Lost in Translation

Jacob's Sermon Template Sermon Text: 1 Peter 3:8-16 Sermon Supporting Texts: Colossians 4: Sermon Title: Lost in Translation (Part 2 of Love Like Jesus Series) Main Idea: Heart, Head, or Hands: Hands Central Theme: Let God's difference in you draw people in. Illustrations & Quotes: (Lost in Translation): Winter Jam Sign Language (Sharing through relationship): Bryan Loritts' Story Outline: Intro: Opening: Hell over Coffee (Video) Personal struggles with evangelism. Street Evangelism: Ray Comfort Tracts: Starbucks Winter Jam. WE DO NOT SAVE PEOPLE (Your life at its best will not save someone but it will point them to the one who does save.) We are right in the middle of our Love Like Jesus series where we are talking about what it looks like to fulfill Jesus' command to "Go and make disciples". Jesus Himself said the greatest command is to love God and the second is to love people. We have been looking at Peter's words to the Church from 1 Peter 3:15. Pastor Andy shared that our first responsibility is to know Jesus ourselves and to know what we believe. To set apart Christ as Lord means that He is above all else in our lives. And from that, sharing Him will naturally overflow. Paul echoes this idea from Galatians 2:20 when he says, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." I think of the story of Archimedes. Archimedes is given credit for discovering the formula for measuring the buoyancy of objects when submerged in water (That is literally all that I know about this topic, if you want to know more about it ask Jeff). There is a story, that most people agree is more fiction than fact, that Archimedes was reflecting while taking a bath and was hit with sudden inspiration. He then jumps out and runs through the streets naked yelling "Eureka" which means "I found it!". I have always enjoyed that story because it shows the undignified and unashamed joy of someone who has found what they have been searching for. To set apart Christ as Lord in our lives, or to make Him holy in our lives means that people will see that He matters most to us. Peter teaches us that sharing Christ comes from the joy of having Him, not from forced obligation. Now there is so much going on in Peter's letter to the Church that I wish we could unpack, but that will be for another series later. One thing that needs to be emphasized is this. Peter is writing to encourage and challenge believers as they are experiencing pressure for standing out. This is how Dr. Whittaker puts it in his commentary: "from reading the letter it's clear the Christians are experiencing varying degrees of discrimination, marginalization, and social hardship for their faith in Jesus. To be clear, it's not empire-sponsored persecution. But growing dislike and suspicion that led to all sorts of social mistreatment ... they're struggling, being marginalized, ostracized, insulted, and threatened. Peter writes to show them how to live and honor God under such circumstances." (Listeners Commentary). Knowing the context, does the situation Peter is writing to address sound familiar? The Church is under pressure because of their allegiance to Christ. Peter is writing to ensure that they strive to live out life with Christ in such a way that, even while under pressure, does not get lost in translation. In fact, Peter emphasizes the difference that Christians are marked by is good by addressing the Church as foreigners, exiles, and aliens. He tells them to be holy in all of their behavior, and to continue to strive to do good. With that last one, he encourages them to live out the life of good and doing what is right. Then he poses this question: "Isn't it better to suffer for doing good rather than for doing evil?"... We might not like the question, but he makes a good point. We must keep this in mind as we read our main text: "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." Now, as stated before, pastor Andy shared with us about the beginning of this verse. As people who claim Christ as Lord, we need to know what we believe, to know our story, and be ready to share. We are now getting to the part of the verse that complicates things... people. Take any situation and throw people into the mix and you now have a complicated and complex situation. I think our introverts in the room just said a silent amen to that statement. I originally wanted to phrase the first point to say "People are the problem" but that seemed like it could come off wrong. As we look at this aspect of the verse, our first point is one that Peter assumes and we might think goes without saying, but we are going to look at it to make sure we are on the same page. Our first point we need to understand is that people who do not know Christ are lost. 1: People are lost (Romans 10 & 1 Timothy 2:4) [God's people care for what He cares for] Peter makes it clear that people will ask about the hope we have because of Christ. This is because without Him, there is no true hope. Paul presents this point in Romans 10. In verse 13 he says that "He who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved". Then, he begins to lay out a problem. He asks, "How will they call if they have not believed? And how will they believe if they have not heard? And how will they hear unless someone tells them? And how will someone tell them if they are not sent?" The problem is not just that there are people who do not know, but that there are also people who know. Paul makes it clear that the responsibility of sharing the good news falls on the ones who have it. This is not just pastors or missionaries but anyone who claims Jesus as Lord of their lives. Paul also makes the statement in 1 Timothy 2:4 that "God desires for all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." This