Introduction
We have been thinking a lot in recent weeks about the command to us all to share our faith and to be effective witnesses to the love of Jesus in our world. The reading we just heard paints a picture of a world which has turned its back on God and shows all the consequences of that sin of rejection.
As Christians we all have different gifts, some of us are especially gifted as evangelists. Some of us, and I suspect about 10% of us have the gifts and skills that, with some training, will make you into wonderfully effective evangelists. Most of us, however, don't have that particular gift. However, we are all called to share our faith and to be witnesses to what Jesus has done for us. The difference between those of us who are called to be evangelists and the rest of us is simply one of degree. As a church we are called to be an evangelistic church - a church which welcomes all those God sends to us, a church which readily shares the love and blessings it has with those who need it and a church which is able to share its faith. Evangelists are those who are especially gifted at getting alongside people, even strangers, and talking about what God has done for them.
Today I want to focus on the responsibility we all have to share our faith and to be witnesses to the love of God in our lives.
Dual Approach
In MCC we have a dual approach when sharing our faith. We have, historically, concentrated in offering our ministry to those who are already Christians but who are, for various reasons, unable to play a full part in their own churches. We welcome lesbian and gay people whom the Roman Catholic Church calls "intrinsically morally disordered" and whose love is described as "evil". We welcome transgendered people who are told by evangelicals that they are confused and just need therapy so that their perceived gender comes into line with their biological gender - despite so much evidence that this does not work. We welcome women who have endured 2000 years of hostility by those who follow Jesus - whose resurrection was announced by women.
We have been very good at this mission. We find it easier to share the experience of God's blessing with those who already share our values and vocabulary - this is not surprising and there is nothing wrong with this. We are called to offer a church home to all who are excluded because of how they were made or whom they love. In doing so we help people whose efforts at discipleship have come under attack get back on track with God. This is powerful and wonderful and, generally, we are very good at it but it is not evangelism!
We are, however, called to do this and much more than this. We were raised up by God to serve particular communities and we still need to develop a zeal for spreading the gospel amongst our people who have never really heard what Christianity is about. Sure, they know that they are not welcome in Church - but that isn't a problem as they probably don't want to be there anyway! Another side of our mission is to take the gospel to our people so that they might be saved.
Saved from What?
Ever since we have started using our new mission statement we have said that God raised us up, to be transformed disciples, following Jesus, using our gifts so that our people may be saved. The issue we need to be clear about is what we are saved from.
Traditionally the Church has taught that apart from God humanity is destined for Hell. It has also, helpfully, painted some pretty gruesome pictures of what Hell might be like just to encourage us to be good disciples. The picture St Paul paints, however, in his first chapter to the Church in Rome shows a hell, but a hell of people's own making. He shows a people who should know better turn their back on God and worship created things instead of the creator. The result of this is a world which is horrible. Paul has looked at his world which has rejected God and he sees all the alienation, pain and evil in the world which has happened as a result of people rejecting and turning away from God.
MCC describes this hell of people's own making as "loneliness, despair and degradation". Without God we are, essentially, alone. We have no higher power, no point of reference outside the chaos of our world and this leads us into mindless acts of despair. Only a race devoid of God could engineer crops to feed the third world, but make them sterile so that the developing world is forever enslaved to the multinationals. Only a world in despair could go on making weapons which could end all life on this planet. Hell is simply an extension of these acts of selfishness and rebellion.
Our gospel message is essentially one of hope. We preach that we don't have to be like this. We show that there is another way, a way of turning back to God and turning away from the realm of lies that leads to our loneliness, despair and degradation. This is what we mean by salvation. We are saved from our sins and the consequences of them, the consequences in this world and in the world to come.
Important To Know the Message
Now we may sit and agree with this when we hear it expounded in church on Sundays, but it is always much more difficult to put it into words mid-week when trying to tell someone else about how important our faith is to us. It is important that we are able to articulate what we believe so that we can share our faith with those who are lonely and in despair.
Four Spiritual Truths:
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
The first, and most important truth we can believe and share is that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. It is difficult sometimes to believe that God loves us if the Church seems to imply that God doesn't! It is difficult to believe that God loves us if we don't love ourselves or believe we are not worth loving. Yet St John tells us that "God so loved the world that He sent the only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16) God loves the world and does not want its destruction. God loves each one of us and does not want us to suffer the effects of rejecting God. So time and time again God calls us back to God's own side. Like a loving Mother, God wants the best for us and has a wonderful plan and purpose for our lives. Jesus tell us that he came so that we may have "life and have it to the full". God loves us and wants the best for us, this is the first great spiritual truth of our faith.
