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August 17, 2008
A Missionary Church
a sermon on Acts
11.19-26 & 13.1-3
by David C. Mauldin
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Mobile,
Alabama
The sermon title is only halfway printed in your bulletin this morning.
I admit it’s a trick, and I did it on purpose. I didn’t want you to have time to
come up with other things to think about while I preach. I worried that if I
printed the title, you would groan inwardly and figure you could sit through it
if you thought about something else. I wanted to get a foot in the door before
you closed it. You’ll understand why when you hear the title. This is the second
sermon in a four-part series from Acts on what it means for the church to
function as a missionary in American society. Once upon a time, we were
America’s chaplain, the conscience of the nation. Even most who were not
believers thought the church belonged and had something to contribute. America
spoke our language; that is, Americans saw the world and decided right and wrong
in a basically Christian way. Not that we ever got it completely right, but we
started from Christianity. Now, of course, all that has changed. The Christian
church is a stranger in a strange land. If we go on thinking we are the
chaplain, society will just ignore us until we quietly disappear. If we embrace
a new role, that of missionary, maybe we can make a little noise and a big
difference. We want to be faithful to God and the work he has given us. I find
the image of a missionary church helpful. So what does a missionary church do?
What is the mysterious title of this sermon? A missionary church shares Jesus. …
You see why I held back on you. I know that when I say, “share Jesus,” the first
thing that pops into your mind is that guy who is always shoving his religion
down other people’s throats. Nobody wants to be that guy. At a dinner party, he
starts asking the other guests if they are saved. At the family reunion, he can
be counted on to start a religious argument. You suspect he may spend his
vacation on a street corner in downtown Atlanta shouting and preaching at
passers-by. We have an instant negative reaction to the idea of sharing Jesus
with others for two simple reasons. First, in our society any discussion of
religion is taboo. Religion is supposed to be a private matter, something polite
people do not discuss, much less try to push on others. By the way, the reason
for this is not that we are a religiously diverse society but because we are a
secular one. Things are different in other parts of the world. Take Singapore
for example. Singapore is even more religiously diverse than America. Yet there,
religion is one of the first questions people ask when they meet.
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“What’s your name? What religion are you? What do you do for a living?” It’s how
people get to know one another. I hope that American will become like that. A
benefit of religious diversity may be the opportunity to talk about religion
again. We have our taboo not because we are friendly to all religions but
because we are hostile to them. Second, we have all been made uncomfortable by
some well-intentioned person who gave us the hard-sell on their religion. They
tried to give you a presentation. They wanted to argue with you until you agreed
with them. You felt judged. You felt pressured and uncomfortable. You felt the
person was not interested in you but just wanted to sell you something. Having
been on the receiving end of that sort of thing, you don’t want to be on the
giving end. I don’t blame you. I don’t either. Our instincts are right on this
score. One pastor reflected on his college days, how he relished debates with
non-Christians. He loved to argue about religion with people, and he was good at
it, so he nearly always devastated his opponents. He was trying to argue them
into faith, to back them into a philosophical corner where there was no place
left to go but to accept Christianity as true. A funny thing happened. All he
managed to do with his brilliant arguments was harden their resolve. Not one
ever came to faith. As he grew more mature, he figured out why. Just because
something can be done badly, however, does not mean it should not be done at
all. William Lane Craig is a professor and defender of the Christian faith. Here
is a biographical nugget from his website: “Sandy Tiffan sat in front of me my
junior year in our high school German class. She was a radiant Christian; I was
an alienated and miserable non-Christian. She told me that God loved me, and
that idea so staggered me that six months later I yielded my life to Christ and
was born anew. It was September 11, 1965” [www.reasonablefaith.org]. She told
him God loved him, and what a difference it made! Christians absolutely must
share Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is for everyone. That’s what is happening in our
scripture reading. The early church is beginning to figure this out. We are all
loved by God. We are all alienated from God because our hearts are in rebellion
against God. We all need to be forgiven and given new hearts. Everyone needs
Jesus. This follows from the logic of the cross. The Son of God died an
agonizing and humiliating death on the cross. If this is what it takes to rescue
us, how bad is our problem? If God had to do this to save us, how can there be
other, easier ways to him? What is the gospel about? What is the mission of the
church about? If people are basically OK and just need help to be a little
better—or to cope better or be happier—then where is the urgency to tell them
about Jesus? But what if the gospel is a matter or life and death? What then?