means that people are lost, and God does not want them to remain that way. Jesus took this far enough to even ask for forgiveness for the ones crucifying and mocking Him. People are lost and God wants them to come to know and follow Him. As people who believe and set apart Jesus as Lord of their lives this also means that we are bothered by the things that bother God. If we claim Christ as Lord, then we cannot look at people who are lost in this world and think "Not my problem". We must be bothered by the fact that people are lost. Maybe for some of us we need to start here. Maybe, if we are honest with ourselves we might find it difficult to have compassion for the lost. I mean, just trying to take care of myself seems to be difficult enough. If we find ourselves struggling with compassion, let us have honest dialogue with God in prayer. If you do not know what to pray, echo the words of Bob Pierce (the founder of World Vision) who said "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God!" As people who know and believe, we cannot share our faith without being bothered by the fact that there are people who do not know. Being bothered that there are lost people moves evangelism from an obligation to a natural conversation. Evangelism starts with knowing and being bothered by the fact that people are lost. This leads to our next point: People are watching and will ask questions. 2: People are watching and will ask (Colossians 4) [God's people will stand out (foreigners)] If we look back at our main text, notice Peter says "when they ask", not "if". It is assumed that people will ask about the hope that we have because of Christ. This is because living with Christ made holy in our lives will cause us to stand out. Remember that Peter uses the illustration of believers being foreigners. To live with Christ at the center of our lives means that we will stand out like someone who is just visiting. I have been blessed with different opportunities to travel to some fun and interesting places. Honestly, I have felt like I was a foreigner in places within the US, but the experience that stands out the most was when I got to go to Swaziland Africa. I was an intern at a church in Colorado and we were given the opportunity to go to Africa on a mission trip. We got there and were greeted by the couple who were the leaders of the clinic. After we talked for a bit the husband immediately goes into a dialogue of all of the snakes and other animals that could possibly kill you if you are not careful. Later on, he saw me gingerly walking around the area we were working in while we were trying to get staff housing ready. He asked me what I was doing and after I told him I was being careful not to surprise any of the animals on the list he told us about. He then chuckled and said that he had not run into one of them in the many years he had been there... needless to say when he made a big deal about how we shook hands when we went to church, I was skeptical. We got to go to church in the capital of Swaziland which was cool and afterward we were mingling and a gentleman reached out to shake my hand. Now, here is what I was supposed to do in that hand shake (grasp his hand, grasp his thumb, and then grasp his hand). And Here is what I did instead... The guy gave me a weird look and walked away. That is the example that comes to my mind when I read that God's people are foreigners in this world. We are different. We stand out. We might be considered weird or even disliked. To live for Christ means that we live a life that stands out and people are watching. As we experience a life under pressure from being a follower of Jesus, people are watching to see how we will respond. What will they do when they experience heartache and loss? What will they do when they experience stress or anger? What will they do when they are falsely accused? Or lets make this a little closer to home. What will they do when they are behind a slow driver? What will they do when world or national events do not happen the way they want to? What are they saying on their social media pages? What are they doing when they think no one is watching? This is why Paul commands this in his closing words to the church in Colossae: "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." People, for better or worse, will take notes on what it means to be Christian by watching those who claim to follow Him. This is why Paul says, "Make the most of every opportunity". Before we even get the chance to share the gospel, are we living with it on display? If we claim that our lives belong to Him, will they see that in how we live out each day? Now of course no one is going to perfectly model what it means to follow Jesus, but where we fail we can continually point to Christ and say "That is why I need Him." This is why Peter's emphasis in this letter has been for the Church to be a people that seek to live good lives. Because when people see employees and employers who are honest, diligent, and compassionate; marriages that are forgiving, sacrificial, and faithful; and citizens that are loving (even towards those they disagree with), serving, and committed; AND ALL OF THESE UNDER THE BANNER OF CHRIST AS LORD, People will ask. We live in a world where people are lost, even if they don't realize it, and are desperately searching for hope. Our call is to live lives that point people to Christ who is the only one that can provide lasting hope even while under the pressures of this world. This leads to our final point. When people ask, we have to remember that people are not the enemy. 