LET THEM SEE YOU TURNING TO CHRIST ...
Sermon
FAITH IS FOR SHARING
They'll be inspired to deeper commitment!
The parable of "The Sower and the Seed" (Luke 8:5-8) has much to say to those of us who would assume the responsibility of sharing our faith. One very important thing that it says to us is that the successful communication of the gospel depends upon three things: (1) the effectiveness of the witness, (2) the willingness of the hearer to receive the Good News, and (3) the working of the Holy Spirit. Often we place too much emphasis upon the skill of the witness. Professional evangelists sometimes develop ways of captivating congregations and playing upon their emotions. At times they try to imitate the dress and style of delivery that some of our more successful evangelists use. And that's sad, because it means that such preachers are being less than authentic. They have placed more of an emphasis upon techniques than upon content. Perhaps it is because they feel that the burden for the outcome of their sharing rests totally on their shoulders. And if that is the case, who would want to assume such a heavy responsibility? I'm thankful that this parable tells us that the final outcome depends just as much upon the condition of the soil as it does upon the skill of the sower.
On several occasions in the Gospels, our Lord says, "If you have eyes to see, then see. If you have ears to hear, then hear." When I was a student in seminary, a railroad track ran right past my dormitory window. Every time a train came along, my windows would rattle, the floor would vibrate, my bed would shake, and sometimes even my books would fall off the shelves. And to make matters worse, two trains came by my dorm at night, one at eleven-thirty and one at two o'clock. Now, I didn't really mind the train that came at eleven thirty, because I was never asleep by then anyhow. But that two o'clock train, oh boy! I thought that I would never be able to live with that. However, much to my delight, after a few nights I grew so accustomed to it that it didn't disturb my sleep at all. By sonic mental "screening-out process" I was able to ignore the clackity-clack of that train. But one morning the train was late, and I woke up at two o'clock anyway - not because the noise had disturbed me, but because the silence had awakened me. Somewhere in my subconscious I had been able to erect barriers to shut out the disturbance, and when the disturbance didn't take place, the barriers came tumbling down.
There's really nothing so unusual about that process. Most people have and exercise the ability to only "see" what they really want to see, and "hear" what they really want to hear. It is possible to look directly at a person, stare him in the face, and never really see him, even though your eyes are open. Some school teachers claim that many of their students have developed that ability to perfection. And it is possible for you to listen to a person and never really hear him either. How often I have heard a husband, a wife, or a parent say to another member of their family, "Listen to me! You aren't listening to me." Why? Because the screens are up. And this ability isn't at all bad whenever it is used properly, because it enables us to focus our vision on objects either close up or far away and it enables us to concentrate and study even in a room filled with distractions. But in order for the Good News to be received, there must be a willingness for the hearer to let down the screens.
And this is where the Holy Spirit comes in. He is the one who motivates people to let down their defenses, open their spiritual eyes, and unstop their spiritual ears. He is the one who makes a person realize how far from God he really is and helps him to see his lost condition. And he is the one who assures a person of the gift of salvation and helps him to accept God's love which is freely given to everyone. Chances are, when you see a person who is spiritually starved and he knows it, the Holy Spirit has been dealing with him. And when you see a person for whom the unearned love of God has been made real, you can know that the Iioiy Spirit has been at work in his life as well.
Many overly-eager witnesses have sought to do the Holy Spirit's work for him. Some have tried to threaten and scare people into the Kingdom. They have played upon their guilt feelings and otherwise manipulated them. And others have tried to entice people into the Kingdom by promising them "pie in the sky in the sweet by and by" - a kingdom of eternal bliss where all of your selfish desires will come true and God will be your Cosmic Errand Boy. Or, they have told people that being a Christian is the only way to be happy and joyful and have peace in your heart, without explaining the deeper spiritual meaning of those words.
