Making Disciples

Sermon by John Turner

September 6, 2009

2 Kings 6:8—7:20

It Is Not Right to Stay Silent

Here is an abridged and summarized version of the sermon text from 2 Kings:

When Syria and Israel were at war, the Prophet Elisha would often warn the king of Israel where the king of Syria was going to set up camp, thus giving the king of Israel an advantage and probably saving his life. The king of Syria assumed that he had a leak coming out from his close circle, but his staff assured him that the Prophet Elisha’s prophetic powers were the cause of the problem.

The king of Syria sent a great army during the night to surround the town where Elisha was staying. Early the next morning Elisha’s servant saw and reported with alarm and despair the presence of the enemy army. Elisha responded calmly, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. Elisha went out and said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria, Israel’s capital city. Elisha asked the Lord to open their eyes, and they saw that they were in the midst of the capital city. The king of Israel wanted to strike them down, but Elisha told him to give them a feast and send them home to report the supernatural events. For some time, Syria did not attack Israel again.

Much later, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, food and all edible substances skyrocketed in price until even a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a half pint of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. Things were so bad that the citizens were killing and eating their children. The king of Israel blamed Elisha and sent an army captain as messenger to capture Elisha in order to execute him, but Elisha barricaded himself and prophesied, “Tomorrow about this time seven quarts of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and fourteen quarts of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” In other words, food would be plentiful again. The captain could not believe it. But Elisha said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? Let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp, there was no one there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, and fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off two loads of silver and gold and clothing and hid them.

Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but horses, donkeys, and tents.” Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. The king suspected that the Syrians were setting up an ambush. But one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians.

So seven quarts of fine flour were sold for a shekel, and fourteen quarts of barley for a shekel. As Elisha had prophesied, the captain saw it, but he did not eat of it, for he was trampled by crowds rushing out of the city gate to collect food and wealth from the Syrian camp.

A Broken World and News of a Repairing God

We live in a world in which terrible things are happening. There is no end to the destructive patterns into which the lives of despairing people and even of complacent people are falling even right here in Berryville.

But there is good news of a God who, unseen, behind the scene, reigns, a God who can and will set things right if we will trust his gospel and entrust ourselves in obedience to his controlling hand, the hand of the God who has made himself known through his Perfect Son Jesus, who died for our sins and has been raised to give us a glimpse of what we could not see on our own, a perfect future eternity which is open to those who trust and obey Jesus. We can be saved from our sins; we can be transformed degree by degree into Christlikeness, we can lead meaningful lives in which our efforts will make life better for others, and we can be assured of perfect eternity in the future.

Once we have received this good news that can change everything, once it has begun to change our lives, even just begun, it is not right for us to remain silent about it. Like the four lepers who discovered the good news that the siege was over, we are obligated to share the good news.

We Have Been Commissioned

The Risen Jesus commissioned us: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We Have a Ministry

The Apostle Paul also set our mission before us: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” In short, we have been entrusted as ambassadors of Christ to carry the message of how every human being who will believe the gospel can be brought back to God.

The Command Is Unmistakable

The command that is laid upon us to go and make disciples, to be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation, is unmistakable. Our mission of sharing the good news, of evangelism, is set forth in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament teachings of Jesus and the Apostles.

The E-Word: Deal with It, One Way or Another

I do not care if evangelism has become a dirty word to us, the E-word. The commission stands whether we like the word or not. We do not have to call it evangelism, but we are commanded to do it. We are being asked to share the good news of Jesus Christ and of his reign, both now and eternally. We are being asked to help people understand that the good news applies to them, that the gap that has separated them from God has been bridged by Jesus Christ and, through their faith, can be bridged in their daily experience.

You have heave people say, “I really do not care what people call me, as long as they call me to dinner.”

I don’t care what you call our great commission: Call it “Telling the Good News.” Call it, “Making Disciples.” Call it, “Sharing Faith.” Call it, “Winning Friends for Jesus.” Call it what you will. Just be sure that people are invited to dine with our Lord.

Like the lepers who knew that the siege was over, it is not right for us to sit silently when there is a world so in need of knowing the good news.

Methods May Vary

Not all of us will have the same method of sharing the good news. We will have to ask the Holy Spirit how he is calling each one of us to go about it. Not every one of us is called to go out knocking on doors asking, “Are you saved?” A few of us may be. But others will have other methods; some of the other methods may be better in the long run. By my instincts, that is an understatement. The point is that each one of us is under the command to find some way or several ways to obey this commission!

What is your style of evangelism? I have provided a sheet for you in your bulletins. Take it out and follow along with me.

