Sermon for August 1st (Sent Out To Speak)

Now it’s time for the TOP TEN REASONS WHY YOUR FRIEND DOESN’T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH . . . Number 10: The church is full of hypocrites. Number 9: I like to have one day to sleep in. Number 8: Religions all teach the same things. Number 7: God loves me even if I don’t go to church. Number 6: Churches just want money. Number 5: But I’m not baptized. Number 4: But I’m not Lutheran. Number 3: I’m a good person even if I don’t go to church. Number 2: But I don’t believe in God. And the number one reason you might hear for why your friend doesn’t want to go to church: I’m spiritual, not religious.

Jesus gave this commandment, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Great. But what are you going to say? Saint Paul told us to say this, “We proclaim Christ crucified!” But what does Christ crucified mean?

Let me break this down for you a second. Christ is the term for the coming and expected Messiah. How many people you know are expecting the Messiah to return? Your Jewish friends maybe, but that’s it. No one would even know what a Messiah would look like it was standing right in front of them walking and talking like one. And what does it mean to have the Christ be crucified? It means that this long expected Messiah was killed on a cross, a most shameful death for what was supposed to be a magnificent King of kings. For a Jew, the words, “Christ crucified” would certainly be offensive, a stumbling block, but how many Jewish friends do you come into contact with each week? Probably not too many.

That means, for you and I, we are going to be focusing mostly on non-Jews, what the Bible calls Gentiles. What’s a Gentile? You. You are a Gentile. Look in the mirror. That’s a Gentile. And if you come up to a Gentile, like you, that is any non-Jewish person and tell that them, “Christ crucifed” they are going to give you a look like—what! Do you need a Kleenex or something. It doesn’t mean anything to people. Christ crucified! It’s silliness! Or as Paul says: it’s Foolishness. I have two objectives today. First, I want to help you see why you should care to be foolish and tell anyone about Jesus. Second, I want to equip you with something to say.

So let’s dig right in. Why should you care. Why. If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead YOU will be saved. And that’s nice. It’s nice to know. As Paul put it, “For the message about the cross if foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” That’s right! The power of God! And it’s for us!

Not so fast. There was just that little part in there about those who are perishing. What does perishing mean? Dying. Those who are dying. Imagine that you were walking along a beach and you looked out into the cool waters as the waves cascaded across the sand and, what’s that, someone is out there in the water, gasping for air and then they just stopped doing anything all together—and you suddenly realize: That person is perishing! They are drowning! What would you do?

Of course, if you jumped in and tried to save them they might be offended. They were probably just trying to swim all on their own. You might look foolish jumping right in there. You’ve probably never even done this before! Do you even know CPR? Shouldn’t you call the lifeguard first? But then again they ARE drowning. What would you do? Would you just let em die or would you try? What if it was your friend? Or your child? I bet that most of you would jump in and try to save them, no matter what the cost, because even if you failed, you couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. They might die if you did nothing.

Why should you care to tell anyone about Jesus? Because many of your friends, your neighbors, your children, your parents, your coworkers and your acquaintances are perishing . . . they are dying and you are just standing there watching them do it. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To you, that might be good news, because you have Jesus. But for many others it is offensive, because they don’t know why Jesus matters at all. Yes, you might look foolish, especially if your friends and family don’t realize that they are about to drown. But God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

You Savior has given you a command. “Go. Make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey my commandments.” Some of you might go and share your faith because of this command, because you desire to walk as Jesus walked, but that’s not good enough. God doesn’t just want you to “follow the rules”. Because people will know it. They will know if you are just talking to them because you’re trying to be a “good little Christian.” People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

They might think that you are foolish sometimes for caring so much, but only when we realize that salvation is a matter of death and life will we have the heart to speak up. “Faith comes through hearing” Saint Paul says in Romans. Oh that God would break our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh! That we would care, each and every one of us, enough for people, that we don’t just look onto the world like they don’t matter. Like we’ve got salvation and that’s good enough. They might not be your children, drowning out there, but they are God’s children and he is calling you to jump in, start swimming and speak up.