Through our sins and failings we became separated from God
A look at our world shows that humanity is flawed. We have such potential, but we seem to muck it up again and again. We see this in our own lives, the good that we want to do we never seem to quite get round to doing. Advances in science promise so much, but human failings mean that the rich seem to get richer whilst the poor starve. So much of humanity's ingenuity and genius is used to oppress and keep the poor in their place. Humanity became separated from God because of sin. We kept our gifts and skills but lost touch with the One who would help us use them wisely. The result is the state of the world that Paul wrote about in today's reading and the state of the world we see around us 2000 years later. Of course the world is not all bad. Many, many people make the world a better place by following the teaching of Jesus, by using their gifts and skills to improve the human condition and give of themselves selflessly - but the underlying trend is that, our failings and sinfulness keep us apart from God. Being separated from God is like going sailing without a map - very dangerous!
God Came and Rescued Us
God didn't just sit back and despair of the people God had made. God didn't just let humanity continue to swirl about in the mess it had made of the world. Instead God did something about it. God 's very own self came to earth in the form of Jesus to show that it was possible to live in accordance with the plan and purpose of God. Jesus' death on the cross means that we can be forgiven for our sins. The devil thought that when Jesus died he had won a great prize - God dead and going to Hell, the devil's own domain. You can imagine the rejoicing in the deepest parts of Hell when they saw Jesus die. Yet Jesus cheated death, and rose victorious over the grave. The devil could not keep him and has no hold on us if we turn to follow Jesus. This is the meaning of the word "redemption" we have been purchased, at great cost. Our redemption means that we can know the plan and purpose of God for our lives, we can experience the loving hand of God guide us as we bring our lives back into obedience to God's will. There is another way, a better way than the mess of our world.
We
Need to Accept the Forgiveness on Offer and Open ourselves up to
Jesus
So far our "spiritual truths" have been rather intellectual -
we assert that God loves us and wants the best for us. It is self evident that
human failure, arrogance and sin keep us separated from God. The Christian
Church has always taught that Jesus is the way back to God, but the last
spiritual truth is the one which makes demands on us - we need to do something.
It is not enough to know that we can be forgiven. It is not enough to know that
God is good - we have to enter into a living relationship with God through
Jesus. This means telling God we are sorry for all we have done which separates
us from God and asking God to forgive us. We need to do this for the rest of our
lives as we will continually sin and fail, but the most important time we do
this is the first time, as then we align ourselves with all the forces of good.
This is why in the baptism service candidates are asked to reject Satan, and all
his empty works and promises. They are asked, to change sides in the great war
between good and evil which broke out before time began. But we do more than
this. We express our sorrow, we ask for and trust in God's great forgiveness but
we also ask Jesus to become Lord. This means seeing Jesus as the one who is in
charge of our lives. He is the one who is in charge. Again for the rest of our
lives there will be an internal battle as Jesus and you wrestle for control of
the steering wheel! But committed disciples are the ones who strive to let Jesus
control their lives.
Conclusion
Our people need to hear of these four spiritual truths. Four simple truths which are at the heart of our faith: God loves us and wants the best for us, our failings keep us from God and the best that God has for us, Jesus can reconnect us with God, we can only be reconnected, however, if we ask for this to happen! Our people are, like the people St Paul wrote about all those years ago, trying to find happiness and meaning in created things, in a pill, in a bottle, in a body, in a lifestyle. But true happiness, true meaning will only come through the Gospel. All that matters is the gospel and the people Jesus sends to spread it in our community is you and me. Will you follow Jesus into the mission field of our village?
Will you pray with me:
Lord God,
We
thank you that you want the best for us,
That before we were born you had a
plan and a purpose for us.
We thank you that this congregation is part of
that purpose for our lives.
We are sorry for the things we have done which
have separated us from you, for the things which dull your voice in our
hearts.
Forgive us and make us new.
Lord Jesus, come into our hearts
now,
Come and take control of our lives
As we offer them on an open hand
to you.
Holy Spirit, fill us with energy, fire and exuberance,
To follow
Jesus into the mission field of our world.
Amen.
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church
of Manchester. Click here for further information.