Invest and Invite
07/04/10
Scripture:
Luke 10:1-12INVEST AND INVITE LUKE 10:1-11 JULY 4, 2010
There was an old farmer, ragged and barefooted, who sat on the steps of his tumbled-down shack, chewing on a stem of Timothy grass. He was approached by a passing stranger who was searching for a cool drink of water. Wishing to start a conversation with this farmer, the stranger asked, How is your cotton coming in this weather? Ain’t got none, replied the farmer. Didn’t you plant any? asked the stranger. Nope, said the farmer, ‘fraid of weevils. Well, asked the newcomer, how is your corn? Didn’t plant none, replied the man, ‘fraid there warn’t goin to be no rain. Really, what did you plant? asked the puzzled man. Nothing, said the farmer. I jest played it safe!
When a church member was asked by St. Peter as he approached the pearly gates how many seeds of faith, how many seeds of the gospel did he plant while on earth, he replied, none, I just played it safe. I was afraid that some would think I was trying to show them I was better than they were. Others knew I wasn’t, I didn’t want to be called a hypocrite. Besides, St. Peter, I really didn’t know all that I should of about the Bible, Jesus, and salvation to be telling others about it. And come to think of it, isn’t that what we pay the Pastor to do, go out and plant those seeds of faith, to go out and win souls for Christ?
Our gospel lesson for this morning concerns a subject that we, especially in the United Methodist Church, have not dealt with in an effective way, the subject of telling others about Jesus Christ. Many of us are like the farmer in our story, who just played it safe. He wasn’t willing to risk, he wasn’t willing to take a chance, so he had no crop, he had no harvest.
Imitating Jesus. Just how is it that we present Jesus to the world around us? Christians need to present Jesus, writes David Wilkinson in his book, The Message of Creation. This may seem obvious to those of us in the church, but Jesus is often obscured by clever arguments or by questions about the style of evangelism. John Stott has often said that while it’s true that many people do not like the institutional church, it is only a few who do not find Jesus both appealing and intriguing. A preacher once challenged the congregation by saying simply, When was the last time you mentioned the name Jesus in conversation with anyone?
In today’s lesson, Jesus calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He appoints 70 average people to go in pairs to every town and place where Jesus, himself, intends to go, and to do the work of curing the sick, driving out demons, preaching that the kingdom of God has come near. Jesus has given them explicit instructions as to what to carry, what to say, what to do, and how to respond to various challenges…including the rude shock of personal rejection. See, I am sending you out like lamb into the midst of wolves, warns Jesus. He doesn’t expect them to be seen as winners in every town they enter—in fact, he predicts that some people will welcome them, and some will reject them. But whether they are welcomed or not, Jesus expects his followers to proclaim the kingdom of God.
Jesus has a relational structure in which he invests more heavily at the top and intends it to work its way down through multiplied leadership—one tells and invites another, and that other tells and invites still another until the good news of the Gospels spreads. And when those 70 ordinary souls return they make a surprising report: Lord, in your name even the demons, submit to us! Speaking and acting in the name of Jesus, the 70 have a power that they never imagined possible. Their joy was a direct result of how God had used them.
Our topic today is evangelism—telling others what God has done for us. Now evangelism has fallen on hard times in the church and is often looked upon as a negative. But the truth is that what you think about evangelism won’t matter much unless the Holy Spirit empowers you. Michael Green asks the church today these questions: could it be that we know so little of the Spirit in any powerful way because we care so little for evangelism? Equally, that we know so little of evangelism in any powerful way because we know so little of the Spirit? God has joined together evangelism and the Holy Spirit. No evangelism, no Holy Spirit. No Holy Spirit, no evangelism. There is a vital link between them; and that explains a good deal of the powerlessness in the modern church. The reason for the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church was that we might witness to the gospel in the world. It is not a gift to be kept for ourselves.
Andy Stanley says of his North Point Community Church in Georgia, Our whole evangelism strategy is summed up in two words, invest and invite. Invest in relationships with unbelievers and, at the appropriate time, invite them to an environment where they can hear the gospel.
