Sharing Your Faith
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
David C. Wright
John 1:43 - 51
November 14, 2010
I’m
going to begin this sermon by giving you an opportunity to participate! I’m
going to say a word, and I want you to tell me the first word that
comes to your mind. Be honest! Ready? The word
is “evangelist.” What words come to mind? Say
them out loud! What words might your friends and people at
work say about the word “evangelist?” The word “evangelist” has
taken a real beating in recent years. In fact our Evangelism
Committee recently changed their name to the “Welcome and
Outreach Committee” because of the negative connotations
of the word.
It reminds me of a Peanuts comic strip in which Sally tells Linus, “I would
have made a good evangelist. You know that kid who sits behind me in school? I
convinced him that my religion is better than his religion.” “How
did you do that?” asks Linus. Sally replies, “I hit him with
my lunch box!”
I don’t know if
it’s because of negative examples of faith-sharing we’ve seen, or
because of perceived cultural taboos, but we Presbyterians have largely lost
the ability to talk about our faith. That has contributed to a huge loss
of membership, and a loss of spiritual vitality. It’s a concern even
here at GPC, where our membership has remained stable. Our Visioning and
Planning Task Force has noticed that many of us are reticent to talk about our
faith, which limits our ability to reach out to others with the gospel and also
limits our ability to pray and share our faith with one another at church!
For this morning’s
Scripture lesson, I’ve chosen a wonderful little passage from the first
chapter of John. It contains a simple, positive example of faith-sharing
by a man named Philip. It takes place very early in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus
is putting together his little band of followers and has already invited Andrew
and Simon Peter to join him. Here’s what happened next: The next
day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow
me.” (John 1:43) Jesus’ invitation to Philip isn’t only
for Philip to follow him to Galilee. This was an invitation to be a disciple
or follower of Jesus. And that’s the starting point for anyone who
would share their faith. Are you are follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do
you trust him as your Lord and Savior. You may be a member here, but are
you a follower of Jesus Christ? In other words, do you really have any
faith to share? If not, that’s the starting place for you! Talk
with one of us pastors or elders about how to begin a life of following Jesus.
The story of how Philip
shared his faith continues. “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the
city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We
have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus
son of Joseph from Nazareth.” (John 1:44,45) This is Philip’s
simple witness to his friend, Nathanael. There are two elements of this
witness: content and personal testimony. Philip didn’t know a lot
about Jesus. He had just accepted the invitation to be a disciple himself! But
Philip believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the one about whom Moses and the
prophets had written. The one whom God was going to raise up to deliver
his people and save them. The one that the Jewish people had waited for
for centuries! The Messiah had finally arrived! This was extraordinarily
Good News and Philip wanted to share it with his friend. That was the content
of his faith-sharing.
There is content in our
witness to others, too. We don’t need to know everything about theology
or be able to answer every question about the Bible. But we can be clear
that in Jesus Christ, God showed his love toward each one of us, and is inviting
us to receive forgiveness for our sins, to follow him, and become part of what
God is doing in the world. Like Philip, we can share the basic content
of the gospel. We can also share our personal conviction that it is true. Together,
that can be a powerful witness.
In the movie, “Contact,” a
young scientist named Ellie Arroway (played by Jodie Foster) has an encounter
with a very intelligent, alien life form. Her experience took place in
the context of a national panic over the discovery of this technologically superior
civilization. In a scene from the movie, Ellie is testifying at a Congressional
hearing about her experience. She is being questioned by a skeptical senator.
“Senator: You come to us with no evidence, no record, no artifacts.
Only a story that, to put it mildly, strains credibility... Are you really going
to sit there and tell us that we should just take this all on faith?
Ellie Arroway: Is it possible that it didn't happen? Yes. . . . As a scientist
I must concede that. I must volunteer that.
Senator: Then why don't you simply withdraw your testimony and admit that
this journey to the center of the galaxy, in fact, never took place?
Ellie Arroway: Because I can't. I had an experience. I can't prove it.
