INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: After about 10 total years in ministry, I have learned that my spiritual gift-mix seems to include skills in teaching, training, equipping, encouraging, discipling, and leadership development among those who are already in the faith. However, I have found that being in ministry requires you to do things outside of your primary area of giftedness. One area that doesn’t come easy for me is personal evangelism. I have met people who can make eye contact with someone and before you know it, they’ve led a person to Christ. I have never been able to do that. I’ve never led anyone to Christ on an airplane or a Greyhound or a hitch-hiker on the road that I happened to pick up. And if the Lord ever wanted to use me that way, I would hope that I would be a candidate for that. But evangelism just doesn’t work that way for me. Evangelism seems to work best in the course of my daily life. I have been privileged to lead some to Christ, but it’s usually after some kind of relationship has been developed. Three books have meant so much to me when it comes to the topic of evangelism and how I can best do this. One is by Joseph Aldrich, “Life-Style Evangelism.” He talks about crossing traditional boundaries to reach an unbelieving world. Another book is by Rebecca Manley Pippert, “Out of the Salt-Shaker and into the World.” She suggests that we make evangelism a natural way of life. And the final book is the Gospel of John. John had a great strategy. He picked out seven signs or miracles (excluding the resurrection) that Jesus performed and used them to illustrate for the reader Jesus’ power, character, and sincere compassion for human need. So the signs point to the Savior. We’ll talk about Him momentarily.
Title: Each One Reach One – The Core Value of Evangelism
OUTLINE
Opening: Not everyone will be an evangelist. But everyone is called to do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim.4:5). Paul told Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. “Timothy, you may not feel inclined this way. But do the work of an evangelist.” What does an evangelist do? An evangelist seeks to clearly present the gospel, especially to the unbelieving.
Key Word: There are two ASPECTS to this sermon today. I want to breakdown the main emphases of this book and then I want to jump to the very end of the book where John gives his statement of purpose for writing this work.
Background: With this in mind, there are three significant background points that really comprise the key to this entire gospel. Remember, a gospel is a story that involves characters, settings, plots, and statements that when taken together, reveal God’s truth to us, especially about Jesus.
1. The Deity of Jesus. Jesus is God. G. Campbell Morgan says this about the value of this book: “It presents the Person Who is the exegesis of God…In the Gospel of John, we look at Jesus but at the same moment we see God.” If you have wondered about what God is like, take a long look at Jesus and you will have your answer. John wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (1:1).”
2. The Significance of Christ’s Seven Miracles and Seven Statements. John liked the number seven (7), perhaps because it symbolized completion, and he used seven signs or miracles that Christ performed to demonstrate that He is worthy of our belief and trust. John also recorded seven “I Am…” statements that Christ said. In some cases, these “I Am…” statements were linked to one of his miracles. Out of all the miracles that Jesus performed and out of all the things Jesus said, John chose seven key elements in each of these areas to bring people to a point of belief and conviction about the Savior. The “I Am…” statements would have particular significance to the first-century Jewish listener. God had revealed Himself to Moses with a resounding “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Now, Jesus was using the same words to describe Himself.
3. The Emphasis on Two Key Words “Believe” and “Life”. The reason John shared this story with us is that he wanted to spark believing faith in his readers. This would result in Life Eternal. The key word in the Gospel of John is “believe (pisteuo)”, which occurs ninety-eight (98) times. It is frequently used in the present tense and participial forms (“you are believing” as opposed to “you have believed”). Apparently, John wanted to emphasize the continuing of belief, rather than just a one-time act of belief. John wanted to stress the importance of active vital trust in Jesus. What are we being asked to believe? That Jesus is the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world and gives life to those who follow Him. This results in another theme in John - Life (note the capital “L”). This term is found 36 times in John’s Gospel. Jesus is the Life and He has come to help us know how to be fully alive in Him.
Summarization: So if we summarized the book of John we would say that Jesus is God. To prove that, Jesus did things and said things that no one else has ever done or said in the same manner in which He did and said them. He authenticated all of this with the resurrection. The result is that we can believe His story and thereby have eternal life through Him.
EXPOSITION
Key Verse: John actually states his purpose for writing this book at the end, rather than the beginning. Let’s look at this statement. It comes right after doubting Thomas believed in Christ as his Lord and God.
Exposition: John 20:30, 31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples [The disciples were His witnesses. They could vouch for his credentials.], which are not written in this book [John has not exhausted what he has come to know about the Savior in writing this book. As an editor, John selected some key things to write about.]; But these are recorded [That’s a big “these.” The miracles, the signs, the resurrection, the changed lives. John told us about how Jesus changed water into wine (2:1-11); how He healed a royal official’s son (4:46-54); how He healed a lame man (5:1-18); how He fed the five-thousand (6:1-15); how He walked on the water (6:16-21); how He healed the man born blind (9:1-41); and how He raised Lazarus from the dead (11:1-57). What underlying purpose did he have for doing so?] so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name [The gift comes from Him.].
APPLICATION
Application: I see TWO obvious application points today – one for the unbeliever and one for the believer.
1. For the Unbeliever: It is time to believe God’s story as it has come to us in Jesus and the miraculous things that He did for us. It is time to personally say “Yes” to God’s story. You don’t need any more signs. You have plenty of evidence of His love right in the gospels. And because God’s story is true, we are called to lead a new kind of life in Jesus Christ. We still struggle with our lives, but we press on with the forgiveness we have received and challenge our generation to an all out journey with their God. Grace has already happened for you. Believe in Him decisively today and go on believing in Him tomorrow and live differently. Behind John’s entire Gospel is a God with a heart of love. He loves you and has gone to a tremendous effort to demonstrate and prove that to you. John 3:16: For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The one condition for eternal life is to believe. Have you believed – placed your trust in Christ to save you from sin and to give you life now and after death.
