Sharing Jesus' Love: Telling Others (Acts 22.1-21 and Luke 10.1-12)

Introduction

The comedian Milton Jones once said this; “Christianity is like a Cornish pasty. There’s something in it, but sometimes it’s difficult to find out exactly what it is.”

He’s right. There’s definitely something in Christianity. It is the world’s biggest movement. So why is it difficult to find out exactly what’s in it? Maybe it’s because so few are really good at articulating it.

Here’s a challenge for you. If you had to distil down the core message of Christianity in just five words, not theological words, not technical words, but ordinary, everyday words that any non-churchgoing person would easily understand, which five words would you chose? Five words.

Here are the five I would choose; firstly, where does it all start? The Bible says “God is love.” It says that there’s faith, hope and love, but the greatest is love.” And how does it basically sum up what happened when God sent his Son? It says in John 3.16 “For God…” what? “so loved the world.” So maybe the first word would have to be “love.”

The second word - for me - would be “sin.” But that’s too theological. I want a word to express the reality we all know that something has gone wrong, that the world is fallen.

Some guy stabbed to death a kindly and elderly driver over a minor road accident last week. There’s ISIS, there’s Boko Haram, there’s human trafficking, there’s child abuse. All over the world bad stuff is happening.

And even in my own heart, when I do something that I know brings bad results 100 times, why do I do it again? I knowingly broke the speed limit on the way home from New Wine on Friday because I thought I would get away with it. There is sin in the world, and it has something of a grip on all of us. When we think about it we know it’s true. I think my second word would be “guilt.”

My third word would want to convey the fact that Jesus has done something decisive about that guilt. But obviously I can’t say “the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross, by which the free gift of salvation is received through faith.” It’s too long. It’s too obscure for people who have no experience of church and no knowledge of the Bible. Even the word “grace” is Christianese so I can’t use it. If I had to sum this up in one nontechnical word, I might go for “rescue.”

Fourthly, I’d need to make the point that some people embrace what God has done for us in Christ, but that others push it to one side and try to clean up their own lives through self-effort, and still others actually reject God. We have to decide how we’re going to respond to what God has done for us. So, because I can’t use words like “repent” or “baptism” or “conversion” I think my fourth word would be “choice.” Everyone is faced with a choice. You accept God’s free gift of salvation by faith or you don’t. Your call. Everybody here falls into one of those two camps today.

And fifthly, I’d want to say that it does not end there. The choice to respond positively to God makes changes in my life. There are real consequences. God becomes real to me, joy fills my soul, my priorities begin to change, and my character is renewed. So maybe my fifth word would be “change.” But there can be good change or bad change. So I think I’d go for “restored.” When something is restored it is improved from a previously spoiled state.

Christianity is like a Cornish pasty. There’s something in it, and here’s what it is in five everyday words. Maybe you’d choose five slightly different ones. That’s fine. But whatever words you pick, this is something anyone can learn in a few minutes and be able to explain over a coffee.

Because, let me be clear, if our vision is to share Jesus’ love in our communities, part of that is being able to articulate it with words. Last week we saw that sharing Jesus’ love involves being a welcoming community for outsiders. In two weeks’ time we’ll explore what it is to have a caring heart. But sharing Jesus’ love is not just being nice to people. We communicate it also with our words.

Saint Francis of Assisi is famously reported to have said, “Preach the gospel; if necessary use words.” I know what it’s saying, that our actions should compel people to see God’s love at work – and Jesus sort of made the same point when he said, “Live such good lives that people will see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.”

But Jesus also said, “Follow me.” He said, “Come to me you who are burdened.” He said, “Neither do I condemn you, leave your life of sin.” He taught his followers to say to people, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Peter, John, James, Paul, and the women at the tomb all went around using words to tell others who Jesus was and what they had seen.

Let me remind you how supremely useful and supernaturally empowered, words can be.

Psalm 119:130 says that words can actually give light. They can give insight to people who don’t yet understand.

Proverbs 16:24 says that gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Isn’t that a beautiful image?

Deuteronomy 32:2 says words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

Interesting, isn’t it, that God allows such power to inhabit our words - for good and for ill? Aren’t these the types of words you want to speak and be known for?

If your closest friends or the family members who live under your roof, or your work colleagues, or your next door neighbours were asked anonymously about your speech, would they say that in the course of normal, everyday life, you speak words of encouragement and grace?

Are the words you speak life-giving and gracious?

I think there are two areas where effective words could hugely affect the way people see you and me as Christians:

1. Talking about God

The first area is how we talk about God; how we explain to people who he is and what he does.

That’s the theme of our second reading today. Jesus sends out 72 members of his new movement into the local towns and villages. He gives them fair warning and says in v3, basically, that people will rip them apart. “I am sending you out like lambs among wolves” he says.

No one is shouting “halleluiah” I notice.  Listen, it never has been easy, convenient, comfortable or safe to talk to people about Jesus. For your eternal encouragement and edification, Jesus promised that if you ever pluck up the courage to speak to others about God there’s a good chance you will come away feeling like you have had a good mauling.

But that’s not all. He also says, in v5-9, that some people will be receptive. Your good and peaceful intentions will be acknowledged by some. Make time to share with people who are open.

