I Am an Evangelist

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                One of the main reasons our church exists is to “tell of Jesus’ love”.  That sounds fairly simple and, in a way, it is.  In less than 50 words, you can share the basic message of the Bible.  “So, God wants us to love him and each other.  But we’ve all messed up…a lot.  But Jesus came to fix it.  He loved us and died on the cross to forgive us.  Believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved.  Amen.”  41 words.  Simple, right?  Well…technically, yes.  But you know what I know.  That taking those 41 words out of worship and into work is a gigantic step.  That confessing “I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God” is not the same when you’re out with your friends.  That’s why we often don’t do it.  What theoretically seems so simple can become so intimidating many of us go years without ever telling of his love to our best friends and the people who live so close their mail sometimes ends up in our box.

                The average Christian knows they should talk about Jesus and probably wants to talk about Jesus.  But the average Christian probably doesn’t talk about Jesus, at least not out there.  That’s what Jesus wants to fix.  He wants to save you and your brother and your boss and your block.  So, in this sermon series, God will tell us why to talk about Jesus, how to talk about Jesus, and what to do with all those fears we have when it comes to talking about Jesus.

                Today, we start in Mark 1.  “¹⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”  If there’s just one point that will turn you into an evangelist, it’s this:  God’s Word is good news.  You don’t have to tell your neighbor at the mailbox, “So, God says you’re going to get cancer and die.  And after what you did in college, there ain’t no way for God to save you.  Sorry, man.  But how are the kids?”  No!  The news we have to share is good and that’s the best compliment the word “good” ever received.  In fact, the title evangelist literally means “one who brings good news”.

                To our neighbors who feel far from God, who let life whip by with little thought for spiritual things, who wonder if it’s too late, we get to say, “That’s why Jesus came down from heaven.  He went searching for you like a dad whose son has gone missing.  He still loves you.  He still wants you to come home.  It’s not too late.”  That’s good news.  To the woman who feels unclean, who has been raped or used her body to lead men into temptation, we get to say, “Jesus makes people clean.  He doesn’t see you as stained.  He gave up his life to take away that shame.  He thinks you are as beautiful as a woman on her wedding day.”  That’s good news.  To the young man whose father left before he left the crib, we get to say, “God will never do that to you.  Jesus came to adopt you into God’s family, so God would become your Father in heaven.  He won’t walk out.  He won’t leave.”  That’s good news.  To the woman who has more money than ever and is less content than ever, we get to say, “What you’re searching for isn’t some promotion.  You want meaning.  You want your life to matter.  And that’s exactly what God has for you.”  That’s good news.  To the broken, we get to preach healing.  To the addict, we get to preach hope.  To the guilty, we get to preach freedom.  To the betrayed, we get to preach God’s faithfulness.  We have good news for every person on this planet!

                Two weeks ago, I baptized a young woman named Rachael.  I met her earlier this year when she started coming to Eastside with her fiancé.  From the day she started our Bible Information Class, she knew she had found something good.  She was excited to learn about the Trinity, excited to learn about grace, excited to learn about her Savior, excited to learn about baptism.  She had never been baptized, but she wanted to be now.  As we stood in front of the church, she trembled with joy.  The 200 people there that day watched wide-eyed.  As I lifted the water to her head, I tried to keep it together.  Why did we all feel like that?  Because the washing away of sin is good news.  Jesus is good news.  Please remember that.  If you talk about Jesus, you are sharing the best news in all of human history, news that most people have never heard or understood.  Will some people not be interested?  Sure.  But so many are searching for what we were searching for, what we now know.

                Look what Jesus’ says next, “^15’The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!’”  The news isn’t just good; it’s also urgent.  Because people have an expiration date.  Every obituary reminds us 76.7 years may be the average life, but it is not guaranteed.  Some of our friends will not make it to Easter Sunday.  Others won’t get to dress in black for our “over the hill” party.  We don’t know how much time is left before they can’t hear the good news.  And even if they don’t die, the opportunity still might pass.  My neighbors may not die this year, but they might move.  You coworker might not have a heart attack, but she might take a job in Indiana.  We don’t know how long until that window closes.  We don’t want to be pushy—“Hi, my name is Mike and while I’m shaking your hand, can I tell you some good news?”—but we do want to be impatient.  The time has come.  The kingdom is near.  Now is the day repent and believe the good news.

