This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s in Maybole,
Ayrshire, Scotland on the 2nd November 2014
(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Summary: We are all called to preach the gospel, and be a witness for Christ; yet many find this difficult, I especially, so how do we proceed in this high calling. Read on!!!
Joshua 3:7-17 Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Matthew 23:1-12
“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Disclaimer
Today we continue our study into Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, where the theme of today’s service is on being a witness for Christ or Evangelism. This is a difficult teaching and open to interpretation; … and I can only give you my views of this calling … although I will be constantly referring to Paul’s letters. … I am personally rather cautious on this subject, so please don’t be offended if your views are differ, we can still respect each other.
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
You remember our labour and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers.
Introduction
In my sermon two weeks ago, we looked at the church at Thessalonica in Northern Greece that was established by Paul and his disciples, and at the background of this church in a city full of greed, vice and corruption. Yet against all odds, Paul managed to preach the gospel … where many were converted to the Lord, putting behind them all their old ways.
But it wasn't all success, as the church came under great persecution from establishment, the Jews … who accused them of heresy. … In fact; it became so heated that Paul was forced to flee for his life to Athens … and it was here he sent Timothy to go and check on the Thessalonians and to report back, and this is his letter of response.
So from chapter 1 we see that Paul was delighted by this church, and despite persecution, they were still witnessing their faith to others. 1st Thessalonians 1 verse 8 says “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia … your faith in God has become known everywhere. So they really were a remarkable church.
But every church that belongs to the Lord can be a remarkable church if they strive to do the Lord's will … although we know that not every church will accomplish the same results; nor will every church grow large in numbers. In fact some of the Lord’s most successful churches in the world today are made up of just a few members; because it is not the size of the congregation that is important, but it is the development and faithfulness of its members to do what Lord wants, that bring him all the honour and glory.
This week we look at how Paul lived his life, and how that made him an example for others, to follow, that we too may become effective witnesses for the Lord.
Verses 9 & 10 says, "For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you … we preached unto you the gospel of God. … Ye are witnesses and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe”:
From this text we see a three part building plan on how to be an effective witness that others may be inspired … and I am aware the we have acquired some of these virtues … and what I am about to speak may not be your particular calling … nor mine.
1. Our lives in the community.
We start by looking at how others see “the way we live”. … Now Paul had established the church at Thessalonica some years previous to this letter … he knew the area well and he knew the type of people that lived there, some of which were con artists and charlatans … and this made things difficult for Paul … because as an apostle he had every right to request that the church support him financially.
However, under those circumstances, Paul didn't want anything to get in the way of the Gospel, so he went back to his old trade of making and repairing fishing nets; which means … he worked during the day mending nets and … preached the gospel when the opportunity arose. He did not preach the Gospel first and mend nets when requested as he probably wished.
You see, Paul fitted in with the society first, and that way he could claim that he was the genuine article; and needed to work like everyone else … and this gives us hope that we too can be useful to the Lord while working, welcoming any opportunity to spread the word or do his bidding.
A quote from an Elizabeth Dole, an ex-US Senator, summed this up nicely by saying, "My grandmother practiced what she preached, and lived her life for others. When it became necessary for her, ( in her 90's), she would welcome the opportunity to go into a nursing home, hoping to find some people there who don’t know the Lord, that she could witness too."
And we do the same, probably unknown to us, because Sigmund Freud once said, that everyone has secrets that they want to hide from others; but to discover them, all we need to do is watch and study the way a persons lives, from which you can actually tell by their actions, (normally small insignificant actions), what secrets lie within; … because every action they take, no matter how small, reflects something within their personality; their inner being.
So to take that one stage further, and if we are living for the Lord, deep within … we cannot but help communicate the Lords love to others, as they witness our actions first hand. So our lifestyles do dictate what we believe, and we cannot but help being a witness for Christ, and I take comfort from that.
