Witness without Weirdness....Do-able evangelism: Luke 10. 1-11

How does the word "evangelism" make you feel?  The simple fact is that most of us are scared or embarrassed about "telling others" about our faith. 40% of British people think faith isn't something you should tell other people about.  So is Pastor going to put us all on a guilt trip?  I want to make evangelism "doable?  I want to explore ways of getting alongside people to share our faith, that isn't scary, un-natural, or weird. Jesus sent the seventy out to be a blessing...   Here is a paradigm for doable evangelism...

1. This is an intentionally consciously spiritual event.  It expresses the faith that Jesus wants to go where we are (v1); it is about his Presence.  And it is done in an attitude of prayer (v2). It is done with the intention of establishing a sense of the Sacramental.  You are the sacrament.

2. Vulnerability and simplicity:  We go as "lambs among wolves" and we don't take extra things that will weigh us down.  There may be times when we have the answer: indeed we know that we have "the answer" in Jesus. But we don't go to minister as people who have everything sorted out in our own lives.  We go as people who are ourselves in need of help.  In John 4, Jesus spoke to a woman as he waited by the town well. His first approach to the conversation wan not "Your life is in a mess, lady; and I'm the Son of God; I have living water that you really need to clean your life up."  No, the first thing he did was ask for a drink.  In that situation, that, on its own, was remarkable enough that a conversation started about spiritual things almost immediately.  So let's be real about our faith, and about our struggles.  Let's not be afraid of putting ourselves in the place where other people can get the better of us.  And let's go in the simplicity that isn't relying on programmes.  Evangelism isn't about knowing and telling everyone "Four Spiritual Laws".  It's about a relationship with Jesus. We don't need to carry a load of programmes, learn a whole load of words. We need to go in simplicity.

3. Aim to be a blessing.   "First say 'Peace be to this house'".  Aim to give a blessing; to leave the "fragrance of Jesus" when you have gone.  Don't be the sort of person who, when you've gone, someone is desperate to open the windows: I'm not talking about BO.  I'm talking about behaviour. Is there something you can do in a given situation that will bless others in that situation?   If it's a prayer thing as I have already suggested, then the Lord will point out the thing to do. But here are some suggestions for what Jim Henderson calls "Ordinary Attempts" to share Jesus with people by blessing them, by being good news...

a. Listen to people: what someone called the "Great free attention give-away". If you show genuine interest in another person, you're giving them something incredibly refreshing in a world where individuals are merged into a corporate background.  Henderson says, "Our culture's equivalent of 'a cup of cold water' is attention." So, for example, ask someone how they are and then really listen to the answer.  Follow that through next time you see the person. 
b. Notice people. Simply holding the door open for someone. Treat bus drivers, shop girls and so-on as real people, who are not just there to help you.
c. Acts of kindness.  Visit someone in hospital; send a card for a birthday; Drop in a cake to a neighbour... Nettie Thomson tells me her husband wooed her with sweets when she was a bus conductress and he was a passenger.  Try keeping a bottle of water and a few sweets in your car and offering them when you meet someone who might benefit.
d. Ask how you can help? 
e. Pray for someone "behind their back" and tell them when you have the opportunity. 
This is really nothing out of the ordinary. It is what some of us already do as a matter of course.  It is what some others can forget to do because we get too busy.  But it is the sort of lifestyle difference, that makes people curious about what makes us tick. 

Individuals who habitually bless other people are more likely to be effective evangelists.  Did you know that we are best at sharing our faith in the first year or two after we become Christians?  The longer we follow Jesus, the less effective we are.  When you are a new Christian, there is an immediate change of some sort: you feel you've discovered something.  Here are simple ways of refreshing that sense of "difference", ways of making people who know you curious about what's going on inside.

You may not lead every person you bless to faith in Christ.  But you increase the possibilities; you break down the barrier of weirdness, and you may be a link in the chain. There have been people who have come to faith, as a direct and immediate result of one simple act of kindness, though...

Churches, likewise, that habitually bless others in their neighbourhood, are more effective in reaching out with the good news of Jesus.  Pam & I visited Leven on Monday, to see their centre, which has been open abut ten years. Several hundred people pass through the centre each week: mums and toddlers, playgroup, latchkey kids' club, outreaches to the homeless... and the church has gone from being slowly declining, to being so full they have had to make the platform smaller in order to squeeze extra seating in. about thirty people are members or regular church attenders today, because directly of the "Blessing" ministry of the centre. 

4. Blessing and the supernatural.  Doing good isn't a substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.  It isn't a substitute for stepping out in faith to pray for God's healing for people who don't know Jesus. It isn't a substitute for praying for people who don't know Jesus.  The power of the Spirit and these "Ordinary Acts" of blessing go hand in hand.  

