Proclaiming Christ

Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, Mark 1:29-39

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 5, 2006

Heritage Congregational Church, Madison, WI

Walter was grumbling on his way out of worship one Sunday. The new minister had read a translation of the Bible that didn’t agree with the one he was used to. As he shook the minister’s hand he said, “You know, your translation is all wrong. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are to be slaves. My Bible says servants, not slaves. I will not be a slave! Not even for God!” Walter was pretty angry.

The minister answered, “You know, the Greek for that word really does translate to slave. But it is a very different kind of slave than what we remember in American history.”

“I don’t care,” Walter shouted, “I will never accept that word!”

“I understand your strong feelings about this word,” the pastor said, “but it is important to understand what Paul is talking about. He is not talking about slavery as we know it now. Slaves in his time were more like indentured servants or sharecroppers. They worked for the landowner, but were not treated the same way as slaves were here. In fact, often they could work to earn their freedom. It was a class distinction, an employment and economic situation, not a matter of one human being owning another.”

Walter didn’t care. The word upset him so much he couldn’t think straight. After all, he’d been reading his Bible a long time and what did this new minister, right out of seminary, know anyway! He stormed off.

The Monday morning Bible class was enjoying their discussion. They had a diverse group, from about half a dozen churches in the small Iowa town. This particular Monday they were reading a passage about proclaiming the gospel, and the discussion was quite lively.

“What does that mean, to share the gospel?” Mary asked, “I mean, to each one of us? Is that what evangelism means?”

With that one word—evangelism—the whole room changed. It was a hard thing to talk about, especially in Mainline Protestant terms. They had kind of gotten used to being called the frozen chosen. They were comfortable with coming to church and sharing amongst each other, but that was it. But since the group had been meeting for years there was a strong sense of trust in the room, and they were able to share their thoughts.

They talked about the public perception of evangelism—that stereotype of going from door to door. They talked about the Christian history of forced baptisms during the Crusades and conversion by intimidation, scaring people into professing belief in Christ. They talked about hellfire and damnation sermons and churches who said that if you belonged to them and them alone you were saved.

But as their discussion evolved, they knew they were talking about the wrong things. Did it really matter how others proclaimed the Gospel? It is always good to know what is going on around you, but maybe what they needed to do was read the passage from their own context, from their Mainline Protestant perspective. When it came down to it, the passage was saying was that they needed to proclaim the gospel. There was no getting around it. And so they directed the discussion to ways they could share the gospel, ways they could be evangelical, according to God’s leading in their own faith experience.

Slavery and evangelism. They are two words that can stop us in our tracks. Many of us have strong feelings attached to these words, and often they are feelings of anger and resentment. But they are what Paul talks about today in our reading from 1 Corinthians. Slavery and evangelism. Let’s see what Paul is talking about.

First of all, I think it is important to really define evangelism. The Greek word is euaggelistes, which means one who announces the Good News. In Old Testament terms, it is comparable to the beautiful feet of the messenger who brings the gospel of peace. But in completely New Testament terms, the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms says that evangelism is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through a variety of means. Any way that the Gospel is shared is evangelism. There is not just one right way. There is no secret formula. God has made each of us as a unique human being, with a unique understanding of God, so of course each individual’s way of sharing the Gospel, of sharing Jesus story, will be unique as well.

In relation to this, it is interesting to note that the noun evangelist is used only three times in the New Testament, but the verb form using the same root—meaning to evangelize is used 130 times! This tells us how important the act of evangelism is in the New Testament. It is how Christianity spread. It is why we are here today.

Secondly, when we hear the word evangelism we may relate it to a very forceful way of sharing Jesus, a sort of “I’m right and you’re wrong” attitude. There is a fine line between boasting (I’m right) and sharing, and Paul makes that distinction immediately in today’s passage. He has no ground for boasting, but woe to him if he does not proclaim the gospel. Paul is not going around telling everyone that he is right and they are wrong. Rather, he is so filled with Christ’s love he is compelled to share with others how Christ has worked in his life. When he shares the gospel story, it seems to be contagious.

Thirdly, I love what Paul says about how he shares the gospel, how he evangelizes. He has found what works for him, and I think it is something that is useful for us all. Paul says that he is free in Christ, but that he willingly makes himself the slave of all. To a Jew, he is as a Jew. To those under the law, he becomes one of them. To those outside the law, he becomes a person outside the law. And to the weak, Paul makes himself weak. He meets each person, each group, where they are. He approaches the gospel story from their perspective. He relates to them and their situation. He makes the effort to walk in their shoes and see what they see. Paul shares the same story, but tells it different ways. He takes the time to learn how to approach each situation. He does whatever he has to in order to share the story. He becomes their slave by working on their behalf until the job is done. And he does it not because his goal is boasting or reward. He does it for the sake of the gospel.