2. The way we talk to others
There is so much I can say about the way we live ... but I will need to move on to the second way we can witness … and that is by our speech … and here we run into controversy; and I feel I must say at this stage, if evangelism is not your calling, don't, as there are so many other ways in which we can reach out to people and serve the Lord.
We all have natural talents and gifts that are unique to us, and therefore we should encourage each other to appreciate them and use them wisely. Now, many churches encourage it members to preach the word at every opportunity, and I mean every single opportunity whether it is fitting or not, and I have seen it time and time again somebody ramming the bible down some poor bodies throat, whether they want it, or are receptive or not … and I have seen this putting people off for life. …
In fact I could name five people off the top of my head that will never attend a church service again due to insensitivity, and bullying tactics, all in the name of the Lord. I thank God for this church because Christine herself was once at the receiving end of this, and it seriously put her off church for many years. I too have even been on the receiving end of this … and my mother and father as well, my father especially who was the treasurer for the church across the road for 60 years was seriously deterred from walking further in the Lord due to some clowns insensitivity at a Full Gospel Businessmen’s Meeting I took him too many years ago.
We need to get the balance right; … as we all know that there are others who are so gifted in the area of evangelism, who can lead people to the Lord in a simple pleasant conversation over a cup of tea. It is not a contest to see how many people we can convert to Christ, but our gifts practiced wisely, provide a structure to support and sustain the body of Christ in every area of Christianity. Every sincere Christian has there own "thing" to give … and if we were all good at evangelism, what would we do with the people once they were converted to the lord; … where would they go from there?
Paul however had a passion, to reach out to people who had never heard of the Gospel … it was his calling … that is what he wanted to do … that is what he lived for … that was what he was good at. Me on the other hand, I love to teach the scriptures or the Gospels, but I can only do that to those who know the Lord, and want to know more. I couldn't give one of my sermons to someone who does not believe. There is a place for all of us, as we all have different skills; … yes we can all double up when necessary, but each to his own.
And talking about doubling up, if evangelism is not for you, do not worry; your words will still convey the love of the Lord without you realising it. Did you read for example, the story about the little boy who returned home after his first Sunday school class and his mother asked, "Who was your teacher today", and the little boy answered, "I don’t remember her name, but she must have been Jesus’ grandmother, because she didn’t talk about anyone else."
Yes there are times when it pays to let the conversation drift to relate to people, that way we make them comfortable, and during such a conversation our speech will reflect our take on life, and if we love the Lord, we cannot help it, it will show through naturally.
Yes I am showing caution here, but I have seen this handled so badly, and I have seen the damage done to both parties as a result. In this day and age, I personally feel that we have to be careful; … look at the way we ourselves treat Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons et al. Ok, we are not rude to them, but we are not the slightest bit interested in what they are selling us. … To many people, Christianity is just another do gooder chapping on our door looking for something, or worse, telling them how they should lead their lives according to us who will then judge them. Or force them to join our church with the phrase “you will be made welcome”. You know, you do not see it, but you could imaging the evangelist rubbing their hands, and saying, “come into my parlour … said the spider to the fly”. Can you see why a lot of people who probably are receptive but are easily put off.
The difference with Paul from what I can see is that he operated in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he demonstrated the Holy Spirit at work. Can we do that? Now I sure you all have your own testimonies of the Holy Spirit, but demonstrating that power to a non believer is difficult. Even communicating our experiences with the Lord needs handled with care, or it will be seriously taken out of context, to our detriment.
III. YOUR BEHAVIOR SHOULD MIRROR THE WORD OF GOD.
But enough of this negativity for now, as this takes us on to our third and last method of witnessing for God's word and that is by our behaviour, and again … I have said it so many times before … there is nothing like strength through humility to inspire confidence in others … because the world just does not understand the power behind putting others first, and being able to do that with confidence.
This really sets us apart; and yes to some it looks completely stupid, so again it too must be handled with care and confidence, because our culture today is not the slightest bit interested in being a witness for anybody, other than themselves.
Verse 10 "You are witnesses and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe".