Roy Laurence tells of young nurse told to monitor a man in a coma on life support.  She noticed that he hadn't received proper personal care. His face was grubby, his hair matted, and so on. So she got warm water and washed the man's face, took her own comb and combed the man's hair.  When she was finished, he opened his eyes, and said "thank-you". Amazingly he then went on to make full recovery. The power of care.

5. Say something - eventually.  Doing good deeds isn't a substitute for speaking out.  The "peace" was to be spoken. The Good news that "The Kingdom of God has come near" is something that needs to be said. But be natural about it; don't force it.  Await the opportunity. It will come. Kindness and genuine interest in people builds relationships and out of theses relationships, conversations will develop.  And don't give a pre-packaged speech you have learned off by heart.  It may be just a bit of your own story; to be able to say "Jesus has helped me get through," or to assure someone that God really loves them.   Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would tell us what to say: we need to be asking Him to speak through us, though. Be natural and have fun.

6. A healthy realism.  This idea of "Blessing people" isn't a panacea, a guaranteed method of getting results every time. Like the seventy, even like the twelve, there will be situations where what we have to offer will not be welcomed; some people will not even want to be practically helped. A Church in the USA had a team that went out offering to clean the toilets in shops. One woman was so taken aback by this offer that she threatened to call the cops!

Talk to the Lord about people's resistance to him.  Ask God to help you understand the other person. Let him show you if you were insensitive in the way you offered help. The time may come when you know that a group of people are simply "not going to receive you" - when they are standing shoulder to shoulder resisting everything you want to do to bless them.  There is a time to walk away and God will show you when that time is. Generally, though, we do friendship evangelism based on building real, lasting friendships.

Being a blessing isn't an instantaneous cure. But it is a way of getting involved, a way of opening doors; it is something we can all do. I'm not going to guilt-trip you into sharing your faith.  Most of us have been guilt-tripped for so long it no longer has any effect! For most of us, if we felt we could, we would hare our faith. Here is something we can do.

© Gilmour Lilly September 2010

Luke 15: A heart for the Lost. (Sunday 12th September 2010)

What does a "missional Church" look like and feel like? What exactly do I mean when I talk about "becoming and effective, outreaching fellowship"? What's in it's DNA? In Luke 15 Jesus gives three parables about lost things, about mission. They all teach that "The son of man came to seek and save the lost." Let's look at the story of the lost, so-called "prodigal" (which means "wasteful") son. The least of his faults was wastefulness. In fact the story involves three people, and we need to look at all three of them...

The Son. With nothing to look forward to but a lifetime of dull, boring routine as second-in-command of a farming business, he decided to ask for his share of the inheritance, to cut free from the boring old life, and to taste freedom. So he went to his Father and asked for his share of the inheritance. That was the equivalent of telling his dad to drop dead. It was an insult of the highest order. With the cheque in the bank, he went off to enjoy a new lifestyle, until the money ran out, just around the same time that a recession began... the boy ended up taking a job feeding pigs and was so hungry he was tempted to root in the pig food for something he could eat. Eventually he realised he could have a better life back home working for his Dad, who had a reputation as a kind employer...

Imagine yourself as the young man.. What are you feeling as the farmhouse comes into view?
Embarrassment at the way he had behaved? Fear of how he would be received? Resentment that things hadn't worked out? Or just a pit of hopeless depression?

The Father. As the son saw the farmhouse again, the father saw a ragged wee speck on the horizon, walking with a familiar gait, and recognised his younger son. Like the Shepherd and the Housewife he Father shows us some important things about the missional heart of God, important values for missional church...
1) Watchfulness. The Father was watching along the road where the lost son would come from. He wanted to see what was coming along that road. And the Missional Church will always be watchful of what is going on "down the road", in our culture. That shows us two things in the Father's heart:
2) Realistic Expectancy: Others may have said to him, "Why do you watch out for him every day?" And the Father would reply, "He's my son; this is home; he'll be back." Now I'm not saying we can expect people to flood through these doors one Sunday. Our world has changed. But we're not saying "The ball's up on the slates; game's over in terms of mission" There is an interest is spiritual things: it's expressed in different ways and we need to understand it and to be positive about the people around us.
3) Disinterested longing...He longs to have the lost boy home, not because he misses the boy but because home is where the boy is spiritually, physically, emotionally and morally safe. Away, he's in danger. He'd be better of at home.
4) Compassion. When the Father saw his son, He had compassion on him. He felt for him at that point as he saw how thin, how weary, how hesitant, how ragged the young man looked. He understood the Embarrassment, the fear, the guilt.
5) On the move. He immediately went out to meet him. We often think we are "welcoming" just by saying "welcome" but there are times when that welcome needs to be extended outwards. The truly missional heart of the Father goes out to the lost, still on the road, to welcome him home.

