"Evangelize or Fossilize"

A sermon preached by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based on Matthew 9:35-38 and 10:5-15.

I must confess that I often find myself enticed by those signs with the pull-off phone numbers that you sometimes see on telephone poles around town. You know, the ones that say something like, “Earn up to $2,000 a week working from home!” Now, I don’t know what it is, but the idea of sitting at home, stuffing envelopes for large sums of money certainly has its appeal. I'm sure there is a catch, but I like to believe that someone, somewhere is sitting in a comfy chair, sipping coffee and just raking in the money. However, the opposite idea is not so enticing. You know, I wonder how many would reply to an ad in the paper which states; “Hard Work: No Pay”? And yet, that seems to be what Jesus is asking of the disciples in our Gospel Lesson this morning. He says, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few,” and then later on he says; “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.” And certainly, we can’t help but say, this hardly seems fair. I mean how many people do you know would reply to such an ad.
Martin Luther, the great theologian, once said; “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.” Without a doubt, the words of Christ recorded in our Gospel Lesson are challenging words. But by responding to such a challenge God is able to bring transformation to our lives and through us being transformation to our world.
I heard a rather amusing story the other day of a barber who was an elder in his church. He began to feel a little guilty after his pastor preached a sermon on evangelism. Realizing that he, himself, had never shared his faith with another person, he decided to do so with the next person that walked into his barbershop. It just so happened, that a guy walked through the door wanting a shave. The barber put him in a chair and lathered his face. He thought to himself, this would be the perfect time to witness to this customer. And so, in a nervous but enthusiastic tone, he asked; “Sir, are you ready to meet the Lord?” The man opened his eyes wide and saw the barber leaning over him and holding a razor in his shaking hand. He jumped out of the chair and took off running down the street.
George E. Sweazy once said; “The law of any church is, and will always be, evangelize or fossilize.” And certainly there is a lot of truth to that statement. Sadly, many of our churches today have failed it their responsibility and calling to “evangelize,” and as a result they are becoming fossilized. Personally, I think part of the problem lies in our misunderstanding and fear of evangelism. You know, when many people think of evangelism they think of televangelists and tent revivals, or perhaps a street corner preacher handing out tracts, or some pushy, in-your-face fanatic, trying to tell you what to believe and how to believe. In some churches, evangelism is a once-a-year special event or a particular strategy for incorporating newcomers into the life of the church. But we see in our Gospel Lesson this morning that Jesus had a different understanding – he had a different idea in mind when it came to evangelism.
The Rev. Dr. Patrick Keen, the pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in New Orleans wrote in his sermon, A Great Time to Be the Church; “There have been many times in the history of the church for the church to manifest itself as the body of Christ. There have been times when the church has stood up to the challenge, and there have been times when the church has utterly failed.” He goes on to give examples. He said; “When Madalyn O'Hair challenged prayer in schools, this was an opportunity for the church to stand up and speak out against this movement which has fostered other anti-religious movements in our nation and even around the world. The church failed to be the church in response to this attack.” He goes on to say; “When the civil rights movement evolved in the 1960’s, there were many churches who did not speak out in support of those whose civil liberties were being violated in sight of the whole nation.” In fact, forty-years later, the church has even joined in this attack to some degree. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., declared that the eleven o'clock hour on Sunday mornings was the most segregated hour in this nation, and sadly this is still the case today.
In our Gospel Lesson this morning, we are told that Jesus went about teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowd, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
We don't have to go very far or even look too hard to see people who are harassed and helpless. As a pastor I am constantly confronted with such people, people who are in great need of compassion and mercy. And certainly with so much need in our community and in world today, this is, as Dr. Keen points out, “a great time to be the church,” if only the church – if only you and me are willing to stand up and be the church! That’s evangelism, at least the definition that Christ’s gives us through word and example!
I love the story that Carl Boyle tells. Boyle, a sales representative was driving home one afternoon when he saw a group of young children selling Kool-Aid on one of the corners in his neighborhood. They had posted the typical sign over their stand, which read: “Kool-Aid, 10 cents.” Carl was intrigued and decided to pull over to support these neighborhood kids and their business. As he pulled over, a little boy approached him and asked if he would like strawberry or grape Kool-Aid. Carl placed his order and handed the boy a quarter. After much deliberation, the children determined that they owed him some change and dug through the old cigar box until they finally came up with the correct amount of change. The boy returned with the change and then stood by the side of his car as if he were waiting for something. After a few moments, he asked Carl if he was finished drinking his Kool-Aid. “Yes,” Carl said. The boy replied; “Good, because that’s the only cup we have and we need it to stay in business!” It is rather difficult to operate a Kool-Aid business when you only have one cup. But sometimes we make that mistake when it comes to the church – there’s a thirsty world out there, yet there are so few cups. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
As Matthew concludes Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, this passage transitions into Jesus’ call to the missionary work required of those who seek to follow him. Now this passage could very well be called “the apostles’ mandate,” because it concentrates on the task that is to be done by those who follow Christ. Even as Jesus gives authority to the disciples to heal, and cleanse, and cure, Jesus does so in the context of servant-hood and compassion, which is a direct contradiction to the Religious Leaders and scribes who were not shepherds. They had failed in their calling and responsibility to be shepherds to Israel. They had become legalist, who oppressed the people. They used God’s law for their own religious and political propaganda. They had become fossilized in their practices and perception of God. They had become slaves to legalism rather than embracing the new revelation of God’s self in the person and ministry of Christ. But Jesus came to bring to dawn the kingdom of God – a kingdom of love and grace, justice and compassion - a kingdom where all are welcomed and invited. Jesus came to take that which had become fossilized and make fossil fuels bringing the warmth of God’s love and grace and the light of God’s presence in the world. And this was the commission Jesus gave to his disciples. And this is the commission Christ gives to us today!
Here, in our Gospel Lesson, Jesus gives them a new mission – a new title. They are no longer just disciples or students, but now they are apostles. The Greek word is apostolos, which means “one who is sent as a messenger” or someone who is an “ambassador” or a “representative.” We are called, like the first disciples, to be ambassadors and representatives of Christ in the world – to be God’s faithful evangelists.
Keep in mind, up to this point in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus had been the sole missionary in those situations of need. And so, seeing that the work for God’s kingdom is great, in chapter 9 verse 37, we see that he turns to his disciples to enlist them. And after calling them, in chapter 10, he blesses and commissions them.
There is a wonderful legend that is told about St. Francis, the kind and compassionate thirteenth-century monk, who one day informed his brothers in the monastery that he planned to go into the nearby village on a preaching mission. He invited a novice to go along with him and on their way, they passed an injured man and Francis promptly stopped, saw to the poor fellow's needs and arranged medical care for him. They went on and soon passed a homeless man who was near starvation. Again, Francis stopped his journey and ministered to the hungry, homeless man. So this went on throughout the day: people in need, Francis lovingly cared for them as best he could until the sun was low in the sky. He told his novice friend it was time for them to return to the monastery for evening prayers. But the young man said, “Father, you said we were coming to town to preach to the people.” Francis smiled. Then he said, “My friend, that's what we've been doing all day.” That’s evangelism at its most faithful - it is ministering to people in their need. It doesn’t worrying about numerical growth, or adding to one's own conversion record, or winning acclaim within the denomination. Evangelism is sharing the love of God in concrete form among God’s people. It is allowing the light and presence of Christ to be seen in you wherever you go and in whatever you do. Indeed, we must evangelize or fossilize. Let us not become a fossil, but rather a fossil fuel that heats and lights the world with God’s love and grace. Let us continue the mission that Christ came to do; to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set free the oppressed and to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come.