There are several ways to tell of the love of God, but for most of us, the easiest and most natural is relational. Have a relationship with another before you share your experience of Jesus, before you tell what God has done in your life. Yet in the Great Commission from Mathew 28:19, we are charged to Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… Evangelism, no matter how much we dislike the word, it not an option. Nor is it something we do under our own determination. We speak by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Most of all we must “just do it.” John McFarland writes, Sooner or later someone who is “in” must ask someone who is “out” to come to church. Instead, most churches put new signs on their building and place ads in the paper. They create special parking spaces for “visitors.” They take pies to the ”first-time attenders.” They do everything except talk about Jesus. If we spent on inviting people into our gatherings even half the time spent on thinking up evangelism programs, the mainline church decline would end tomorrow. Statistics show that 77 percent of those who make a conversion to Jesus do so because of the personal witness of someone in their life. We are called to “present Jesus” to others—to take the risk of mentioning the name of Jesus in our conversations.
If your neighbor had cancer or AIDS, and you knew the cure, it would be criminal to withhold that lifesaving information. Even worse would be to keep secret the way to forgiveness, purpose, peace and eternal life. We have the greatest news in the world, and sharing it is the greatest kindness you can show to anyone.
But it has occurred to me that living a Christian life is not enough. We must learn to speak our faith. Maxie Dunnam tells the story of Pauline Hord. Pauline is eighty-five and a remarkable woman. She is a unique blend of prayer and personal piety, with servant ministry and social concern. She is always going to someone or some group to give herself in prayer. Her current passion is literacy and prison ministry. Each week she drives over a hundred miles one way to Parchman State Prison down in Mississippi to teach prisoners how to read and write. But that’s not all that Pauline does. She ministers to them in an even more encompassing way as she shares her love and faith and witnesses to the power of the gospel.
Can we do evangelism without speaking? I don’t think so. Jesus walked with people, talked with them, taught them, learned who they were and what interested and concerned them. And he always spoke about God’s love to them. And then he sent out 70 ordinary folks to do the same, and he asks us to continue that work. And that work does not come naturally to us, and we often falter. So let’s take just one step at a time. Here are seven progressive steps to get us started. Get out your bulletin so you can write them down.
Start by identifying your natural circle of relationships: work, family, neighbors, social groups, golfing buddies, etc.
Then pray for a deeper connection with the nonbelievers in these relationships. Prayer may be the most important step in sharing God’s love with another.
As the relationship deepens, pray for the person’s needs and for his or her salvation.
Only then start looking for ways to tangibly serve and care for them. Listening is always a part of relationship evangelism.
Ask God to build their spiritual curiosity and give you opportunities for spiritual conversations. Don’t force these conversation or they will not be Holy Spirit directed.
The sixth step is talk about your experiences of God’s love and how you have tried to follow Jesus.
The let people know that if they ever want to discuss spiritual things, you would love to do so. Don’t quit praying for them. And remember, rejection is just a part of evangelism.
If the harvest is plentiful, our job is simply to be available to labor and to risk our personal comfort on behalf of people who don’t yet know God. That is all Jesus asked of the 70.
Jesus wants us to be like the ants. A party of missionaries was sitting at tea one afternoon, when suddenly an ant appeared on the white tablecloth and made its way to one of the tea plates, walked around it, and finding nothing to eat there, made straight for the sugar bowl. After eating some bits of sugar, it went off with a piece. The party watched it go off the table, down the table leg, along the floor of the room, and disappear underneath the door. Not long afterwards, it returned with several of its relations, climbed up the leg of the table, marched along the top, and led by the first ant, they all entered the sugar bowl. After they had eaten their fill of sugar, they all departed, each carrying a piece of sugar. But that was not all—presently a swarm of ants arrived to partake of the same sweet food.
Jesus wants us to be like that first ant. After we have experienced the sweet love of Christ in our lives, he wants us to spread the good news. He wants us to call on others to they may be able to experience the goodness of the gospel in their lives.
Invest and invite—when was the last time you mentioned the name Jesus in conversation with anyone?