“Why We Evangelize”
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45; Romans 10:5-15
August 7, 2011 (19th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Rev. John B. Erthein
What is it that makes church different from other worthy endeavors such as the Chamber of Commerce, or the Kiwanis, or any other business or charitable endeavor? As members of the church, meaning members of the Body of Christ, we are called to evangelize. The very beginning of Psalm 105 calls upon us to “give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name …” and to “make known his deeds among the peoples.” We are also exhorted to “tell of all his wondrous works!” And God’s works are wondrous indeed. Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear understands how wondrous are the works of God. Every day, when we see the sun rise or set; or we walk through the beautiful pine trees of this area; or we experience the laughter of a baby; we truly experience the wondrous works of God. God’s work is inescapable. It is in nature, in human relationships, in all things beautiful and noble, and in our very concept of perfection. That is known as general revelation, and we are indeed called upon to point to this revelation as evidence of a great and gracious God.
But we are called even more to tell the story of God’s redemptive plan for the human race. Where does God reveal this? Well, we may be able to deduce from nature, from creation, perhaps from logic or philosophy, that there is “a” God, some kind of divine intelligence. We may even be able to understand, from the many evidences of God’s common grace, that God is a God of blessings. But the light of nature or of human understanding cannot show us what we must know for our salvation. But in the words of the 4th century church Father John Chrysostom, God has graciously condescended to us by providing his Word to us, both the Word written and the Word made flesh, meaning Jesus Christ. And so it is that we turn to consider these elements of God’s special revelation to us. And not just consider, but to evangelize, to share God’s plan of salvation with others.
Over these last few weeks we have considered together the patriarchs chosen by God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He chose these men, and their wives Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel, to head a new nation, Israel, who would be God’s chosen people. These patriarchs often faced setbacks, frequently of their own making. On more than one occasion, it seemed as if the line of Abraham would die out. But God was true to his covenant, made first with Abraham. This Psalm, in verses 16 through 22, makes reference to the patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, whose self-confidence, perhaps boastfulness, enraged his brothers, driving them to ambush him, cast him into a pit, and sell him into slavery. But God showed his providence in this way: he made good come out of the evil actions of Joseph’s brothers. As a prisoner in Egypt, Joseph advanced because of his natural brilliance and leadership ability. From such humble status as a slave, Joseph was raised up by God to become the second most powerful man in Egypt. And as such, he foresaw that Egypt would face years of famine, and so he had them prepare for the famine by storing up their surplus food. And when the famine came, there was enough to feed everyone, including Joseph’s own family, even the very brothers who had hated him and cast him out! Had it not been for Joseph’s position in Egypt, the line of Jacob might have perished. So we see that while God allows his people to be chastised and humbled, he also acts to preserve them.
And why does God preserve them? Look at verse 45: “that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws.” That was the purpose of Israel, the nation of God among the pagan nations, the people of God amidst the Gentiles, a continuing witness to the law of God in a lawless and sinful world. And by God’s grace, he sent his Son to spread that message to the gentiles as well. Because of Jesus Christ, all of us, whatever our background, whether or not we descend by blood from the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are grafted onto the tree of Israel.
But how well did the people of Israel keep the statutes and laws of God? The Old Testament is, among other things, an account of Israel’s fidelity to God and his laws. And the record is not unblemished, to put it mildly. God both chastised and blessed his people in the continuing cycles of falling into sin and being restored to goodness. Indeed, the Old Testament is an account of these cycles. It seems as if the people of Israel never get it quite right.
But then again, do we? We are heirs to the promises made to Israel. Are we without sin? Can we fulfill the demands of the law? I submit to you that we cannot. Now, the church has held out different ways of dealing with this harsh reality. Over the centuries, into the Middle Ages, the Catholic church (which was the only church in the Western world, as opposed to the Orthodox church that existed in the East) developed an intricate sacramental system, including the sacrament of penance, to bring a believer back into God’s favor after committing a sin or sins. I am not going to deliver a dissertation on the Roman Catholic sacramental system, but I do want to say that this system did not produce a feeling of safety in God among discerning people, such as Martin Luther, who started his ministry as an Augustinian monk. He was haunted by the knowledge of his sinfulness and the agony of knowing that as soon as he confessed and was absolved of one sin, he would commit another. He was terrified of dying outside of God’s grace. Luther wanted to please God but was frustrated at his inability to perfectly keep the law of God. And it was all of this fear and frustration that drove Luther back to God’s revealed Word, uncorrupted by the centuries of tradition that served to obscure its beauty and clarity. And Luther rediscovered the central truth of the Gospel … that we are not justified by the works of the law, but rather by the grace of God through faith.
As Douglas Moo writes in his magisterial commentary on Romans, “central to the Reformers’ teaching on salvation was their distinction ‘law’ and ‘gospel.’ ‘Law’ is whatever God commands us to do; ‘gospel’ is what God in his grace gives to us. The Reformers uniformly insisted that human depravity made it impossible for a person to be saved by doing what God commands; only by humbly accepting, in faith, the ‘good news’ of God’s work on our behalf could a person be saved.” This was the message of the Apostle Paul, a devout Jew who wanted both Jews and Gentiles to come to a saving relationship with God. Paul was the Reformer of his age, proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to a people who had forgotten the importance of faith (meaning many of the Jews of the time). Paul taught that the Old Testament itself proclaims the indispensability of faith. How were Jews God’s chosen people? It was not by their adherence to the Law, for the Biblical account itself shows how often they fell short of the Law. The law could save them only if they kept it perfectly, but they could not. And so we cannot. We share that reality with the people of Israel. And so Paul’s message is that in the time of the Old Testament, the people called upon Yahweh to be saved. And “now” (meaning in Paul’s time) people may call on the name of Jesus Christ to be saved. This shows how highly Paul valued a relationship with Jesus Christ, for it was the same thing as a relationship with God … Jesus Christ was and is fully God, one with the Father. And so, Paul says that we must simply call on the name of the Lord, and to confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead. And thus we shall be saved.
This is truly good news! Paul’s understanding of the Jewish Scriptures links them to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a consistent narrative of God’s grace for sinful people. But as Paul writes, one must receive this good news for it to be effective. How does this happen? Well, God has established the method for spreading the good news. As Paul writes in verses 14 and 15, “how can a person call on one in whom he has not believed? And how shall they believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Now, when Paul refers to a preacher, I don’t think he really had someone like me in mind. In other words, when Paul wrote, there was no professional Christian clergy. There were no denominations with various ordination requirements. There were no Christian seminaries. Pretty much everyone who believed could be a preacher … not necessarily in the sense of speaking before a lot of people at one time, but in sharing what we believe with others.
Are you prepared to do that? Although the Bible contains 66 different books covering 2,000 years or so, the central message is simple. God created us. We fell into sin. We cannot save ourselves from God’s righteous judgment. But God … the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who revealed himself fully in Jesus Christ … will save anyone who calls on him. Do you believe this? If you believe it, it is the best possible news for you. Why wouldn’t you share it with others? That is what our Lord commands, to extend the invitation to salvation and a new life to all the world. What a privilege! What a joy! Will you take part?
To the One who extends his grace from Abraham through Jesus Christ be all glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.
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