August 25, 2019 – “Why the Church? Good News-ing” by Rev. Cody Sandahl

Sermon starts at the 4:58 mark after the music
Lay Reader = 1 Peter 3:13-22
13Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;
16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Introduction
We are continuing our series looking at the Great Ends of the Church. If God is handing out a report card for a church, these are the ways we’re being graded. For reference, all six of them are listed on the back of your bulletin. Last week we talked about true Christian fellowship that seeks people who can gently steer us in a better direction, seeks to show exceptional care, and seeks to be known well enough that people know how to pray for us specifically this month.
This week we are talking about “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.” That’s a pretty small task, right? I think that’ll take about three or four weeks and then we’ll be done.
There are some key components of that phrase, so let’s break it down. “Proclamation” requires some kind of externalization. You can’t send people telepathic Gospel vibes and call it proclamation. You can’t silently wish for people to know Jesus and call it proclamation. To be proclamation, it has to move outside of your inner thoughts somehow. In other words, other people should be aware that proclamation happened, otherwise it didn’t happen.
And what are we proclaiming? The Broncos? No, the Gospel! So what’s the Gospel? The Greek word literally means “the good news.” And we have four “gospels” in our Bible, so I think we can take our cues from them. What’s the main focus of the Gospel according to Mark? Jesus. What’s the main focus of the Gospel according to Matthew? Jesus. Gospel according to Luke? Jesus. Gospel according to John? Jesus. Catching the trend?
But why, then, do we need four of them? Matthew, Mark, and Luke especially – they’re so similar, why do we need all three? Well, all of them bring a slightly different perspective when talking to Jesus. The gospels are the intersection of the good news of Jesus with the reality of a specific person’s life. So, to me, that’s what we are supposed to proclaim when we proclaim the Gospel – how has the good news of Jesus intersected with your specific life?
Then we get to the word “salvation.” I’m going to hold off on that one – we’ll get to that in a minute after we read our text for today.
Finally, “humankind.” Not just a few people. Not just my four and no more. Not just the holy people. Not just the rich, clean-cut, outwardly-together people. Not just the people who look like me. Not just the people who think like me. Humankind. Everyone. The gospel wants to reach everyone. Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus wants to reach everyone everywhere. We don’t get to say to someone, “you’re not worthy of Jesus.” We don’t get to say to someone, “Jesus didn’t come for you.” He came for us all, but he says we need to be his witnesses. That’s “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.”
Our text today takes place as the early church was expanding beyond Israel and starting to reach cities all over the Roman world. This takes place in Philippi, which is basically in eastern Greece today. Philippi is essentially the beginning of the church in Europe. The first convert to Christ in Europe was Lydia, a merchant whose home base was Philippi. She and her whole household came to Jesus right before our text today.
So now we see the reaction against the church. We’ll see it starts with opposition from spiritual forces. Then it becomes opposition based on money. Then it becomes about power and injustice. And Paul and Silas respond by proclaiming the gospel. Listen to how they conduct themselves, and how people respond.
Acts 16:16-34
16One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 19But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” 22The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
Salvation
As I said, I wanted to save the word “salvation” for later. And that’s because I think we get a little confused about salvation. What is salvation? What are we saved from? What are we saved for? And I think Emo Philips really captured the nature of the gospel. He said, “When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bike. Then I realized, the Lord doesn’t work that way. So I just stole one and asked Him to forgive me…and I got it!” Is that what salvation looks like?
Or my brother has said before that, between my dad being a pastor, me being a pastor, and my mom being a long-time faithful Sunday school teacher, surely he’ll get into heaven by association, right? He’s joking, but is that what salvation look like?
Or the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and gave it the endorsement of the Roman Empire back in the 300’s. But he wasn’t baptized until right before his death. He reasoned that baptism marked the forgiveness of your sins prior to that moment, so the best way to get into heaven is to wait until you’re about to die because then you’ll be done sinning by then. Brilliant! Is that what salvation looks like?
John Wesley was a preacher whose faith was failing him. A friend told him to keep preaching faith until his faith was restored, and that’s what he did. But he was running out of motivation to do that, too. One evening he reluctantly attended a meeting in Aldersgate, and someone read from Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. And here’s what Wesley wrote about that evening: “while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
That started a journey for Wesley. Later on he finally realized that it wasn’t Christ and good works, but Jesus Christ alone that saved him. But because he was saved by Christ alone, he was motivated to do far more good works than he would have otherwise. In response to his salvation, in response to the grace of Jesus Christ, Wesley started a new Christian movement that became the Methodists. In one year he rode 20,000 miles on a horse, preaching the gospel everywhere he could. That’s more than most people drive in a year in their cars. But he didn’t do that to earn salvation – he did it because Jesus granted him salvation and he wanted to share it with others.
Wesley’s story is interesting for many reasons. First, did you notice that the most important moment in his faith life came after he was already a preacher? He already knew about Jesus. He already knew how to tell others about Jesus. But while his head was all-in, his heart hadn’t caught up yet. It was only after his head and his heart agreed about Jesus that he was “strangely warmed” and everything changed.
Second, I find it fascinating that he was already preaching Christ when he said he realized he was “saved from the law of sin and death.”
