We begin a new series today the topic for which is "The Great
Ends of the Church," which are found in our Book of Order.
Now, "The Great Ends of the Church" may not exactly grab your
attention, so we are calling this series "It’s What We Do." The
Great Ends of the Church are our purpose in being the church.
It’s what we do in order to fulfill our calling as Christ’s
church in the world. There are six "Great Ends" cited in the
Book of Order and they are, in order: Proclamation of the
Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind (our topic for today);
Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the Children of
God; Maintenance of Divine Worship; Preservation of the Truth;
Promotion of Social Righteousness; Exhibition of the Kingdom of
Heaven to the World. The Presbyterian Church recently
published a series of books on the Great Ends of the Church and
Barbara and I will be guided by them without necessarily
reciting them directly back to you.The Scripture reading for
today’s topic, Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation
of Humankind (some of the titles are rather long!), is
Romans 10:8-15. (Read)
Several years ago in one of our Inquirers’ classes, we were
looking at the Nine Marks of Membership, another list in
the Book of Order which is a kind of expansion on the
Great Ends of the Church, describing in a bit more detail
what active membership in the church looks like. The first
"mark" of membership listed is "proclaiming the good news." When
I mentioned that, one of the elders assisting with the class
looked at me and said, "That’s your job." Therein followed a
discussion about "proclaiming the good news" being everyone’s
job. That elder was not unique in such thinking. We in the
church tend to think of proclaiming the good news as being the
pastor’s job. That’s what preaching is, isn’t it? Well, yes, but
preaching is only one aspect of proclaiming the good news. We
"proclaim" the good news in a variety of ways every day…by what
we say and do. In fact, the most powerful and effective
way of proclaiming the gospel is not in preaching, but rather,
in what followers of Jesus Christ do and say in their everyday
lives.
One of the things I miss most about my pre-seminary and
pastoral ministry days is the impact, as a "layperson," my
proclamation of the gospel could have. As a pastor, when I
connect with someone, say in my neighborhood, and the
appropriate opportunity comes along to share something about the
importance of Jesus Christ and the good news of the gospel to my
life, without fail the immediate response is, "Well, you’re a
pastor. It’s your job." When you have the opportunity to share
with someone the importance of faith to your life it has much
more impact than I do. I miss that. The task of proclaiming the
good news is the task of everyone in the church…and you have a
greater impact on others than I do. When I sit in my purple
chair in the driveway and have a conversation with a neighbor
who, at some point in the conversation or later in the
relationship might say, "I notice you leaving the house every
Sunday morning about the same time," and I begin to talk about
going to church every Sunday…and then it comes out that I’m a
pastor, the response always is, "Oh, you’re a pastor! It’s your
job!" You have a much more effective role in proclaiming
the gospel and it is essential to the church fulfilling its role
as a church that you are aware of and actively engaging in the
proclamation of the gospel.
One more word about proclaiming the gospel. We
"proclaim" through our words and deeds. It’s not just
through words and it’s not just through deeds. "Actions speak
louder than words" is true—and our actions must support what we
say we believe. But, actions without words can often leave
unclear what motivates and drives us. "Oh, you volunteer at the
hospital? Great! Good for you! You obviously care about your
community." There’s no understanding of Christian faith and
responding to the good news of the gospel as a source of
motivation for our volunteering. And Paul reminds us, "…how
can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how
can they hear without someone preaching to them?" We must be
prepared to answer the question, "Why?" for our actions with
words about our faith in Jesus Christ and responding to his call
to be a servant to all. All of us have the task of proclamation.
Your proclamation of the good news is more effective and
impacting than mine. And our proclamation consists of both
actions and words.
I know I’ve shared this story with you before, but I think it
is relevant to this topic and worth repeating…a perfect example
of what I’m talking about. As most of you know, I have a
brother, Mick, who lives in Greeley. His story is much like mine
in that we grew up in an
every-Sunday-morning-at-church-two-years-of-confirmation-class-and-no-excuses-for-missing-one-class
home. But, he, like me, never took ownership of what we were
learning. He, like me, had head knowledge of faith, but not
heart knowledge. And he, like me, left home for college and
didn’t darken any church door while in college…except when we
came home on the occasional weekend for laundry and some good
home-cooked meals. He, like me, was following an athletic
god…only his sport was football, not baseball. And he, like me,
was eventually confronted with his lack of truly following Jesus
Christ as his Savior and Lord and re-committed his life to
Christ—now with heart knowledge as well as head knowledge.
