Ablaze: Know Your Turf

Pastor Ron Burcham

Sunday, June 4, 2006

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well, it's time again. It's time for the summer blockbusters at the theaters. Right? Hollywood , each and every year, rolls out what it hopes to be Oscar contenders and they usually do it at the front part of the summer. Now I know the season has really kind of already begun. We have Mission Impossible III that's already out there. X-Men III came out last weekend. There's something about an Italian code or something. I don't know what that one's all about but, at any rate, they're out there. The blockbusters are out there and there are more to come. We have Norwalk 's own going to star in Superman . It's going to come out in a few weeks. We have Pirates of the Caribbean II . We have all kinds of movies that are going to flood the sea screens, and they're all going to be beaconing for us to lay down the cash and come to see them.

But here comes the rub: How do we know which ones to go and see? How do we know which ones are really going to be good movies and which ones are just going to be duds. Now this may not seem like an important question to you, but really it's more of an economic question than anything else. Now you think about it. Are you going to plunk down $8.50 or $8.75 for the ticket? You're going to go inside. What are you going to pay for popcorn? $50 or $60? I don't know. It's ridiculous. All right, so let's say it's an expensive adventure to go to the movies. Therefore, when you go, you want to make sure it's going to be a good show. Well, I don't know what you're going to do. You can look at the paper at the advertisements but they're always able to find some critic, no matter how obscure he may be, who's going to sing the accolades of that movie.

Well, thanks to the Des Moines Register , they came to the rescue. Friday's Iowa Life's riveting article about how you can know the secrets, the insider tips of what Hollywood is thinking is going to be the really good movies that are coming out. For instance, it offered this tidbit. It said, “ Hollywood will often put out a movie they think is going to be a big success the weekend before a holiday weekend.” That way, you talk about it all week long, get a buzz going, and then you flood the theaters on the holiday weekend. Another little tidbit they gave was, “Are the actors who star in the movie talking about the movie?” You see, it said actors work long and hard on the movies they star in and, therefore, they have a lot of ownership in them and they know it's part of their job to work the press, to hit the late night talk shows and all of that. And then it said this quote, “If the actors aren't talking, that means they don't believe in the film and, more than likely, it's a stinker.”

That's interesting and that made me think. Does that same rule apply to Christianity and Christians? In other words, a non-Christian who is looking at the Christian faith, how are they going to judge, how are they going to know whether that's something which is for them or not? Whether they're going to know Christianity is something which is appealing to them, whether Christianity is going to meet their needs, and somehow that's going to be important to them. How do they know whether Christianity is really right for them? Well, more than likely, they're going to look at Christians. They're going to look at us. They're going to look at believers. And, judging by what we say and what we do, that's going to give them an impression of what Christianity is all about. So what it made me think after reading this article was, if Christians aren't talking, are we giving the impression we don't believe in it and Christianity is a real dud?

Jesus, in the first chapter of the Book of Acts, it's recorded for us, one of the last things He said to His disciples was a command and a promise. The command He gave was really more of a statement of fact. He says, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem , Judea, Samaria , even to the ends of the earth.” But then He gave a premise along with that. He says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” So He makes a statement we will be His witnesses but then He promises we can be powerful witnesses in His name.

Beginning this morning and for the next three weeks, we're going to focus in on what does that mean to be a witness for Jesus. What does it mean that He gives us the command and the promise to be a witness and He empowers us with the Holy Spirit? This morning, we're going to focus in on just the witness aspect of it. But, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to learn how can we be the most effective witnesses God has called us to be?

You are a witness. It's a statement of fact. It isn't a question. It isn't a choice. Jesus says, “You are a witness.” What's important is what led up to this statement of Jesus. For that we have to back up in time just a little bit. Matthew is the one who recorded for us a conversation Jesus was having with His disciples before He made the statement they were going to be His witnesses. Now, if you've been around me at all, you know Matthew 28:18-20 is just a fascinating passage of scripture to me. No matter how many times I read it, I am still astounded each and every time. Just as a refresher, 18 says, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'” Let's just stop right there. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” Jesus says. You can search the scriptures, all of the New Testament, all of the gospels, you will never find another reference where Jesus takes on that kind of authority, where He makes that kind of a bold statement about Himself. When He heals the sick, He doesn't say that. When, all of a sudden, the lame get up and dance home, He doesn't say that. When the lepers come up and they leave cleansed, He doesn't say that. When the blind have sight, when the deaf all of a sudden can hear, even when the dead come back to life, Jesus doesn't say, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, come out of the tomb, Lazarus.” He doesn't say that. Nowhere else in scripture does Jesus preface His words in this way by claiming the authority which was rightfully His. That means whatever He has to say has got to be important. One can almost imagine the disciples crowded around Jesus listening to Him but, even as they're listening to Him, as in most crowds, there's probably a side conversation going on over here. There's a little chit chat going on over here. Then Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” And all of a sudden, silence. The mouths closed and the ears opened up. Jesus doesn't talk this way. Jesus doesn't claim this kind of authority. What's He going to say? What's so important? And Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