Paul is driven. He feels compelled to share the gospel. He says it is his obligation, his commission. And the reward is in the sharing, not in what he might get out of it, but just in the sharing itself. And Paul is not the only one. In Mark’s gospel today, Jesus goes throughout Galilee proclaiming the message by healing, casting out demons and teaching. In second Isaiah the prophet speaks God’s words Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? The prophet proclaims God and reminds the people of Israel that they know what it is they are to proclaim and live as well. And the psalmist reminds us how good and joyful it is to make music and honor God with praise. All of these readings speak with passion about proclaiming our faith.

Not all of us are as comfortable with evangelizing as Paul is. It can be difficult to share our faith, to talk to people about God or Jesus, to say what is in our hearts about how God has worked in our lives. We wonder if we will have the right words, or if the appropriate opportunity will present itself. It is a tough thing to do. We don’t want to boast—to make a show of our religion. We don’t want to intrude on peoples’ lives. Religion is a very personal thing. But maybe we are making it too difficult for ourselves. Maybe it is simpler than we think.

Let’s think of it another way. When we hear a piece of good news in our family, what do we do—we share it! We call each other, we visit. We do the same thing with our friends. We shout it from the rooftops when we fall in love, or when a baby is on the way. We are so excited about the news we don’t stop to think about intruding or the appropriate opportunity or the right words. We just share. We say what is in our hearts freely. We let our friends and family members see our enthusiasm, our joy, our love. And like Paul’s, it is contagious.

Why should it be any different with the Good News of Jesus’ gospel? God has touched each one of us. Don’t we want to share it? We don’t need to wait for the right words, because the words will come. We don’t have to wait for the perfect opportunity, because there is always an appropriate way to share. This is Good News, and we dare not keep it to ourselves! Think of our Heritage Church Covenant…(Paul says he wants to win people, our covenant says our mission is to lead people to commit their lives to Christ—is there any difference?)

Of course, we need to find our own way. Some of us will share the gospel through kind actions done in God’s name. Others will comfort the lonely. Many will talk to their co-workers about what they did over the weekend, and that will include a thought from Sunday’s worship. Some will share a Heritage CD and let others here the joy of our faith at Heritage as expressed through music. Still others will invite the people they meet to join us at the Friendly Church on the Hill. These are all forms of sharing the gospel. They are all forms of evangelism.

Still, we might think this is work that we are just not cut out for, something we are still uncomfortable with. So, I have two suggestions. First of all, be intentional when you do these things to remember why you do them. Remember when you are kind that you are doing it because of God. Remember when you comfort and visit and listen that you are doing it because of Christ’s love. Remember the divine source of all that is good in this world, and know that you are an evangelist.

And secondly, practice. Practice telling the gospel story. Practice sharing what God has done in your life. Practice praying at home and in public. Practice saying God’s name out loud every time you think of it. We need to own our faith. To talk God talk and speak what is in our hearts.

And I believe in beginning by practicing in a safe place. So…today during coffee hour I would like everyone to share with those at your table what God has done in your life this week. It can be one sentence, or a whole story, but practice sharing. We are a community of faith, we should be talking to each other about God. By sharing our stories, we will come to know and love one another more fully. There are so many ways we can share God’s love and proclaim Christ to this world. We just need to find our own way. And, I have this feeling that once we start talking, sharing our faith stories, we won’t be able to stop!

Yesterday morning I was at the grocery store. I got my cart and walked through the doors. Immediately I saw something I needed. There was another woman who wanted to move forward with her cart, but she was afraid she would be in my way. I told her to go ahead, I just wanted some of the pears that were right in front of me. She moved her cart forward, looked at me and said, “God bless you.” What had I done to deserve that? Not a thing. I had stayed where I needed to be and she was able to move forward. I had not done anything special, I had not done anything at all. And yet, she seized a moment. She felt an opportunity and shared God’s blessing. As I continued to shop I couldn’t help but remember that moment. When she spoke I felt loved. I felt connected to God. I felt connected to her. It was a wonderful gift.

As a church, we have a choice. Do we want to be the frozen chosen, keeping all this good news to ourselves, or do we want to be a church that is alive in Christ, freely sharing, offering God’s love to everyone? It is a process for us to grow into the people of faith, the church, our God would have us be. But if we are intentional about practicing and remembering God as the source, we will grow in faith. Soon it will be easier to proclaim Christ. After a while it will become a natural part of how we live our lives. And when we share the joy of how God has worked in our lives, we will also be able to share the joy of the place where we worship. We will be able to tell others about Heritage Church and freely invite them to join us. As we grow in faith, so will our church. The gospel is for us to live. May it be so.
Amen.