August 7, 2011
Pentecost + 8
Romans 10:5-15
5 (For) Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” 6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
How Can They Hear?
I had a conversation with a word last week--a lost word, if you will. She was down on Fourth Street walking with the words of ill repute. Her name is Evangelism.
I said to her, “What’s a nice word like you doing in a place like this?”
She answered, “I used to be a nice word, but not anymore.”
“What happened,” I asked.
“Well, the folks in nice respectable churches like yours won’t use me at all. They act like they’re scared of me. Some of them even call me the ‘E’ word-like I’m something dirty. I don’t like that. And the folks in some other churches use me to try to scare people or make them feel stupid. I don’t need that either. So, I might as well be down here.”
We continued our conversation, and I convinced her to come back to church--this church--so that we can take a look at her at find out who she really is. And so today, we proudly welcome Evangelism back to her home, to study her, and who knows, maybe even give her an honest living.
Before we get to evangelism, we need to spend a little bit of time with Paul and talk about Law and Christ. Sometimes, we’ll hear people try to contrast the Old and New Testaments with the terms Law and Grace. I think you can find an awful lot of Grace in the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures, so that discussion is not important.
What Paul thinks is important in his letter to the church at Rome is the contrast between Law and Christ. In the verse immediately preceding this passage, he states that Jesus Christ is the end of the Law--which for a Pharisaic Rabbi (which Paul was) is a huge thing to say. But what does he mean by that?
The Law was the gift given to the Israelites by God as a way to bring humans and God together--so that the humans could tune into God’s wavelength. The Law was a set of standards that established the boundaries of the kind of behavior which would be acceptable to God. By keeping the commandments of the Law, human beings could be reconciled--made one--with God.
And when he quotes Deuteronomy, here, he does something a little tricky. In Deuteronomy, the quote, “the word is very near to you,” referes to the commandments. But for Paul, he means the Cosmic Word--Jesus Christ.
You see the word that he uses for end can mean termination--as in Jesus’ coming ends the law. But the word can also mean fulfillment--as in, all of the law and prophets pointed to Jesus and are fulfilled in his being. The tricky part is, both meanings apply, and Jesus is the word that is near to us--on our lips and on our hearts.
Under the legal system of the commandments, faith was something you followed. But in Christ, faith is something you live.
Under the Law, the commandments set boundaries on what you were to do and believe. But in Christ, Jesus is the center of whom we are as Christians. Can you appreciate that move--from the boundaries to the center.
And now, here’s where we get to evangelism. Paul writes that people won’t know about Jesus unless they are told. The late great Sri Lankan evangelist D.T. Niles once described evangelism as one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
The best evangelism is not shouting from street corners or even packing stadiums with crowds to hear a great preacher. It’s simply one person whose life has been changed by living in Jesus Christ who shares that with another. It’s someone whose life is so full of Jesus Christ.
There developed a term some years ago called lifestyle evangelism. It came about in the same time as the demise of Evangelism Committees in our churches. It’s a great idea, this notion that if you live your life Christ, others will notice and flock to church simply because you go there.
First, living a Christ-like life is important--and any attempt to bear witness to Jesus without actually living in his way is hollow and fake. But it’s not enough. We need to be authentically Christian in our lives, but also vocal in our faith.
Before I went to seminary, I was a literacy volunteer. My first student was a man named Larry--a kind of rough fellow, but with a good heart. It was in our third session when we were working through our workbook, and all of a sudden, he turned to me and said, “Why do you do this?” And there was the perfect opportunity to share my faith and invite him to church. I don’t tell that story to brag--trust me, I could teol you a hundred stories of missed opportunities.--but because I want you to it’s possible.
Our Home and Away teams are busy is trying map out what may be our next steps. Let me drop this bomb. Whether we stay or go, we have to change. We must become an invitational church--a church where inviting and welcoming others becomes second nature.
Here’s an important statistic. In a poll taken of church members about how they came to the church they now attend, over 70% responded that someone invited them. We can spend thousands on billboards and or try to attract folks with a new sign, but nothing is as effective as one beggar telling another where to find bread. We can’t wait on the Home & Away Reports to become and invitational church.
Now, we don’t invite others because we need more seats in the pews or more dollars in the offering plates. That has a stench people can smell from a mile away.
We don’t invite people to save the world. God has already done that.
We invite to provide an encounter with Jesus Christ in music, word, and bread and wine. We invite to offer others the opportunity to share what we have in Christ.
Back to the word itself. Evangelism means the bringing of Good News. That’s all. Good News. And as Paul writes, it--Good News lived from the inside out, so that the natural extension of faith is invitation. By living our faith--inside and out--we can rehabilitate evangelism into a good, honest word, again.
Do you believe we have good news to share at FCC? That’s not rhetorical. Do we have good news to share? Let’s get to it.
