The Pastor/Spouse retreat Sue and I attended last week was an incredibly rich time. We got to hear a wonderful speaker and learned to know 50 other pastors and spouses a little better. I want to tell you what happened on Monday night as we heard stories about what God is doing in other congregations. Because our congregations are so scattered, we don’t often get to hear what goes on in other churches in our district, but the hour we spent listening to each other was powerful.
• For example, some members of the Mansfield Church got together and decided to invite four other churches to put on a meal and entertainment to raise money to help the Black River congregation rebuild after their fire.
• At another church, a teenager who was the only one attending from her family introduced her parents to Jesus. They started to attend and were baptized.
• At the new church near Toledo that is reaching out to a trailer court, three people who had often shared their pipe while using drugs, shared the same water in baptism just a couple of weeks ago.
People are being introduced to Jesus all across northern Ohio.
One story in particular caught my attention - the story of 3 brothers. A man named Dave put his faith in Christ about a year ago, and became active in a church east of here. His life changed so remarkably that when his daughter met the pastor, she asked, “What did you do to my dad? He’s a different man from what he used to be.”
Pastor: “We didn’t do anything. Jesus can change people, though.”
Daughter: “No, but you don’t understand. He’s not the same man. You guys have done something to him.”
Pastor: “No. You don’t understand. When a man meets Jesus, Jesus can change him. And he can change you, too, if you let him.”
But that isn’t all. One night last fall, that pastor went to a football game. Dave was sitting by his brother Warren, who would have nothing to do with the church. But when Dave saw the pastor he motioned him to come and sit with them. Warren was not enthused and he made it known.
However, a few weeks later Warren started coming to church and he too accepted Christ as his savior.
These two had a 3rd brother, Derwin. The truth is that these brothers did not get along well. Before Christ began to change these men they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together. They would feud and fight and their families were a mess. Then Derwin contracted cancer and things were not looking good for him.
Last Sunday, Warren, who until a few months ago was opposed to anything religious, and who had been on the outs with his brother, but who had now forgiven and been forgiven, came to the altar at the end of the service, weeping, and he said, “If there would be any way I could take this cancer in the place of my brother, I would.” That is how much Jesus had changed this man.
On Thursday, I called the pastor to get a few details for this story and I learned that Derwin had died the night before, the night of our Ash Wednesday service. Somebody had introduced Jesus to that family and that made all the difference.
I don’t think I need to remind you that the most important thing we are about here at Elm Street is introducing people to Jesus, whether they are friends, family, or neighbors. Our mission statement calls us “to help ourselves and others walk the path of righteousness, peace and harmony the way Jesus wants us to live.” And we want to be faithful in doing that.
We are on a journey through the books of the Bible and we have just begun the gospel of John. Last Sunday, Earl preached from the 14th chapter about keeping our hearts free from trouble through peace, power, and perseverance.
The Gospel of John was written to introduce Jesus to the world. Today, if you are old enough to read, I want to ask you to open your Bible. Many of you have a Bible of your own just like the one in the chair ahead of you. Bring it with you every Sunday so you can mark important words and ideas. In addition, I encourage you to read in the book of John as we journey toward Easter. John is one of the easiest books of the Bible to read. The vocabulary is simple; the stories are interesting. God led John to write it to introduce Jesus to us.
Right now let’s go to the end of the book: John 20:30,31. Here John records his purpose for writing this gospel. What does John want his readers to do? (Believe). John not only wanted to make sure that his readers knew about Jesus, what he said and what he did, he wanted them to know Jesus, to believe in him, so they could have life in the name of Jesus. That is why it is so important to introduce Jesus to our world today.
Chapter 1 is just the first step, but that is where we are going to begin. So let’s go back to Chapter 1 and take a look at three ways in which Jesus is introduced.
1. God’s Introduction of Jesus. What are the first 3 words? “In the beginning.” Where else can you find those words? (Gen. 1). Do you know the rest of that verse? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
James Weldon Johnson, a black poet, said it this way in his poem CREATION.
And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I’m lonely --
I’ll make me a world.
And far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights
Down in a cypress swamp.
Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said: That’s good!
You can find the rest of that poem in a literature book or on the WWW. When God introduces Jesus he goes way back to the beginning, back before space and time existed. Doesn’t that just blow your mind? John Calvin said in the 16th century, “These verses say much more than our minds can take in.”
We can’t unpack everything here, but note that Jesus is introduced as the Word. What does that mean? We probably don’t think about it much, but among other things, words are powerful. If I want to get you up out of your chairs, all I have to say is “Stand up.” Leaders in history have inspired us with their words. Who can forget what MLK said as he stood in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, “I have a dream.” When God said, “Let there be light,” what happened? There was light. But God chose to communicate his love to us through the most powerful Word available, his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus not only spoke God’s word for him, he became God’s word wrapped in flesh.
