The Great Ends of the Church: The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind
Sermon Text for April 15:
Romans 1:16
Life just isn’t the same anymore is it? All around us there is change and insecurity. Unfortunately that insecurity has invaded the church and we feel anxious. You wonder, “What is going to happen to us? Will we be able to find a new pastor? Why are we here?” As scary as these questions seem, they are actually healthy, and in some ways inevitable when a pastor leaves. The Presbyterian Church USA provides a framework called “The Great Ends Of The Church” to help local congregations wrestle with these questions. When everything around us fights to be different, the six “Great Ends” remind us why we exist. All Presbyterian Churches are defined by the Great Ends. They tell us why we exist, and define who we are and what we do. Over the next six weeks we will examine the Great Ends of The Church one by one.
The first “Great End” is “The Proclamation of the Gospel for The Salvation of Humankind.” Proclamation is not the only thing we do, but everything that we do ought to involve the proclamation of the gospel. The way we treat each other, the way we do business as a church, the way we present ourselves to the world, all ought to be considered “the proclamation of the gospel. So we are good news for one another and for those outside of these walls.
The Apostle Paul is perhaps our greatest role model for proclaiming the gospel. To be sure, he was an unlikely candidate to become the chief framer of Christian Theology. Early in his life he hated the church and was one of its chief persecutors. He considered the teachings of Jesus, which emphasized grace over law, to be a dangerous heresy that threatened the salvation of the Jewish people. Yet this uptight, law-bound, Pharisees’ Pharisee, discovered the truth about Jesus and became the greatest advocate for the religion of grace.
Let’s look for a moment at the difference between a religion based on law and one based on grace. In some ways the law-bound religion is comforting. All that is necessary for salvation is to obey the law. The problem arises when the believer realizes that it is impossible to obey all the laws all the time. Therefore salvation becomes impossible. A religion based on grace in some ways is more frightening. In Christianity salvation does not depend upon what I do, but upon what God has already done. So my fate is out of my hands, I am not in control, and that is scary. On the other hand it is comforting to know that God has done for me what I cannot do for myself. God chooses me for salvation.
Paul was able to change from proclaiming law to proclaiming grace, because of an encounter with the God of Grace on the road to Damascus and because of the witness of a man named Ananias, who believed in Christ. He helped Paul see that God had already given him the salvation that he was trying so hard to earn.
The Presbyterian Church exists in order to become an Ananias for someone else, and to “Proclaim the gospel for the Salvation of Humankind.” After the Damascus road experience, the proclamation of the gospel became Paul’s reason for living. He simply had to preach the gospel. He became so driven that he wrote to the church in Corinth “Woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel.” It was Paul’s “driveness” that turned Christianity into a world religion.
The Church today has received Paul’s work as an inheritance. Not only have we elevated Paul’s writings to the level of scripture, but he is a model for much of what we do in the world. Like Paul, we attempt to preach the whole gospel, not only to people like us, but to the whole world. And the Presbyterian Church has hundreds of mission workers spread all across the world, as well as thousands of us here at home.
But some of us are not comfortable with the idea of freely proclaiming the gospel to a world wide audience. It seems presumptuous to say that the atheist, the Hindu, the Buddhist, or Moslem needs to know what we know. Almost thirty-five percent of Presbyterians believe that “all different religions are equally good ways of helping a person find ultimate truth.” The idea that all religions are equally good saves us from being judgmental and it relieves us of the responsibility of sharing the gospel. If all truths are equal then there is no value in swapping one way for another. And perhaps some of us are even embarrassed by the gospel.
When I was in seminary, the school hosted an annual Christian/Jewish dialogue. One year the Christian representative to this dialogue was a prominent Pauline scholar, but when he sat at the table with learned Jews, he could not state Christian principles articulately. The rabbis stated the Christian truths for him and then dialogued with themselves. He was so afraid of offending that it appeared he had nothing to say. He was embarrassed by the gospel.
