Stranger Things

Intro

What does it mean to Go? The third statement of our mission statement is to go out into the world. It capture the commission we receive in . But, what does it mean?

All of us love to talk. We talk about everything and anything. We love to share the knowledge we have. It helps us relate. We have small talk all the way to intimate talk. I have only known one person who did not like to talk. I found out however that that was not true at all.

Illus: Djibouti - A sailor who wanted to be left alone.

Why do we have such a hard time talking about God? The Great Commission that tells us to go an “make disciples” is something very familiar to all of us. Yet, many of us can talk about anything but Jesus.

We said last week that all of Scripture is about Jesus, not us. And, evangelism is one form of being able to show others how all of Scripture points to Jesus.

Why is it we like to talk but not about Jesus our Master:

Fear

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

We either fear God or we fear something else. John Calvin talks about this and says that our knowledge of God is based off of this fear - the fear of HIs wrath for our sin.

We view the church wrongly

We see it as something to be done on Sunday. God speak only happens at church. We have drawn a distinction between our life in the world and our life in church

Maybe, we believe it is someone else's job

We may believe that sending missionaries in our stead is sufficient. We may think that writing a check for the professionals is equal to being obedient to the Great Commission. Its is not. Jesus did not say send others to make disciples.

Maybe, we don’t believe in Jesus at all

The amazing attribute of our God however, is that he is gracious. “His love endures forever”

So, it is not too late to begin to talk about Jesus. There is no better way to experience God’s grace than through evangelism. It is where we see people come to Christ. It is where we see forgiveness and repentance. It is where we get to share the greatest message anyone could receive, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Drama

Athens was a sea port where all religions and gods were being gathered as an option for men. Some were simply interested in the stories. Others were purchasing this god to be their god.

All men worship something. Here we see the culmination of this focus of worship.

Paul turns his attention from those devout believers in the synagogue to a world that was inundated with idols and false gods.

Much like our world today. We have many things that take our attention from a true worship of God, Yahweh to other things.

Epicureans -

followers of Greek philosopher Epicurus

He was a materialist who denied the immortality of the soul and believed man’s existence had the goal of ultimate pleasure. He promoted absolute pleasure opposed to absolute truth.

Stoics -

followers of Zeno who would teach from the stoa or portico

opposed Epicureans

believed man’s highest achievement and goal was virtue

different from Christian idea of virtue however:

promoted pride, self-righteousness, fate based idea of the world

Not much different than the world we live in today

If it feels good do it.

you have the power within you to be righteous, you just have to reach down and find it

Paul was preaching the gospel in a world very much like ours

Doctrine

God gives us his Holy Spirit to lead us.

To stand up boldly to the things of the world and declare them wrong

God’s Word has much to say about both of these worldviews

Difference betwen knowing righteousness and wickedness

English Standard Version Chapter 2

8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

Peter saw this in LOT and uses this to convey an illumined mind and heart for the things of God

God gives us His Word to ground us.

Paul uses Scripture as his foundation for truth

He simply attempts to reason with them from God’s Word

God was speaking to them

It was strange and new

God gives us opportunities for his glory.

The culture was that they only heard what was new and strange

seeking truth continuously

God’s providence is seen in preparing a people for hearing something new and strange

We live in a world where God has set the stage. The things you will bring to light if you share the facts and truths of Scripture with others will be strange and foreign for many.

Secularization means there is less of a supportive context for faith. Privatization has made all things related to faith a private affair, like having a favorite color or food. But most devastating of all has been pluralization. Not only are there multiple faiths and worldviews contending for our attention, but there is also the idea that they are all equally valid, equally true.

White, James Emery. Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World (p. 29). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Doxology

Evangelism looks more like apologetics. The model for evangelism is less like and more like . We will look at this more next week. But, what Paul does in Athens is not any different than the world we live in today.

The good news is God already has a plan for that and nothing is a surprise to him. Actually what seems to be a shift is God’s intent. He is setting the stage.

But, what always remains is that Christians are to be counter culture - strangers to the lost.

James E. White also says:

the church will have to understand that the key is being “counter” to a post-Christian culture, not a copy of it, or else we will have nothing to offer the world that it does not already have.

White, James Emery. Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World (p. 74). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The world should hear and see strange things from us. If we talk during the week just like the world to try and fit into the world we are not sharing the truths of Scripture.

Illus: I toured a USCG airfield this week. Nothing new. But, what I observed is the uniqueness of that community in their speech. They have a lingo that is unique to them. Coasties on the boats don’t have it. As a Chaplain listening and talking with some of the pilots and rescue swimmers, there is a unique language. Within that are even more sub cultures with their own languages. The swimmers dive locker, the Electricians, the Mechanics, the pilots. Walking from one area to the next you can hear the different languages.

This is how we as Christians should sound to the world. We should not sound just like them. We should not act just like them.

God as included us in this great drama of reconciliation. He has invited you and I into his work of salvation. And, it isn’t a requirement out of duty, out of obligation, out of merit, but it is a faithful obedience out of love.

We should desire to be strange. We should expect to sound strange. If we love God’s word his truth, and go out into the world to speak it we will naturally be strange. People will hear strange things.

Let us be a people who are strange and who sound strange as we share God’s truth with those whom we come in contact with.

Just as Israel spent many years wondering in strange lands marching to the promised land singing and praising God in a strange tongue, so should we as the new Israel marching to the promised land.

Let us speak strange things to strangers.