God is announcing here how He's going to spread the good news of salvation. This is the tactic in which God is going to use to spread the news of Jesus, the forgiveness and the salvation that can only be found in His name. God isn't going to surround the earth with legions of angels that will announce Jesus and all He has done. God isn't going to have His Son stay in this world and traverse the globe for years unending preaching about the kingdom of God . No, instead, God has chosen to take His believers and, through them, He will spread the message, the gospel message, to all of humanity for all time. He is entrusting to us, His believers, the responsibility, the privilege of sharing the news of Jesus with the entire world. There's no Plan B. There's only Plan A. Jesus says, “It's up to you. Go and make disciples of all nations.” It is the charge, the Great Commission, the Great Commandment God has given to His church and it's one that was true back then for that handful of disciples that changed the world and it's true for us today. God is still spreading the news of His kingdom through us, through believers, through His church. The work is not done. In fact, it will not be done until Jesus returns. God is still spreading His message through us. The Command, the Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” is still relevant for us today.

You know, at least three or four times a year, someone will say to me, “You know, just how big does Gloria Dei need to be? How big is Gloria Dei? It's a very large congregation. I know it's a very large congregation. Well, how large does Gloria Dei have to be?” I say, “That's the wrong question.” The question is not how large will Gloria Dei be. The right question is, “Do we still have people around us that do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Do we still have friends, neighbors, relatives, do we still have people in our community we can reach out and touch? Do we still have people who do not have a relationship with Jesus, that do not know of His love, that do not know of His forgiveness, that don't know of the eternal life which is open to all who believe in Him?” If there are still people who don't know Jesus, then our work is not done and our work will not be done until every person, every person, comes to a relationship with Christ and knows His love the same way you and I know His love. That is God's command to us. He's crystal clear about it. There's no wiggle room involved. God says to us, to the church, to us as individuals, go and make disciples of all nations. Then He follows up in Acts 1. How is that going to happen in practical terms? And He says, “You will be my witnesses.” It's going to happen when one person witnesses their faith to another person and, My Friends, you are all witnesses of Jesus and what He has done. By virtue of your belief, by virtue of the faith that is in your heart right now, you are a witness. Because I guarantee you that your friends, your neighbors, your family, they know you're a Christian and that means, as they look at you, you're a reflection of Christ. You're a reflection of what it means to be a Christian. In other words, it's not an optional activity. You can't say, “Well, I don't really want to be a witness. That must be for somebody else.” Or, “I don't like being a witness.” It doesn't matter. You are. The real question is not whether you will be a witness for Christ. The real question is what kind of a witness will you be? And what kind of a witness have you been?

All of us, including myself, need to confess there are times we have been lousy witnesses. Sometimes, have we been an apologetic witness? In other words, we apologize for our faith. Somebody asks us to get involved in something and, instead of standing up firm and relating to them why you won't do that, do you just sort of apologize and say, “Well, no, that's not really my thing. No, I don't think I really want to do that.” We apologize for our faith. Somebody says, “You know what? I have a great tee time at 9:30 on Sunday morning.”

“No, the wife would kill me if I missed church. Yeah. No, it's important to the kids, you know.”

We apologize for our faith instead of standing firm and strong. Or do we become a hostile witness? A hostile witness means we see the world in black and white. That way, we can answer any and every question that might come up to us. We just give one definitive answer and let it go at that. “This is right. That's wrong. This is black and that is white.” Now I'll grant you, there's much in scripture which is black and white, but there is a lot of gray in this life. And do we come off when we are just a hostile witness as being uncaring, uncompromising, unsympathetic, uncompassionate? God doesn't call us to be an apologetic witness nor does He call us to be a hostile witness. God wants us to be a persuasive witness. A persuasive witness. In other words, we meet people where they are. In other words, we relate to them in relevant, in realistic ways, in meaningful ways for their life so the gospel message can get through.