3: People are not the enemy (Ephesians 2 & Titus 3) [God's people show wisdom and care towards the lost (compassion)] Now I know that sounds weird. But we can easily treat evangelism like a battle rather than a relational conversation. This is why Peter urges these conversations to be with gentleness and respect. This flows from that compassion that we receive from keeping Christ at the center of our lives. When we start sharing our faith, we have to make sure that our goal is not to win an argument, but to show the love and wisdom of Christ. Paul's letter to Titus shows us this when he gives this final command. "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (3:1-5) Paul reminds the Church that the only difference between us and unbelievers is Jesus. It is not how good we are, or how smart we are, but it is only Jesus that makes the difference. When we remember this, it enables us to engage in the conversation even if the people are difficult, or they live differently, or if they are one of the ones applying pressure to our lives. We engage in evangelism with them with gentleness and respect because of Christ in us and His desire for all people to come to Him. While we do have an enemy that tries to fight against the truth of Jesus, people are not it. This is where we need to remember Paul's reminder to the Ephesians that Satan is the one at work in those who do not believe. When we identify the real enemy, we are able to clearly see that people who do not know Christ are captives, not adversaries. When we remember that People are lost, they are watching and will ask questions, and that they are not the enemy we will be able to engage in the conversation of faith far better than just throwing facts at them. Conclusion: As believers, we must live with Christ on display. Is He our hope? Do we run to Him when times are difficult. People need the hope and life that Jesus brings, is that hope on display in our life? In one of my classes at Boise Bible College, we were focusing on what it meant to live the Christian life. Our professor asked us a question. He started by asking, "If you were to squeeze a tube of toothpaste, what would come out?" To which everyone responded "toothpaste". He then followed up by asking, "If you squeeze a Christian, what will come out?", now unfortunately I thought myself to be quite funny and said blood which is not the right answer. He then proceeded to explain that people, when put under pressure, show where their hope is. Peter is writing to a people who are under pressure and reminding them where their hope is and that there are those who do not have that hope. When we live with Christ on display, people will be drawn in. Are we ready to explain the hope that we have? This is not an instantaneous process. Bryan Loritts Story? (Evangelism is not an instant process) Remember that the responsibility to tell those who do not know falls on the ones who know. This does not mean that they know everything or that they are perfect, but simply that they know and have the ability. There are people who do not know, do we truly see that as a problem? Application: Pray: Bob Pierce & Prayer Cards No matter who you are, we need to start with prayer. Maybe we struggle with seeing evangelism as "my problem". Maybe we need to ask God for hearts of compassion, even towards those who are applying the pressure to our lives. Maybe we need to start by praying for some of the people in our lives. I would encourage you to pick up a prayer bookmark and start with that commitment of bringing those people before the Father in prayer. Live a life of witnessing (if people had a window into your day-to-day life what would they see). Live a life of witnessing. This means that if we claim Christ as Lord that our lives reflect that statement. If people were given a window into how we lived our day-to-day life, would they see that Christ is honored in our lives? We must ask ourselves if we are living lives that show the hope we say that we have in Christ. As your life experiences pressure, where are you running to for hope? Relational: Now of course, evangelism is not something that we just ambush people with truth and hope it sticks. It has to be relational. We have to invite people into our personal space and get to know them. Like we said before, people make things complicated but that does not mean it isn't worth it. Evangelism is a relational pursuit. Where we live life with people, praying for them, laughing with them, mourning with them, and serving them. Only then do we earn the right to speak into their lives. Be sure that it is a dialogue, not a monologue When they do ask, remember what we said earlier. You are not the one who saves people. Your life points to the one who saves. Don't psych yourself out before you even speak. Ask yourself beforehand, where do you find your hope? Why does Jesus make you seem different than others? You can never be ready for every question, but if you honestly share where you can people who are truly searching will want to know more. One of the things I share with our students is if someone asks you something you do not know, simply say "I don't know, but I would love to search that out with you." When we can honestly say this, it shows that gentleness and respect. We are not trying to make things up to save our reputation, we are not letting Jesus down, but we are inviting people along on a journey closer to Christ. When it comes to evangelism and how to share your story, everyone has their own way of doing it. We could spend hours looking at different strategies people can employ. But here is where I would recommend starting: Remember the mission (People are lost), Be real (is your life reflecting what you say you believe) Because people are watching and they will ask, and Be Mindful (Remember that people are not the enemy and that the Lord cares for every single person). Live a life that puts Christ on display for all to see.