everyone is a sinner.  And that sin has caused every person to not reflect God's glory in the way they should.  We have all fallen short of the glory of God; God's glorious standard has been broken by every person on the planet.

Now that certainly sounds like a problem, but it probably doesn't worry you very much until you begin to understand the second universal truth in the book of Romans.  And that's found in Romans 6:23.  Let's turn over a page and read Romans 6:23.

[Read Romans 6:23]

I want to focus first, on the first half of that key verse.  "For the wages of sin is death..."  

This is a universal truth because everyone is a sinner.  So the effects of sin affect everyone–you and me and everyone.  What this verse says is that our rebellion has earned us something.  We get a wage for our sin.  We have something due us because of our sins.  And that is death.

Everyone has earned death.

Everyone has sinned and those sins have earned us a penalty of death.

Death is separation from something.  Physical death is separation from our bodies.  But spiritual death, what this is talking about, is separation eternally from God.  You see, we were created to have a perfect love relationship with God. But because of our sins, we have been separated and alienated from God.  And that separation is caused by our sin.  The wages of sin is death.  That separation or death for eternity is what we call Hell, and according to this verse, we have all earned it because of our sin.

I'd like to illustrate that.  On June 4, 1961, the K-19, a Soviet nuclear submarine, was conducting a training exercise in the North Atlantic when a pipe carrying coolant to the nuclear reactor burst.  In the reactor room, the temperature quickly soared to 140 degrees, and the radiation level mounted.  The reactor had to be cooled or it would burst, poisoning the sea with radiation.

The Captain of the sub, Nikolai Zateyv, called for volunteers to go into the reactor room and weld a new cooling system.  The men would work in three-man shifts for five to ten minutes, wearing only raincoats and gas masks for protection.

The first volunteer stumbled out of the reactor room after only five minutes.  He tore off his gas mask and vomited.  Volunteers continued to go into the reactor, however, and eventually they succeeded in fixing the cooling pipe.  The Soviet Sub did not explode.

But the radiation had done its harm.  The appearance of the men who had gone into the reactor changed.  Skin reddened and swelled.  Dots of blood appeared on foreheads and scalps. Within 2 hours, the sailors could not be recognized.  Within days, eight had died.  Within two years, fourteen more eventually died of radiation poisoning.

Sin is like that radiation; sin is deadly to our souls.  Noone who comes in contact with it (and that's everyone (remember point #1)) is exempt from its destructive and deadly effect.  Everyone is a sinner, we have all gone into the reactor room of sin.  And everyone has earned death, we all experience the destructive penalty of that radiation–death–eternal separation from God.

That's the bad news.  And its Our Universal Problem.

I am so glad, that Romans does not stop here.  There is more to the message of Romans than this bad news.  In fact, there is more to this verse than this bad news.

The second two Universal Truths from the Book of Romans can be classified under the heading, God's Loving Solution.   God has provided a loving solution to Our Universal Problem.  Let's look at that!  The 3rd Universal Truth is found at the end of Romans 6:23, let's read it again.  Follow along in your Bibles.

[Read Romans 6:23.]

Here's where the good news begins!  Simply put, the 3rd Universal Truth is that God has provided the gift of eternal life.

I call this an Universal Truth, not that everyone has the gift, but it is freely offered to everyone on Earth.  It is Universal in its scope.  God has provided the gift of eternal life.

Imagine owing 75 billion dollars and having only 25 cents to your name.  And then imagine that debt being forgiven.  What a gift that would be!  It's not something that you could earn in a lifetime of trying–it would have to be a gift–freely given with no expectation of a payback.  Our sin-debt is like that– more than we could ever repay– ever!  

But God has provided a means of salvation for us–a rescue from our sin-debt, forgiveness of our sins, restoration of that love-relationship that we were made for, and eternal life with Christ in heaven.  All that is offered in a gift.  A gift.

"The wages of sin is death BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God has mercifully and lovingly provided a solution to our greatest problem.

That's good news!

But, you may be wondering "how?"  How can God just forgive our debts like that? Our sins have earned a penalty–death–and someone had to pay that penalty.

And the next Universal Truth from Romans shows just how much God loved us.  Turn back a page to Romans 5:8. 

[Read Romans 5:8.]

This is one of the most sobering and joy-bringing truths that you will ever hear.  Our 4th Universal truth is this:  God's gift comes from the death of Jesus Christ.

Someone had to die–and Jesus volunteered.  While we were sinners (and all of us are sinners who have earned death), Jesus died for us because of God's love for us.  The gift of eternal life is in Jesus Christ because it was his death that made it possible.  He paid the penalty for our sins.  On the cross he took upon himself your sins and mine and suffered the death we had earned.

On the Cross, God looked at Jesus, a sinless man, and said--Guilty!--and judged him with all his wrath for our sins.  This is the Great Exchange--his life for our sins bought a great gift that is offered to everyone here.

Eternal life is possible because of the death of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever looked at the cross and thought about what that awful day meant?  We are told that it was an act of love–what made it so loving was that he didn't have to die.  He hadn't earned death like we have, instead he took upon himself the effects of our rebellion–in our place.

His great demonstration of God's love–dying for us–made it possible for God to offer the gift of eternal life!

That's good news!!!

However, just because it is offered to all who hear about it--does not mean that everyone has received the gift.  A personal response is required of all who will enjoy eternal life.

