LET LIGHT SHINE OUT OF DARKNESS – Part 2 of 2

“Our concert of praise
To Jesus we raise,
And all the night long
Continue the new evangelical song:
We dance to the fame
Of Jesus’ name;
The joy it imparts
Is heaven begun in our musical hearts.”  
(Charles Wesley in “Hymns for the Watch-Night”)

There could hardly be a better time to preach the gospel of Christ, and surely no better time to sing it. The gospel has always been needed, since it is God’s solution for the human race, but in our day the need is more poignant and more dramatic. Whether one looks at the penultimate threat of nuclear destruction, or the private anguish of the lonely soul in an impersonal society, one cannot imagine a world more starkly in need of a Savior. There could hardly be a more demanding, more exhilarating time to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. We have never been more needed.

But we must have a song to sing. Without a song, we will only add to the dissonance of the times. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” (1984)

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A WORLD IN NEED OF A SAVIOR

Let us remember that it is a full salvation we offer. Some movements have been content to save their people and then leave them to heaven. [From early on] Methodism has insisted that we are saved so that we can grow. John and Charles Wesley believed that their somewhat ragtag group of butchers, miners, and household servants could become saints. We are challenged to believe as grandly for the computer generation, for a century of skeptics, and for the spiritually cautious.

And we are saved to serve our present age. Traditionally, we have believed we could “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.” Now we must do so in a time when family structures are under assault while political systems build their new Babels, and when evils of misery, poverty, and war seem more entrenched than ever.

There could hardly be a better time to preach the gospel of Christ, and surely no better time to sing it. The gospel has always been needed, since it is God’s solution for the human race, but in our day the need is more poignant and more dramatic. Whether one looks at the penultimate threat of nuclear destruction, or the private anguish of the lonely soul in an impersonal society, one cannot imagine a world more starkly in need of a Savior. There could hardly be a more demanding, more exhilarating time to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.

But we must have a song to sing. Without a song, we will only add to the dissonance of our times… On one of his birthdays, Wesley wrote:

          In rapture of joy
          My life I employ,
          The God of my life to proclaim:
          ‘Tis worth living for this,
          To administer bliss, 
          And salvation in Jesus’ name.

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley”

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THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

"For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 4:5-6 NIV)

I believe in justice, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of justice; I am a preacher of the Gospel of Christ who calls us to justice.

I believe in love, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of love; I am a preacher of the Gospel of Christ who calls us to love.

I am committed to peace, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of peace; I am a preacher of the Gospel of Christ who calls us to peace.

I believe in the value of the simple life, but I am not a preacher of the simple life; I am a preacher of the Gospel of Christ that calls us to the simple life…

Let us beware of the ultimate plagiarism of borrowing great concepts from Jesus; then running off proclaiming these concepts and not sharing the Christ that empowers these concepts. 

-- Dr. Myron Augsburger

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THE FULLNESS OF JESUS CHRIST

“But we preach Christ crucified…”  (1 Corinthians 1:23a)

One of the most fascinating of all the preacher’s tasks is to explore both the emptiness of fallen man and the fullness of Jesus Christ, in order then to demonstrate how He can fill our emptiness, lighten our darkness, enrich our poverty, and bring our human aspirations to fulfillment. For to encounter Christ is to touch reality and experience transcendence. He gives us a sense of self-worth or personal significance, because He assures us of God’s love for us. He sets us free from guilt because He died for us, from the prison of our own self-centeredness by the power of His resurrection, and from paralyzing fear because He reigns... He gives meaning to marriage and home, work and leisure, personhood and citizenship... The main objective in preaching is to expound Scripture so faithfully and relevantly that Jesus Christ is perceived in all His adequacy to meet human need. 

-- John Stott in “Between Two Worlds” 

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PLACE YOUR LIFE BEFORE GOD

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life -- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you….

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. 

-- Excerpted from Romans 12:1-2, 6-13, “The Message” by Eugene Peterson

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PREACHING CHRIST RISEN

[Easter worship attendance] numbers represent people -- each is someone's brother or sister, parent or child, neighbor or co-worker.  Each brings a whole host of joys and sorrows, hopes and doubts, aspirations and temptations to worship. Each wants to join in the songs of the ages for Easter joy, and each harbors moments of despair, anguish, grief and anxiety. While it's fun, interesting, and extraordinarily helpful in our planning to measure attendance, we also realize that the message we proclaim at Easter and every Sunday is one that goes beyond measure. In the meditations of our hearts, the words of our prayers, the rhythm of our music, the joy of our fellowship, the insights of our sermons, and the sustaining grace of our communities, there is a truth that is immeasurable, eternal, infinite, and unfathomable. We dare to speak of hope in times of despair, love in the face of violence, grace in the grip of guilt, and life in the midst of death. We dare to preach Christ risen, alive, present, and as the scripture says, "going ahead of us to Galilee," to all the places where people need the Lord. The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen indeed! 

-- U.M. Bishop Robert Schnase, from his "Five Practices Blog"

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TOUCHING AND SAVING LIVES

“‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”  (Romans 10:13-15 NIV)

All other businesses we do for living, and for leaving good and great footprints, are good! In fact, we must not let our gifts and talents be idle, but in all our endeavors we must not forget that there is one more noble business than any, and that is touching and saving lives for the Kingdom of God, in truth and in spirit, and proclaiming the coming of Jesus Christ with all due diligence, understanding, humility, courage and fortitude! 

-- Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

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