Matthew 28:16-22

Matthew 28:16-20

The First Great End: Proclaim The Gospel

July 23 2006

As Sally and I have been preparing for our move in August, I have been praying and thinking a lot about what messages God would have me bring to you these last few weeks we have together – and I have been struck with the feeling that God would have us to look at what it means to be a Church – what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.

To do this, I want to look at one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book Of Order – which has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”.  Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (G-1.0200) 

 

These are great words!  They also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing. 

You see – the Church is not about the building – it’d not about the Minister  – it’s about God – it’s about Christ – it’s about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lay out for us. If Wentworth Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then it will have to be a Church that is committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

Listen to them again:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (G-1.0200)

6 “Great Ends”. 

6 things that help define  for us what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.

Since it just so happens that we have 6 weeks before Sally and I move – we have just the time we need to look at these “Great Ends” – and see what the Presbyterian Church here in Wentworth needs to do to be the Church God calls it to be!  

1.      the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

2.      the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

3.      the maintenance of divine worship

4.      the preservation of the truth

5.      the promotion of social righteousness

6.      the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world

The first of these “Great Ends” is   the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.

Listen to how Jesus commands us to do this:

READ  Matthew 28:16-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” Jesus says – “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

This is what it means to proclaim the gospel. 

It means that those who know about Jesus – those who have been saved by God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ – need to commit themselves to telling those who do not know about Jesus – or do not live as God calls us to live – about God’s great live.

Those who know telling those who don’t know.

Some call this Evangelism.

I believe it should be the first task – the first “Great End” of the Church.

I read this week about an abbot of a monastery who called a novice into his office and instructed him to give the homily at the next morning’s chapel.

Well, the novice was struck with fear – but the abbot insisted.

So the next morning at chapel he stood in the pulpit with his hands trembling — his knees knocking – and his voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke – and then he asked a question:

“Do you know what I’m going to say?” They had no idea, so all of their heads shook “no” almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. The novice said, “Neither do I. Let’s stand for the benediction.”

Well, the abbot did not appreciate this. He called the young novice into his office and said, “You must do this. It’s for your own good. Tomorrow is your day again. Be prepared, and this time do it right.”

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook — his knees knocked – and his voice trembled. After a long pause he again asked:  “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good idea. All of their heads went up and down – “Yes” – they thought they knew what he was going to say.

“Then there’s no need for me to tell you” the novice said. “Let’s stand for the benediction.”

The abbot was now very angry. He brought the young novice into his office and said, “If you do that again, you are going to be in solitary confinement, bread and water for thirty days and any other punishment that I can think of. Tomorrow morning give the homily; do it right.”

Well, the third day, all the monks were there to hear what he would say, and it was, again, almost an exact repeat. He stood, trembled, voice quivered; and after the long silence, he asked, “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads up and down. Yes, we know. But the other half noticed the switch from day to day, and they really weren’t sure what was going to happen; and so they shook their heads back and forth. No, we don’t.

The novice observed this, then said, “Let those who know tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction.”

Friends – that is a simple definition of evangelism. It’s a simple definition of this first “Great End” of the Church – the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. 

It’s a simple definition of evangelism: Those who know telling those who don’t.

Those who know telling those who don’t.

A simple definition, but an inadequate one.

A more fully Biblical definition of evangelism –- of the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — is making more disciples for Jesus Christ.

The word “evangelism” is actually almost a transliteration from Greek. The Greek word was euangelion, but the pronunciation has become blurred when brought into English.

The prefix eu means “good.”

We’ve brought that over into English as well. We go to a funeral and you hear a “eulogy”, which is two Greek words—the words for good and word. It is a good word about the person who has died. Or we speak of a “euphemism” as sort of a good way of saying something about something that maybe isn’t very good.

The rest of the word euangelion – the  angelion part –  we’ve also brought over into English because we speak about “angels” as messengers. The Greek word is the word for “message.” So euangelion — or “evangelism” — is the good message or the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ.

Now, interestingly, the word “evangelism” is never used in the New Testament, at least not as people use it today. To many people, evangelism means telling about Jesus and that’s all it means — but that was never all it meant in the Bible. That is only the beginning of evangelism.

Let’s think about it this way – suppose you walk out of Church this morning and there was a stranger standing outside who said to you, “How do I get to Eden?” and you respond: “Well, get in your car.” That might be good advice – but it is inadequate. You also need to tell them which direction to go – where to turn – etc.   

