Back to Basics: I’ve Got Good News

Nic and I were in the car this week and he asked me what this week’s sermon was about. “The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind” I said, to which came the reply, “Humph,” and he changed the subject to potential college majors and minors and career tracks. Somehow, less overwhelming.

It’s pretty clear from their reaction that Jesus’ friends and family had not expected Jesus’ career announcement that day in the synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus stood up and chose the scroll and unrolled it, then he started reading a familiar passage of hope, a passage about the promised and long-awaited Messiah. Someday, God would choose someone. Someday, God’s Spirit would empower someone. Someday, everything that seemed impossible would be accomplished. Someday, there would be something to be done about the beggars at the city gates, the blind, the lame, the hungry children. Someday, there would be something to do about the overwhelmed prison system and the injustices committed by the Roman governors. Someday, they nodded their heads as Jesus read.

And he rolled up the scroll, handed it over to be put away, and sat down to teach. “Today” – not someday – “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your own hearing.”

Luke places this story right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is baptized, driven into the wilderness and tempted for 40 days and 40 nights, and goes home to Galilee and began teaching in synagogues. By the time he reached Nazareth, his hometown, he had built quite a reputation. So, the folks gathered in the synagogue must have been eager to hear him teach.

It turns out that they are not as much interested in what he says as what he might be able to do for them that day. When Jesus says that he will not be performing miracles, that at home he won’t be doing signs to attract, no healings to convince, they drive him out of town toward a cliff, meaning to throw him over.
And perhaps that is what has always made me afraid of evangelism. I was once asked in an interview what one area of ministry scared me most, and without missing a beat, I answered “Evangelism.” I don’t know whether it was what they wanted to hear or not, but it was the truth.

So, when I am confronted with the reality that in 1910 as they composed the Six Great Ends of the Church our predecessors put the Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind first. It is the first purpose of the church, the first reason we exist!

It’s almost enough to make me join Nic with a “Humph!” I don’t like uncomfortable conversations. I am not someone who engages in debates. I am fine with my light shining, but I am not comfortable drawing attention to it. I don’t think I am alone. We are a society that values individualism, independence and privacy.

So, I started studying – what does it mean to have as our purpose the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. Those are not words we string together on a regular basis. In fact, they aren’t really words we use in everyday conversation, so I started studying each word.

What do we mean in saying that our purpose is “proclamation”? Did we mean “preaching?” Did we mean recruitment/advertising? The prefix “pro” means before. The root word clamor means “acclaim.” We are to “acclaim before” – we are to herald.

The Gospel. The slogan of the early church was “Jesus Is Lord.” It was a political and a religious statement. Jesus is Lord and the emperor and the pagan gods are not. And, in saying Jesus is Lord, the early church declared their allegiance.

My phone updated last week…I am a slow adopter of updates, so I choose “later” over and over when the updates pop up on my screen. Somehow, I hit the wrong thing and before I knew what I had done or had the chance to stop it, it began downloading. Since then, I have noticed that my maps keep popping up with notifications. It is like my phone has tried to guess where I am going based on where I usually go and when it is wrong, it has to recalculate everything. When we proclaim Jesus is Lord, all our usual tendencies, our predictable patterns, have to be recalculated.

For the Salvation – in Greek salvation means healing, wholeness. In the New Testament, when Paul says “you have been saved” he uses the same verb that the Gospel writers use when Jesus heals someone.

Of Humankind – notice that it is not “for salvation in the afterlife.” Salvation is transformation of life, a healing, a wholeness. Salvation is experiencing God’s grace so that we begin to experience God’s shalom – peace and wholeness, life as God intended it to be – now as well as in the age to come when God’s shalom will be fulfilled.

One of the reasons that the church exists is to proclaim, to herald it before it has even come fully to fruition, that humankind has been saved, that we have been healed, that life as God intended it to be has been recalculated because Jesus proclaimed, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your own hearing.” What you have hoped for, God’s anointed One, is telling good news to the poor and announcing release to the prisoners and sight to the blind, setting wounded victims free and announcing a full creation reboot.

And that starts with sharing how our lives have undergone recalculation. Evangelism. What difference does it make in your life to be a Christian? A part of the Farmington family?

We have a tendency to shy away from evangelism because we aren’t evangelists. We haven’t been trained in what to say, how to present the message, how to argue our points.

But evangelism is not about winning an argument. It is about sharing. Jesus said, “Today, this Scripture, this prophecy that God would mobilize God’s Holy Spirit to anoint a Savior and the imbalances in the world would be brought back into balance, the least would be great and the great would be brought down from their heights, that promise has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Evangelism is sharing how you have seen God’s intended Shalom, peace and wholeness, come in your life.

I saw it this week as we gathered just after the rain Wednesday night. Sandy Wann is chair of worship, and she and I wondered whether to set up for Communion or to cancel service. How many would venture out in the rain for the Communion Service? We decided that even if it was just 2 or 3, Christ would be present in the midst of us, and we would break bread together. Just after 5 o’clock, car after car arrived, and the parking lot was dotted with 36 lawn chairs and I watched as Jon and Ray checked in with each other, and Jim and Mary Lou set up and Jackie joined them, Hadley, Hudson, Olivia, Nic and Mia all chased and laughed together, Jinny and Leslie sat with the top down on the convertible, and while it was a little damp, and not as many came as usual, our spirits were not dampened, in fact, they were renewed.

I saw it as a group formed a Caring Caravan to deliver baked goods and flowers, puzzle books and cards, but mostly to deliver love to some of our most isolated members in this time.

I saw it as a mother shared with me this week that they sit down together every Sunday morning and worship at 11:00 and that the services and that routine has been an anchor for them in this time of upheaval.

I saw it as a little boy arrived at Farmington this week excited to tell me about his birthday, he turned 5 on Wednesday and got a new bike. This weekend, he was going to the zoo – zoo starts with Z.

We don’t have to be trained to share the love that is here. We don’t have to be trained to share what brings us joy. We simply share what is beautiful and dear to us.

The proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind is really simple. “I’ve got good news!” One of the most important purposes of the church is to share the Shalom, the wholeness, the joy and peace and love, that we have been shown.