It was as hard to proclaim the gospel in Paul’s day as it is in ours, but Paul found a way to tell the story of grace – the story of Jesus – without embarrassment or fear. In his letter to the Romans he said, “I am eager to proclaim the gospel to you who are in Rome for I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
I confess that even as a pastor I have not always been faithful in proclaiming the gospel. Like the seminary professor I have not wanted to appear like a spiritual imperialist; stealing members of other religions for Christianity. I have always favored inter-faith dialogue and I have insisted on respecting the other persons’ spiritual values. But it has only been in the last half of my ministry that I have understood that it is okay to value what my faith says too, and to hold fast to my beliefs while allowing others to do the same.
The Presbyterian Church USA exists to “Proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind.” But this only becomes real if we do it here at First Presbyterian Church in Lakewood. National mandates mean nothing if they are not carried out by the local church. So as you consider your vision for the future you must ask yourselves, “How is what we are doing (or about to do) proclaiming the gospel?” In your proclamation I hope that you are always respectful of the beliefs and values of others, while still holding firmly to our tradition as well.
My prayer for First Presbyterian Church of Lakewood is that you will never be ashamed of the gospel and that God will fill you with such zeal that like Paul you will proclaim, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”!
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
Romans 1:16
Life just isn’t the same anymore is it? All around us there is change and insecurity. Unfortunately that insecurity has invaded the church and we feel anxious. You wonder, “What is going to happen to us? Will we be able to find a new pastor? Why are we here?” As scary as these questions seem, they are actually healthy, and in some ways inevitable when a pastor leaves. The Presbyterian Church USA provides a framework called “The Great Ends Of The Church” to help local congregations wrestle with these questions. When everything around us fights to be different, the six “Great Ends” remind us why we exist. All Presbyterian Churches are defined by the Great Ends. They tell us why we exist, and define who we are and what we do. Over the next six weeks we will examine the Great Ends of The Church one by one.
The first “Great End” is “The Proclamation of the Gospel for The Salvation of Humankind.” Proclamation is not the only thing we do, but everything that we do ought to involve the proclamation of the gospel. The way we treat each other, the way we do business as a church, the way we present ourselves to the world, all ought to be considered “the proclamation of the gospel. So we are good news for one another and for those outside of these walls.
The Apostle Paul is perhaps our greatest role model for proclaiming the gospel. To be sure, he was an unlikely candidate to become the chief framer of Christian Theology. Early in his life he hated the church and was one of its chief persecutors. He considered the teachings of Jesus, which emphasized grace over law, to be a dangerous heresy that threatened the salvation of the Jewish people. Yet this uptight, law-bound, Pharisees’ Pharisee, discovered the truth about Jesus and became the greatest advocate for the religion of grace.
Let’s look for a moment at the difference between a religion based on law and one based on grace. In some ways the law-bound religion is comforting. All that is necessary for salvation is to obey the law. The problem arises when the believer realizes that it is impossible to obey all the laws all the time. Therefore salvation becomes impossible. A religion based on grace in some ways is more frightening. In Christianity salvation does not depend upon what I do, but upon what God has already done. So my fate is out of my hands, I am not in control, and that is scary. On the other hand it is comforting to know that God has done for me what I cannot do for myself. God chooses me for salvation.
Paul was able to change from proclaiming law to proclaiming grace, because of an encounter with the God of Grace on the road to Damascus and because of the witness of a man named Ananias, who believed in Christ. He helped Paul see that God had already given him the salvation that he was trying so hard to earn.
The Presbyterian Church exists in order to become an Ananias for someone else, and to “Proclaim the gospel for the Salvation of Humankind.” After the Damascus road experience, the proclamation of the gospel became Paul’s reason for living. He simply had to preach the gospel. He became so driven that he wrote to the church in Corinth “Woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel.” It was Paul’s “driveness” that turned Christianity into a world religion.
