"Be wise in the
way you act toward outsiders; Make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5)
If God created us for eternity, then why doesn’t God immediately
whisk us away to heaven the moment we become a Christian? We could narrow the hymn book down to two hymns. One verse of ‘Just
as I am” then straight into “I’ll fly away.” That would be the end of it.
The answer is that God has an assignment for us. We were made for
a mission. The fifth purpose of our purpose driven lives is the only one we are not asked to do in the next life. Worship,
Fellowship, Discipleship, Service… all these are mentioned as being part of eternity. Mission is for this life. At His Ascension Jesus left clear instructions for His disciples. Acts Chapter 1:8 “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the
earth."
The theological term for witnessing to Jesus Christ is the word ‘evangelism’,
a word that simply means ‘Good News’. Jesus tells His disciples that
they are to be a good news presence amidst a bad news world. We were made for a mission.
Evangelism is rooted in the second purpose of Fellowship. The Biblical
story from start to finish is all about God building God’s world-wide family. Psalm 67 declares “May
your ways be known throughout the earth, Your saving power among people everywhere.
May the nations praise You, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise You.” (Psalm
67:2-3 NLT). Such
has been God's plan all along.
Evangelism isn’t just about preaching. Proclaiming the gospel through our words is important; indeed 1 Corinthians 1:21 tells us that; “it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe.” But good news is also about actions that we do, the worship that takes
place without words and beyond church walls.
Evangelism is feeding both the hungry stomach and the hungry heart. Jesus fed the hungry, blessed the children,
healed the sick, and cast out demons, as well as counseling the lonely, encouraging the lost, telling stories, and
preaching. It was not either/or it was both/and. We are co-missioned by God to share good news through word and action. But
with whom?
- We must share with those in our personal world… our Jerusalem.
- We must dare to reach out into the world on our doorstep… people who are different to us… our
Judeans and Samaritans.
- We must care about the whole world… because “God's got the whole world in His hands!”
We must share with those in our personal world… our equivalent of Jerusalem.
The reason why
most of us are in church is because somebody close to us, family or friend, took the trouble to invite us and bring us along.
Some of us when we were kids didn’t appreciate it that much, but looking back we understand that this was our parent’s
way of fulfilling their commission. We don’t always dress that up with such a fancy name as ‘evangelism’,
but that’s what it was.
For
many of us the toughest mission field we will ever face is our personal Jerusalem. Luke’s gospel 8:39 gives us the story of a man
Jesus delivers from multiple demons. In the process Jesus upsets the locals.
A whole herd of pigs jump off a cliff. The people are afraid of the man because his behavior had once been so wild. The man, not surprisingly, wants to get out of town and go on a road trip with Jesus. But Jesus tells him:
“‘Go back home and tell people how much God has done for you.’ (NCV)
Those
closest to us have seen us at our worst. It can be easier to talk to people about how much Jesus can change us than actually
demonstrate it. It is easier to speak to those who will never see us again about ‘what God can do’ than to those
we live our every day lives with.
We
do well to remember the advice of St Francis of Assisi who instructed
his evangelists; “Preach the Gospel always… and if necessary use words.”
For our witness to be believable it has to be authentic. Now, before you think that gets us off the hook from ever
having to talk to anybody about what we believe, hear what Peter has to say in 1 Peter 3:15 - “Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you.” (TEV)
There
is a difference between ‘explaining the hope we have in us’ and ‘ramming
the hope we have in us’ down somebody else’s ear. We’ve all come across people whose headlights for the
gospel are so permanently on full-beam that they cause us to turn away. The great Asian Methodist evangelist to India of the last century, D. T. Niles, described evangelism as “One
beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”
The
best ways to share the gospel story are to share it in the same way as any story – naturally...in our own words...using
our own terms of reference. Allow God to open doors and share where we are in our faith journey with others. People are looking
to see if following Jesus Christ actually counts for anything.
