A Mission to Tell
Bible Passage:
Romans 10:9-17
Pastor:
Pastor Mike
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Sermon Date:
2009-09-12
There are some things we all know we should do, but most of us don’t. Take food, for example. We know vegetables and healthy grains are the foundation of the food pyramid and anything tasty goes in the little triangle at the top. But how many of us actually eat that way? Most of us flip the pyramid upside down, hit the drive thru and try not to drip greasy cheese on the car interior…again. We know we should change our habits, but most of us simply don’t.
I wonder if part of Eastside’s mission is in that same category. Telling of Jesus’ Love—talking about our faith. As Christians, we know that’s the plan, right? We all know we should, but…well, most of us don’t. We all have our reasons—I don’t know what to say. I’m not a pastor. Or we think everyone knows about God. Maybe not the seminary-level stuff, but Jesus, the cross—everyone knows the basics. Or maybe we just don’t want to be “that guy”, the in-your-face Christian who has a church brochure stuffed in his sock, just in case you’re interested. Yes, we all have our assumptions about why we can’t, but God is going to take those assumptions head on and prove to us that telling of Jesus love is a mission that is very possible.
Let’s start with the most common objection—“I don’t know what to say. The Bible is a complicated book.” In a sense, that’s true. Parts of the Bible are challenging. Keeping the prophecies of Zechariah and Zephaniah separate isn’t in the preschool curriculum. Understanding the seven angels and seven trumpets and seven seals in Revelation takes a flip chart. But sometimes we think since we can’t talk about some of it, we can’t talk about none of it [sic]. We psyche ourselves out into thinking our friend is going to fire back at us with some ridiculously advanced question. “Hey, Joe, what would you think about coming to Eastside with me?” “Well, Bob, that depends—Can you tell me why King Jeroboam divided the kingdom of Israel from Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12?” “Uh…I guess I’ll worship alone.”
It may seem foolish, but we do that, don’t we? We assume we don’t know enough. Lifelong Christians think they don’t know what to say. But God’s about to torpedo that assumption. Help me out with a little fill-in-the-blanks. “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our _______...on the third day he rose again from the ________.” Well done! Now this one—“God so loved the _________ that he gave his one and only ___________ that whoever ___________ in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If you could fill in those blanks, you know how to tell of Jesus’ love. Listen to the proof, “If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Who is saved? The guy with the flip charts? No—Those who confess Jesus is Lord and believe he rose from the dead. Who will never be put to shame? The Hebrew scholar? No—Anyone who trusts in him. That’s the basic saving truth—Jesus is true God and he came to take away the shame and guilt of our sins. He gave up his own life in order to richly bless the world, Jews and Gentiles. He did everything, so we simply say, “Amen!” and believe the amazing news. Many of you, by God’s grace, know that, don’t you? You know about Jesus’ love. That’s why you’re here. And that’s what God wants you to tell. The advanced stuff is amazing and I want you to grow and understand it, too, but you need to know every Christian can tell of his love, that profound love that is taught so simply at the cross.
Well, okay, maybe we know what to say, but everyone knows the basics, right? I mean who hasn’t heard of Jesus? Christmas, Easter, the cross? If you assume people know that, you’ve been hanging around the church too long. And the results could be devastating. Like the news report from the Times-Reporter in September of 1985. A New Orleans municipal pool was celebrating the first summer in memory where not a single person had drowned. In honor of the occasion, 200 people, including 100 lifeguards, gathered to toast a job well done. Hours later, the party began to break up and four of the lifeguards started cleaning up. That’s when they found Jerome Moody. The 31 year old was fully dressed, floating in the deep end of the pool. He drowned that night, surrounded by 100 people who had the knowledge to save his life.