2. For the Believer: When John wrote this gospel, he was concerned about outreach and about community impact one friend at a time. John recorded several encounter stories where Jesus would make a statement, the statement would be misunderstood, and then he would further explain himself, all the while, making a friend in the process. Many believed in him by the time the gospel ended.
Quotation: Lee Strobel has a wonderful testimony of how he came to faith. He was an atheistic reporter for the Chicago Tribune who found the Savior through the ministry of his wife and Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. He has gone on to become a great teaching pastor in the area of evangelism first with Willow Creek, and then with Saddleback Community Church in California. Strobel says: “When I was teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, a French TV crew came to film a documentary on the phenomenon of the American ‘mega church’.” The reporter asked him, “If you could encourage pastors to do one thing to reach out to their community, what would it be?” Strobel replied: “Simple: Each and every church leader needs to build at least one strong, deep authentic and caring relationship with an unchurched person in his community.” Strobel explains: “Hang out together. Golf together. Go to dinner and the movies together. Come out for his son’s soccer game; invite him to your daughter’s piano recital. Build a vibrant, no-strings-attached-friendship. Talk with him about matters of the heart late into the night.” Don’t expect Christian behavior out of a non-Christian. If you and I are going to be true to our calling, we must be around some “hells” and some “damns”.
Question: “Have you had dinner with a sinner lately?”
Explanation: That’s a question that I saw recently and it sparked several thoughts. One of the key thoughts that it reminded me of was Jesus. That’s exactly what he did. He pursued the one’s that nobody else wanted to hang out with and ate with them. Matthew 9 says: 9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" The fact that Jesus would do this reminds me of something that happened not long ago in Texas.
Illustration: We all remember the Enron debacle. Before Enron collapsed everyone wanted to be around Ken Lay. He was the mover-and-shaker, the CEO, and the one who could take you places. But when Enron went down, everyone scattered and quickly got as far away from him as they possibly could. That’s what the religious leaders did in Jesus’ day. They got as far away from the tax collectors and the immoral as possible. Well, I know what Jesus would have done at Enron. He would have run to Ken Lay “Now Ken, tell me where you’re at. How about turning things over to me now and let me lead?”
Observation: Jesus was and is the greatest, most attractive evangelist that I have ever encountered anywhere. Perhaps, one of the greatest evidences of this was when John said of Jesus, “He became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Jesus didn’t send a telegram. No bumper stickers. He gave himself transparently. Even though he gave up all of heaven, he never had an attitude about it. Can you imagine, if Jesus had had an attitude about having to coming down on this mission and spend 33 years in what at best would have been a remote assignment when compared to heaven. Nevertheless, He was delightful when with those who were wrestling with their ungodliness. Children loved him and people wanted to eat with him. He maintained his identity, even though fully submersed into the human experience. He was confident. This shows in that he had very little tolerance for the hypocritical and confronted them. He liked to be around honest sinners, not self-righteous churchgoers.
Application: I’m not a big “program” kind of person when it comes to evangelism and outreach. But I am big on “eating with some sinners” and being equipped to share the gospel in natural life settings so that maximum impact is made. When other people scatter away from someone, you run to them and stand by them. Be Jesus to them.
Illustration: There’s a friend here in Sunman that I got to know a few years after I moved here. I’ve tried to be a friend to him. I did his son’s wedding and helped him with a few miscellaneous things. And even though I had known him for a while, I wasn’t sure just how comfortable he was around me because people get kind of weird when they find out I’m a pastor. Of course, he knew what I did for work and I wasn’t sure how that was impacting his comfort level. Well, I knew that a connection was taking place, when out of the blue one day, he gave me a Viagra pill and said, “You’ve got to try this.” Let me hasten to say that at this point, I haven’t tried the blue pill and if you have, that’s great. But for me, that blue pill is a reminder that I need to build at least one relationship with an unchurched nonbeliever where my friend feels comfortable enough to give me a Viagra pill.
CONCLUSION
Illustration: I mentioned at the onset of this message, two of my favorite books on evangelism. Rebecca Manley Pippert closes her book with one of my all time favorite evangelism stories. I would like to close this message with her story today. She tells about moving to Portland, Oregon and meeting a student on one of the campuses where she worked. She said: “He was brilliant and looked like he was always pondering the esoteric. His hair was always messy, and the entire time I knew him,” she said, “I never once saw him wear a pair of shoes. Rain, sleet or snow, Bill was always barefoot.”
She goes on to tell about how he had become a Christian and that there was sort of a middle class church across the street from the campus where everybody wore shoes. One day, Bill decided to worship there.
Pippert says: “He walked into this church, wearing his blue jeans, tee shirt and of course no shoes. People looked a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything. So Bill began walking down the aisle looking for a seat. The church was quite crowded that Sunday, so as he got down to the front pew and realized that there were not seats, he just flopped down on the carpet – perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, but perhaps unnerving for a church congregation.”
There was a tense pause. Then something beautiful happened. An elderly man, kind of like Bud Hunter, began walking down the aisle toward Bill. Pippert said no one knew what he was going to do. Was he going to scold Bill? Was his world too distant from the college students around him to understand this kind of behavior? No one knew what he was going to do. Pippert states: “As the man kept walking slowly down the aisle, the church became utterly silent, all eyes were focused on him, you could not breathe. When the man reached Bill, with some difficulty he lowered himself and sat down next to him on the carpet. He and Bill worshiped together on the floor that Sunday.”
Application: The Savior has also lowered himself in order to reach out to us. May we lower ourselves in order to reach into the world of another person. Each one, reach one.
