FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Sermon by Dr. George Bryant
Wirth
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 17, 2002
Scripture: Psalm 103; Colossians 4:2-17
There
are two Greek words which literally resound throughout the entire New Testament
and have helped to shape the church down through the centuries of time. One word is “euangelion” which means
“telling the good news of the gospel” and from which our word “evangelism”
comes.
According
to the Gospel of Mark, the first words that Jesus spoke as He began His
ministry on earth were these: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand: repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). That’s evangelism – euangelion! And it is repeated more than 100 times from
Matthew on through the Book of Revelation.
The
other word is “diakonia,” which translates as “service to others, especially
those in need.” Our word “deacon” comes
from diakonia and like the word euangelion, diakonia appears more than 100
times in the New Testament.
Luke
reports that as Jesus preached His first sermon in Nazareth, He quoted the
prophet Isaiah, saying: The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim
release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at
liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1-2). That’s diakonia, service and ministry to
those in need.
And
during the Last Supper, our Lord showed His first disciples what that looked
like when he bent down on his knees and washed their feet, saying to them, I
am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:27). Diakonia.
Somehow,
as the early church emerged out of the first century, a debate developed among
Christians about those two words – euangelion and diakonia. Some said that sharing and receiving the
faith was the most important thing, while others claimed that doing good works
and reaching out to the poor in Jesus’ name was their primary agenda. So Paul wrote them some letters (see Romans
3 and Galatians 2) as did James, the brother of Jesus (see James 2), to try to
straighten things out.
But
the debate has persisted to this very day, and now we’re talking about
evangelism on the one hand and serving people in need – some call it “social
action” – on the other hand, as if the two hands didn’t belong to the same
body.
What
we need to remember in the church – the body of Christ on earth – is that Jesus
never intended for the one hand to be separated from the other. In fact, He told us and He showed us through
His life, death and resurrection, that euangelion and diakonia belong
together. That is why our Statement of
Purpose, printed on the front of the bulletin, says that we are “Disciples
Who Proclaim and Serve” – disciples who proclaim the gospel – euangelion –
and who serve others in Jesus’ name – diakonia. And that is what our sermon is all about this morning.
I.
There
are more than 6 billion people living on this planet today, including almost
300 million in America and 4 million here in the city of Atlanta. As the church learns to utilize the vast
network of communications systems that are now available to us – television,
radio and the worldwide web, together with an ever-expanding market for
Christian books, magazines and newspapers – we have an unprecedented
opportunity, greater than any other time in human history, to proclaim the
gospel of Jesus Christ!
Billy
Graham has taught us, through his remarkable ministry over the past 60 years,
that the world is hungry for that gospel.
And Dr. Graham himself learned early on, as he was just beginning to
preach, how to make the message direct and compelling.
He
still likes to tell the story about arriving in a small North Carolina town
back in the 1950’s when he was scheduled to preach in a local Baptist
Church. He had some letters to mail, so
he asked a young boy on the street how to get to the post office. The boy gave him directions, and then Dr.
Graham invited him to come to the revival meeting that Sunday night. “Come join us” he told the boy, “and I will
tell you how to get to heaven.” The boy
thought for a moment and then replied, “I don’t think I’ll be there,
preacher. You don’t even know how to
get to the post office!”
Well,
what we all need to know is that the most effective means of evangelism, of
proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, is still today, as it was long ago, a
one on one transaction.
Dr.
Frank Laubach, an inspiring missionary who served in the Philippines during the
last century, went on to develop a worldwide literacy program to help people,
especially poor children in other countries, learn how to read. He called it “Each one teach one” and that
ministry, which has touched and transformed the lives of thousands, even
millions of human beings, continues to this very day.
Just
so, the most effective way that we can proclaim the gospel could be called
“Each one reach one” - as we reach out to our friends and neighbors and invite
them to come to church, as we share our faith story with someone over a cup of
coffee, as we bear witness to what we believe in conversations at school or in
the offices where we work, and as we talk about the love of Christ in our homes
and with the members of our own families.