Ten Styles of Evangelism

(The first six are taken from the book, Becoming a Contagious Christian, by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg; the rest are taken from my observations as a pastor).

Confrontational—Personal qualities: direct, bold, right to the point, inclined to act now and to apologize as needed later. Description: This person is willing to talk with complete strangers, to ask personal questions, and to challenge anything not in line with revealed truth.

Intellectual/Apologetic—Personal qualities: studious, rational, deep thinker, able to find answers to hard questions and to explain the answers clearly. Description: This person may work one-on-one, in small groups, ministering to large groups, or even via communications media (print, recordings, broadcast, Internet, etc.), recognizing and answering the questions that are blocking people from faith commitments.

Testimonial—Personal qualities: an eye for God-sightings in daily life and a gift for relating personal experiences of God’s grace. Description: This person can hold attention by telling spiritually significant true stories which may be either dramatic or very ordinary.

Interpersonal—Personal qualities: warm, gregarious, caring, communicative. Description: This person makes friends, demonstrates concern for the well-being of friends, and then is in a position to help people decide for Christ.

Invitational—Personal qualities: willingness to be open and welcoming, to recognize events which have the potential to connect people to Christ and then invite them to the events. Description: This person is constantly looking for opportunities to invite acquaintances to come and experience something about Jesus Christ.

Service/Mercy--Personal qualities: loving to do whatever can be helpful to people in need; willingness to give time in sacrificial service. Description: This person sees human need and tries to help the people see the love of God in action. To be effective evangelistically, this person needs to have ready an explanation for their good deeds that credits Christ’s love.

Making Life Better--Personal qualities: desiring to fix human institutions or to create new patterns of life so that things are better for people who need more hope and opportunity. Description: Rather than doing direct help, this person tries to make life work better. Nonbelievers who are interested in making life work better may be ready to hear what motivates and stimulates the creative efforts of this person, and this person needs to be ready to explain how Christ is the source.

Spiritual Maturation and Insight--Personal qualities: growing in Christian wisdom and character, gently sharing helpful life insights and being prepared to show that the insights derive from Christ. Description: This person develops a reputation as someone who has maturity and insight, and others are drawn to seek the source of what they have.

Intercessional--Personal qualities: recognizing needs of acquaintances and asking them if they would welcome prayer; then praying right on the spot. Description: This person understands that prayer makes a difference and wants to help others discover that God is real, powerful, and relevant to life’s problems.

Prophecy and Miracles--Personal qualities: a calling to work with spiritual gifts of prophecy, healing, and miracles. Description: This person listens to God and shares what God says and then dares to ask for the supernatural works God is willing to do. This is sometimes called “power evangelism.” In some ways, this is just a special development of intercessional evangelism. This gift needs to be accountable to a spiritually mature discernment team.

(Probably: Sometime in October, we will give you an opportunity to identify and report which styles are your styles. In the meantime, be praying about it and, if you have a style of evangelism that we have not described, let us know so that we can include it on the list. We may well have more styles of evangelism the next time we use this list. I woke up this morning thinking of two or three more. I’ll be interested to see if any of you think of the same ones or some that haven’t occurred to me yet. Email John@Christviewmin.org ).

And About Time, Too!

I remember a Doonesbury comic strip from many years back with a preacher in the pulpit of a large, formal sanctuary explaining why the time for the mainline church has finally returned. A voice from the sanctuary says, “And about time, too!” The comic strip pans out to show that the voice comes from the lone person in the otherwise empty pews.

I recently skimmed through the best-selling book being published by our denominational publishing house, best-selling for Chalice Press, not on the New York Times list. It is called Unbinding the Gospel, and it is aimed at seven once mainline denominations of which the Disciples, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists are represented in Berryville. These denominations once represented a large proportion of the American population. I don’t happen to have the statistics. By 1960, only 14.4 % of the American people were members of these seven denominations. By the year 2000, only 7.4 % of the American people belonged to these seven denominations. You can see that trend right here in Berryville.

What happened to turn the mainline churches into the sideline churches? Several things, but, most fundamentally, these churches lost their confidence to do evangelism.

The book to which I am referring studied congregations within these denominations that bucked the trend and actually grew through the years of steep decline. The book identified the beginning factor in turning declining churches into growing churches as prayer.

Churches that consistently, persistently, and insistently pray for opportunities to share the gospel are led by God to find those opportunities, and consequently they grow. More importantly, they bring unbelievers to saving and transforming faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that the message for us is that we should pray, pray, and then pray for opportunities to share the good news of God’s reign in Jesus Christ.

And about time, too!

(The Doonesbury comic strip reference was added for this blog version of the sermon)