                A few years ago, a pastor received a call from one of his members.  Her father, Frank, was dying and was not a Christian.  Plus, Frank had a natural skepticism when it came to pastors.  But the minister thought he would visit anyway.  Here’s how the pastor described it, “Not wanting to come across like a fire and brimstone preacher, I kept the conversation light.  The whole time we talked, I looked for the opportune moment to shift the conversation toward spiritual issues.  We talked about his favorite football team (but no apparent opportunity for a spiritual segue).  He told me about his grandson’s baseball team (No easy way to jump from baseball to Jesus.)  We chatted about the hot weather (I considered mentioning the heat of hell, but thought better of it).  The perfect moment never came.  I decided not to force it.  I told myself I would return the next day and talk about Christ…The following morning, I turned the corner to enter his room.  I couldn’t see Frank because the room was packed with people.  Instantly I realized what had just happened.  Moments before I arrived, Frank had died.”  There aren’t words for what that pastor felt as he walked back to the elevator that day.

                “The time has come,” Jesus urged us.  And one day, that time will end.  Every person you see will either wake up in heaven or hell, a place that is better than our minds can even comprehend or worse than we could ever stomach.  So, the message is not just good, it’s also urgent.  Sin is serious to God.  We need to repent.  But his love is serious, too.  There will always be reasons why now is not the right time.  But love compels us to not delay much longer.  Today, the kingdom of God is near.  As Peter later told a crowd of strangers, “Repent…and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.”

                Jesus wants all people to repent and be saved.  That is the good, urgent news of this text.  And that’s why he wants all of us to share it.  He wanted the message to spread throughout Israel and throughout the world.  He still does.  Check out v.16—“¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.  ¹⁹ When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰ Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”  Jesus didn’t just go fishing.  He trained his followers to fish.  Jesus didn’t just want disciples.  He want disciples who would go and make more disciples.

                That hasn’t changed.  God has called you to go and fish for men.  To share the good news of Jesus Christ.  Next week, we’ll talk about some of the fears we often have, “I’m not a pastor.  I won’t be able to answer her questions.”  “What if he just isn’t interested?”  “What if they ask me the difference between Wisconsin Synod Lutherans and Missouri Synod Lutherans and why we baptize babies and if we believe in the millennium and when will the rapture happen and what do I think about speaking in tongues and do I believe Catholics can be saved, just to name a few?”  We’ll cover that next week.  But until then, I want you to go fishing.  At least once in the next seven days.  Just share the good news with one person you know who doesn’t go to church.  Maybe your best friend.  Maybe your business partner.  But don’t just tell them you went to church.  No, actually talk about Jesus.  You don’t have to be weird about it.  You don’t have to memorize some script.  Just…talk.  Maybe it will sound something like this, “Hey, Joe.  So this might sound a little crazy, but I was in church on Sunday and it struck me that I have no clue what you believe.  I know you hate staff meetings, have two daughters, and once shot a 39 at Door Creek, but I don’t know if you’re Lutheran or Catholic or Buddhist or if you dance around in the woods in your underwear and worship the sun.  So, can I ask, “What do you think about Jesus?”  See where that takes you.  (Okay, the part about the underwear is optional.)  Will that be perfectly comfortable?  No.  The only way to get comfortable is to actually do it.  Will you have a chance to share the good news?  Probably.  Will you be glad you went fishing?  Absolutely.

                In the late 90’s, a seventeen year-old named Matt was getting ready for football season when he met the guy with the locker next to his.  He knew his name was Jeff, but what he didn’t know was the good news Jeff believed.  But that didn’t last long.  Within a few days, Jeff took a rather bold approach to sharing the good news, “So, Matt,” he said, “I’m a Christian and I gotta tell you about Jesus.  I just have to.  But I’ll let you choose.  You want to do this right now?  After practice?  At breakfast?”  Matt listened.  Matt came to faith.  And now Matt, a pastor from Texas, preaches to thousands of people every week.  How does he approach evangelism?  Just like Jeff did.  “Hey, I’m Matt.  Yeah, I gotta tell you something, so do you want to do that now or…?”

                However you start that conversation this week, start that conversation.  The news is good.  The time is short.  God wants us all to start fishing.  Amen.