But these techniques don't work as well today as they once did. Secular man gives little thought to the after life. Hospitals and funeral homes do as much as they can to isolate the dying and the dead from the living. Middle class Americans are living "high on the hog." They have their pie now. They don't have to look for some heaven far away. And with the kind of permissiveness that pervades our society today, there is not much of a sense of guilt over sin any more. I heard about a pastor who was counseling a prostitute who began her first session with these words: "I'm not sorry for my way of life, but I sense that I might be missing out on something, and I was just wondering if Chrisianity might be it." As for peace and happiness, many Americans have lulled themselves into thinking that they are reasonably happy. And they usually are until some crisis situation develops. Their happiness depends upon getting their own way and their peace depends upon the absence of conflict. But you can't always have your own way in this life and you can't always avoid conflict.
Beneath the surface of modern man's sell-sufficiency, however, lies a nagging curiosity that causes him to say, "I'm not sorry for the way I live, but I sense that I might be missing out on something and was just wondering if Christianity might be it." People today don't want to miss anything that life has to offer them. They are more open than ever before to trying new things and adopting new lifestyles. But even though they are willing to try new things, and even though they may be a bit gullible at times, they are still somewhat hard-nosed. They want proof! Because so many things and people have let them down, they're likely to say, "Prove to me that Christianity really works and I'll give it a try!" Someone handed me a card once that asked this most pertinent question: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Like it or not, you are the only gospel that some people are ever going to read. What are you saying with the life you live? Everyone witnesses to something in their life. What are you witnessing to, Christ or self? Harry Denman writes,
If all a church has is buildings, endowments, programs, numbers, and wealth - that will be its witness. If it majors in a kitchen and in a recreation room, then that is its witness. But if it has a dynamic faith in the reality of the living Christ, to forgive, to redeem, to heat, and to give eternal life - then that wilt be its witness.1
So what is the witness of your life and of the life of your church?
The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthian Christians said, "I am always thanking God for you. I thank him for his grace given to you in Christ Jesus. I thank him for all the enrichment that has come to you in Christ. You possess full knowledge and you can give full expression to it, because in you the evidence for the truth of Christ has found confirmation." (1 Corinthians 11:4-6 NEB) Now that's good preaching! Those people must have been proud to hear those words of praise from Paul. But Paul didn't stop there. He just had to tell it like it was - the complete story. Hence, he went on to deal with some of their problems. He had heard that there was discord and divisions among them. There were reports of sexual immorality and carelessness in associating with all manner of immoral persons - some of them were even continuing to patronize the prostitutes at the pagan temple. He dealt with their problems in a kindly, but firm way, and reminded them of their commitment to Christ. As we read his words and think about our own church, we conclude that those Corinthian Christians were not too different from people we know today. Their lives, like ours, were a long way from the principles that they professed. But Paul's remarks in his next letter to the Corinthians ought to stop us dead in our tracks! He writes to those same people, "And as for you, it is plain that you are a letter that has come from Christ, given to us to deliver: a letter written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, written not on stone tablets, hut on the pages of the human heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3 NEB)
Our natural inclination, whenever we look at the very human weaknesses of the church, is to say, "If this is Christianity, I don't want any part of it!" But Paul refused to be shocked by the sins of his Corinthian congregation and he refused to throw up his hands in disgust, he wrote very realistically about their sins and shortcomings and then he told them that by the power of the Holy Spirit they were a letter from Christ to the world. He was indicating that, in spite of her many observable weaknesses, the church is still very much the Body of Christ - the agent of God's redemptive work in this world. He didn't tell them that they ought to be a letter from Christ or that they should become a letter from Christ; he said "It is plain that you are a letter from Christ!" Ewart Watts has written, concerning this passage of Scripture, "I think he (Paul) would say the same thing to any local congregation today. Every congregation, no matter how shallow its life together, nor how short-sighted its outreach, has buried within it the treasure of Christ's presence."2
In Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth, he makes this most disturbing statement: "Follow my example as I follow Christ's." (1 Corinthians 10:33 NEB) I believe that many Christians have tried to overlook that challenge. The first time that I read it, I must frankly admit that I was shocked. My initial reaction was to conclude that Paul was either an egomaniac who believed himself to be perfect, a hypocrite, or a man who was out of touch with his own human nature. But upon further investigation, I discovered that this was not the case. Paul wasn't a perfect human being, and he knew it. He confessed that sometimes when he wanted to do what was right all he managed to do was sin. (Romans 7:15-23) And he didn't pretend to be perfect either. He openly admitted that he hadn't already arrived, but was still pressing toward the mark - forgetting the past and looking forward to a glorious future with Christ. (Philippians 3:13-14) He was painfully aware of his human frailties and shortcomings. So what did he mean when he urged his fellow Christians to follow his example as he followed Christ's? And is there a sense in which we too are able to lead others to Christ by the life that we live day-by-day? Part of the problem is our own confusion over the type of example that we are to set for others. Indeed, how can we give to others an example of a religion that is vital and alive? Do we try to justify ourselves? Are we willing to confess the petty little sins, but neglect the deep-seated real sins - the ones that are costly to confess? Do we use the shortcomings of others as a smokescreen in which to hide our own faults? Or do we pretend to be "super-Christians," never victimized by pressures and temptations, never making mistakes and never bothered by doubts and fears? Such an example as this will be a stumbling block in the pathway of those who are sincerely seeking new life in Christ.
Belonging to Christ gives you the only real freedom that you have to be yourself. E. Stanley Jones once expressed it this way, "You are not a worm, nor a wonder. You are the ordinary becoming the extraordinary, all due to him. So you can be yourself because you are his self. You are free to be."3 Once you belong to Christ, you don't have to vainly attempt to justify yourself. You have already been justified by faith in the only true Son of God.
And as for the example that you are to set, hear again the words of Paul, "It is not ourselves that we proclaim; we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake." (2 Corinthians 4:5 NEB) We do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus. We are not called to be the example of moral perfection and total obedience to the will of God. Christ is the example. Nobody else, by the life they live, has ever come close to revealing God the Father in the supreme manner that Jesus did. And we are not to point others to our own accomplishments either. We are not to call attention to what we are doing at all, but to what Christ is doing in us and through us and with us.
Christ is the example that we are to follow. If I compare my life with that of some drunk in the gutter, since my sins on the surface are less obvious than his, I might appear to be a far better person. But when I compare my life to the example of Christ, then it becomes obvious that, as a Christian, I still have a lot of growing to do. The Gospel of John says that only a few received Christ, but to those who did receive him, he gave the power to become children of God. That's where I am right now! I am an ordinary human being on the way to becoming an extraordinary person, because of the power of Christ in my life. I am an unfaithful son of God in the process of becoming a true son of God, thanks to the one who loved me so much that he gave his life for me. I have often thought that I should wear a sign around my neck that states, "Please be patient: Christ hasn't finished with me yet!" I am an unfinished product of God's love. I am full of faults and shortcomings. I have a list of sins that need forgiving often. But at least I am headed in the right direction. Because of Christ, I have a destiny to fulfill.
Here is the secret of how we can lead others to Christ by the example that we set and therefore be salt and light for the world. Let them see you turning to Christ. They'll be inspired to deeper commitment. We can live such a life of victory in Christ that we will actually make other people want what we have. We can show others the difference Christ makes in a human life - by preaching Christ, not self. Let it be your business to offer people Christ through the life that you live daily. The example that we are to give is that of what it is like to be a forgiven sinner, by claiming our own personal and continuing need for the grace of God - not by hypocritically disclaimning any such need. We are to be witnesses to the unearned love and transforming power of God that is always available to us in Christ. We are not to speak as one who has already arrived, but as one who is still pressing toward the mark; still very much on the way. Amid in this manner, we become a letter from Christ to the world.
FOOTNOTES
1 Harry Denman, "Witness and Live," Tract #DOO9T, published by Tidings, Nashville, Tennessee.
2 Ewart C. Watts, Bench Marks of Faith, p. 71, Tidings, Nashville, Tennessee, 1974.
3 E. Stanley Jones, Victory Through Surrender, p. 46, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971. (apex ed) 1961.
