WEEKLY SERMON
October 11, 2009 - Pentecost 19
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
One of the key words in these verses before us today is the word
“advance.” I think we all
know what it means to advance, right?
It means to move forward, like an army marching into hostile
territory or a football team, by running and passing, moves the ball
down the field towards the goal line.
One of the goals for our lives as Christians is to advance.
God wants us to advance personally as we grow in our knowledge of
his love and goodness. We
are to let that message of salvation advance into and infiltrate every
corner of our lives, affect everything we do and say, every choice we
make. We also talk about
advancing the gospel so that it touches more and more hearts.
As the message of salvation is proclaimed to more and more
people, God’s kingdom will be advancing in this world.
That’s what we’ve heard in our other Scripture readings today.
We read that Moses commissioned 70 elders to help him teach and
apply God’s laws among the Israelites so that the cause of God’s justice
and mercy might advance in the hearts and lives of his people.
In our gospel reading Jesus’ disciples reported to him about an
individual who was teaching and driving out demons in Jesus’ name, even
though he wasn’t one of the Twelve, with the implication that Jesus
should stop the guy.
Instead, we heard Jesus’ words of blessing upon that man’s work.
Here we see the apostle Paul talking about the spread of the
gospel in some very difficult and unusual circumstances.
And that warmed the heart o God’s faithful servant, and should
warm ours as well when we see it.
So let us follow Paul’s example and
REJOICE, BECAUSE THE GOSPEL IS ADVANCING!
I.
I don’t know about you, but that series of circumstances would
get me down in the dumps, questioning what God was doing with my life.
But not Paul. Here
he talks about how his imprisonment served to advance the gospel.
He says, It has become
clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am
in chains for Christ.
Paul used the contact he did have, primarily with the rotation of
soldiers who were guarding him, to keep on telling people about Jesus.
These guards undoubtedly listened in on the conversations Paul
had with the stream of Christian visitors, heard over and over again the
good news that Jesus was the Savior and that Paul was simply his
spokesman. He was no
criminal. Then there were
all the quiet hours when it was just Paul and whoever was guarding him
that day – the testimony, the witness, the impact Jesus had on the life
of this former persecutor.
It didn’t take long for the message of the gospel to spread through the
whole palace guard.
Hardened soldiers were brought to faith in Jesus.
They could see that Paul was in chains for the sake of his
Savior, not because he was some kind of danger to the empire.
His example in the midst of suffering, and especially his words
about Jesus, about God’s love and forgiveness, they served to advance
Christ’s kingdom.
We can do the very same thing.
In his sermon on the mount which we are studying in our Bible
classes, Jesus said that we Christians are the salt of the earth and the
light of the world. Those
pictures both show us that we are to be an influence in the world around
us, no matter what our circumstances in life.
Many times those situations aren’t going to be the most pleasant.
Because of our own sinfulness and the sinfulness of the people
around us, and because this world is cursed by sin, we are going to go
through trying times. Some
of our people are facing financial challenges because of the current
state of our economy.
Others are facing health issues as they battle sickness, disease and
injury. Maybe you are
having problems in your marriage or family life.
All of those difficult situations can be opportunities for you to
testify to others about the power and love and forgiveness of your
Savior, Jesus.
For example, if you are sick, maybe hospitalized or undergoing
treatment for some ailment, as you continue to display your trust in
God, as you pray for strength and healing, as you leave all things to
God’s direction, knowing his full love for you in Christ, you may very
well have an impact on the people around.
They may ask how you can handle such difficulties so well, how
you can have a cheerful and calm attitude in the midst of suffering.
And that gives you the chance to share with them the good news of
a loving Savior.
If your financial situation has taken a beating, we can express
to those who are concerned that we are certain that our God has not
abandoned us and that he will continue to supply us with the basic
necessities of life, even if that means dramatic changes in our lives.
Put your trust in God on display for all to see and be ready to
share with them the reason for it, the fact that Jesus has supplied you
with the greatest treasure, the forgiveness of your sins, the promise of
his presence and the sure hope of eternal life with him in heaven.
Those are things money can’t buy and no one can take away from us
if we don’t let them. Using
our example and our testimony, we too can find joy even in the midst of
suffering as we personally work to advance the gospel, as we share the
message about Jesus with those around us.
We can do that as a congregation and as a church body, as well.
Our synod had to cut $8 million dollars from its budget and we
had to reduce ours by 10%.
But that hasn’t stopped us from proclaiming the gospel.
While we did have to recall some missionaries because of a lack
of funds, we continue to find new ways to share the gospel in the
communities and countries of the world.
Here at Woodlawn, our evangelism committee continues to plug
away, mailing out invitations to worship, following up on visitors,
organizing the Festival of Friendship we had last weekend.
As a congregation we have reaffirmed our commitment to Christian
education by maintaining our school.
Many of our parents and families, some of them being single
parents, or homes where there is unemployment, they have made the
sacrifices necessary so that their children can receive a full time
education built around the good news about Jesus, preparing them, not
just for life in this world, but for all eternity.
