How We Might Evangelize to the Glory of God

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Have you ever experienced something so good that you just had to tell somebody about it. I remember the greatest meal I ever ate. I boast about it regularly. I was in Cambodia, off the beaten trail, a bit lost in woods. I came across a lady in a shack who ran a small restaurant out of her little house. I ordered Vietnamese Sausauge served in a carved pineapple with sticky rice. And my life has never been the same since. Do you know how many poeple I have told about this meal?

Personal: If you are a Christian, the greatest good in your life, is Christ. Far greater than any meal. Far greater than any accomplishment. Far greater than any experience. You know a love so profound, so deep, that it fundamentally has changed you from the inside out. You are not who you once were. You have a new nature, a new Father, a new authority, and a new future! When you got something that good, and you know it, you can’t help but tell somebody abou it. Yet, so many of us are so afraid to tell others about Christ. Why is that? Why is having spiritual conversations so difficult for so many Christians? Sometimes its as if we’re ashamed of the most important greatest person in our life.

Context: We are going verse by verse through the Gospel of Luke, and in our passage today Jesus sends out 72 of his followers ahead of him to preach to the various towns and to prepare them for Christ’s visit to those town. The majority of the text is Christ’s instructions to those 72 followers of what to do as they went out. But, by a point of comparison, we are in a very similar position to these 72. For Christ has sent us out ahead of him to go into every town and to prepare anyone and everyone who will listen for Christ’s arrival. Our commissioning “to make the disciples of all nations” is preparatory work for Christ’s return. Therefore, this text of these evangelists going out, has great parallels to our situation. In some ways it is unique to them, in other ways there are common principles at work. And so what I want to do is consider how Jesus instructed those particular evangelists, and draw out lessons we can use as live boldly as witnesses of Christ in our own generation.

Luke 10:1–16 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets an…”

Meaning & Application

From this lengthier text, I want to draw out four rules of engagement as we engage the world with the hope of Christ. I want these to be incredibly practical and simple. Let me also say up front, there are a handful of insights that I was not able to include in the sermon, that I intend to write about this week, and so I encourage you to see the resources I send you next week for those.

I THE MOTIVES FOR EVANGELISM ARE DUTY & COMPASSION

First, the motives for evangelism are duty and compassion.

Duty (3): In this text, Jesus gathers and commissions these evangelists. He instructs with an imperative in verse 3,

Luke 10:3 “Go your way; behold, I am sending you…”

When we speak of duty, we are speaking of obligations, responsibilities, and assignments of a Lord to his servants. As a Christian, participating in the Great Commission is not an option. It is not something we can choose to opt out of, like an elective course in college. To even attempt to opt out would be to look at the direct command of Christ, and say, “I know you’ve commanded me, I’m not doing it.” Could you imagine one of these 72 saying, “No,” to Jesus. What would that say about them? And yet, something like 99% of evangelicals in America will never share their faith once with another person. Do not be deceived, duty to honor Christ by obeying his commandmens is a wonderful basis to motivate many areas of our life. But it is not the only motivation.

Compassion: Another major motivation is compassion. We have eyes of compassion for those who do not know the love of Christ like we do.

Luke 10:2–3 “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

The Harvest is Plentiful: I’ve never farmed before, but I have a basic understanding of how this works. A farmer works diligently throughout the year, preparing his soil, digging the trenches, planting the seeds, fertilizing the soil. And then he faithfully watches to see the growth happen. When the Spring rains come, suddenly a leaf or two pop through the ground, and the farmer knows the harvest is coming. The leaves rise up, and soon stalks can be seen across the field, but the harvest is not yet ready, it’s still growing. God sends more rain, and the crop continues to grow, and then at the right time, heads of corn sprout across the entire field. And the farmer who has worked hard and joyfully and eagerly awaited the harvest, brings in his harvest. Farmers love a harvest. They love to bring it in. They love to see the fruit of their labor, and goods that God has produced. How much more so with each Christian who labors patiently, compassionately in the field of souls!