Once Christians are equipped with the knowledge to save a life for eternity, the devil knows the only option is to convince them no one really needs saving. His lie is to convince us our coworkers know the basics and our church-going friends truly understand the gospel. Just like we did, they must have picked up the story of Jesus somewhere in life. Why go through the effort to talk about it? But, friends, the truth is that no one knows this by nature. The natural conclusion is that God “knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sakes!” The natural conclusion is that there’s no free lunch and most things are too good to be true. The natural answer is to assume that God demands you be a good person and he’ll let you into heaven. That’s why I have not met a single person who hasn’t studied the Bible who understands Jesus is the one way to heaven. Even church-going folks, even lifelong Lutherans, tell me the way to paradise is paved with their best efforts.
For Christ’s sake and for their sake, don’t assume too much. Listen to Paul’s logic. “14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent?” Like dominoes, Paul shows us the order salvation. Salvation comes when we call out to God in faith. But how can you have faith in someone you’ve never heard of? You can’t. And how can you hear if no one tells you? You can’t. And how can someone tell you if they haven’t been sent out to do it? They can’t. The sobering reality is that without people sent to tell of Jesus’ love, our friends will never call out to God and find unconditional love, forgiveness, and eternal life.
But when God’s changed children hear their Savior calling, the dominoes start to fall. When the cross takes our eyes off of our guilt and obligation and onto the love of Jesus, we stop seeing “telling” as something we should do and start seeing it as something we get to do. God is sending us right now to say something that will make a never-ending difference for someone. Working 50 hours a week won’t do that. 37 years of mortgage payments won’t do that. But when we are sent, we can preach. And when we preach, people can hear. And when they hear, they can believe. And when they believe, they can call out. And when they call out, they will be saved. So instead of assuming too much and keeping quiet, let’s assume too little and start a conversation. And let’s celebrate as God lets us see the dominoes start falling.
But before we do that, there’s one last objection, isn’t there? Yes, we do know what to say. Yes, people do need to hear us say it. “But, pastor, I don’t want to be ‘that guy.’ I don’t want to be the dude with a sandwich board and a megaphone who has never owned a shirt that doesn’t say “Jesus” on it and who wears dark socks and sandals like a German tourist and passes out cheesy brochures. Please don’t make me do that.” Good news—no one is asking you to do that. In fact, we should lure all those people into the boiler room and forget that we locked the door from the outside…
I’m not sure what your experience has been, but telling of Jesus’ love does not mean being annoying. Some people will always resist the Word of God, but that doesn’t mean you have to be goofy. No, listen to the final verses here, “As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" 16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Faith comes from hearing about Jesus, from someone telling of his love. Some won’t believe, but others will say, “How beautiful! I am so thankful you told me that. I want to kiss the feet that brought you to this party, to this office, to this school because I never knew how to be forgiven. I never thought God would accept me. Thank you for telling of his love.
At the start of 2009, Eastside’s leaders asked for some baby steps to carry out this part of our mission, a short guide to help us say the things we want to say. So here’s a short answer: Love. Invite. Discuss. Start with love. To love is to build a bridge of trust. Every conversation, every cup of coffee you pay for, every time you listen with compassion, every unexpected gift, every selfless gesture, every shift you cover for, every dessert you bake, every time you interact with someone, you have the chance to build another section of that bridge. And when it’s built, cross it and invite. Invite them to Eastside. You’re not asking for them to become a member until death do them part. You’re asking for 60 minutes to check out something that has changed your life. Friendship Sundays are a great opportunity. Sermon series might be a good fit. Christmas and Easter always work. To help you invite, you’re going to receive a few business cards with our service info on them. Our prayer is that you can find two people this week with whom you’ve built bridges and invite them in a casual way with those cards. If all 350 of us did that, 700 invitations would be extended and God only knows what could happen. If someone turns down the invitation, go back to building bridges and love them. If they do come, move to step three and discuss. Ask them what they thought. Ask them what they believe about Jesus. You’ll know what to say. Pay for coffee and see where the Spirit takes you.
Telling of his love. Maybe it used to be on that should-be-doing list. But not anymore. With God’s help, I believe hundreds of invitations will be extended by you this week. I believe bridges are going to be crossed and discussions are going to happen. I believe many of you will shake my hand next weekend and introduce me to someone I haven’t met before. And I can’t wait to see the dominoes start falling. Amen.
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