Thus – the beginning of evangelism is the information about Jesus Christ, how to get into Him and to Him; but there is much more. Evangelism also needs to be persuading a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The beginning of the first “Great End” of the Church – the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — is the information about Jesus Christ, how to get into Him and to Him; but there is much more.  The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind also needs to be persuading a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus defined it for us in Matthew 24:18-20: 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations — baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

So, a disciple is someone who has been taught to obey all that Christ commands. Now – it’s important to realize that a disciple isn’t someone who does all that Christ commands, because it may take a lifetime to learn all the things that He’s going to command us and no one will ever perfectly do God’s will – but a disciple is someone who has made the commitment: “Whatever Jesus says I promise in advance that I will try to do.”

Evangelism.

The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

This means convincing someone to be the kind of a follower of Jesus Christ who will try to do all that Jesus tells us to do.

Being an Evangelist is something like being a salesperson. A salesperson is not only the one who shows the product, but the one who closes the sale – who gets the signature on the contract — the down payment – and makes sure that the delivery is made. An evangelist is a person who talks about Jesus and the Good News of Jesus Christ — but also closes the sale, persuades the person to take delivery of Jesus Christ into their life, who makes a commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord.

There are some who have made a distinction between evangelism and discipleship, and it’s helpful to distinguish between them at times. It’s sort of like the difference between obstetrics and pediatrics, or birthing a child and raising a child. But the distinction is really not a biblical one. It’s a human way of thinking. In God’s way of describing it, it’s all connected together.

To truly “proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind” we have to be committed to telling the Good News of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ – and committed to helping others become followers of Christ.

What does it mean to be the Church God calls us to be?

First – it means being committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

Committed to evangelism.

In other words, the reason that the Wentworth Presbyterian exists should be to persuade more people to be disciples of Jesus Christ — committed to Him, believing in Him, agreeing to try to do whatever He asks.

We don’t do it for ourselves. We don’t do it for the church, and we don’t do it for the people. We do it for Jesus Christ. And so, if Wentworth Presbyterian makes more disciples for Jesus Christ, then you have fulfilled your purpose and reason for being; if you don’t, then you haven’t.

There are many countries around the world where it’s okay to be a Christian, but you can’t be about the work of evangelism – persuading someone else to become a Christian. In fact, in some countries it’s against the law.

I read some time ago about two men from the Republic of the Philippines who were in a Middle Eastern nation, in a private home, and they were persuading people to become Christians. The religious police arrived, raided the house, and arrested them. They were convicted and sentenced to death. So there are countries which say, “Sure, we have religious freedom to be whatever you want to be, but you cannot evangelize. You cannot persuade someone else.”

In the People’s Republic of China, the largest nation in the world – - a billion people strong – there is a church that is sanctioned by the government where Christians are allowed to worship. It is called the T-Self Church. It’s in a beautiful old building, built around the turn of the last century. They have beautiful worship and good fellowship.  This is the only place the government allows Christians to worship and there are over 50 million Christians in China — so you would think that there would be many people worshipping at this Church. But this is not the case. You see — the government does not allow them to evangelize. The government tells them – in effect — “You can do your thing as long as your thing doesn’t include persuading somebody else.” About 50 million Christians in the People’s Republic of China have chosen not to be part of the T-Self Church, and they meet in house churches, against government orders, because they’re convinced you can’t be a Christian unless you evangelize. They say that the two go together; and if you don’t evangelize, you’re not a Christian. They would say that those who are in the T-Self church are really not Christians, as far as the New Testament definition is concerned.

But — evangelism really makes no sense at all to many Christians. Many have the feeling:

“You believe what you believe; I believe what I believe. We’re all okay. Let’s just leave each other alone. It’s a private thing. You don’t mess with somebody else’s religion.” 

But – if we are going to be the people God calls us to be – if we are going to be the Church God wills for us to be – if the Wentworth Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for the Wentworth Presbyterian Church to be – then you are going to have to value evangelism – telling others about Jesus and making disciples for Jesus – committed to

The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. 

You can be like the T-Self Church in China – have good services in a beautiful, old, historic building – but not reaching out into the community to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind – and not really being the Church God calls you to be – and not grow – - or you can be a Church that is committed to evangelism – committed to proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind – committed to what God wills for this Church to be doing.