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Here is what I want you to do, at least or starters. Erase from your mind
everything negative you associate with sharing your faith. Purge the negative
images, and I promise not to put them back again. Now let’s look at Acts and see
what was going on there. What’s going on, as I said, is those first Christians
are discovering that Jesus is for everyone. Jesus had already explained this,
but it had yet to be lived out in the life of the church. At the beginning, all
the Christians were Jews, like Jesus. They already believed the scriptures (our
Old Testament). The difference was they knew Jesus to be the Messiah and the
risen Son of God. Now there had been hints earlier of the church’s destiny.
Philip met a man from Ethiopia and explained the scriptures to him, and he
believed. But of course he was already reading scripture when Philip met him. He
wasn’t a full-fledged outsider. In chapter 10 of the book of Acts, God shakes
the church up by sending Peter to a Gentile named Cornelius. God told Peter to
tell him about Jesus, and when Peter did, Cornelius and his household believed.
You might think the church would be excited, but these non-Jews coming to faith
caused a conundrum. Did they have to become Jews first and then believe in
Jesus? Or was Jesus alone enough? It took a while to work that out to everyone’s
satisfaction—all the way to Acts 15 and beyond. In our reading, something new
happens. Until this point, all the Gentiles who came to Christ came because God
sent a key church leader and intervened miraculously. In our passage, ordinary
Christians share their faith with Greeks. That’s the word in our pew Bibles,
Greeks. What it means, however, is not people from Greece, but non-Jews,
Greek-speakers, good old fashioned pagans, people who did not start by believing
in the Old Testament, one God, and a promised Messiah. Persecution drove
Christians from Jerusalem and Judea into far off places like Antioch. Antioch
was a major port city and a cosmopolitan crossroads. You could meet anybody and
everybody there. Some of the Christians fled there. And once there, they shared
Jesus with people they met. I imagine this happening very naturally. They settle
into a new place, and someone asks, “What brings you here?” “Oh, we’re fleeing
persecution.” “Why were you persecuted?” “Well, because we believe in Jesus. You
see, it happened like this …” And then they simply told the story of Jesus and
what had happened to them. Now here is the amazing part. These new pagan
neighbors heard the story and saw what the Christians were like, and they
believed in Jesus too! I don’t think this was an organized evangelism campaign.
I think Christians just explained who they were and miraculously people saw the
truth of their faith. It happened because they shared Jesus with others. They
didn’t have to. They could have kept quiet. After all, they had been
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persecuted in one place. Why ask for trouble? Why not keep a low profile?
Because they knew that if you don’t tell people about Jesus, then he is not
important to you. Did you notice Barnabas again? He’s back this week. When the
church leaders hear what’s happening up in Antioch, they send Barnabas. Why? Two
concerns, probably. First, pagans flocking to Christ raised the red flag that
the Christian message might be distorted, watered down, adapted too much, or
misunderstood. Big crowds do not necessarily equal truth. So Barnabas goes to
see if this is all its cracked up to be, and it is. Second, they recognized the
need for instruction and nurture. These new Christians needed solid teaching.
Here’s a lesson for us. Many Christians today, especially Presbyterians, settle
for far too little real understanding. We can’t talk about our faith because we
can’t think clearly about it. We don’t share Jesus because we fear someone will
ask a simple question and expose our ignorance. We are not confident in our
understanding, and yet we are content with the understanding we have. Learning
is not a priority, certainly not for adults. A strikingly small percentage of
our congregation participates in the studies we offer here at Westminster. Even
for children, there is little sense that learning about their faith and making
informed choices is important. Honestly, nothing could be more important. If we
believed that, it would be easier to find good teachers and participation would
increase in Sunday school and confirmation. Barnabas brought Paul, and together
they stayed for a year teaching in Antioch. The second part of our reading makes
me envious. Lots of things in Acts make me envious, and this is one of them. We
hear about a group of leaders and teachers. They are fasting and praying.
Suddenly the Holy Spirit says, “Set apart Barnabas and Paul for a special job I
have for them.” The job is, they are going to be missionaries. The Good News
about Jesus spread first miraculously, at Pentecost and with Cornelius; then
casually, as Christians shared their faith with those around them; and now
intentionally, as missionaries are ordained and sent. By the way, this little
story shows our Presbyterian understanding of ordination. The Spirit says to
“set apart” Barnabas and Paul to a special work. Ordination means setting apart,
dedicating, a person to a particular work in the church—pastor, elder, or
deacon. We do not imagine we confer holiness or special powers on a person
through ordination. Rather, we recognize that God has given them a particular
job to do. What makes me envious is the apparent ease with which these leaders
heard God’s call. Wouldn’t that be nice if, at the session meeting on Tuesday
night, God revealed to all of us at once just what the church ought to do? Of
course it would. But bear in mind, it wasn’t necessarily easy for the leaders in
Antioch to hear God’s call. They were fasting and praying. They were seeking
God’s will very sincerely and deliberately. They were also prepared to obey no
matter what God asked.