Each of us is so very different. You can share the gospel in ways I am incapable of doing. It’s written
into my job description. I’m a preacher. People expect me to say certain things and they can then dismiss them on the
ground that ‘that’s what he gets paid for’.
But if you start telling them, you reach people I can’t get near.
People that God loves. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us “God does not want anyone to be lost, but He wants all people to change their
hearts and lives!” That begins with those closest to us. Our Jerusalem.
We must dare to reach out into the world on our doorstep…people who are different to us…our
Judeans and Samaritans.
Average Joe Jerusalem
didn’t have a lot to say for Judeans. They weren’t his kind of people. He had even less to say about Samaritans.
They were the opposition! All around us are people who aren’t our kind of people. Some of them have got themselves into
deep trouble. Some are really in a mess. Others are arrogant and snooty. Others don’t want to give us the time of day
because we’re not their kind of people.
Now here’s
the deal. God loves people who are not our kind of people as much as God loves people who are
our kind of people. And when it comes to the Kingdom, it is not up to us to decide who is in or out. Our job is simply
to invite everybody to the party. Amongst the every-bodies are a whole lot of those who aren’t our sort of people.
We have a particular
responsibility to reach out to those who are hurting in our community. James 1:27 tells us “Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the
homeless and loveless in their plight ...” Our suggested gospel passage for the day was the passage regarding final
judgment, the separation of the sheep from the goats. That evaluation takes place on the basis of our actions to help those
who are hurting. Jesus tells us,
“I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me
into your home. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited
Me.”(Matthew 25:35-36 (NLT))
We must share
with those in our personal world… our Jerusalem; we must
dare to reach out into the world on our doorstep… people who are different to us… our Judeans and Samaritans.
We must
care about the whole world… because “God’s got the whole world in His hands!”
Mark 16:15 Jesus said to his followers, "Go everywhere in the world, and tell the
Good News to everyone.” One of the things I think is wonderful about the Presbyterian Church is that we are part of a world-wide communion
of faith. We recognize that the Church isn't just what happens here in this community, and that God is concerned about all
people in all places.
I have to confess that
when I was a pastor over in Great Britain I always thought that those verses referring about going into all the world
were meant for people other than myself and my family. I mean it was fine giving money for others to go overseas, but the
thought of actually uprooting myself from everything that was familiar and leaving family and friends wasn't something I seriously
considered.
If nothing else, I hope my presence here
as your pastor will make you consider the fact that God really does have the whole world in His hands. And that it's not beyond
the realm of possibility that God may call you to serve in some unexpected places or unexpected ways.
God could have called
me to go anywhere in the world, but the door that has opened has been West Virginia, USA. I'll be honest. I don't always understand that! There
is so much need in so many places, not least back in the land from whence I came. But here I am, as they say in the Blues
Brothers movies, “On a mission from God.” And as I say, I hope that my presence here will challenge us all to
remember that we were made for a mission, and that our lives only find their true fulfillment when we act upon the call God
places on us.
That we remember that
there is one task that God doesn't want us to do in heaven but here on earth, and that is to share the Good News with others
in as many different ways as we are different people; that we be 'evangelists' in the fullest sense of the word through our
words, through our actions, through our praying, and through our sharing.
Following this morning’s
service in the Friendship Hall we are hosting a Missions Fair. You have a chance to discover more about many of the Missions
we are involved with here in our community and beyond. I hope that you will stay for a while and consider how you can support
existing projects; but even more, that you'll be inspired to dream a little about what in the world God is calling you to
purposefully pursue, be it the world of your personal Jerusalem or indeed the whole world.
Our ultimate goal is
to bring people to experience the Kingdom of God in a real and tangible way in their lives.
To know that God is a God of love, who sent Jesus Christ to be our Savior, and through whose Holy Spirit this world can be
changed in so many positive ways for the better.
To God's name be all
glory, honor and praise!
