January 22, 2012 Sermon by Peter Terpenning
Community United Church of Christ
Boulder, Colorado
“Evangelism in a Progressive Context”
Mark 1:14-20, Jonah
As I read the lectionary from Mark about Jesus coming to share the good news and calling the Disciples, I realized I have seldom, if ever, addressed the subject of evangelism in a sermon. What is Christian evangelism and is it a good idea? Spreading the good news of Jesus has been an important part of Christianity for much of Christian history, yet I feel very ambivalent about it. We heard from Marcus Borg in his book, The Heart of Christianity, that his reasons for being Christian do not include seeing Christianity as the “one true religion”. In his book he makes a strong case that the reality of religious pluralism in the world negates the idea of Christian exclusivism. If we accept the idea that different religions are different paths to the same place, as I do, then it is not acceptable, and not very Christian, to seek to convert people to Christianity as a way to ensure their salvation. One survey on line asked Americans about evangelism and came to the conclusion that for most people today, evangelism is seen as negative. When the people doing the survey said Kleenex, most people thought of tissue. They said Hoover and most thought of vacuum cleaners. They evangelism or evangelical and most people thought of “judgmental, control and hatred”. When surveyed whether Christianity is the only true religion, only 17% agreed. Asking whether Christians should seek to convert people of other faiths, 71% said no. Clearly, our ideas about proselytizing is changing.
So what do I think about evangelism? The gospel of Mark is pretty clear on this point, that Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. I think it’s important as a starting point to note that Jesus proclaimed the good news of God. He didn’t proclaim the good news of Christianity, or even of Christ, or of salvation, or eternal life. Just the good news of God. That is not an exclusive statement. To return to Marcus Borg, he is very clear in his book that the good news has nothing to do with life after death, but the good news of Jesus was for now, this life. What Jesus offered was wholeness, healing, enlightenment, unitive thinking, liberation for captives, sight for the blind, peace, fearless; now, in this life!
The story of Jonah, the lectionary reading we did not hear read this morning, offers one of the best examples for me of the good news of God. Jonah, you may remember, hated the Ninevites because they had fought a brutal war with Israel, and when God wanted Jonah to go to the Ninevites and offer forgiveness and tell them of God’s love for them, he refused. He did not want to see the Ninevites forgiven, so he ran away. God pursued him, even into the belly of the great fish, and Jonah eventually agrees to go to Ninevah. He preaches there and the Ninevites do repent. Then Jonah is really mad and he says, “You see, God, that is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”. Jonah means it as an accusation, but I use it now as a statement of the good news of God that Jesus offered. God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”. Wherever this message is proclaimed, in Christian communities or Hinduism or Islam, that is an evangelical message I can get behind.
My other thought I had on evangelism this week I learned from Tim Tebow. Though I probably don’t see eye to eye with him theologically, I learned something from him last week. I have been pretty critical of Tim Tebow and amused by the idea that God could care about the outcome of football games or touchdowns, but Mark Lewis sent an article to the men’s group by Rick Reilly, a cynical sports writer that cast Tebow in a new light for me: Reilly wrote: “Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster’s), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts. Home or road, win or lose, hero or goat.” I learned from Rick Reilly that I have been unfair to Tebow. Whatever his theology, he is clearly a person of compassion. Good for him. He is proclaiming the good news of God. That makes want to listen to him.
So I started thinking of who in my life has made a difference and proclaimed the good news of God to me. Who, by their actions or way of living have inspired me to pay attention to them and to what they say? I think of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist teacher from who I first learned to meditate, whose engaged Buddhism is based in compassion for all people. The Dalai Lama, another Buddhist comes to mind. As does one of my personal heroes, Mohandas Gandhi. These three have all evangelized me with the good news of God and they aren’t even Christian. But there are Christians too. St. Francis of Assisi and his radical poverty and compassion stands out. A minister named Al Pitcher who started an intentional community in Chicago that Laura and I joined in the 80’s was an important influence on my life. He preached at my ordination. Another preacher, Ralph Surratt, a lay Methodist preacher I worked for in the mountains of North Carolina in seminary renewed my faith in Christianity and showed me that perhaps I could enter the ministry. My grandmother, whose name Evangeline, now gives me pause. My mother and father. Nelson Mandela. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thomas Merton. Henri Nouwen. Rumi. Teresa of Avila. Jesus. So many people of all faiths have been people who embodied the good news of God. I realized that when someone lives out this good news or God’s love and compassion, then I want to pay attention to what they say. They become Evangelists. I think of St. Francis’ words on evangelism: “Preach the gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.”
I think we are called to be evangelists, sharing the good news of God. There are lots of ways to do this, but the best is by living lives of compassion and mercy. One thing it doesn’t involve is telling people they will go to hell if they don’t believe in Jesus. Nor does it involve any kind of exclusive message about how to be saved, or judgment or hate.
Evangelism – sharing the good news of God, is, (to quote Jonah again): God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. When we offer mercy, good news is spread. When we show compassion, good news is spread. When we love our neighbor, or even better, when we love our enemy, good news is spread. When we offer a cup of water, or food to the hungry. When we offer kindness – when we love. Preach the gospel at all time, and when necessary, use words.