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Also, they didn’t necessarily welcome what God wanted. It meant the church would
lose Barnabas and Paul, at least for a while. And who knows whether Barnabas and
Paul were eager to go or not? The point is, God called and they obeyed. Instead
of being jealous, we ought to seek God’s will as they did and be ready to obey.
God can call us as clearly as he called them. Maybe he is. I always suspect that
God has great things in store for our church. The question is, are we open? I
also constantly imagine what great and surprising things God wants to do through
individuals, especially children and young people. Is there a future Billy
Graham or Mother Teresa or Barnabas among us, and we don’t know it? Of course
every Christian can make an important contribution to God’s kingdom. There are
no little or unimportant people. So who knows what our young ones might do. I
hope they all do great things and someday post a biographical nugget on the web
that says, “My pastor inspired me to believe and to do great things for God.” It
could happen. It might also be your name instead of mine. I like to end a sermon
with practical things we can do, and no sermon needs it more than this one. I
have four quick thoughts about sharing Jesus. 1. Show the beauty of Christian
faith. Popular books by atheists attacking religion have been flying off the
shelves the past few years. They have a new twist. Not only is religion wrong,
according to these authors, it is dangerous. Naturally Christians have made a
vigorous response. The responses seem to me to fall into three categories. One
attacks the arguments made by the atheists. “Dawkins says this, let’s look at
his evidence.” Another defends Christian belief as reasonable. For example,
“What are the historical evidences for the Resurrection of Jesus?” A third kind
is ingenious and surprising. It seeks to demonstrate the beauty of Christianity
by looking at Christian writers and artists and how their faith inspired them to
beauty and illuminated them to truth. The world is richer for the insight these
people have given us, which was the result of their faith in Christ. I grant
this is not a logical argument, but perhaps love and beauty have a logic of
their own. How can you do this sort of thing? You could invite non-Christian
friends to your family’s baptisms and ordinations. Or other things like that.
Talk about what it means. At an anniversary celebration, mention how your faith
in Christ has helped sustained your marriage. Don’t be shy about the ways God
makes a difference in your life. I have mentioned before the girl in Singapore
who, when asked by a missionary what religion she was replied, “I’m not anything
right now, but I want to be a Christian.” He asked her why. She said, “Because
all the people I respect most are Christian.” If she had grown up in America,
would she have even known they were? Let your light shine. Those little lights
have a cumulative effect.
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2. You are not a salesperson. Christianity is not snake oil you have to unload
on people. You have to love people first. Be a true friend, then share your
faith. A true friend is not motivated by some kind of personal gain. I met a new
friend once, and he was a great guy. Before long he invited me to a seminar. He
was involved in one of those marketing things where you buy products and recruit
others to buy and sell. I have nothing against those per se, but it’s not my
thing. I thanked him for the opportunity but told him that. Then we kind of lost
touch. I think he cultivated my friendship because he wanted to recruit people,
and by coincidence I happen to be a person. Sharing Jesus should not be like
that. Talk about your faith with your friends, casual acquaintances, and folks
you meet. But be genuine. Be yourself. Share what you have that’s meaningful to
you. 3. Remember, you are not responsible for results. Paul wrote once about a
church, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” Your job is to
plant seeds and water, in other words, to share Jesus. Tell people what you
believe and why. Let them see the difference it makes in your life. God will
give the growth. Never twist an arm. Jesus didn’t. You have to share from your
heart and trust God. 4. Today’s culture can be a big help, because you have a
chance to explain why you are different. For example, a Christian couple in
college are dating and in love, but not having sex. Friends will wonder about
that. They could brush off the interest by saying, “We just don’t.” Or they
could explain why, saying something like, “Jesus gave his life for us. We know
him. This is how we honor him and show him our love.” Their friends might still
think they are crazy, but they will know one thing with certainty: Jesus makes a
difference in the lives of these two people. That’s the crop. I invite you to
share Jesus with others, naturally, freely, just like the ordinary Christians in
the book of Acts did. You never know what God will do. Amen. rev_mauldin@yahoo.com
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