So now that he realized he was free, now that he realized he didn’t have to earn his way into God’s favor, now that he realized he didn’t have to do good works…he responded by doing far MORE good works. But instead of an obligation and a burden, it was a joyful choice. That’s a big difference.
So we see that salvation is something that might take a while to work its way through our lives. It’s kind of like a bolt of lightning a couple of miles away. You can see it before you hear the thunder. Or it’s kind of like an earthquake. When I lived in Pennsylvania we felt an earthquake that I believe started in Virginia. And there were people who saw Tweets from their friends asking, “Did you feel that earthquake?” And they responded, “What earthquake?” Followed a few seconds later by, “Oh, that earthquake.” The news of the earthquake spread faster than the earthquake itself!
So when we realize our salvation by Jesus Christ, it might work its way into our lives at different speeds. Maybe you know about Jesus, and you believe in Jesus, but your heart hasn’t been “strangely warmed” yet. Maybe you have a passion for your faith, but you don’t really understand it yet. Or maybe you feel motivated to serve other people, but you have no idea why. Or maybe your heart used to be motivated and now it feels dry and barren. Our salvation from Jesus works its way into our lives at different speeds.
Responding to Salvation
And as it works its way into our lives, we have opportunities to respond. Wesley responded to his heart’s salvation by serving even more than he was before. In our text today, there are two very different responses to Christ.
First, we see the slave owners. They clearly know that Jesus has power. Their slave who was making them money by telling fortunes couldn’t do it anymore because of those Jesus followers. They could have responded in different ways. They could have realized, “Wow, Jesus is powerful. I need to know more!” But instead, they felt their income threatened and sought revenge. Seeing the power of Jesus, seeing the reach of Jesus, seeing the claim that Jesus makes on our lives, they revolted!
Then we come to the jailer. Let’s paint the scene here. It’s midnight. Everyone’s trying to sleep. Everyone, that is, except for Paul and Silas. After being beaten by a mob, they were thrown into jail with their feet in stocks. And they’re singing hymns to God. And this brings me to one of the unanswerable questions in the Bible. How many times do you think the jailer told them to shut up? It’s midnight! Be quiet! Stop singing! I don’t know about your God, and I don’t care, but I do care that you’re being annoying right now, Paul and Silas!
Then an earthquake knocks out the jailer, everyone’s chains are broken, and the door is wide open. But that encounter with God’s power didn’t get his attention. It was only when Paul shouted, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” That’s the moment when the jailer was “strangely warmed” like Wesley.
This is key. Because the proclamation of the Gospel didn’t happen when they cast out the demon from the slave girl. Proclamation of the Gospel didn’t happen when God freed them with an earthquake. Proclamation of the Gospel didn’t even happen when they got all the prisoners to stay. Proclamation of the Gospel happened when Paul told the jailer he should live. Proclamation of the Gospel happened when the jailer saw that Paul and Silas cared about his life. Proclamation of the Gospel happened when the jailer realized God cared about his life. Life wasn’t just duty to Rome. There is something more. His heart was “strangely warmed.”
Now that Jesus made his way into the jailer’s heart, what did he do next? He asked for knowledge: “sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Help this feeling make sense!
From there, what happened next? The jailer brought them to his house, which could get him in trouble, by the way, and cleaned their wounds. He was baptized. He shared his story with his family. They were baptized. And that began a transformation in his life that made his whole family rejoice!
So salvation for the jailer started in his heart. It made its way to his head. And then it became evident in his work and in his family.
But it all started with good news. It didn’t start with the bad news of God’s punishing earthquake. It started with the good news that your life matters. That you are loved. The good news opened his heart, but he didn’t see the good news as an excuse to just keep doing what he was doing. He didn’t just want to steal the bike and ask for forgiveness, he changed his life in response to his salvation, not to earn his salvation. And he didn’t hold that salvation inside, he shared it with his family and even his superior officers – they’re gonna ask why he let the prisoners into his home!
Ways of Proclaiming
And also notice how many different ways there are to proclaim the Gospel. Paul and Silas proclaimed the power of Christ by casting out the spirit from the slave girl. Transforming someone’s life in the name of Jesus is a way of proclaiming the Gospel.
What were they doing at midnight? They were “praying and singing hymns to God, and all the prisoners were listening to them.” So you can proclaim the Gospel with music and songs.
They also prevented the jailer from harming himself. So you can proclaim the Gospel by caring for people.
The text says, “they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” So you can proclaim the Gospel by teaching and preaching.
They ate in his house, so you can proclaim the Gospel through relationships and conversations over meals with people.
We don’t see it in this text, but if you look in the Old Testament you’ll see how God commanded Bezalel to use his artistic ability to point to God. So you can proclaim the Gospel through art.
So maybe you have a story to tell. Maybe you have an image to share. Maybe you have a song to sing. Maybe you have a way to serve. Whatever it is, when you can point to how the good news of Jesus intersected with your life, and when you can help other people see how the good news of Jesus intersects with their lives, that’s proclamation of the Gospel for the salvation of humankind.
Where has the good news of Jesus intersected with your life? And do you know someone who knowingly or unknowingly is longing for the good news of Jesus to intersect with their life? How can you help that good news take root in their heart, or their mind, or their actions? How will you proclaim? Amen.