The Church today has received Paul’s work as an inheritance. Not only have we elevated Paul’s writings to the level of scripture, but he is a model for much of what we do in the world. Like Paul, we attempt to preach the whole gospel, not only to people like us, but to the whole world. And the Presbyterian Church has hundreds of mission workers spread all across the world, as well as thousands of us here at home.
But some of us are not comfortable with the idea of freely proclaiming the gospel to a world wide audience. It seems presumptuous to say that the atheist, the Hindu, the Buddhist, or Moslem needs to know what we know. Almost thirty-five percent of Presbyterians believe that “all different religions are equally good ways of helping a person find ultimate truth.” The idea that all religions are equally good saves us from being judgmental and it relieves us of the responsibility of sharing the gospel. If all truths are equal then there is no value in swapping one way for another. And perhaps some of us are even embarrassed by the gospel.
When I was in seminary, the school hosted an annual Christian/Jewish dialogue. One year the Christian representative to this dialogue was a prominent Pauline scholar, but when he sat at the table with learned Jews, he could not state Christian principles articulately. The rabbis stated the Christian truths for him and then dialogued with themselves. He was so afraid of offending that it appeared he had nothing to say. He was embarrassed by the gospel.
It was as hard to proclaim the gospel in Paul’s day as it is in ours, but Paul found a way to tell the story of grace – the story of Jesus – without embarrassment or fear. In his letter to the Romans he said, “I am eager to proclaim the gospel to you who are in Rome for I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
I confess that even as a pastor I have not always been faithful in proclaiming the gospel. Like the seminary professor I have not wanted to appear like a spiritual imperialist; stealing members of other religions for Christianity. I have always favored inter-faith dialogue and I have insisted on respecting the other persons’ spiritual values. But it has only been in the last half of my ministry that I have understood that it is okay to value what my faith says too, and to hold fast to my beliefs while allowing others to do the same.
The Presbyterian Church USA exists to “Proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind.” But this only becomes real if we do it here at First Presbyterian Church in Lakewood. National mandates mean nothing if they are not carried out by the local church. So as you consider your vision for the future you must ask yourselves, “How is what we are doing (or about to do) proclaiming the gospel?” In your proclamation I hope that you are always respectful of the beliefs and values of others, while still holding firmly to our tradition as well.
My prayer for First Presbyterian Church of Lakewood is that you will never be ashamed of the gospel and that God will fill you with such zeal that like Paul you will proclaim, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”!
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
posted by Dwight Blackstock | 5:57 AM
1 Comments:
About 3 years ago I dropped into a black hole – four months of absolute terror. I wanted to end my life, but somehow [Holy Spirit], I reached out to a friend who took me to hospital. I had three visits [hospital] in four months – I actually thought I was in hell. I imagine I was going through some sort of metamorphosis [mental, physical & spiritual]. I had been seeing a therapist [1994] on a regular basis, up until this point in time. I actually thought I would be locked away – but the hospital staffs were very supportive [I had no control over my process]. I was released from hospital 16th September 1994, but my fear, pain & shame had only subsided a little. I remember this particular morning waking up [home] & my process would start up again [fear, pain, & shame]. No one could help me, not even my therapist [I was terrified]. I asked Jesus Christ to have mercy on me & forgive me my sins. Slowly, all my fear has dissipated & I believe Jesus delivered me from my “psychological prison.” I am a practicing Catholic & the Holy Spirit is my friend & strength; every day since then has been a joy & blessing. I deserve to go to hell for the life I have led, but Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross, delivered me from my inequities. John 3: 8, John 15: 26, are verses I can relate to, organically. He’s a real person who is with me all the time. I have so much joy & peace in my life, today, after a childhood spent in orphanages [England & Australia]. God LOVES me so much. Fear, pain, & shame, are no longer my constant companions. I just wanted to share my experience with you [Luke 8: 16 – 17].
Peace Be With You
Micky
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