6) People take Priority over Propriety. And the Father ran to meet his son. Now we need to understand this. A middle-aged man - especially one with a bit of money, a few servants - didn't run. It was beneath him. He walked. It's not a matter of health or disability; it was a matter of dignity, honour and respect. If you wanted something fetching in a hurry, you sent someone else. . But the older man ran to meet his son. Dignity goes out the window, in a missional church. We are more interested in the needs of people than in keeping up appearances and begin respectable. It may look "undignified" but it's the father's heart. .
7) The Costly Language of Love. There are tears flowing, as the old man throws himself around the son's dirty stinking neck. The lad had been feeding pigs. Anyone who has had anything do to with pigs knows that the smell lingers, even if you have the opportunity to have a bath after work. But the son hadn't had a bath, and pigs were unclean. But the Father loved the Son: loving relationships - both within and beyond the Church - expressed in ways that people can understand - are at the core of a healthy, outreaching fellowship.
8) Accepting. The younger son began his little prearranged speech, all about being unfit to be a member of the family, but please could he have a job... and Dad cut him off, sending the servants (they are told to run) to dress the young man up in robe, ring and shoes, tokens of sonship, of belonging. That's how we need too be towards those who don't' yet know Jesus as they find their way "home"... We need to make the space for people to belong.
9) Generosity. Kill the fattened calf. The fattened calf was the best the family had; a turkey saved up for Christmas dinner; the vouchers you have for a special meal out. A missional church will be generous in the way we judge people; in the way we give to people; in the way we use our resources.
10) Celebration. Let us have a feast and celebrate. There was to be a party. Yes, following Jesus is challenging and costly; yes we are to mourn with those who mourn; yes a constant diet of jolly songs may be irritating. But there's meant to be a party going on. When I was a kid we would often go to Arbroath on holiday. One year we had to walk past a certain pub which had loud, probably live Scottish music each night on the way back to our digs; and each night my sister would say "there's something going on in there." I want this church to have a reputation, even for those who don't find their way inside, that "there's something going on in there!"

This is the father's heart for mission, the DNA of the missional Church. . These are the some of the things you will find in the heart, of a missional church. Watchfulness; Realistic Expectancy; Disinterested longing; Compassion. A Church that is On the move, where People take Priority; and that speaks The Costly Language of Love; a Church that is Accepting. Generous and full of Celebration

Big Brother. Little brother had taken his share and gone. Dad spent too much time gazing down the road. Big Brother had to get on with life, to manage the farm. So he missed out on the joyful reunion when the younger son came home. When he got home for his tea, and heard the sound of a party getting going, asks one of the servants, "What's going on here?" He hasn't been expecting the younger brother to come home, and certainly wasn't expecting Father to give him a welcome like he did. He went off to sulk. This is what he was thinking:
"All these years I slaved away for my Father and he never gave me as much as a goat to have a quiet dinner with my friends. Then his son comes home after spending all his money on prostitutes..." You know, I find it difficult to believe this guy had any friends. He wasn't really a relationship kind of person. He was a functional, legalistic kind of person. Sadly a lot of people in Churches can be like Big brother.
1. His relationship with Father was that of a servant not a son.
2. As a legalist the "felt entitled" - and resentful.
3. The worst possible interpretation of the younger man's lifestyle,.
But Father - the same Father who had welcomed the lost son home, went out to deal with his other, older lost son. All that he is thinking spills out and Father quickly responds to "this son of yours by saying, "He is your brother, and he's come home..."

Where do we get our DNA from? Our parents. And we get missional DNA from our Heavenly Father. I believe that Watchfulness; Realistic Expectancy; Disinterested longing; Compassion; being On the move, letting People take Priority; the Costly Language of Love; a Acceptance, Generosity and Celebration are already there inside us by the Holy Spirit. If the older son had spent a bit more time with his father, he would have felt the Father's heart and become like his father. But instead he too busy, keeping everything going.

© Gilmour Lilly September 2010

Seeing… The prophetic Imagination…(Sunday Evening 5th September)

Sight is an attribute of God.  It is the fourth verb used of God in the Bible.   (After Created, hovered, said. See Gen 1. 1-4)  Seeing is a spiritual activity, a creative activity.

Seeing can cause trouble…  What we seen and how we see is a spiritual issue… (Gen 3. 6: Eve saw that the fruit of the Tree was good. Incidentally part of the temptation was to have their eyes opened and part of the consequence was that their eyes were opened!)