Before his commitment, however, yet after his football playing
career was over he refereed high school basketball. And, often
he was paired with a friend named Bob. They would travel
together to games out on the northeastern Colorado plains to
places like Sterling, Yuma and Julesburg. Now, the other piece
to the story is that my brother during that time had a bit of a
temper and refereeing basketball is fast paced and often
emotional. There would be the usual arguments with coaches and
my brother could get in the face of a coach with the best of
them. Then, on the way home, he and Bob would discuss the
game—often in colorful and emotional language. Then, Mick
re-committed his life to Christ. The next season of basketball
refereeing saw a very different Mick. Less volatile, calmer and
definitely no longer discussing with Bob the games in colorful
and emotional language. At mid-season one night, Mick and Bob
refereed a classically tight, tense game between two rivals—the
kind of game that always brings out controversy and high
emotions. Only Mick was no longer the referee who relished the
in-your-face confrontations, but dealt with them much more
calmly. During the drive home, in the customary discussion about
the game—only, remember, Mick now in less colorful mode—Bob, who
was driving, pulled the car over to the side of the road, put
the car in "park" and looked at Mick and said, "Okay! What is
it? What’s different about you?" Mick’s actions throughout the
season had spoken loudly to Bob, but Bob didn’t yet have enough
information to determine the cause and motive to Mick’s actions.
And there, on that lonely country road, Mick had the open
invitation to say something about what motivated his
actions…the change brought by following Jesus as Savior and
Lord. Not too long after that, Bob committed his life to Christ
and he and his wife, along with Mick and his wife, were
important witnesses to Kim and me in our faith journeys. As
people are wont to say these days: "That’s what I’m talking
‘bout!" That’s proclaiming the gospel by deed and
word—and the impact it can have on people’s lives.
And what is it we are proclaiming? Good news. Good
news! Don’t you think the world could use some good news? And we
have good news to share. Literally, that’s what the word
"gospel" means—"good news." We have good news to proclaim to the
world. Recall a sermon series from a few years ago whose title
basically was this…Hey! It’s Good News! Sometimes
I think we need to be reminded that the gospel we proclaim is
good news. Jesus is Savior and Lord. "Declare with your
mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead…and you will be saved," (Romans
10:9). Do you find that good news? For you? For others? Then
it’s worth proclaiming…in word and deed. It’s good news for "the
salvation of humankind." It’s good news for everybody. Not a
select few. Not just those who look and act like us. It’s good
news for everybody…and we ought to be alert for ways we
can proclaim it, by word and deed, to all whom God brings across
our path.
I conclude with a rather lengthy quote from Catherine
Gonzalez, the author of the Proclamation of the Gospel for
the Salvation of Humankind book in the "Great Ends" series.
It’s longer than I normally might quote, but I think they are
great words on this topic.
"Presbyterians are often tempted to limit their
proclamation to those who already lead basically "good" lives.
We assume that those who are clearly and publicly sinful, or
have made such terrible choices that their lives are seriously
disordered, are not interested in what we have to say. We may
help them, but our mission may well be limited to such help,
without any real proclamation.
For instance, a church that has a soup kitchen or a night
shelter may well assume its mission is to meet the physical or
even social needs of the people who come. But the thought that
they might become members of our congregation is not part of our
agenda. Why? Were we to see the gospel radically transform their
lives, what effect would it have on our own faith? Often our
rationale is that they would not be comfortable in our worship.
But it is probably equally true that we are the ones who would
not be comfortable. Why? Would we be uncomfortable with those
for whom the gospel has been a matter of life and death, for
whom it has caused an enormous transformation? Might we wonder
why the gospel has not had such a great effect in our own lives?
Do we really expect that the gospel can transform lives? Do our
own lives need transformation by the gospel? What would it look
like? These are all questions that a congregation needs to
struggle with when it asks who the people are to whom it is to
proclaim the gospel.
To witness, to proclaim, is to risk being changed ourselves.
If faith has no power in the lives of others, there is no point
in proclaiming it. If it does have great power, we must be ready
to have that power unleashed in our own lives." (p. 89, 90)
Let’s take a moment of silent reflection to consider our
calling to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind.
|