The Laborers are Few: But Christ says the “laborers are few,” and how right is he. Too many Christians have too little compassion in their heart for other’s misery. They have no hunger in their bowels to see others participate in the joy of the Lord. Christ calls to “pray earnestly.” That word has the sense in this context of begging and pleading that God would send more men and women into the harvest. Why beg, why plead with God? It is compassion. All around us Christian, are men and women who do not know their right hand from their left spiritually. They are the blind leading the blind into their own graves.

Compassion for Earthly Suffering: When we speak of compassion, we ought to have a two-fold compassion. First, a compassion for earthly suffering. A compassion that sees needs and truly has a soft heart that breaks for them. That yearns for them to find reprieve. Yes, when Christians filled by the Spirit see human suffering there is a longing in their heart to see that story redeemed.

Compassion for Spiritual Suffering: But there is also comassion for spiritual suffering. To see one’s state of misery outside of Christ, and yearn for them to know your Savior. For outside of Jesus, they stand condemned. They have forsaken the King of glory, they have served their false gods, and their penalty both in this life and the next is just. And yet Christ stands willing to forgive each and every sinner who will bow the knee to his majesty. His blood stands as fresh today as it did 2,000 years ago when it was first shed, able to forgive the greatest sinners among us. How can we keep quiet?

Illustration - Penne Jillete: I read a letter a few years ago from Penne Jillete. He’s the Penne from Penne & Teller, the entertainers. He is a very outspoken atheist. But he had some convicting words to say to Christians. He writes

“I’ve always said,” Jillette explained, “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward.

“How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

“If I believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, that that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point that I tackle you, and this is more important than that.”

“This guy was a really good guy. He was polite, honest, and sane, and he cared enough about me to proselytize and give me a Bible.”

Apologetics is Driven by Compassion: See the person. See the soul. One of the very first lessons I teach when I teach about how to defend the Christian faith, is to always converse with people not to win an argument, or prove a point, but to see the soul and minister deeply to that person. It’s because we love people, we want to get them to Jesus. Our neighbors and our friends are experiencing all kinds of brokenness and hardship, and they need Jesus. Their marriages are suffering. Their kids are having all kinds of problems. They have fears and insecurities. They have big questions. They need the beauty and the power and the strength and truth of Jesus. Let both duty and compassion drive your evangelism!

II RECOGNIZE MOMENTS AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY

Next principle: We must learn to recognize moments and respond accordingly.

The Passage: This principle really works itself out in great detail throughout the main section of verses 5-12. The idea Jesus is communicating is that these evangelists were to go into towns and preach the gospel publicly. If someone received them, and showed hospitality after hearing their words, great continue with them.

Luke 10:8 “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.”

If the town rejected them and it was a clear closed door. They were instructed

Luke 10:10–11 “… go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you.’”

Those are harsh words that were meant for those evangelists and the particular task Christ gave them in that moment. Nevertheless the principle is really helpful. Whenever we share, we must have a discerning ear and a discerning eyes to see if God is opening a door for further spiritual conversations. If he is, we must pursue. If he isn’t, we are not wrong to leave it be for now. That doesn’t mean to “leave it be” forever. It just means, this might not be the time that is wisest to keep bringing spiritual conversations.

Three Very Practical Relational Tools: Let me give you three very simple and practical relational ways you might see this play out in your life. This is not cold-turkey evangelism (which I love, and am happy to take you out over the summer to learn how to do if you want). This is relational.

#1 When Someone is Suffering: When you are in someone’s life, and they share with you some hardship they are enduring. Maybe they have a medical diagnosis they are nervous about, or their marriage is struggling. Any number of things. What I often do in that moment is I say something like this, “Hey, what you’re sharing with me is so big. My hurt hurts for you. In my life, I’ve gone through some hard stuff and I know my faith in Christ has been the rock that has given me strength through so much. I know that might sound strange, but I really want to tell you more, I feel like that’s the only thing I know to help you with.” When you say that one of two things are going to happen. Either, their going to say, “Look Raef, don’t talk about Jesus.” Okay! closed door right now. Wipe the dust off your feet. Try to be a good friend as best as you can. Or, they’re going to say, “Okay, tell me more.”

