2 Lent A March 12, 2017
Gen 12:1-8 Ps.121
Rom. 4:1-5, (6-12)13-17 Jn.3:1-17
It is interesting that team fanatics are very motivated to promote their home team. They are very excited about the intimate identity with their team. They live and die with the team for every win and loss. One could say that sports fanatics are very evangelical about their sports team. They want to advertise their team identity very loudly, proudly and as often as possible. On the other hand, there are lots of sports fans who aren't so vocal or so evangelical. Some are just shy, quiet introverts who like their teams but just sort of whisper, "Yeah team."
But what about "Team Jesus?" There are the shy members of Team Jesus, like most members of the Episcopal Church and then there are the "in your face" hyper-evangelists of Christianity. They go door to door and they want to collect "born again" scalps almost like they are in some sales contests for converts. Many Christian evangelists want to convert other Christians to their own groups view of Jesus. Sometimes Christians who try to convert other Christians are called "sheep thieves," because they try to take Christian sheep from another fold and bring them into their own folds.
The Gospel of John was written because the very nature of Christianity is evangelical. That is, the message of Jesus Christ was meant to be shared with everyone. And this also means that the early Christians were "sheep" stealers. Yes, they competed with each other for different views of God and Christ. They fought over leadership. The early Christians were just as passionate about their views as we can be today. They, like we, feel validated if other people can agree with us in our views about God, Christ and the church. So, there is a selfish aspect about evangelism. I want people to agree with me so I can feel good about my views and have more members in my church and more pledge units. Sometimes we can be tempted to take a very selfish statistical view of evangelism.
But how was St. Paul a sheep stealer? How was St. Paul doing evangelism? St. Paul wanted to coax Roman citizens away from their worship of different deities. St. Paul wanted to convert Jews from the synagogue.
What do you imagine motivated the Christian sheep stealing efforts of St. Paul and the early Christians? St. Paul had a dilemma with synagogue. In practice, he found that the way in which the message of Judaism was lived, it essentially remained isolated only within a community of people who were able to observe the ritual purity laws of Judaism. St. Paul found Jesus of Nazareth as the Risen Christ to be a universal expression of God's love. St. Paul did not believe that dietary rules or circumcision marked the exclusive believer in God. He believed that having a faith like Abraham and having the Holy Spirit is what marked a believer in God. The early Christians preached Jesus as a more inclusive welcome to God's love and favor than was found in the practice of Judaism of that time. But to the Romans who had so many gods and goddesses and the Emperor cult, Christian evangelists offered Jesus as God's Son as a way to a belief in one God.
And today we have read from the Gospel of John the crucial verses for people who regard themselves to be zealot evangelicals. It is like a Socratic dialogue of Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus represents all of the Jews who had the first birth into Judaism. In their first births, they were automatically Jews and people of God. But Jesus referred to another birth. A birth that was from above. A birth that came by being baptized by water and the Spirit. A birth that had no geographical or ethnic limitations. Why was this kind of birth important? This birth was a testimony that God loved the entire world and that God's presence and God's everlasting life was available to everyone.
This is how the sheep stealing early Christian evangelists explained their beliefs. They believed that the Risen Christ was a more inclusive message about God than what was practiced by the people of synagogue. They believed that Jesus Christ was more exclusive in his presentation of God in the Roman Empire with all of the gods and goddesses and the cult of worship of the Emperor as a god.
The early church was evangelical because Christians believed they had a message for both Jews and Gentiles. The success of the early church is proof that the message was effective and winsome to make a difference in the lives of many people.
So how do you and I show ourselves to be evangelical? Carry signs around with John 3:16? Wear crosses prominently? Go door to door to spread the message of Jesus? Sometimes if we try too hard to be visible followers of Jesus, we can actually put people off. We need to be evangelicals with the right motives. What is the right motive? To honestly share the very best news in our lives for the benefit of other people. We need to equip ourselves to comfortably share with others who ask about our particular faith experience, our belief in Jesus Christ and why we find the Episcopal Church a gentle, reasonable, welcoming and graceful expression of devotion to Jesus Christ.
Do you believe God loved the whole world? Do you believe that Jesus is the gift of God's Son to us? Do you believe in a great God who can preserve our lives forever in a special way? Then you have some good news to share.
