"What's The Gospel Worth To You?"
February 5, 2006

The Old Testament Lesson: Jeremiah 20: 7 - 9
The New Testament Lesson: I Corinthians 9: 16 - 23

To clarify and inspire people to undertake the task of spreading the gospel

I.  Sharing the gospel takes effort!
   A.  I want you to imagine something with me.
        1. Suppose you are driving down you street headed to work.
            a. look out your window, see smoke billowing from neighbor’s house
            b. What effort are you going to take to warn them of danger?
        2. Are you going to start making excuses?
            a. There are plenty of good ones to use.
            b. If you stop, you might be late for work.
            c. They might get angry at you for waking them up!
            d. Not sure how to break the news to them that their house is burning
            e. You can’t fully explain the nature of fire or how it got started!
        3. I hope that you think all of that is plain silly.
            a. before you even think, you’re screeching to a halt.
            b. You’re banging on their door and yelling.
            c. If you have to, you’ll even break into the house!
        4. There’s no amount of effort that will stop you from warning them.
   B. Would you please relate that to the message of the gospel?
        1. Looking around, we can see lots of houses that are burning.
            a. there are plenty of fires in our community and neighborhoods.
            b. We probably can see them at work and in the market.
            c. We have friends who are getting scorched.
            d. There are members of our family who are in danger.
        2. What are you doing about them?
        3. All the excuses that sounded silly about literal houses are employed.
            a. We have busy lives and full schedules.
            b. People might get upset, or angry.
            c. They might not believe what we’re saying to them.
            d. We aren’t nearly as eloquent as we’d like to be.
        4. I’m not about to say that these things are untrue.
            a. Each is more than likely true.
            b. We’re busy and people are unreceptive.
        5. But, if we really believe there’s a fire, why would we let this stop us?

II.  Sharing the gospel takes adaptation
   A. People haven’t changed that much since Paul’s day.
        1. He met plenty of resistance to his message.
        2. Jews didn’t like it because it was contrary to their faith.
        3. The Romans didn’t like it, because it violated political principles.
        4. Greeks didn’t like it because it sounded unintelligent.
        5. How then did he respond?
            a. Did Paul just give up?
            b. Did he crawl into his tent and hope that God would be merciful?
   B. Paul adapted his presentation style!
        1. In his own words, he became like those to whom he preached.
            a. Didn’t change his principles or message.
            b. Changed the way he lived so they could understand.
            c. Lived like a Greek or a Jew depending on his context.
        2. One of the main issues was around meal times.
            a. the Jews lived by strict standards and rituals.
            b. Paul grew up with these and was accustomed to them
        3. when he preached to the Gentiles, recognized they were barriers.
            a. so he set them aside so they could relate to him.
            b. I’m positive he was very uncomfortable with that.
        4. Yet, returning to Israel, we observed the rituals so they could hear.
        5. Lived in a constant state of sacrifice in order to get the message out!
   C. That was simply because the message was so important to him.
        1. He was like the prophet Jeremiah who said, The word “is like a fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”
        2. Paul’s statement “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!”
        3. He longed to share it’s blessings!
   D. Is that what the gospel’s like in you? Are you weary from holding it in?
        1. I am afraid that for us in is the opposite.
        2. We are struggling to drag it out and we can not!
        3.  Are you confident that the good news is a blessing to you?
            a. If you are experiencing its blessings, would you like to share it?
            b. If it has delivered you from the fire, don’t you want to warn others

People can hardly distinguish us as Christians!  But the object is not sharing the gospel.  It’s just getting along!

     Paul’s sacrifice reminded me of a story about a Wycliff Missionary.  You may be aware that they learn a spoken language in a place without the Bible and then translate the Bible for those people, sometimes even creating the written language.  In one area of S. America a husband/wife team began work among natives living in N. Ecuador.  They were greeted warmly by the village and hosted to a scrumptious dinner of all the village delicacies.  The man’s wife was pregnant and so they brought her the food prized by all the expectant mothers: grubs.  Big, fat juicy s. American grubs. Surprisingly, that wasn’t exactly what they had been craving.  I’m sure that they could have explained that this wasn’t a normal part of their diet and just couldn’t bring themselves to eat them, but to do so would have immediately erected a barrier between the people and the gospel.  So they thanked them graciously and dug in!

     What sacrifices are you making so that the gospel will be proclaimed in your life?  Eating worms, big fat juicy ones, in order to build relationships!

Now, many of us are very accustomed to blending in.

And as you go from this place, may you walk in the way of Christ Jesus and May God always find you faithful!