The primary example of that in scripture has to be St. Paul . St. Paul , as you know, was born and raised a Jew. In fact, more than that, he was going to be a Jewish leader. He was on his way to be a Rabbi, soon to be a Pharisee. And yet, what does Paul do when he's given the charge to go out and share the message to be a witness for Jesus? He says in 1 Corinthians 9, “To the weak, I became weak to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so, by all means possible, I might save some.” In other words, St. Paul says, “Whatever it takes. I'm going to communicate to people on their level. I'm going to relate to people where they are.” So if Paul is talking to Jews, then he's going to talk about the Old Testament. And he's going to quote prophesy from the Old Testament and show how Jesus fits in. But when he talks to the Greeks, as he did on Mars Hill, what's he going to do there? They don't know the Old Testament. So he's going to talk logic and reason and he's going to have philosophical discussions with them. It's the same message, but he packages it differently so he can relate to them, so it's relevant for their lives, so the gospel might break through, and they also could experience the love of God as Paul has experienced it. He was a persuasive witness.

You and I need to be persuasive witnesses. That means it's the same message. It is the same gospel, but we will relate to people, we will package it a little bit differently. To the younger, upcoming generations, maybe we have to package it a little bit differently so the message gets through. To the older generation, maybe we package it a little bit differently so it gets through. For everyone in between, we're going to make sure it's relevant, that it's meaningful to them so there are no barriers involved. We want to be a persuasive witness for Christ.

But God doesn't let us do this on our own, because God gives us a promise. Because God says we can be a powerful witness. God says He promised to give us His Holy Spirit. Did you catch that in Acts 1? As Jesus is talking to the disciples and He's telling them what they're going to do, He says, “Now, first of all, just hang tight and chill in Jerusalem .” That's a loose translation. “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised, what you've heard me speak about, for John baptized with water but, in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” And then, in Verse 8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” You're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That's what Jesus promised to the disciples and, if we read on in the Book of Acts, we see how true that is. The disciples did a 180 from where they were.

Case in point, let's look at Peter. Let's back up in time. Let's look at Peter at the time Jesus was arrested. Remember Peter? “I won't deny you. I'll die instead of denying you.” All that stuff Peter said. And what happened to Peter? He's hanging out in the courtyard. Jesus is over there being questioned and slapped around and somebody recognizes Peter as being with Jesus. In other words, Peter was a witness but he didn't want to be a witness, but he didn't have a choice. Because, when they saw Peter, that was a reflection of Jesus because he was a follower of Jesus. And, when confronted with that, Peter was a lousy witness because he cursed and swore he didn't know Jesus and wanted nothing to do with him. That same man, that same man, some 50 days later, all of a sudden, changed a 180. He receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. We'll read about it next week in Acts 2. He receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and now Peter is on the streets of Jerusalem and he is preaching boldly, unashamedly about Jesus Christ being the Son of God and only through Him is salvation found. On that day, scripture says, 3,000 people came to faith. 3,000 people were baptized in the name of Christ because he received the power of the Holy Spirit and that made him a powerful, persuasive witness.

You have the same power. The same spirit has been given to you. Acts 2 after Peter delivers an astonishing sermon, the crowd looks at him and says, “What do we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's in baptism that God gives us the Holy Spirit, at the time when the water was applied to our heads, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God's Holy Spirit entered into your heart. It created faith but He didn't leave. He's still there.

St. Paul , talking about that same spirit when he writes to Timothy, says this, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love, and of self disciple.” We don't have a spirit that's timid. We have a powerful spirit that's living within us. The problem is we don't know it or at least we act like we don't know it. We don't realize the power that is available to us.

A few weeks back, if you were with us, Pastor Meyer was preaching and he showed a clip of the Wizard of Oz . Do you remember that? Do you remember Dorothy? Dorothy is sort of cowering in the corner. She's scared. She's frightened, right? And all she keeps saying is, “I want to go home. I want to go home.” I started thinking about that. You know what, Dorothy wanted to go home through the whole movie, right? From the moment the little house went spinning down and landed on the Wicked Witch of the Wherever, she wanted to go home. And the whole movie was about her wanting to go home. But how did it end? Remember the ending? You know, Glenda comes down, the good witch, right? All dressed in white. Talks condescendingly to Dorothy and she says, “Dorothy, Dorothy, you had the power to go home all along. It's in those gaudy red slippers you have on. Click them together three times and you're home, baby.” In other words, the whole time she was in Oz, she had the power to go home but she didn't know it. She didn't realize the power she had.