And following your baptismal vows, I hereby, re-ordain and re-commission each and everyone of us as evangelists of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Gen 12:1-8 Ps.121
Rom. 4:1-5, (6-12)13-17 Jn.3:1-17
It is interesting that team fanatics are very motivated to promote their home team. They are very excited about the intimate identity with their team. They live and die with the team for every win and loss. One could say that sports fanatics are very evangelical about their sports team. They want to advertise their team identity very loudly, proudly and as often as possible. On the other hand, there are lots of sports fans who aren't so vocal or so evangelical. Some are just shy, quiet introverts who like their teams but just sort of whisper, "Yeah team."
But what about "Team Jesus?" There are the shy members of Team Jesus, like most members of the Episcopal Church and then there are the "in your face" hyper-evangelists of Christianity. They go door to door and they want to collect "born again" scalps almost like they are in some sales contests for converts. Many Christian evangelists want to convert other Christians to their own groups view of Jesus. Sometimes Christians who try to convert other Christians are called "sheep thieves," because they try to take Christian sheep from another fold and bring them into their own folds.
The Gospel of John was written because the very nature of Christianity is evangelical. That is, the message of Jesus Christ was meant to be shared with everyone. And this also means that the early Christians were "sheep" stealers. Yes, they competed with each other for different views of God and Christ. They fought over leadership. The early Christians were just as passionate about their views as we can be today. They, like we, feel validated if other people can agree with us in our views about God, Christ and the church. So, there is a selfish aspect about evangelism. I want people to agree with me so I can feel good about my views and have more members in my church and more pledge units. Sometimes we can be tempted to take a very selfish statistical view of evangelism.
But how was St. Paul a sheep stealer? How was St. Paul doing evangelism? St. Paul wanted to coax Roman citizens away from their worship of different deities. St. Paul wanted to convert Jews from the synagogue.
What do you imagine motivated the Christian sheep stealing efforts of St. Paul and the early Christians? St. Paul had a dilemma with synagogue. In practice, he found that the way in which the message of Judaism was lived, it essentially remained isolated only within a community of people who were able to observe the ritual purity laws of Judaism. St. Paul found Jesus of Nazareth as the Risen Christ to be a universal expression of God's love. St. Paul did not believe that dietary rules or circumcision marked the exclusive believer in God. He believed that having a faith like Abraham and having the Holy Spirit is what marked a believer in God. The early Christians preached Jesus as a more inclusive welcome to God's love and favor than was found in the practice of Judaism of that time. But to the Romans who had so many gods and goddesses and the Emperor cult, Christian evangelists offered Jesus as God's Son as a way to a belief in one God.
And today we have read from the Gospel of John the crucial verses for people who regard themselves to be zealot evangelicals. It is like a Socratic dialogue of Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus represents all of the Jews who had the first birth into Judaism. In their first births, they were automatically Jews and people of God. But Jesus referred to another birth. A birth that was from above. A birth that came by being baptized by water and the Spirit. A birth that had no geographical or ethnic limitations. Why was this kind of birth important? This birth was a testimony that God loved the entire world and that God's presence and God's everlasting life was available to everyone.
This is how the sheep stealing early Christian evangelists explained their beliefs. They believed that the Risen Christ was a more inclusive message about God than what was practiced by the people of synagogue. They believed that Jesus Christ was more exclusive in his presentation of God in the Roman Empire with all of the gods and goddesses and the cult of worship of the Emperor as a god.
The early church was evangelical because Christians believed they had a message for both Jews and Gentiles. The success of the early church is proof that the message was effective and winsome to make a difference in the lives of many people.
So how do you and I show ourselves to be evangelical? Carry signs around with John 3:16? Wear crosses prominently? Go door to door to spread the message of Jesus? Sometimes if we try too hard to be visible followers of Jesus, we can actually put people off. We need to be evangelicals with the right motives. What is the right motive? To honestly share the very best news in our lives for the benefit of other people. We need to equip ourselves to comfortably share with others who ask about our particular faith experience, our belief in Jesus Christ and why we find the Episcopal Church a gentle, reasonable, welcoming and graceful expression of devotion to Jesus Christ.
Do you believe God loved the whole world? Do you believe that Jesus is the gift of God's Son to us? Do you believe in a great God who can preserve our lives forever in a special way? Then you have some good news to share.
And following your baptismal vows, I hereby, re-ordain and re-commission each and everyone of us as evangelists of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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