Seeing is part of the prophetic function: See Isa 6. 1 (“I saw the Lord…) and Jeremiah 1. 11f (“What do you see?”  The pun is lost in English translation. Something like “I see a stick/I will stick to what I have said in my Word.”   We need to pray for those who will see… who will speak prophetically to the people of God.

Isa 43. 16-21. 

• The Lord who brought his people out of Egypt, The God of Exodus (v 16f) speaks of the new thing he is going to do; something that is already happening. 
• The new thing is not a repeat of the past. (v 18)  it’s time to leave the past behind.  The past is good because God was at work. But too often the past is all that we can see.  It prevents us from seeing the future with God.
• The new thing is about God at work.  “I am doing…”  The obvious first point of focus for this chapter is end of the Babylonian captivity, but Isaiah sees this as the first step towards the coming of Jesus… to bring a Kingdom that – unlike the end of the Egyptian captivity which brought death to the captors – bring healing and refreshment to lost people in a broken world.
• The new thing is at the door. (v19) It springs forth.  It is there.  Don’t you see it?  The new thing that God wants to do today will not be a repeat of the past.  It will not be based on the protection of a small elite elect and the destruction of the rest.  It is about bringing wholeness to the world God so loved.  A generous, life affirming, life-giving Kingdom.  We live ion the New covenant.  God wants to do a new thing for 2010-11, here.  Of course it springs forth.  It has sprung forth in Jesus.  So as it springs forth, in new shape and form for this generation, don’t you see it?  Seeing it is a creative, spiritual activity.  Catching a vision.  

This kind of seeing is an exercise of faith.  “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”  (John 11. 40 at the raising of Lazarus) Faith is the conviction of things not seen (physically).   Seeing is believing?  No; believing is seeing.  If you believe something, you see it, first with the inner eye, then physically

So we need to bring that inner gift of seeing, of imagination, under the authority of Jesus, and see what he sees.  1Ki 19:3  When Elijah saw what Jezebel threatened, he arose, and went for his life.

May our imagination be set free from captivity to wrong ways of seeing, so that we can see with faith what God wants to do in us and through us.

© Gilmour Lilly September 2010

Acts 18. 1-10: "Join the Team". (All age service 5th September)

Good Friends.   
Have you ever had to do something difficult, go to a new place?

When Paul came to the big busy city of Corinth, in Greece, it was a bit of a difficult job telling people there about Jesus, because it was a big, busy place where lots of people already had their own ideas about what they believed.  Some people had loads of money, and many people loved going to wild parties, getting drunk, having lots of girlfriends and boyfriends... and I think Paul may have wondered if anyone would listen to the message about Jesus. 

But when he arrived, he was really pleased because there were already people there who knew about Jesus. Two of them were a husband and wife called Aquila and Priscilla. And guess what? They did the same job that Paul did to earn money (he didn't always get paid for working for Jesus).  They were tentmakers.   Paul stayed in their house.  They joined his team, even thought they were new Christians. They became good friends.

A Team is for friendship... You can't make a team out of people who are all pulling in different directions. You can - and should - make a team out of people who are different from each other. You can - and should - bring less experienced people into a team.  But you can't make a team out of individuals who are not prepared to change, to grow, to develop, and to adopt a set of common goals.
Activity Making a tent because Paul and his friends made tents for a living.

Growing our gifts

Paul didn't have to make as many tents, as he would have had to make to survive if he was living all on his own.  Sharing the bills saves money, so Paul was able to spend a lot of time telling people about Jesus.  And Aquila and Priscilla joined in so they learned how to do what Paul was doing.  Then when Silas and Timothy (another young person) came to Corinth, Paul was able to spend even more time telling people about Jesus.  The more we do team work, the more we can set each other free to do what we are good at doing.   A Team is Freedom ....

Getting along

The bigger Paul's team go the more different people were in it.  Then one day the people in the Synagogue were so rude about Jesus that Paul got fed up and had his meetings in the house next door, which belongs to a man called Titius Justus, who wasn't Jewish at all, but he wanted God in his life.  Now there was someone really different in Paul's team.  A team is for variety; it's for diversity. The Church team here in Rosyth is meant to be multi-coloured, with lots of different people in it.  That's the way Jesus wants it to be.   We have to be prepared to get along with all sorts of different people in a team.  If everyone were the same, the team would be no good, like if Dunfermline town had eleven goalkeepers.

Getting things done.

The amazing thing is that, the more Paul developed his Team, the more impact they all had on the city of Corinth.  After they moved out of the Synagogue, to be a bigger team, things really started to happen: The leader of the Synagogue and all his family became Christians. (He wasn't put off by the fact that there were non-Jews on the Team. Quite the opposite in fact!) And then loads of other people became Christians too.  A Team works! 

© Gilmour Lilly September 2010