Thinking of others

from my message on Sept. 14, 2014 from Romans 14:1-12

Warning!  I am a doctor, but not a medical one.  I have a doctor of ministry degree.  Still, I give you fair warning.  What I am about to say may cause you high blood pressure, heart palpitations, dry mouth, loss of sleep, skin rash, and other side effects.  The word I have for you is Evangelism (gasp!).

This word has grown scary for us.  I wish it weren't the case.  The word evangelism simply means "good news."  In fact, I think we Christians have the best news.  We have been forgiven, set free from sin, offered new life in Christ, shown love in Jesus Christ, called to serve others.  It is good news that we can live lives that matter.

When we Methodists began as a reform movement in the 1700's, we were the best in the world at evangelism.  We sent preachers to meet the people where they were, in the market places, in coal fields.  We offered communion to everybody; we still do.  We sang Charles Wesley's hymns with fervor.  We had small group accountability where people prayed for one another and learned to talk of their faith.  We were advocates for the most vulnerable.  We were against child labor, slavery, and debtors' prisons.  We ministered to those with alcohol addictions, started schools and hospitals.  We had good news, not just in words but also in deeds.

The problem is that we have more recently seen lots of bad examples of evangelism.  We have endured televangelists.  Some had makeup caked on that could stop a rocket propelled grenade.  Can I get an Amen?  Some had hair that could preach Jesus.  Give me a Hallelujah!

We are afraid that we might have to get white shirts and black ties and ride bicycles, witnessing to strangers.

That's really scary for us, making cold calls about our faith.  A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my LazyBoy recliner on a Saturday, doing the cross word puzzles in the newspaper.  The doorbell rang.  I admit that on my days' off, I sometimes don't answer the doorbell.  These persons were persistent.  Cathy wasn't around.  I went to the door.  There was a mom with a little girl, maybe 6 years old.  The little girl was trying to back away.  She was saying, "I don't want to.  Don't make me."  The mom was pushing her towards me, "You can do it. Go ahead and give it to him."  The little girl handed me the literature from her church.  I was really upset.  It bordered on child abuse for me.

I am not asking you to do anything like this.  So breathe.  We are in the 2nd week of 6 weeks of welcoming others.  We are getting ready for ReThink Church + 1 on Oct. 19.  On that Sunday, we will not have worship services here; we will go out to be in service to others.

The first challenge I have for you today is to be drawn to a service project.  We are highlighting IHN, Interfaith Hospitality Network today.  This past week we hosted 4 families at our church who are waiting more permanent housing.  In fact, on Wednesday, one of the families got their own apartment!  So we ended the week with only 3 families. That's good news!

Watch the video of Morris Moore explaining IHN and how you can help.

Take the bulletin insert and look at the starter list of service projects.  You can create your own too.  Be in prayer about what project you are drawn to.

The second challenge is to be drawn to inviting someone to serve alongside you, your Plus One.  In the Urban Dictionary, a Plus One is that unnamed guest that you bring with you to an event.  "She's with me; she's my plus one."

We are going to start practicing our inviting today.  We are not going to accost, badger, judge, etc.  We are going to be talking to people we already know.

I share a true story at this point, from St. Andrew's UMC in San Antonio.  This congregation spent 6 hours on a Saturday getting training in welcoming others, instead of the 6 weeks like we are doing here.  At the end of the workshop, a woman of the church walks outside.  There is someone she knows, but barely, an acquaintance from the neighborhood.  This other woman is walking her dog, along the sidewalk right in front of the church.  The woman from the church screws up her courage. She is going to do it.  She is going to invite the dog walker woman.  "Hello," she says.  The dogwalker responds nicely, "Oh, hello."  "Say, I want to invite you to my church."  "Is this your church here?"  Why, yes, we would love to have you."  It is going so well.....The dogwalker asks, "So, you are a member here?"  "Yes."  The dogwalker says, "So, can I get in under your membership?"

Wow.  We have a lot of misinformation to overcome.  We have a lot of work to do in sharing good news with others.

Paul has some good counsel for us at this point from his letter to the church at Rome.  It's not the best text for evangelism, but it will do.  You may think it is just about what to eat or what holidays to observe, but there's more to it than that.  Paul says for the strong to welcome the weak.  His basic message is this:  No one is superior to anyone else; be careful that you don't think you know best for someone else.  He says we are all servants of one another, servants ultimately of God.  We all belong to God.  Who does God welcome?  God welcomes everyone.

The word for welcome here means to receive or accept, to take in as a guest, even to partake food with.  We invite someone to join in the feast of life with us.

We are going to practice thinking of others by talking in pairs about a friend you might have.  Surely you have one friend.  Do that visiting now.

Now take this yellow card and write these 4 letters down the side
F
R
A
N

They stand for
Friends
Relatives
Associates
Neighbors

Start generating some names under each category, some Plus Ones, you might invite to serve with you on Oct. 19, to make a difference in the world.  Parents, siblings, cousins, business acquaintances, people on sports teams with you, people you see at Starbucks, people on your block. I bet you can come up with at least one name of a Plus One.  These are the ones we know already and sometimes forget to invite.

I want you to be in prayer for that person or persons.  Place this yellow card where you can be reminded of these names:  on the refrigerator door, on the bathroom mirror, on your computer screen, on your car dashboard.

I believe that people are desperate for meaning and for belonging.  We can be thinking of others and to invite them to God's good news in Jesus Christ.

Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah, that every knee shall bow and every tongue will give praise to God.  God won't quit until all of God's children know how much they are loved.  What good news!

What project are you drawn to?  Who's your Plus One?