I can't just explain it. But everything that I know as a human being, everything
that I am tells me that it was real. I was given something wonderful, something
that changed me forever: a vision of the universe that tells us undeniably how
tiny and insignificant and how rare and precious we all are. A vision that tells
us that we belong to something that is greater than ourselves- that we are not
- that none of us is alone. I wish I could share that emotion, that everyone,
if even for one moment, could feel that awe and humility and that hope that I
felt, but... that continues to be my wish.”
* Ellie cannot prove her encounter
took place. She can just testify to her own experience. And her testimony
is persuasive to some who heard her. A simple witness, like Ellie’s,
like Philip’s, like yours, can be very powerful, even for people you might
not expect.
I love what happened next
in our Bible story! Philip has told Nathanael about his faith in Jesus,
identifying him as the son of Joseph who came from Nazareth, a town near Nathanael’s
hometown. “Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come
out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46a) Now Nazareth didn’t have a particularly
bad reputation in those days, but it was a very small backwater of a town and
there was probably some typical rivalry among these little towns in Galilee. Today
we might say, “Can anything of cosmic significance come out of Waynesboro,
or Cashtown, or McSherrystown?” At any rate, Nathanael was skeptical!
People may react skeptically
when we witness to our faith, too! There may be valid reasons people object
to what we say, or it may reflect their prejudices toward Christians, or their
desire to keep control over their own lives. But we shouldn’t be
surprised if people disagree with us as we share our faith. Notice how
Philip responds to Nathanael’s objection.
“Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.” (John 1:46a) Philip
doesn’t have all the answers. So he invited Nathanael to come and
meet Jesus for himself and then decide. Now, it’s a little more
complicated for us, since we don’t have Jesus nearby in the flesh. But
you could invite someone to come to worship, where they could learn about Jesus
and meet some of his followers. You could invite someone to a Bible study
or a small group or a Sunday School class where they could ask their questions
and get some answers. You could invite them to participate on a service
project, where followers of Jesus are carrying out his work. During Advent,
people may be more open to an invitation to come to church. You could invite
them to a special service, or to Christmas Eve services. When you do any
of these things, you are inviting them to come and see for themselves, just like
Philip did. By the ways, did you know that 75% of people who join a church
come to that church because someone invited them? Who could you invite
to a church activity?
Alright. Nathanael
comes with Philip to meet Jesus and then Jesus does his thing. “When
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an
Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where
did you get to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under
the fig tree before Philip called you.’” (John 1:47,48) Jesus always
welcomes true seekers. He welcomes Nathanael like an old friend. He
compliments him on his character. Then he demonstrates that he has knowledge
well beyond that of the average person, when he talks about seeing him under
the fig tree. You see, Jesus was at work in Nathanael’s life before
Nathanael was even aware of it! And God is at work in the lives of the
people you know, too! You’re not alone in this faith-sharing venture. So
how does Nathanael respond?
“Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi,
you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus
answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig
tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said
to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels
of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” (John 1:49-51)
Nathanael believes and
becomes a follower of Jesus. He uses two phrases to describe Jesus, “Son
of God” and “King of Israel,” which are taken right out of
the Old Testament, indicating he also believes Jesus was the one spoken of by
Moses and the prophets.
The owner of a drive-through
coffee business in Portland, Oregon was surprised one morning to have one of
her customers not only pay for her own mocha, but also for the mocha of the person
in the car behind her. The owner enjoyed telling that next customer that
her drink had already been paid for. The second customer was so pleased
with the unexpected gift, that she paid for the next customer’s coffee. This
string of kindnesses continued for two hours and 27 customers! I think
that’s a good image of sharing our faith. God has done something
wonderful and unexpected for us- forgiving our sin and inviting us to join his
work in the world. And in gratitude we share that gift with others.
Sometimes God uses our
words and loving actions to draw someone closer to Jesus. We begin by
making sure we have a relationship with Jesus Christ ourselves. Then we
look for opportunities to share the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ
along with our own experience with Jesus. We invite others to learn more,
and then we allow Jesus to work in their lives. Sometimes we’re the
last link in a whole chain of witnesses and events that causes someone to cross
over and make their own commitment to Jesus. Other times we see no result
at all from sharing our faith. But the act of speaking up for Jesus in
winsome and sensitive ways still builds our own faith and deepens our own commitment
to Jesus Christ.
Who do you know that needs
to hear the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ? How will you
share your faith with them?
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