#2 Wisdom of Scripture: Here is a second example. This happened to me recently with a friend who is not a believer. This person is in a profession that my friend ends up carrying a lot of emotinal weight of other people as part of his job. And he was describing how hard it is for him leave that weight at the office. This isn’t suffering is a wisdom issue. So I say, “Look, I’m in a similar boat. The way I do it, is that I cling to the promises that Jesus made me. So for example in the Bible Jesus says,

Matthew 11:28–29 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Honestly, I often reflect on those words, and I have really found them to be true.” Again, the friend can do a number of things with this. I’m looking for whether the door is open more conversation, is there a sensitivity? Perhaps God is already at work and I didn’t realize it. He might say, “You know what is so funny. I read that just last week.” And you’re in. Dig in. Have compassion. Share!

#3 Ask How You Can Pray for Them: Here’s a third one. This is one that I love to do with waitresses and uber drivers, but it can also be done with long term relationships. The waitress comes around and delivers your food, and you pause and say, “Mam, this might be strange, but we’re Christians and we are about to pray for our meal. We’d love to pray for you. Is there anything we can pray for you for?” Do you know how many doors are opened this way? Sometimes, they politely smile and say no and walk away. Wipe the dust off your feet. I’ve had folks tear up and tell me all bout their life. I’ve had waitresses run up to me in the parking lot and just say how meaningful it was that we prayed for her. And let us pray for them right then and there. Door wide open!

Review: Two, we must recognize moments and respond accordingly.

III IT’S GOD’S HARVEST, THE PRESSURE IS OFF

The third rule is going to be very short, but very important as well. It’s God’s harvest, so the pressure’s off. Let me close this point by saying one more thing.

Luke 10:2 “… Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Not “the” harvest. Not “our” harvest. But “God’s” harvest. This is where our theology is so important! We believe in the doctrine of election. It’s a very important Biblical doctrine and it applies so practically into this conversation. There are many verses in Scripture that can help us get a sense for this doctrine. But I’ll call our attention to Acts 13:48. In this chapter, the gospel is being preached to Gentiles, and we read this,

Acts 13:48 ESV

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

God Has Appointed: Who are the Gentiles that believed in Acts 13? It were those who were appointed to eternal life by God. Those who believed were not “those who heard the most compelling argument from the most charismatic preacher.” Nope! It was not “those who the one sharing the gospel with didn’t make any mistakes.” Nope! It was those who were appointed to eternal life.

What This Means: What this means is that you never know who is appointed for eternal life and who isn’t. You and me can no more change a heart of stone that rejects Jesus to a heart of flesh that receives Jesus than you can jump to the moon. The harvest is entirely a work of God. This means, the pressure is off you to be the perfect evangelist, to know all the answers, to deliver your words smoothly. Your only task is to share, and let God bring the growth. You may have a door closed 99 times. O but that 100th time, when the floodgates open, when Christ restores a soul before you, when real saving faith is implanted in a person, it is some of the most precious moments in life. It’s God’s harvest.

IV HAVE A WELL BALANCED MINISTRY OF KINGDOM DEMONSTRATION AND PROCLAMATION

The fifth and final rule that Christ advises these evangelists is to utilize both a ministry of proclamation and a ministry of demonstration. Proclamation and Demonstration. We see this in verse 9,

Luke 10:9 ESV

Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

These evangelists were given unique spiritual authority that is not normative for every Christian today. Down in verse 19, Jesus says to them that they even authority and protection to not be bitten serpents and scorpions on their journey. This is a unique authority granted to these evangelists for that period of time only. So when Jesus says, “Heal the sick,” what he means is that that specific group would have extraordinary spiritual power in order to witness to the message they were speaking. Specifically they could heal sick people.

Can We Heal?: Let’s just take a moment to set the record straight. Is it possible to pray over a person and see them healed by God today. Yes. God delights to heal. Do we have the authority to heal on command the way this group did or the apostles did in the early NT Church? No.