God has placed you in this world, in your town, in your job and in your neighborhood for a purpose. Your circle of friends is not an accident. But if you asked a friend who was struggling with their life to come to church some Sunday here at Emmanuel to meet Jesus, to get faith, and they gave you some excuse, what would you say? I’m here to help you start responding. Who knows what you or I might say in the heat of the moment. But here are some examples of how you might respond if your friend told you something like, “Thanks, but no thanks. The church if full of hypocrites.”

“Yes, the church is full of hypocrites and liars and adulterers and addicts. I go to church to hear that God forgives me even though I don’t always live the way I want to. You’re my friend and I know that you aren’t perfect just like I’m not. God loves you and forgives you too even though you’re not perfect. I want you to hear that and believe it. You don’t have to go alone, I’ll pick you up Sunday morning at 8:15.”

“But I like to have one day to just sleep in.” Me too, but I have to get up even earlier every other day of the week for work or to get the kids off to school. I choose to get up for church because it gives me the strength to get through my week. Once you get into the habit, you might even like going to church. I do. You could come with me if you want.”

“Religions all teach the same thing.” Well, a lot of religions teach you to be a good person or to DO good things for others, but only Jesus Christ died to forgive you unconditionally. Other religions don’t teach that. You know me. I’m no saint. Church is the ONLY place where I can hear that I’m forgiven and then go back out and try to love people again.”

“Listen God loves me even if I don’t go to church.” Yes, God does love you no matter what! But you know what. I know my wife loves me, but I like to hear her say it. In fact, I NEED to hear her say it. I can’t hear it often enough! That’s one reason I go to church every Sunday. I think that you’d have a great time and meet some great people at Emmanuel. Can I pick you up this Sunday?”

“Churches just want money.” Yeah, I’ve felt that way along the way. You don’t have to give that’s for sure, but, for me, I want to give money to something that is meaningful in my life and to the lives of others. I want to be a part of the vision of our church and I just wish I could give more! But just come. Don’t worry about that whole giving thing until you love doing it as much as I do.”

“But I’m not baptized.” You don’t need to be baptized in order to come to church. Baptism is just a special way to hear God’s promise of love and forgiveness. Now, if you ever want to be baptized then just ask, I would love to talk with you about that. But don’t let any of that stop you from coming. I’m going to the contemporary service this Sunday. Why don’t you ask at home and I’ll call Saturday night to see if you have any more questions.”

“But I’m not Lutheran!” Yeah, so what? You are a Christian! Jesus died for you. You don’t have to be Lutheran to come to Emmanuel. God’s promise is for everyone and you are definitely welcome. Lutherans simply believe that Jesus loves you because you have faith in him and that it’s not because you do enough good things. Why don’t you just come and see if you love it there as much as I do.”

“I’m a good person, even if I don’t go to church.” I know that. You help me out all the time. But church isn’t for good people, church is for people who make mistakes, who sometimes do bad things. That’s me and that’s you too right? Church is where you can hear that God forgives you . . . even if you’re not always perfect. But here the thing, I’m not trying to convince you. Just come and see what it’s like. You might even like it.”

“But I don’t believe in God.” Well, I do, but that’s not a prerequisite for coming to church. Church is where you hear that God believes in you! That he loves you and forgives you. You don’t have to say or do anything that you don’t want to. Just come and listen. If you have questions, you can talk with me or the pastor after the service.”

“I’m spiritual, not religious.” For me, church isn’t about being spiritual or being religious, it’s about hearing that Jesus loves me and forgives me. It’s about faith. Being inspired and reconnecting with God’s Word and others Christian people who love and support me. I just think it’d be really cool to have you come this Sunday. What time could I pick you up?

When you have the chance, listen to your friends and their concerns about faith and church. Be honest and open about your failures and your need for Christ. Talk about God’s love. Tell them about God’s forgiveness. Tell them about why faith matters to you. And, finally, either bring them here or encourage them to find another faith community.

God has commanded us to speak, but I hope that today you understand why. It’s about death and life. If you get the chance, speak up, but above all, trust in this: you are only planting the seeds. God gives the growth. You are only speaking, God gives the faith. You are only loving, God changes hearts. God does the saving, but he intends on using you to give his message. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Amen.