Proclaiming the Story
Notes
Transcript
As disciples of Jesus, we must be ready to proclaim the gospel, to tell the story of Jesus at all times. What will we actually say? The Bible is full of concise and powerful tellings of the gospel message. Learn them, let the soak into us, and may we proclaim them boldly and frequently.
The Back of the Book
The Back of the Book
The summary on the back of the book (or the blurb on Amazon). In a very few sentences, give the “gist” of the story so people know it is worth reading.
Blurb for Lord of the Rings:
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him… After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, a classic fantasy story of an unlikely group of heroes: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
Maybe that’s not your speed.
Redeeming Love:
California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.
Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive...
Then she meets Michael Hosea, a man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything. Michael obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.
That almost sounds inappropriate from the pulpit… but that one is adapted straight of Hosea.
Folks who write these things, like ones who put together movie trailers, or even advertisements… they are seeking not to give all the information possible, but just enough that you get a good taste of what is there, and those who are interested want more.
They, hopefully, capture the story, introduce it really really well.
And if I have read the story and I want to share it with my friends, the more familiar I am with the story the more able I am to share it with them, summarize it, or introduce them to it. But, even for a story I know well, it isn’t crazy for me to recommend it by reading right off the back of the book.
We want to be able to give the gist of the story, so people know it is worth reading, hearing, believing and ultimately living.
How Do We Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus?
How Do We Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus?
How do we actually do it? What has worked for us, what has not?
What comes across as unnecessarily offensive, or just plain weird.
And, let’s say I have broken the ice, brought Jesus into the conversation somehow, announced “The Kingdom of God is here...”
And by a beautiful miracle, a Holy Spirit opportunity, someone wants to hear more. What do I do? What do I say?
It isn’t the worst thing to say “Oh, I don’t know, but here’s my pastor’s phone number” or “come to church on Saturday morning.”
But I do think we should be ready with just a bit more than that.
The Story of Jesus
The Story of Jesus
When Matthew, walked and talked with Jesus, sits down to write “The Gospel According to Matthew...” what does he write? Or Mark. Mark, writing to a Roman audience who knew well what a King’s “gospel” (evangelion) was all about starts his work this way:
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And then what does he proceed to tell?
The story of Jesus. In fact, more than the other gospels, Mark is going to really focus in on the action, on the story, a bit less on the teachings.
No Question, the teachings of Jesus are an absolutely critical part of Jesus’ gospel, his good news of the way life will be in His Kingdom… and Jesus makes “teaching everything He commanded” an explicit part of his Great Commission… and we will spend a BUNCH of time on it.
But this week, focusing in on the story of Jesus - his life, who he was, the Son of God, who then went willingly to the cross to die for you and me, and God the Father raised him from the dead. Jesus ascended to prepare a place for us to dwell with him forever, and left us with the command to go and build His Kingdom, to make disciples.
The Second Thing
The Second Thing
I said last week that most of the big sermons in the Bible are a “second thing.” What do I mean by that? There is some preceding event or statement that got people attention enough that they somehow “earned” the right to say more.
Pentecost is a great example.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
What were they saying? I have a crazy idea: what if they were out in public saying the things Jesus had commanded them to say when they were out in public. Something like “the Kingdom is here?” I don’t know… but I bet it was short proclamations.
“Christ is King” or “The Messiah is here.”
They weren’t quite at clickbait yet, “10 Reasons Why Yeshua is the Messiah: #8 will SHOCK you!”
But seeds, small proclamations, conversation starters:
And the folks are intrigued, not just at the content, or maybe even not at all at the content, but at something the Holy Spirit does beyond their power and awareness...
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
Bewildered. The next verse says “amazed and astonished.” And THEN Peter “lifted up his voice” and addressed them, building up through the words of the prophet Joel, and 2 zingers:
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
And then he had a call to action:
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Beautiful. Simple. The short story, the heart of the gospel. Jesus, cross, resurrection, freedom.
The call to action, repentance and baptism, forgiveness and God with you.
Survey of Short Gospel Presentations
Survey of Short Gospel Presentations
So I want to take us on the rest of the tour. Last week we saw a TON of times where Scripture said someone “proclaimed the gospel” and then recorded what they actually said. Here, I have pulled together some, just some, of the CRAZY number of times the disciples of Jesus capture the heart of the gospel in just a verse or two.
Hear, what are the common threads, the common approaches, the heart of it? Who says it best? Which “book blurb” has you wanting to hear more?
Jesus’ Proclaimations
Jesus’ Proclaimations
As John writes his gospel, Jesus gives some powerful short summaries of the gospel:
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Jesus speaks to Nicodemus:
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus’ words to Martha:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Or Jesus words to the church in Laodicea in another letter from the Apostle John:
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Early Church Proclamations
Early Church Proclamations
We saw Peter in Acts earlier, but there are tons of these. Acts is full of these moments as the gospel spreads:
The jailer in the prison begs Paul and Silas “how can I be saved?”