The parable of "The Sower and the Seed" (Luke 8:5-8) has much to say to those of us who would assume the responsibility of sharing our faith. One very important thing that it says to us is that the successful communication of the gospel depends upon three things: (1) the effectiveness of the witness, (2) the willingness of the hearer to receive the Good News, and (3) the working of the Holy Spirit. Often we place too much emphasis upon the skill of the witness. Professional evangelists sometimes develop ways of captivating congregations and playing upon their emotions. At times they try to imitate the dress and style of delivery that some of our more successful evangelists use. And that's sad, because it means that such preachers are being less than authentic. They have placed more of an emphasis upon techniques than upon content. Perhaps it is because they feel that the burden for the outcome of their sharing rests totally on their shoulders. And if that is the case, who would want to assume such a heavy responsibility? I'm thankful that this parable tells us that the final outcome depends just as much upon the condition of the soil as it does upon the skill of the sower.
On several occasions in the Gospels, our Lord says, "If you have eyes to see, then see. If you have ears to hear, then hear." When I was a student in seminary, a railroad track ran right past my dormitory window. Every time a train came along, my windows would rattle, the floor would vibrate, my bed would shake, and sometimes even my books would fall off the shelves. And to make matters worse, two trains came by my dorm at night, one at eleven-thirty and one at two o'clock. Now, I didn't really mind the train that came at eleven thirty, because I was never asleep by then anyhow. But that two o'clock train, oh boy! I thought that I would never be able to live with that. However, much to my delight, after a few nights I grew so accustomed to it that it didn't disturb my sleep at all. By sonic mental "screening-out process" I was able to ignore the clackity-clack of that train. But one morning the train was late, and I woke up at two o'clock anyway - not because the noise had disturbed me, but because the silence had awakened me. Somewhere in my subconscious I had been able to erect barriers to shut out the disturbance, and when the disturbance didn't take place, the barriers came tumbling down.
There's really nothing so unusual about that process. Most people have and exercise the ability to only "see" what they really want to see, and "hear" what they really want to hear. It is possible to look directly at a person, stare him in the face, and never really see him, even though your eyes are open. Some school teachers claim that many of their students have developed that ability to perfection. And it is possible for you to listen to a person and never really hear him either. How often I have heard a husband, a wife, or a parent say to another member of their family, "Listen to me! You aren't listening to me." Why? Because the screens are up. And this ability isn't at all bad whenever it is used properly, because it enables us to focus our vision on objects either close up or far away and it enables us to concentrate and study even in a room filled with distractions. But in order for the Good News to be received, there must be a willingness for the hearer to let down the screens.
And this is where the Holy Spirit comes in. He is the one who motivates people to let down their defenses, open their spiritual eyes, and unstop their spiritual ears. He is the one who makes a person realize how far from God he really is and helps him to see his lost condition. And he is the one who assures a person of the gift of salvation and helps him to accept God's love which is freely given to everyone. Chances are, when you see a person who is spiritually starved and he knows it, the Holy Spirit has been dealing with him. And when you see a person for whom the unearned love of God has been made real, you can know that the Iioiy Spirit has been at work in his life as well.
Many overly-eager witnesses have sought to do the Holy Spirit's work for him. Some have tried to threaten and scare people into the Kingdom. They have played upon their guilt feelings and otherwise manipulated them. And others have tried to entice people into the Kingdom by promising them "pie in the sky in the sweet by and by" - a kingdom of eternal bliss where all of your selfish desires will come true and God will be your Cosmic Errand Boy. Or, they have told people that being a Christian is the only way to be happy and joyful and have peace in your heart, without explaining the deeper spiritual meaning of those words.
