Sermon Tone Analysis

Twisted

The Contortion of Christian Converting

Jeff Jones, Senior Pastor

September 21~/23, 2007

Matthew 5:14-16

 

Today in our Twisted Series we are going to do something a lot different than normal, because today we are talking about evangelism.

Isn’t that a great word, evangelism?

Today we aren’t just going to talk about it, though.

We are actually going to do it.

I know this will freak some of you out, but you will thank me later.

What we are going to do is send you out in groups to knock on people’s doors in the neighborhood and ask them if they want to talk about God.

We are going to evangelize.

It will be great.

We’ll come back here in about 30 minutes to debrief what happened.

You can do this.

We have little brochure-type things called tracts that let you know what to say, so you don’t have to worry about having just the right words.

This might be a terrible idea, but it might now.

Let’s see what God does.

I’m going to do this by sending people out in sections, so we don’t all go to the same place.

I’m going to ask this section right here down front to stand up, and start going with _________, one of our pastors, who will host your group in the neighborhood…

 

Okay, I’m not really going to do this to you.

After my introduction last week and this week, nobody is ever going to believe anything I say any more.

What just went through your heart and mind though as you thought about being sent out to evangelize?

Fear?

Dread?

A few of you maybe excitement, but most of us no way.

Even the word “evangelize” is a terrible word, kind of like other words like “colonoscopy,” “root canal,” or “vasectomy.”

Who wants to do any of those things?

For many “evangelism” is a scary word, mostly for those who do have a relationship with God and feel guilty about not doing whatever evangelism means.

You think about these over-confident salesman types who tell these stories about being on airplanes and sharing about Jesus with the person next to them, and they give their lives to Christ, and then others who are listening do to, and the whole plane starts singing Kumbaya, and you think, “wow, I could never do that.”

To others, especially those of you who are searchers, figuring this whole Christianity thing out, “evangelism” is a bad word.

If I asked you, “Would you like to be evangelized?”

you’d say no thanks.

You might think of some arrogant, pushy, know-it-all who is giving you the hard sell…like a time-share salesman when you are on vacation.

If you met someone and asked what they did, and they said, “Evangelist,” you’d start running for cover.

We definitely have a twisted view of evangelism, because the word that has become a bad word or a scary word is actually a really great word and concept.

People have ruined the concept, but the basic word and concept are good.

The word is from a Greek New Testament word that means “sharing good news.”

That’s all it means…to share with someone else something that would be of huge benefit to them.

And when we think about Christianity and the opportunity to have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, that is not bad news, is it?

We aren’t spreading cancer.

If you and I really believed in the transforming power of connection to God, then we would understand that the greatest gift we could ever give anybody is the opportunity to know how to establish that connection, how to begin a relationship with God.

I’m sure most of us in this room, even those here who are still kicking around the whole Jesus and church thing, would love to help other people begin a life-changing relationship with God.

So, why do we dread it?

Why do we fear it?

Why do we feel so guilty about not doing it, or feel that we would be arrogant if we tried?

Because of the twist.

We’ve allowed ourselves to get twisted, so today we are going to see God’s twist—how he wants to use you and me to connect people to himself.

And what could be cooler than looking back one day and realizing that we helped a lot of people in their spiritual journey, that we were part of the process in lots of people’s lives that eventuated their life-changing encounter with God.

And that’s what God wants.

That’s his only strategy to reach this world, is through people like you and me.

Even if you are in process of coming to God yourself, you can help others in their process to.

So, today we are going to see how we can really do this and live this way.

Turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, ch 5.

Last week we looked at what it means to be the salt of the earth in 5:13.

Today we are looking at the next few verses, what it means to be the light of the world.

Read along with me,

 

Slide: _____________) Matthew 5:14-16

 

/You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven./

This message comes down to one sentence: here it is,

 

Slide: _____________) You are the light of the world, strategically placed to point people to God.

That sentence is full of implications, which we will look at, but that is our bottom-line message today from this verse.

First,

 

Slide: _____________) You are the light of the world.

Jesus said to a group of ordinary people, people considered nobodies in that culture, and Jesus says, “You guys are it.

You are the light of the world.”

I mentioned last week how in the Roman world, the top two things of value in the universe were salt and the sun, salt and light.

Jesus is saying, “That’s what you are.

You are salt and you are light.

Without you, this world will be totally dark.”

In a dark world, where people are searching for God, for meaning, for real life, you are the ones who will light the way, who will point people to him.

Notice that he doesn’t say, “you have the light,” or “you know about the light,” but “you */are/* the light.”

You are the light, your life is what God has put on this planet to let people know that God is real and that he wants to connect with them.

A friend of mine who is not yet a Christ-follower has often said to me, “I’d love to believe in God and have that connection, so why doesn’t he just let everybody know himself.

Why doesn’t he put this big neon sign in the sky that says, ‘I’m God, and I’m here.

Here is how you can know me.’

Or he could send angels or do something big, so everybody would know without a doubt.”

God’s answer is that he has sent someone.

He came himself, Jesus, and then Jesus looked at his followers, today at you and me, and said, “Ok, now you are it.

You are the light of the world.

You are the way others will know I am real and how they can have connection with me.

So, go be light.”

It’s a little like those bug zappers.

I had an extended family member that was a great guy but not all that bright, and when the bug zappers came out, he loved sitting by them at family reunions at night when the bugs were out.

Great entertainment for him.

He’d yell out, “Ooh, did you hear that.

That was a big one!

We got him!”

He could stay out there for hours doing that.

What else are you going to do in Alabama, right?

But we are the bug zappers.

The bugs come toward the light, and are curious, and then zap!

In our case, the idea is to be surprised by the reality of God, just like most of us in this room were.

God used someone in each of our lives to get us as far as we in our relationship with God…someone sparked the interest and got us started.

That’s how God wants to use you.

You are the light.