To truly be a Christian is to truly value evangelism – to truly value the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

There are a lot of reasons for this – but let’s look at several of them. 

The first reason we need to truly value evangelism — the first reason we need to truly value the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – is because God truly values it.

A Christian is someone who adopts God’s values. As Christian individuals – as a Church – we are to adopt the values of God – and God has set a high value on evangelism. He gave His Son’s life for this good news. He has ordered us to make disciples. So, you can’t read the Bible and come to any other conclusion but that this is a big deal to God, that God counts evangelism to be really important. And what is important to God is important to somebody who’s a Christian. What is important to God is important to the Church.  If for no other reason, we would say we value evangelism – we value the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — because God values it.

But there are other reasons.

Another reason we value evangelism – another reason we value the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of human kind – is because we’ve been evangelized — we have had the gospel proclaimed to us. Somewhere, from someone, we heard about Jesus Christ. We discovered for ourselves that receiving Jesus Christ changes life!  Out of that experience, we want to persuade others.

Marketing — or advertising – are good things, but are ultimately not as powerful in persuading people to try a product as those who are already “sold” on the product telling others about it.

Here is an example:

Some years ago my Dad – at that point a retired lawyer – asked me: “Have you read John Grisham’s new book?” I said, “I’ve never heard of John Grisham.” “Well, you ought to read his book called The Firm.” I had never heard of it. I had never seen it reviewed. So I went out and bought it to keep Dad happy; at least I could tell him I bought it. I started to read it, and I read it straight through.  I then read another of his novels — A Time To Kill.  I then read any book by John Grisham I could get my hands on – and have just finished The Testament. John Grisham has written many books – and at one time the paperback best seller in the United States was by John Grisham, — as well as the hardcover best seller.  That has never happened before in history, and it’s not because of advertising, not because of the publisher’s clever marketing plan, but because somebody liked the book. I guess a lot of people liked the book and told other people, until millions of these books have been sold. I know I fell in love with John Grisham’s books because Dad loved them – and told me about them.

As, Christians, we are to be people who like Jesus. People who have experienced Him, and then tell somebody else about it. It doesn’t take a newspaper ad. It doesn’t take a review in a magazine. Evangelism is people who like Jesus and have experienced him telling other people — until it has spread to thousands and millions and tens of millions and hundreds of million and more.

I suppose we should add a third reason for valuing evangelism – a third reason we value the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – and that is that, as Christians, we value other people. We don’t want them to be ignorant of God. We don’t want them to be isolated from God.  We don’t want them to be lost.

Maybe you’ve seen T – Shirt that says: “Friends don’t let friends go to hell.” You may not want to wear that to work tomorrow morning, but you get the idea. When you care about other people, you value evangelism. You value proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind. You value their knowing about Jesus Christ.

So – if this Church is going to be the Church God wants it to be, the first thing you are going to have to commit yourself to is evangelism – proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind

Let me give you a few suggestions on how to do this.  

One is to pray.

Just pick three people whom you think are not Christians and pray for them every day. Pray that they become Christians, but also pray for their families, for their jobs, for finance and health and cars and house and apartment or whatever the issues of their lives may be. Pray for them for a year.

There was a fascinating study based in Los Angeles County during the Olympics, where thousands of people committed to praying for others within Los Angeles County. They never dreamed that one of the correlations made was that, during that period, there was a drop in the crime rate in Los Angeles County—by more than 50 percent! Out of that has come a group in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that is doing this rather sophisticated correlation. They recruit people in counties all over the United States, and those people sign on to pray for three people for a period who live in their county. They ask that it be somebody else in the county, so that they can follow up a statistical correlation between the number of people who are praying and evaluating the crime rate within that particular county.

What if the members of Wentworth Presbyterian were each to decide privately to pray for three other people in our county? That’s something we could all do.

There are lots of other examples. We can find them all over the place if we’re looking for them, and we can plan ahead, think it through and say, Here is a way that I could connect with somebody else in beginning the process of evangelism, of persuading them to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

It’s looking for as many ideas and opportunities as possible for evangelism to be valued and for evangelism to be practiced, each of us in our own lives but all of us connected together as the church of Jesus Christ. So let us be truly Christian in the way we value evangelism, but also in the way we do evangelism.

That is what you will need to do if this Church is going to be the Church God calls you to be.

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (G-1.0200)

The first Great End is to proclaim the Gospel.

Amen.