The last 2 Universal Truths in the Message of Romans come under that heading--the personal response that God requires of ALL who would enjoy the gift of eternal life.

I think that Romans 10:9-10 capture in a nutshell what this personal response should look like. Turn there with me please.

(Can I just say right here, that this is not just an academic exercise? Your eternal destiny rides on these Universal Truths.  This is what God says about who has eternal life and who doesn't.  This is important stuff.)

Let's read Romans 10:9-10.

[Read Romans 10:9-10.]

There are two basic responses that are mandated by this passage.  We must believe in Jesus and must confess Jesus as Lord.  Those are our last 2 Universal Truths.  I call them Universal because EVERYONE who will have eternal life must have responded in these 2 ways.

Let's take them one at a time.  First, we must believe in Jesus.  Look at v.9.

[Read Romans v.9b & 10a.]

This says that there is something and someone that we are supposed to believe in.  We are to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.  Jesus died for our sins--but that wasn't the end of the story.  God demonstrated his approval of Jesus' death on our behalf by raising him from the dead!  It happened almost 2000 years ago.  Jesus was resurrected and that is the proof that he paid for our sins and that the gift of eternal life is available.  And right here, God says that to receive the gift of eternal life, you must have your heart   trust in Jesus.  If you do, according to this verse, then you will be "justified," that is, declared NOT GUILTY by God because of Jesus' death on your behalf.

Believe in Jesus!  Belief or faith is, at heart, a full reliance or trust.

Belief is not just mental assent to a set of facts.  Take this chair for example.  I might say that I believe that this chair will support my weight.  It looks strong and trustworthy (it's got 4 legs, I've been around it a long time, I've seen other people sit on it.)–but that is not what is meant by the biblical word "believe."

When Romans 10:9 says that we need to believe in our heart in Jesus and his resurrection, it does not mean "O, I believe in God and all that." It means that we stop relying on anything else and put all of our weight down on Jesus.  Full reliance and trust in him and his death/resurrection.  We trust him, personally, with our salvation.

We are called to respond in belief.  Full reliance, total trust.

The second response, and our last Universal Truth is that we must confess Jesus as Lord.

Let's read that passage again.

[Read Romans 10:9-10.]

We are called to personally respond by confessing Jesus as our Lord.

What does that mean?  A Lord is a ruler, a boss, a king, a master.  We are not supposed to just believe in Jesus, we are supposed to recognize Jesus' mastery of our lives.  We are to give him the control of our lives.

To confess means to recognize something and demonstrate that you believe it.  It means to agree with your life that Jesus is your Lord.

This is not earning your salvation, this is receiving it, by giving away the control of your life.

The best way that I know how to illustrate this is to use a steering wheel.

This steering wheel looks like it was taken off of a lawn-mower.  Before you become a Christian, you control the steering wheel of your life.  You have control.

But Romans 10:9 says that you have to open your hands and hand off the steering wheel to Jesus (the Lord) to be saved.

We are called to put Jesus in the driver's seat of our lives.

I think that this is one of the most ignored truths about Christianity.  A lot of people think that they are Christians because they go to church or give their money or belong to a Christian family or attend a Bible study or say various prayers.

Many people because they agree that Jesus died for the sins of the world think that they have eternal life.  But the Bible is clear–only those who put their whole weight down on Jesus and his death/resurrection and those who hand over the steering wheel of their life to Jesus as Lord receive and enjoy eternal life.

It is a personal response.  Everyone on Earth is called to do it.

Let me put it this way:  Just because you hang around airports doesn't mean that you're flying.  You might know all about airports–schedules and aerodynamics and wingspans and flight procedures–but that won't get you off the ground.  You have to personally get on board and trust the airplane and its pilot to get anywhere.

God is calling you to personally believe in Jesus (chair) and to confess him as Lord (steering wheel) to be saved.

This is important.  Some of you, whether first-time guests or long-standing attenders here,  have never taken this crucial step.  You have agreed all along that you "believe."  You  don't disagree with anything that I've said today.  But you have never personally trusted Jesus in this way–with your whole life.

You can do it right now.  It doesn't require a prayer but a prayer is a good way to formalize it in your mind and heart.

Let's review these Universal Truths:

Everyone here is a sinner.

All sinners have earned eternal death.

But God has loving provided the gift of eternal life.

That gift was made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

To receive that gift, you need to put your weight down on Christ, to fully rely on him and nothing else to give you salvation.

To receive that gift, you need to recognize with your life and your words that Jesus is your Lord, giving him the steering wheel of your life.

To everyone who truly does that, God has promised forgiveness of sins, restoration of a permanent love-relationship with him, and eternal life.

If you want that, you can pray right now to begin a new life.  Tell God that you are a sinner, confess your need for salvation from the death-penalty that you earned and  trust Jesus, giving him the control of your life.

Mrs. Russell eventually remarried.  She is Mrs. Karen Mott now, and I saw her a couple of weeks ago at my brother's wedding.  Though she has permission to ask me just about anything, anytime she wants, when I saw her she didn't asked about Universal Truths, and I certainly didn't bring it up.  But, I know that she agrees that these 6 truths are the most important ones in the whole world.  Paul has much more to say in Romans, read it sometime from start to finish, he's got a lot to say.  But this is the heart of the message of Romans and the message of the Bible–in spite our sin, Christ died to bring us eternal life if we believe in him and confess him as Lord.