SPREADING THE WORD – Part 2 of 2

In the days after Christmas, it’s easy to pack away the wonder with the ornaments. But the shepherds remind us that the birth of Christ is not a seasonal story -- it’s a sending story. “They spread the word” (Luke 2:17). The good news they received was too good to keep quiet.

As followers of Jesus, we stand in their lineage. We, too, have encountered the Savior. We, too, have been entrusted with a message that brings amazement, comfort, and hope to weary hearts.

So how do we “spread the word” today? We do it by living with the joy of people who have truly met Jesus.  Joy is contagious, especially when it’s rooted in grace. We do it by telling the biblical story and by speaking naturally about what God has done in our lives.  Not forced. Not scripted. Just honest gratitude. We do it by embodying Christ’s love in small, faithful acts.  Kindness often opens doors… and ears… to the words we share. We do it by remembering that the message itself carries the power.  We don’t have to impress -- just point to Jesus. 

This week, as the world settles back into “normalcy,” let’s resist the temptation to let Christmas fade. The shepherds didn’t return to their flocks unchanged. They carried the wonder with them, and they shared it freely. May we do the same. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™  

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SPREADING THE WORD – Part 1 of 2

"So [the shepherds] hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."  (Luke 2:16–18 NIV) 

Christmas Day has passed. The wrapping paper is gone, the cookies are thinning out, and the world is slowly returning to its routines. But in Luke’s Gospel, the story doesn’t end at the manger. In fact, something begins there -- something that continues long after the angels’ song fades into the night sky.

The shepherds, ordinary men in an ordinary field, became the first evangelists of the New Testament. They didn’t attend a seminar. They didn’t rehearse a testimony. They simply shared what they had seen and heard. Their encounter with Jesus overflowed into proclamation.

And notice the response: “All who heard it were amazed.”  Not because the shepherds were eloquent, but because the message was astonishing. God had come near. Hope had taken on flesh. Salvation had a name. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™  

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THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."  (1 John 4:9-11 NIV)

“God loves me” is not the essence of biblical Christianity. Because if “God loves me” is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity? God loves me. Me. Christianity’s object is me.

Therefore, when I look for a church, I look for the music that best fits me and the programs that best cater to me and my family. When I make plans for my life and career, it is about what works for me and my family. When I consider the house I will live in, the car I will drive, the clothes I will wear, the way I will live, I will choose according to what is best for me. This is the version of Christianity that largely prevails in our culture. But it is not biblical Christianity.

The message of biblical Christianity is not “God loves me, period,” as if we were the object of our faith. The message of biblical Christianity is “God loves me so that I might make Him -- [His Son,] His ways, His salvation, His glory, and His greatness – known among all nations.” Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around Him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is. 

-- David Platt in “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream”

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THE WISE MEN’S RESPONSE

“And going into the house, [the wise men] saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”  (Matthew 2:11 ESV)

The message of the season is not, "Let it snow" or even, "Let us shop." The real message of Christmas is, "Let us worship." That is what the wise men came to do. And that is what we should be doing as well. 

-- Greg Laurie

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THOSE TO WHOM THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE CAME

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord…”  (Isaiah 61:1-2a NKJV)

Consider for a moment those to whom the Christmas message came. A poor, bewildered carpenter and his young bride far from home; a group of cold and hungry shepherds; a worn-out innkeeper; and a trio of travel-weary wise old men. And throughout this holy infant's life it was with the hurting and the broken ones He chose to spend His time; and He was crucified among them at the end. So if you feel a little weary, a little rushed, a little breathless at the manger, then take heart because this message is for you.

Christmas speaks above all else to the poor and homeless, the hungry, oppressed, and friendless of our world. We must never let ourselves forget that, or our celebrations will be false as Santa's whiskers. But it also speaks to those who are burdened in any way, whether with regrets for the past, heartache in the present, or foreboding for the future. God says to us this night, "Be strong, fear not, for I am with you. I am for you and I will never let you go. Here is my Son to prove it." 

-- J. Barrie Shepherd in “Jubilee: Readings Through the Year from Alive Now”, published by The Upper Room, Nashville, TN.   Used with permission.