Proclamation & Demonstration: Nevertheless, their instructions were to heal the sick, and proclaim the message that the Kingdom has come near. “ Let’s discuss both of them.

Heal the Sick: First “Heal the Sick.” Translating this to what we are able to do as Christians, we are to have a ministry of demonstration. We want people around us to see the power of the Gospel at work in us and through us. We want our life to manifest itself in their presence in such a way that it shocks those who are looking on. Let me give you two ways that I believe are so practical and simple. Everybody can do this.

Pray for people boldly. Do you know how many times I have shared with the gospel with somebody, felt like I botched the whole thing. And then before I left just asked if I could pray with them. And while i pray with them they break down crying. There is power in prayer. God uses it tremendously. Ask to pray for people. Watch the Spirit move.

Serve Others Extravagently: Another way you can do this, serve others extravagently. Find ways to show up in their life. This can be something as simple as helping a person move apartments. That goes so far. It can be something far greater, like caring for a refugee family. or serving at one of our partner ministries. See, as you preach the Kingdom of God, you are simultaneously living the Kingdom of God.

Stand for Biblical Justice: Third, stand for Biblical Justice. Not the modern version of social justice that is detached from Scripture. No, stand boldly for Biblical Justice, in Christ’s name. Let people see the power of Christ raised from the dead in you and through you. Christians ended the slave trade. Christians built hospitals and schools. Christians care for the least of these, because Christ has cared for us. Let the world see this. Let them never be able to say, “Yeah but you don’t lift a finger to help.”

Proclaim: Ministry of demonstration, letting the world see the love of Christ in us and through us. Then we have a ministry of proclamation, sharing about Christ with others. Jesus told them to declare that the Kingdom has come near you. Remember this was before the death and resurrection of Christ, which means that our message is not the Kingdom of God has come near, but the Kingdom of God has been established. Christ has gone to the cross, and died in our place. He rose victoriously over sin, satan, and death, and he rules and reigns right now. Proclaim that with boldness. Invite people in to se the beauty and the wonder of Jesus, and what it means to be born again.

Why This is Important: It is vital that we foster in our hearts both a ministry of proclamation and a ministry of demonstration. Here’s why.

This is What Christ has Done for Us: This is exactly what Christ has done for us. When Christ came for us he preached the gospel to us (perhaps he used our parents or a friend, but the clarity of the Gospel came). And then he began to restore us and heal us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave you new strength to face every trial you would ever go through. He gave you new hope to live for today with confidence that God is good, that his plans for you are good. He gave you Holy Spirit power to apply the gospel into your life so that the same sins and the same vices do not keep plaguing you forever. He broke the power of sin in your life. He bound the enemy from having dominion. He preached and he moved with power.

Lopsided: If we only have a ministry of demonstration, but fail to have a ministry of proclamation, then ultimatley what will happen is many around us will be compelled by our lives and think that we are simply religious people. Those people around us will never get to the cross. They’ll think very highly of us, and very lowly of Christ, and that’s the exact opposite of what we want. If on the other hand, we have a ministry of proclamation that is not equally matched by a ministry of demonstration, then others will see right through us. They’ll say, “You preach about love, but you don’t actually want to get your hands dirty in the love others.”

Are You Balanced?: To which side of that balance do you tend to fall? Most American Christians, if they err, err on the side of lots of demonstration, lots of trying to love people, and very little speaking about Christ. Christian, we must speak. How could we be silent when so much is at stake.

Final Applications

Let me close with a two very simple applications.

Pray: Pray, Pray, Pray for God to raise up laborers for his vineyard. Pray that God would wake up sleepy Christians to labor faithfully all the days of their life. We ought not have a church of 300 folks with only a few very seriously laboring faithfully in this area. Every CHristian ought to be discipled and raised up. Pray, for laborers.

Take Your Chances: Don’t be afraid to take a chance. You never know what God has already been doing in their life. They may be a seed that already has a bit of the leaf about to pop through the ground.

Be bold. Be faithful. Christ is returning soon. We have been commissioned by Christ our King to prepare all those who will hear, to receive Christ their king. What a commissioning we have!