Calvin Synod Herald, 2014 (115. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2014-01-01 / 1-2. szám
I CALVIN SYNOD HERALD SPREADING THE WORD Text: Mark 1:40-45 Question: In St. Matthew’s gospel, in the last words of the text, Jesus offers what has come to be called “the great commission.” What is it Jesus says? Answer: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Question: In this story Jesus meets a leper, touches him (an unheard of thing to do), lifts him up, sends him on his way whole, instructing him to go show his healed condition to the priest and then go tell everyone, “Jesus healed me.” Right? Answer: No. Jesus says, “See that you say nothing to anyone.” Question: Do you believe the church is supposed to abide by “the great commission” or abide by what Jesus told the man? Answer: Preacher, don’t ask us such easy questions. Story: Two friends met for golf. One said, “I saw you go into the church the other day. I didn’t know you were a church goer.” “Oh yes,” replied the other. “I have been a church goer for years.” “A funny thing,” said the questioner. “You’re always able to talk about golf but you’ve never said a word about God.” Comment: It seems that it’s about as hard for many of us mainline Christians to tell others about our faith as it is for many parents to talk to their children about sex. Back to the Text: The healed leper could not be quiet. It reads, “He went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the word.” He was not trying to be disobedient. But you might as well have tried to keep a faucet under pressure from spouting .. You might as well have told a first-time father not to call family and exclaim, “It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!” Comment: A Scottish minister, Thomas Chalmers, decades ago had a title for it, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.” A song from an old musical, “My Fair Lady,” is illustrative: “I have often walked down this street before, But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before. All at once am I several stories high, Knowing I’m on the street where you live.” The Bad News Report: It now appears that some significant sectors of the church have taken the words of “the great commission” off the wall and replaced it with what St. Mark says Jesus told the leper, “Don’t you dare tell anyone.” Report from Turkey: A newsletter from missionaries in Turkey some years ago read, “In Turkey we do not try to convert Muslims to become Christians. It’s up to us to discover other people’s situation, history, culture and religious expressions and to respond with love, respect and integrity.” Really? Cannot one share the good news of Jesus Christ with love, respect and integrity? Some six years ago two young women were taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan. They were accused of teaching about Jesus. The captors eventually released them. Do you think they had been falsely accused? No! Guilty as charged. Guilty of fulfilling the great commission. A Biblical Story: In the Book of Acts we read a story from the early church. Paul and Silas come to Thessalonica and proclaimed: “This Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one we announce to you.” (Acts 17:3) St. Luke writes: “Some in the synagogue were persuaded and so were a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.” (Acts 17:4) The story continues: “A mob then dragged Jason and other believers before the city assembly and said: ‘Those people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also.’” (Acts 17:6) Current Situations: A 2000 issue of Newsweek was headlined, “The War on Christians.” The report: In Nigeria in 2011 there were 350 churches destroyed and 510 Christians killed. In Sudan persecution and killing of Christians has gone on for decades. In Egypt, Coptic Christians making up 11% of the population, now flee their homes by the thousands to escape rape, mutilations, church burnings and murder. In Iraq half of the million Christians have fled the country since 2003. In Pakistan lives a tiny Christian minority of 2.8 million. Many live in constant fear for their lives. In Indonesia attacks of Christians and other minorities increased 40% from 2010 to 2011. Violence against Christians occurs in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. In summation: A terrible, murderous and under reported Christophobia is under way. The cost of spreading the Word about the Savior is very high. Consider how silent we are where it is safe to speak. How little risk we take! Christians are called to spread the Word wherever they live. Christians are not smarter, better or wiser. As the great Indonesian Christian, D. T. Niles, said, “Christians are beggars telling other beggars where they can find food.” In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, world to its end. Amen. David B. Bowman _____________________________________________________7