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THE ESSENCE OF THE MESSAGE

When I think of the essence of [the Christian witness], I always think of the blind man that Jesus healed by covering his eyes with mud and telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:1-34). When the religious leaders got wind of it, they started to question the man extensively -- wanting to know who healed him, how it happened, where the man who healed him was now, and even asking his parents to verify whether their son was in fact born blind. When they came back to the man and pressed him with questions a second time, accusing Jesus of being a sinner for doing work on the Sabbath, the man replied, “I don't know whether He is a sinner… But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” (John 9:25 NLT)

That's the essence of the message: “I was blind, and now I can see; I was lost and now I am found; I was guilty and now I'm forgiven; I was alone and now I have a friend.” It doesn't take a perfect life to spread that message -- just someone who has had an eye-opening encounter with the living Christ. Regardless of intellect, position, status or wealth, the message for everyone will come down to this: “I was blind, and now I can see.”

-- John Fischer in The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals, 6/21/05


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THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  (1 Corinthians 1:22-24 RSV)

The message I preach hasn't changed. Circumstances have changed. Problems have changed, but deep inside, [humanbeings have] not changed, and the gospel hasn't changed.

-- Billy Graham

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THE PROPHETS

The Hebrew word, nabi, translated "prophet" in English Bibles, has the connotation of "message bearer".  The prophets were men called by God to serve as His messengers to a stubborn and unheeding people.  They were always careful to point out that they were not voicing their own wisdom.  Their warnings, entreaties, and promises were always prefaced by the awesome proclamation: "Thus says the Lord..."  When the prophets did engage in prognostication, they usually were concerned with events which were fairly close at hand, such as the Assyrian conquest of Israel and the Babylonian conquest of Judah (both of which they foretold with deadly accuracy).  But occasionally a prophet's vision ranged farther into the future, to the day when God would enter into a new covenant with his rebellious children.  The hope of reconciliation was often linked with the coming of a very particular person, a Messiah or Savior.

What made the prophets so sure that they had a right -- nay, a duty, -- to speak in the name of God?  It is clear from their writings that they were not megalomaniacs who confused their own thoughts with the voice of God.  On the contrary, they were humble men, awe-stricken by the responsibilities thrust upon them...  The prophets minced no words in their indictments of the sins of Israel and Judah, and they trod especially hard on the toes of the rich, the powerful, and the pious.  The Establishment responded then as some [do now]: "One should not preach of such things!" (Micah 2:6).

-- Louis Cassels (1922-1974) in “Your Bible”


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THE BEST KIND OF LIFE

"I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”  (John 10:10b)

When Jesus was pointing people to faith, He unapologetically told them that the life He offered was the best kind of life any human being could ever experience.  In the gospel of Matthew, He compared it to a pearl of great price, which He said would be worth giving up everything to attain.  "If you want life in all its fullness," He said, "if you want high-definition, surround-sound, heart-pounding action, there's only one place you're going to find it.  A life like that is a life fully yielded to the God of the universe!"

I hope we'll renew our commitment to exhibiting this level of confidence and passion when talking about our faith.  Is there a more important message than the one we're carrying to the world?

-- Bill Hybels in Just Walk Across the Room

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF INHERITANCE

“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,…”  (Ephesians 1:18)

Have you dreamed about inheriting treasures from a long lost relative?  To be "in the will" would change your life forever!  Consider the rags-to-riches story of Jack Wurm.  In 1949, Mr. Wurm was unemployed and bankrupt.  As he strolled along a San Francisco beach, he found a bottle with a scroll inside.  He discovered that this "message in a bottle" was the last will and testament of Daisy Singer Alexander, heiress to the Singer Sewing Company fortune.

The faded paper read: "To avoid confusion, I leave my entire estate to the lucky person who finds this bottle, and to my attorney, Barry Cohen; share and share alike."  The courts discovered that she had written the note and thrown the bottle into the Thames River in London.  It had drifted across the oceans to San Francisco and reached a penniless Jack Wurm.  Jack inherited over $6 million in cash and Singer stock.

Similarly, God has sent us a "message in a Bible."  Within this book you'll find the "last will and testament of our Lord" with a different kind of inheritance -- spiritual treasures.  How will you respond?  Will you walk past it?  Or, like Jack Wurm, will you step out in faith and take action?  Failure to take God's promises seriously leads to spiritual poverty.  Jack's inheritance can't begin to compare with the spiritual wealth God offers His heirs!

-- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians

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