But these techniques don't work as well today as they once did. Secular man gives little thought to the after life. Hospitals and funeral homes do as much as they can to isolate the dying and the dead from the living. Middle class Americans are living "high on the hog." They have their pie now. They don't have to look for some heaven far away. And with the kind of permissiveness that pervades our society today, there is not much of a sense of guilt over sin any more. I heard about a pastor who was counseling a prostitute who began her first session with these words: "I'm not sorry for my way of life, but I sense that I might be missing out on something, and I was just wondering if Chrisianity might be it." As for peace and happiness, many Americans have lulled themselves into thinking that they are reasonably happy. And they usually are until some crisis situation develops. Their happiness depends upon getting their own way and their peace depends upon the absence of conflict. But you can't always have your own way in this life and you can't always avoid conflict.
Beneath the surface of modern man's sell-sufficiency, however, lies a nagging curiosity that causes him to say, "I'm not sorry for the way I live, but I sense that I might be missing out on something and was just wondering if Christianity might be it." People today don't want to miss anything that life has to offer them. They are more open than ever before to trying new things and adopting new lifestyles. But even though they are willing to try new things, and even though they may be a bit gullible at times, they are still somewhat hard-nosed. They want proof! Because so many things and people have let them down, they're likely to say, "Prove to me that Christianity really works and I'll give it a try!" Someone handed me a card once that asked this most pertinent question: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Like it or not, you are the only gospel that some people are ever going to read. What are you saying with the life you live? Everyone witnesses to something in their life. What are you witnessing to, Christ or self? Harry Denman writes,
If all a church has is buildings, endowments, programs, numbers, and wealth - that will be its witness. If it majors in a kitchen and in a recreation room, then that is its witness. But if it has a dynamic faith in the reality of the living Christ, to forgive, to redeem, to heat, and to give eternal life - then that wilt be its witness.1
So what is the witness of your life and of the life of your church?
The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthian Christians said, "I am always thanking God for you. I thank him for his grace given to you in Christ Jesus. I thank him for all the enrichment that has come to you in Christ. You possess full knowledge and you can give full expression to it, because in you the evidence for the truth of Christ has found confirmation." (1 Corinthians 11:4-6 NEB) Now that's good preaching! Those people must have been proud to hear those words of praise from Paul. But Paul didn't stop there. He just had to tell it like it was - the complete story. Hence, he went on to deal with some of their problems. He had heard that there was discord and divisions among them. There were reports of sexual immorality and carelessness in associating with all manner of immoral persons - some of them were even continuing to patronize the prostitutes at the pagan temple. He dealt with their problems in a kindly, but firm way, and reminded them of their commitment to Christ. As we read his words and think about our own church, we conclude that those Corinthian Christians were not too different from people we know today. Their lives, like ours, were a long way from the principles that they professed. But Paul's remarks in his next letter to the Corinthians ought to stop us dead in our tracks! He writes to those same people, "And as for you, it is plain that you are a letter that has come from Christ, given to us to deliver: a letter written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, written not on stone tablets, hut on the pages of the human heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3 NEB)
Our natural inclination, whenever we look at the very human weaknesses of the church, is to say, "If this is Christianity, I don't want any part of it!" But Paul refused to be shocked by the sins of his Corinthian congregation and he refused to throw up his hands in disgust, he wrote very realistically about their sins and shortcomings and then he told them that by the power of the Holy Spirit they were a letter from Christ to the world. He was indicating that, in spite of her many observable weaknesses, the church is still very much the Body of Christ - the agent of God's redemptive work in this world. He didn't tell them that they ought to be a letter from Christ or that they should become a letter from Christ; he said "It is plain that you are a letter from Christ!" Ewart Watts has written, concerning this passage of Scripture, "I think he (Paul) would say the same thing to any local congregation today. Every congregation, no matter how shallow its life together, nor how short-sighted its outreach, has buried within it the treasure of Christ's presence."2
In Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth, he makes this most disturbing statement: "Follow my example as I follow Christ's." (1 Corinthians 10:33 NEB) I believe that many Christians have tried to overlook that challenge. The first time that I read it, I must frankly admit that I was shocked. My initial reaction was to conclude that Paul was either an egomaniac who believed himself to be perfect, a hypocrite, or a man who was out of touch with his own human nature. But upon further investigation, I discovered that this was not the case. Paul wasn't a perfect human being, and he knew it. He confessed that sometimes when he wanted to do what was right all he managed to do was sin. (Romans 7:15-23) And he didn't pretend to be perfect either. He openly admitted that he hadn't already arrived, but was still pressing toward the mark - forgetting the past and looking forward to a glorious future with Christ. (Philippians 3:13-14) He was painfully aware of his human frailties and shortcomings. So what did he mean when he urged his fellow Christians to follow his example as he followed Christ's? And is there a sense in which we too are able to lead others to Christ by the life that we live day-by-day? Part of the problem is our own confusion over the type of example that we are to set for others. Indeed, how can we give to others an example of a religion that is vital and alive? Do we try to justify ourselves? Are we willing to confess the petty little sins, but neglect the deep-seated real sins - the ones that are costly to confess? Do we use the shortcomings of others as a smokescreen in which to hide our own faults? Or do we pretend to be "super-Christians," never victimized by pressures and temptations, never making mistakes and never bothered by doubts and fears? Such an example as this will be a stumbling block in the pathway of those who are sincerely seeking new life in Christ.