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Paul, on Mars Hill, after pointing out all the gods and goddesses, including an altar to the “unknown God” points them to the true God:
27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Maybe the earliest creed of all, captured just a few years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
(and then he lists the 100s of witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection).
Romans & Paul
Romans & Paul
Paul writes to the Romans, a people who knew all about the “gospel of Caesar”, and he unpacks so many dimensions of the gospel of Jesus. The whole thing is possibly our fullest exploration of the theology of Jesus, the process of salvation, and the implications for our life… and along the way are some great concise tellings of the gospel:
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
And then scattered all through Paul’s letters:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Analysis of Gospel Proclamations
Analysis of Gospel Proclamations
Could I pick more? Absolutely. So many.
Here is one thing I love, these are pulled from different letters written by different people living in different places, across at least a few decades...
and there isn’t one word that is exactly the same in all of them. You could argue “Jesus” is in there in some way in every one, either by name, or pronoun, or title, or “God.”
I will say, if your presenting of the gospel doesn’t have “Jesus” in it somewhere… it isn’t the gospel of Jesus. That’s some other gospel… and it isn’t good at all.
But some of those are focused on us as sin, or forgiveness of sin, or freedom from sin. Yes and amen, the gospel of Jesus.
Some of those are focused on death, freedom from death, resurrection, eternal life. Yes and amen, the gospel of Jesus.
Some are focused on adoption as children of God. Yes and amen, the gospel of Jesus.
Some are focused in on grace the work of God in us. Yes and amen.
Some are focused on receiving him, believing in his name. Yes and amen.
Granted, I have lifted these out of their context. Some of the heavy hitters, like the Letter to Rome, they are going to walk through ALL the topics. Love it. We will too.
But most presentations of the gospel are just going to touch on a part of it, the edge of it… the summary of it.
The back of the book.
And they are presenting the pieces of it, the parts of it, that THIS guy needed to hear. THIS church needed to focus in THIS moment.
They aren’t trying to bring all the answers and all the history and all the facts and all the arguments and every reason and every detail.
That would be obnoxious and unhelpful.
Yet, often, it is the FEAR of that being required of us that stops us from bringing any of it.
Let me relieve you of that fear.
Bringing ALL the answers is a) impossible, b) unhelpful and c) CERTAINLY unwanted.
Jesus didn’t do it that way, even if He had all the answers they wanted, he left folks wanting more. His disciples, his apostles, the early church, they aren’t doing it that way. It’s the piece or part of the story that is relevant now… and the piece or the part of the story that I have.
John didn’t write Matthew’s gospel. He wrote the story, the perspective the piece of gospel that Jesus gave him. Thank God for all the gospels we have, for all the letters and history we have… and above all for the Holy Spirit that continues to teach us gospel, to reveal gospel in real time as we live and learn and teach and proclaim.
So I relieve you of the pressure: the ridiculous notion that you need to say ALL the things.
BUT… we are commanded to be ready to proclaim the gospel, to have an answer ready at all times for the hope that we have, to point to Jesus.
And I think it can be this stupid practical:
Pick one of these. Memorize it. Say it.
Use your own words if that makes it more natural. Use the Message or another translation of choice.
25 “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. 26 And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”
Believe in Jesus, and death isn’t the end. They won’t even really die. I could say that to a friend.
By all means, choose more than one, memorize, and use it when the moment is right. Love it. But start with one, one that speaks to you, means something to you… and that all on its own will communicate powerfully to folks.
You know what blows my mind? While I was still against God, enemies with God, hating God, thought I was too good for God… Jesus died for me.
Practice Proclaiming
Practice Proclaiming
Next week we are going to practice this together. So you have homework this week to be ready for next.
Pick one of these. I have handouts… haven’t done that for a minute. This is not an exhaustive and perfect list, but 45 verses that concisely tell the story of Jesus, the heart of the gospel, the blurb on the back of the book.
Pick one, and memorize it. In whatever translation you want… or even your own paraphrase, as long as you are faithful to the heart of it. Treasure up His Word, His Gospel in your heart.
… and come next week ready to practice together, in this room, the proclaiming of His gospel.
But we don’t memorize the gospel just for the sake of parroting it to others. This is the beautiful thing… and I think a POWERFUL reason why God has us involved in the proclaiming of His Gospel.
As we prepare to proclaim His Gospel, it soaks into us. We understand it a bit better.
Just as when we teach something, we learn it better, deeper, more about that as we get to teaching all his commandments.
We need His Gospel. In Jesus, in His Kingdom, is the good news of life and life abundant and life forever… and I want to live in it