No public education can do that.
That keeps the kingdom of Christ advancing in our midst, among
our children and here in West Allis.
Here in our scripture lesson the apostle says that it’s also
advancing through the efforts of many more people.
He writes, because of my
chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak
the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
The other Christians living in Rome, and there had been believers
in the great city for some 25-30 years, since the earliest days of the
church, when they saw and heard what Paul was doing, they were more and
more open about telling people about Jesus.
Maybe they had been rather timid in their efforts of sharing
Jesus because their numbers were small or because they didn’t have any
of the apostles in their midst.
Perhaps there was also6 the fear of persecution because of what
was going on in Paul’s life.
Whatever their reason, now they were beginning to change their
ways. They had the example
of the great apostle. They
saw the power of God at work in his life and through his words and they
dared to join him in spreading the good news about Jesus.
And that brought joy and gladness to his heart.
It pumped him up despite the gloomy conditions he was living in.
It made him glad that his suffering emboldened other Christians
to take up the cause and advance the kingdom through their own
witnessing to others.
Hopefully, the same could happen with you.
If you are one of those who is somewhat hesitant about expressing
your faith to others, about inviting a friend or co-worker to come to
church with you, maybe hearing about someone else doing it will embolden
you. This past Tuesday we
had the funeral of one of our single moms whose daughter is in our
school. She was brought to
Woodlawn by one of our members who was her co-worker.
Or another woman in our church has been bringing a friend of hers
for the last several weeks and that friend is now ready to start
instruction classes. One of
the men in our Bible class always talks about his attempts to share his
faith with the guys at work.
Or among our recent adult confirmations, two of the young ladies
came because their spouses are our members and those husbands have
shared the importance of their faith and how valuable having a
Christ-centered family is to them.
Next week, with our marriage renewal ceremony, that might be a
good opportunity for you to invite, to open the door of someone’s life
to Jesus and his love. All
of these are examples of where regular Christians are simply sharing
their faith with the people around them.
You don’t have to be a pastor or teacher or a member of the
evangelism committee before you can talk to somebody about God’s love.
We see how the Holy Spirit is blessing those efforts and the
kingdom is advancing as more and more souls are touched by the love of
Jesus Christ through the witnessing efforts of Christians.
Will you be the next one to do it?
III.
And that advance of the gospel message happens even when some
people might be doing it on the basis of less than pure motives.
Paul mentions that that was the case in Rome, that some
Christians were preaching about Jesus out of envy and rivalry, out of
selfish ambition. He
doesn’t name names or go into much detail, nor does he accuse any of
them of preaching false doctrine.
But perhaps there was some resentment among some of the
Christians in Rome who had been working in the city for a long time.
Here comes the apostle, with something of a celebrity status, and
he is making a name for himself, getting all the attention.
It would be kind of like Tavaris Jackson, the quarterback of the
Vikings who got pushed into the background when that guy wearing #4
showed up. Now he’s got to
take a back seat to legendary Favre.
It would only be natural for him to harbor some ill will towards
the new guy. That same
attitude seems to have taken hold of some of the other Christians in
Rome.
Paul insists here that it doesn’t really matter to him, just so
the good news about Jesus is getting out, that the gospel message of
salvation is being advanced, whether from pure motives or not.
What does it matter? he
says. The important thing
is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is
preached. And because of
this I rejoice. If
those other preachers harbored ill-will towards him, so long as they
kept sharing the pure gospel about Jesus, Paul wasn’t going to let
anything bother him.
Would we ever be in danger of having those same feelings of
resentment or envy towards other Christians or another congregation?
We might. We see
another congregation growing faster than ours is, perhaps because it’s
in an area where lots of new people are moving in, and we might become
jealous. We hear about
pastors whose style is more on the cutting edge and they do things
differently than are being done here, and we might be tempted to
criticize or bad-mouth them.
Or we learn that there are others who don’t agree with some of
the things we are doing here.
Our sinful human nature can easily get in the way in those kinds
of situations.
That’s when we need to follow Paul’s example and not let it get
under our skin. Fight those
temptations. Keep focused
on what we are about as Christians – growing in our own relationship
with Jesus and sharing his love and forgiveness with everyone around us.
Let us just keep on rejoicing over the fact that the pure gospel
is being proclaimed, that souls are being won for the kingdom and that
the name of Jesus is advancing.
That’s what we are about as Christians and as a congregation.
It’s not about me.
It’s not about Woodlawn and Lamb of God.
We want to grow ourselves, let the gospel advance in our own
hearts and lives. And then
we will work together to do the best job we can with the gifts and
resources God gives us to touch the lives of others with that same
precious message. For our
role in that work, let us always rejoice, doing what the angels do over
every sinner who repents and is brought to faith in Jesus.
Let us always be about that work of faithfully proclaiming Jesus
in our congregation and in our community so that his kingdom continues
to advance. God help us in
that. AMEN.