And that is just a start. Take a look at the other phrases that introduce Jesus in these first 18 verses. All of them are themes you will find again and again in John.
v. 4. In him was life. Watch for this word in John. You will find it 35 times. Within each of us God has planted a desire to live – not just a long life, not just a physical life, but a full life, a meaningful life. Jesus is the source of that kind of life. There is no substitute.
v. 4. And the life was the light of all people. Here is another word to watch for. When people are blind, they live in darkness. You may know people who are blind to spiritual things. Maybe you are wandering around, unable to see God’s direction for you. But as the song says, Jesus can open the eyes of our hearts.
v. 12 To all who believed he gave power to become children of God. Power is the word Earl talked about last Sunday. It is like the dynamite of God within us. If it weren’t for the power and energy of Jesus to overcome evil, we could never become a part of the family of God.
v. 14. The Word became flesh and lived among us. It is more than we can comprehend to think that Jesus, glorious and wonderful as he is, would stoop to take on human form, flesh and blood, and live among us. But just as missionaries go to live with people they don’t know, Jesus came to live with us, because God is a missionary God.
v. 14. He was full of grace and truth. Watch for these words in the stories in John.
If it weren’t for Jesus, we would not know what God is like. V.18 says that God’s Son has made him known. What a way for God to introduce Jesus. Is that the way you know Jesus? Have you become alive? Have you asked him to strip away the darkness and fill your heart with light? He can and he will if you let him.
2. John the Baptist’s introduction of Jesus. Follow on down from vv. 19 to 34. Here we see how John the Baptizer introduced Jesus. Remember that God called John to begin preaching in the wilderness, to let people know that the Messiah was coming, the one who could sweep sin aside and conquer evil. When they began asking John who he was, he finally says in v. 23, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness…” He wasn’t claiming anything for himself. “I’m just a voice,” he says. He has no reputation, no status of his own. He is only a voice, a pipsqueak for Jesus. He doesn’t even use his own words. He borrows them from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40, if you want to write it down.
But the next day when John saw Jesus coming, he said (v.29) “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” If there is any sickness that needs to be healed, any barrier that need to be broken down, any problem that needs to be solved, it is the matter of sin because sin is what separates us from God.
How does our sin get taken care of? Before Jesus came, people took care of their sins by offering a lamb on the altar. When we were visiting Turkey several years ago, we saw shepherds driving their flocks of sheep through the city. It must have been a similar scene as John introduced Jesus to the people around him. Out of the corner of their eyes they could see the lambs that would be sacrificed for their sin. But straight ahead of them was the one whose life would be sacrificed for the sin of the world.
If it weren’t for Jesus, John could not have said v. 29, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” What a way to introduce Jesus. Is that the way you know him? If not, why not hand over your sin to him and ask for forgiveness. The red papers on the cross here represent the sins that people nailed to the cross last Wednesday evening. If you didn’t get a chance to do that, I’ll give you that opportunity in a few moments. God offers you forgiveness.
3. A disciple’s introduction of Jesus. Turn now to the last two paragraphs of this chapter. We saw how God has introduced Jesus. Then we saw how John the Baptist introduced Jesus. But he wasn’t done. In v. 36 he introduced Jesus to two men. “Look, here is the Lamb of God,” he said. One man was named Andrew. The other is not named, but was almost certainly John, the writer of this gospel. And these two men stayed with Jesus most of the day. If you want to know Jesus, you need to spend time with him.
From this point, the numbers start to increase. In v. 41, we see that Andrew gets his brother and says “We have found the Messiah.” Sometimes he is called Simon, sometimes Peter, and sometimes Simon Peter. But note that Andrew started with his family.
Then in v. 45, Philip found Nathanael, who was skeptical. He is the one who asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Some of you may know people like that, people who wonder what you find in following Jesus. What do you say? You can use the words Philip used, “Come and see.” Just invite them to come and see what you have experienced. It will be more effective than sending a pastor.
Sue and I are committed to helping people in this neighborhood know who Jesus is. Every so often, someone will listen to what we have to say and accept our invitation. But let’s face it. They expect that Sue and I will do that. They think that is what we get paid for. But researchers have found that 85% of new Christians come because of the witness of a friend, family member, or neighbor. One writer put it, “One lighted torch serves to light another.”
Now it is your turn. Maybe you know someone who needs to be introduced to Jesus and you want to dedicate yourself to that task. During the music, I invite you to come and pray for that person and for faithfulness in sharing Jesus.
Maybe you have heard the introduction and invitation of Jesus and you want to embrace his forgiveness. I invite you to come and give yourself to him. Someone will pray with you.
Maybe you just want a chance to nail your sin or your burden to the cross. I invite you to come and do that now.