Is that the trap we're caught in? We don't realize the power we have? We stand around moping and complaining and making excuses, “Well, I can't be a witness.” In fact, be honest with me, when you found out I was going to talk about being a witness or evangelism, did a chill run up your spine? Did you start to shut down on me? “Oh, no, I can't do that. No, no. I'm not good at talking about my faith. I don't know what to say, for one thing, and I'm liable to say the wrong thing and that could do more damage than good.” We make all kinds of excuses on why we can't talk about our faith and why we can't be a witness.

Well, Folks, it's time to look down and spot the gaudy red slippers and let's start clicking the heels together. Because the power is yours. God has promised the power is yours. He has given you the gift of His Holy Spirit and it is not a timid spirit. It is a powerful spirit and it's time you and I tap into the power God has given to us. Because it's the same powerful spirit that convinced you, the same powerful spirit that entered into your heart and convinced you Jesus is the Son of God, convinced you, although you were filled with guilt and shame of your past, that you could be free from that, you were forgiven in the blood of Jesus, through His death, payment was made. The same spirit that convinced you that one day you will be in heaven above with Him is the same spirit that lives in you and it's the same spirit that will work through you to make you a persuasive and powerful witness.

My Friends, a witness is someone who only tells what they know and what they've experienced personally. It's not some dogmatic dissertation. It's not some doctrinal dialog. It's not about getting it right or about getting it wrong. It's about talking about what God has done for you, how God has changed your life, the difference He makes in your life through the rough times, the joy He gives you in the good times. Witnessing is simply saying what you have experienced, what you know to be true in your life. That's a powerful, persuasive witness. And that's what God has called upon us to be, and we have a big job ahead of us.

Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem , Judea, and Samaria , to the ends of the earth.” In other words, He starts on in Jerusalem . He says, “Start at home, Boys. Start here in Jerusalem . Work through your own community. Then go regional to Judea and Samaria . And after that, go global. Cover the whole earth.” If you look through the Book of Acts, if you read through it, that's exactly what happens. The first few chapters talk about how the church grew in Jerusalem . Acts 2 says God added to their numbers daily. The next few chapters talks about how the church spreads out to Judea and Samaria and how congregations are popping up and more people are coming to faith. It ends with the church reaching Rome and, at that point, Rome was known as the center. In other words, all roads led to Rome . You could get to anywhere into the known world if you were in Rome . So essentially, to the ends of the earth. We start out locally, we go regionally, and then we go global. The same command, the same responsibility, the privilege is ours. We start right here in the western side of Des Moines . We stretch out from that regionally to our state and to our country and then we go global with the message of Jesus and all He has done for us. We are His witnesses in Jerusalem , Judea, and Samaria , to the ends of the earth.

This morning, I want us to focus on where it begins in Jerusalem . Here on the western side of Des Moines . Conservative estimates say 40-50% of our neighbors do not have a church home. 40-50%. Those are conservative numbers of people who claim no affiliation with a church. And maybe they have some sort of a relationship with God, I don't know that. But I do know there is a number that have no relationship with God at all. That means 40-50% of the people around you do not have a relationship with God or, at the very least, do not have a relationship with a church. They need a witness. They need you to be a powerful, persuasive witness in their life. And the time for that to begin is now. It's time for us to reveal our faith to our community. And it starts with a challenge because the challenge I have for this congregation is for each one of you to identify one person you know or an acquaintance that does not have an affiliation with a church, that does not have a church home. Now more than likely, your friends are here at Gloria Dei or they belong to another church so I want you to take some time and, during this next week, identify just one person, one person who does not have a church home. That's all you have to do. If you want to do more than that, great. Then you can start praying for them, praying God would soften their heart, pray God would give you an opportunity to witness to them. But for this week, I challenge to you, and I'm going to talk about it next week just as a forewarning, to identify one person who doesn't have a church home.

Because it begins in Jerusalem . They need a witness. They need us to be a powerful, persuasive witness. Because if we're not talking, what impression does that give?

One more note on the movies. If you're really trying to find a good one, don't read the critics, who cares? Don't look at the newspaper, who knows? Who cares if the actors are talking? They're always talking. Find a trusted friend and if a trusted friend comes up to you and says, “I know you and you would really like this movie,” you're going to go to that movie. And you're probably going to enjoy that movie.

The same is true for Christianity. When a trusted friend comes up to you and says, “This is what my faith means to me and I think it could mean the same to you,” that's a powerful, persuasive witness. Amen.