Belonging to Christ gives you the only real freedom that you have to be yourself. E. Stanley Jones once expressed it this way, "You are not a worm, nor a wonder. You are the ordinary becoming the extraordinary, all due to him. So you can be yourself because you are his self. You are free to be."3 Once you belong to Christ, you don't have to vainly attempt to justify yourself. You have already been justified by faith in the only true Son of God.
And as for the example that you are to set, hear again the words of Paul, "It is not ourselves that we proclaim; we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake." (2 Corinthians 4:5 NEB) We do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus. We are not called to be the example of moral perfection and total obedience to the will of God. Christ is the example. Nobody else, by the life they live, has ever come close to revealing God the Father in the supreme manner that Jesus did. And we are not to point others to our own accomplishments either. We are not to call attention to what we are doing at all, but to what Christ is doing in us and through us and with us.
Christ is the example that we are to follow. If I compare my life with that of some drunk in the gutter, since my sins on the surface are less obvious than his, I might appear to be a far better person. But when I compare my life to the example of Christ, then it becomes obvious that, as a Christian, I still have a lot of growing to do. The Gospel of John says that only a few received Christ, but to those who did receive him, he gave the power to become children of God. That's where I am right now! I am an ordinary human being on the way to becoming an extraordinary person, because of the power of Christ in my life. I am an unfaithful son of God in the process of becoming a true son of God, thanks to the one who loved me so much that he gave his life for me. I have often thought that I should wear a sign around my neck that states, "Please be patient: Christ hasn't finished with me yet!" I am an unfinished product of God's love. I am full of faults and shortcomings. I have a list of sins that need forgiving often. But at least I am headed in the right direction. Because of Christ, I have a destiny to fulfill.
Here is the secret of how we can lead others to Christ by the example that we set and therefore be salt and light for the world. Let them see you turning to Christ. They'll be inspired to deeper commitment. We can live such a life of victory in Christ that we will actually make other people want what we have. We can show others the difference Christ makes in a human life - by preaching Christ, not self. Let it be your business to offer people Christ through the life that you live daily. The example that we are to give is that of what it is like to be a forgiven sinner, by claiming our own personal and continuing need for the grace of God - not by hypocritically disclaimning any such need. We are to be witnesses to the unearned love and transforming power of God that is always available to us in Christ. We are not to speak as one who has already arrived, but as one who is still pressing toward the mark; still very much on the way. Amid in this manner, we become a letter from Christ to the world.
FOOTNOTES
1 Harry Denman, "Witness and Live," Tract #DOO9T, published by Tidings, Nashville, Tennessee.
2 Ewart C. Watts, Bench Marks of Faith, p. 71, Tidings, Nashville, Tennessee, 1974.
3 E. Stanley Jones, Victory Through Surrender, p. 46, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971. (apex ed) 1961.