The
apostle Paul, in writing his letter to the Colossian Christians, put it this
way: Continue steadfastly in
prayer…and pray for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word to
declare the mystery of Christ…and let your speech always be gracious…so that
you may know how…to answer everyone (Colossians 4:2-3,6).
Which
means that as we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ – “euangelion,” one person
to another – we also need to pray that what we say will be consistent with the
way that we live together and love one another in this Community of Grace. As I have heard some of our teenagers
describe it, if we’re going to “talk the talk,” we need to “walk the
walk.” In other words, which were
Jesus’ words, quoted in Matthew 23 (verse 3), Let us practice what we
preach.
II.
And
that leads us from “euangelion” to “diakonia,” for a Christian disciples, we
have all been called to serve others in Jesus’ name.
The
phrase which appears in our bulletin each week, right above the names of those
who are leading in worship, says – “Ministers – all members of the
church.” That is not just a catchy
slogan, my friends. It is, instead, one
of the foundation stones of our Presbyterian Reformed tradition.
John
Calvin, like Martin Luther before him and John Knox who followed after him,
envisioned a church where pastors and lay people would join hearts and hands
together in Christian service as “the priesthood of all believers.” Their vision for shared responsibility to
reach out and serve others came from the Old Testament concept of community
where the poor, the widows and the orphans were cared for and their resources
were shared with everyone in need (see Deuteronomy 26).
Moreover,
King David declared in Psalm 103, which we read just minutes ago, that the
Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed (verse 6) and
He blesses those who are His ministers who do His will (verse 21).
So
this phrase – “Ministers – all members of the church” – has a long history
going way back to the Hebrew community.
And as John Calvin and our Reformed forbears realized, it also comes
alive in the New Testament stories about Jesus and His disciples healing the
sick, feeding the hungry, helping lost and lonely people to find their way and
to trust in God. I am among you,
said Jesus, as one who serves, and that was the clear and compelling
word of His ministry. “Diakonia.”
The
apostle Paul picked up that same word and sent it to the Christians in
Colassae, saying that just as they were called to proclaim the gospel –
“euangelion” – they were also called to serve others in Jesus’ name –
“diakonia.” And if you look carefully
at the final chapter of his letter to the Colossians, Paul gave them instructions
about what they needed to do:
Tychicus…a beloved brother, faithful minister and
fellow servant…has been sent to you that he may encourage your hearts…receive
Mark and Justus…my fellow workers in the kingdom of God…Epaphras, who is one of
yourselves and a servant of Christ greets you…that you may stand mature and
fully assured in the will of God…And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill
the ministry which you have received from the Lord” (Colossians 4:7-17, selected verses).
Now if Paul were writing that letter to us today, I
think he would say the same things that he said to the Colossians long
ago! He would encourage us to get
involved, he would remind us that we, each and every one of us, are the ministers
of this church, and he would call us by name to serve others – “diakonia” – as
disciples of Jesus Christ.
Inside
your bulletins this morning, there are “Faith in Action” forms that list a wide
variety of opportunities for ministry and mission in this church. I hope and I pray that you will carefully
and prayerfully consider how you might become more involved in the life and
work and worship and witness of this congregation, and that you will fill out
the form and return it to the church office as soon as possible. Why the sense of urgency?
Because
there are children and teenagers, young adults and older folks here in this
community of grace who need someone to minister to them. And there’s an even longer line of hungry,
homeless, hurting and often hopeless people out there in our city, nation and
world today who need your help.
And
if you are wondering what you can do, if you sense that Jesus Christ is calling
you into action, then listen to these lines from Edward Everett Hale who
encourages us, right here and right now, to make a decision:
“I am only one, but still, I
am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do
something.
What I can do, I ought to do.
And what I ought to do,
By the grace of God I will do.”
May
that be so for all of us in this Community of Grace, for we are
disciples who proclaim the gospel and who serve others in the name of Jesus.
In
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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