Paul is telling us that his behaviour is a testimony to his faith, and here he called some witnesses as proof. His first witness is God himself, to prove that his inner motives were pure; and as your know, God is the best witness to verify our motives because he alone can see the intent of our hearts; so before God Paul said, "my motives are pure".
On top of Paul calling God to be his witness, he also asked the Thessalonian believers themselves to recall how he acted in their presence, verse 11, "As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children". Paul is saying, “do you remember my honesty and hard work". He called them to remember and witness his behaviour, as an ambassador of God … and this means that we also leave our behaviour wide open to scrutiny as God's witness, and that is not an easy place to be.
So to tie all this up, we must ask ourselves, is our behaviour in line with God's Word and honouring too Him? Is our attitude inspiring towards others, and uplifting in our community? Do we witness for the Lord, and preach the Gospel of grace?
To be honest … we do our best, don't we? … We try … and sometimes we succeed, but more often or not, we fail. But do we give up, NO, because we keep on trying because he is in us. It would be so easy to condemn ourselves here … but we are constantly doing our best, and when we fail, we pick ourselves up and try again … which means we are living for the Lord … … to an extent. We are nowhere near Paul's level, but we have made a start and we are determined to succeed despite the knock backs. If we are not, we would have given up ages ago … and we certainly would not be here this morning.
Witnessing or evangelism is a very high calling, and I for one do struggle with it … but in truth we all need help, support and encouragement that can only come from the Lord.
Here is a prayer I discovered on the Internet which is relevant, and shows the commitment required by evangelists, it is called the Knights Prayer, "My Lord, I am ready on the threshold of this new day to go forth armed with thy power; seeking adventure on the high road … to right the wrong … to overcome evil … to suffer wounds and endure pain if need be … but in all things to serve thee bravely … faithfully … joyfully … that at the end of the day's labour … kneeling for thy blessing … that thou may find no blot upon my shield".
We seriously need effective witnesses for the Lord, witnesses with that kind of passion. We have a world of lost people, wounded and dying from sin, that only the Lord can heal, and being an effective witness means that we must have a commitment for them, that they may be restored.
Evangelism it is not about getting more people to attend our church; (which admittedly is a good start, it is also politically good) but true evangelism it is about getting people to submit themselves to the Lord, and letting him take charge of their lives … and let him do the healing and restoring; once they realise that we, nor they, can do it for themselves.
Let us pray.
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died to set us free … that you are in charge of our lives.
Father we all know that we are called to witness to Christ our Lord, but we also know some of us are better, and more equipped than others.
Father we need to know what you want us to do; we need you to let us know what our individual gifts and callings are so that we may focus and develop them for your benefit.
Father we also need to know where we fit into your kingdom and what you want us to do … so that we maybe comfortable with ourselves know we are where you want us to be, so that this comfort and strength rubs of on those whom we meet, or minister too.
Father we pray also for Russell Brownworth and his congregation, whose inspiration helped me start and complete this complex sermon.
Father, we ask in Jesus name, Amen.
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed by this sermon, or any of my sermons, I would be greatly honoured to receive an e-mail from you saying so; I like so many others need encouragement.
I often feel that to deliver a sermon one time to my congregation is such a waste; where as many more could be blessed by its message, after all, it is not for my glory but for his. I would therefore like my sermons to bless more people, preferably internationally and not only in a small part, of a small country called Scotland.
Simply let me know where you are in the world … and any other information you may want to share or be prayed for. I would also take it as a compliment for you to use my sermons in order to bless others in his almighty name. I do not even need acknowledged, but he does, and I will receive a blessing directly from him.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and I wish you "all the best" as we say in Scotland … and I pray that your endeavours in the Lord are equally blessed. Yours in Christ, Gordon McCulloch, Scotland.
Compiled By: Gordon McCulloch (Worship Leader),
St Oswalds Episcopal Church,
Maybole. Ayrshire.
Scotland. UK
KA19 8KF
E-Mail: gccmcculloch @ aol.com or through Sermon Central