In that culture there would be an obligation of hospitality. If a stranger came to the door you had to serve them a meal and offer them lodgings. “Eat what is set before you” Jesus says. It’s not like that here but the equivalent might be “If ever people give you the time of day or offer you a cup of coffee, go with it, be sociable and take an interest in their lives. “Heal the sick” he says “and tell them “the kingdom of God has come near.”

That’s a command from Jesus you’ll notice. “Heal the sick.” By the way, if you’re not confident on that bit about healing the sick in Jesus’ name, we have a training day coming up in October – that would be a good opportunity to learn. John and Anne Coles have lots of experience and we can learn from them. There are fliers available in the Centre foyer. If you want to learn to pray for healing effectively, I’d encourage you to sign up.

Then in v10-12 Jesus says “Don’t waste your time arguing with people who aren’t interested.” Move on.

It’s very important to not get bogged down in never-ending, attritional arguments that go round in circles.

The apostle Paul said “Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” Elsewhere he says, “Avoid foolish controversies, genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are useless and a waste of time.”

Ask God to use you to touch the lives of those you know. Most will not even have thought much about God or what place he should have in their lives. God loves them just as much as He loves you, and Christ died for them just as much as He died for you.

2. Talking about Us

If the first way we share Jesus’ love with others is by talking about how wonderful God is, and how fantastic the gospel is, the second way is just to share our personal experience of him… in other words, to simply explain the main thing he’s done in our lives.

What is your story with God? And what can you do to tell it well? How can you tell it so well that your listener walks away saying, “Now that is interesting!”

What would you say if someone you know came up to you today and said this: “You know, Fred (assuming your name is Fred), we’ve been friends for a long time. And you’ve been really good not to force your religion on me, even though you probably think my life would change for the better if I’d give it a chance. Well, anyway… well, I was thinking about maybe trying out church … Basically, I’m that desperate. So I just wonder if you could sort of explain to me why this whole God thing is so important to you.”

That is what we call, in sophisticated theological terms, a wide-open door. It is usually accompanied by a lump forming in the throat, a tightening of the shoulders, sweaty palms and a thumping heart.

In Acts 22, the Apostle Paul, in giving his defence for a charge against him in court, tells the story of how he came to faith. In the form we have it, it consists of 475 words. That’s less than five minutes. Paul doesn’t once lose the plot. There’s no waffling, no blind alleys, no tangents, no digressions… It’s succinct, to the point and it’s riveting.

As for the actual content, notice it’s very simple. He talks about what his life was like before he was a Christian (v1-5). Then he explains how he came to be a believer in Jesus (v6-16). And then he talks about what has happened in his life since (v17-21).

We had a go at writing our testimonies about five years ago when we did the “Just Walk Across the Room” course. One member of the 10.30am congregation e-mailed me and said “This has been such a good exercise to do; it's moved me from being something of an avoider… to being more confident and ready to share the life-saving and heart-transforming power of Jesus.”

I’d like to encourage you over this summer to write out in less than 500 words the story of your faith journey. It is such a powerful way of sharing Jesus’ love with other people.

And ask God to give you wisdom to say the right thing at the right time, and to use your story to point others to the good news of Christ.

Ending

As I draw towards a conclusion, let me tell you about Alpha. In two months’ time we’re going to be running another Alpha Course here.

In case you don’t know what Alpha is, it’s a series of 11 interactive sessions to discuss the Christian faith. It’s done in an informal and friendly, pressure-free environment. Each evening starts at 7pm with dinner and then there’s a talk on a given topic like ‘Who is Jesus?’ and ‘Why and how do I pray?’ Finally, each talk is followed by discussion in small groups.

At Alpha no question is out of bounds. You can ask anything you want.  But you don’t have to do or say anything. You are free to discuss as much or as little as you wish. Alpha doesn’t assume any background knowledge of or belief in Christianity at all and absolutely everyone is welcome. No pressure, no follow up if you don’t want to take it further and no charge.

If you’re saying to yourself, “I just don’t feel confident sharing about God with people because I don’t think I’d be able to answer their questions,” well, perhaps you would feel able to invite them to Alpha instead? I would like to encourage you to pray for one person who might be interested in Alpha and then invite them along.

Or if you’re saying to yourself, “I don’t know if I really can give a testimony about how I came to be a Christian. To be honest, some of it is all still quite hazy for me. There’s no ‘before’ and ‘after’ so to speak. And there’s something I’ve always wanted to know about but feel silly asking about…” Well, Alpha is absolutely made for you. I think you’d love it. Why don’t you take a leaflet and sign up?

Or if you’re saying to yourself, “Those five simple words at the beginning. God actually loves me. I’ve done things I know aren’t right and I have this sense of guilt inside. But I’ve never made the choice to accept God’s free offer of rescue. And so I have no experience of spiritual restoration.” If that is you, why don’t you make that choice today?

At New Wine last week, someone described it like having a bath on the inside and feeling brand new.

Maybe you felt something stirring within you when I was talking about that earlier. If so, please come and speak with Brian or myself after the service and we will pray with you and encourage you.

Let’s stand to pray…