Summer and reading go together. For some of us, it’s an unwanted combination. A high school freshman whose name I will not reveal responded in this way when her school’s required summer reading list arrived: “Summer reading? That’s an oxymoron. Who wants to read in the summer?!” But for many others, summer and reading are welcome pairing. We have a little more free time in the summer and we are finally able to get to the novel, the biography, or that thriller that we’ve wanted to read. We read on the beach while tanning, in the car or plane while traveling, or on a deck while relaxing. How many of you enjoyed reading a good story this summer?
And there are a lot of stories to choose from. Many of us choose contemporary best-sellers: Now You See Her by James Patterson, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, or Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. Others of us choose classic and time-tested stories: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerad, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, or The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.
I have with me a book cart, the kind you might find in a library. And it’s filled with all kinds of good stories. These would be great books to pick up and read right now…[mention some of the books on the cart]
There are a lot of great stories. Libraries and bookstores and our shelves and electronic readers are filled with them. But for the next four weeks I want to talk about one story: the story of Jesus. It’s not a terribly popular story today. The latest research by the Barna organization finds that only 40% of adults read the Bible on a weekly basis.[1] The story of God and Jesus is still on the I’ve-not-read-it-yet-but-I-want-to pile for many Americans.
And perhaps that helps explain why so few Christians share that story today. The latest Barna research finds that the number of Christian teenagers who shared the story of Jesus with people of another faith dropped from 64% to 45% in the last few years.[2] That’s a 20% decrease. There’s declining interest in the story of Jesus and there’s declining numbers of Christians sharing that story with others.
Yet I think most of us here know that Jesus’ story is the greatest story ever told and that it’s a story that deserves to be told. I think many of us want to share that story. We want everyone to have the chance that we’ve had, the chance to make Jesus’ story our own story.
I would not be a Christian today if a high school senior named Gary Cox had not befriended me and talked to me about Jesus for about a year. I think many of us know how critical it is to share the story of Jesus. We know there are people just like me out there who need his story.
For the next four Sundays I’d like to talk about this. I want to talk about getting into the lives of people, living the gospel before them, and verbalizing the story of Jesus.
Let’s start with the story of Jesus itself. Several times throughout the New Testament the authors stopped to summarize Jesus’ story. Here are the key summaries:
John 3:16-17
16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
1 Cor. 15:3-8
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Col. 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Phil. 2:6-11
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1 Tim. 3:16
16Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
Heb. 1:1-4
1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Rev. 1:5-7
5and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
These texts summarize Jesus’ story. And in these summaries we find six “chapters.” Jesus’ story comes to us in six chapters:
First, there is the manger. Jesus’ comes to earth as a human. We call this the Incarnation.
Second, there is the cross. Jesus dies in our place. We call this the Crucifixion.
Third, there is the tomb. Three days after his death Jesus is raised. This is the Resurrection.
Fourth, there are the clouds. Jesus’ followers watch him ascend in the clouds. This is called the Ascension.
Fifth, there is the fire. Jesus sends the Spirit on his followers in the form of fire. This is called Pentecost.
Sixth, there is the trumpet. With a loud trumpet call Jesus returns to reign finally and fully. This is known as the Second Coming.
These are the key chapters in Jesus’ story.
Dr. Monte Cox from Harding University spent time earlier this year with Highland’s staff. Monte showed us that these six chapters are the record of how God shared Jesus with us. How did God share Jesus? He shared Jesus with us through a manger, cross, tomb, clouds, fire, and trumpet. And Monte demonstrated that we can learn a great deal about sharing Jesus with others by looking at how God shared Jesus with us. Each of these six chapters teaches us something about how we share Jesus with others. This series is inspired by some of the information Monte shared with us. Some parts of this series are built directly upon Monte’s presentations. Other parts are original with me.
We’re going to start this morning with the tomb. [VISUAL AID] This large book represents the story of Jesus. And these pages represent the chapter on the tomb. What does the tomb teach us about sharing Jesus with others?
Think for a moment about another question: what is evangelism? In the early years of my Christian faith, I came across two wrong views of evangelism. First, some Christians in my life shared Jesus in a way that suggested that evangelism is mostly about this: fill a seat. For some Christians evangelism was mostly about getting people to attend a Christian event. Fill a seat at a worship service. Fill a seat at a youth devotional. Fill a seat at a gospel meeting. There’s certainly nothing wrong with these events. They can be great first-steps. Events like these are central to Highland’s evangelism. But for some of the Christians whom I knew, this was the extent of evangelism. Evangelism was complete once they got an individual to fill a seat. And I think we all know that there’s much more to becoming a Christian than filling a seat.
Second, other Christians in my life shared Jesus in a way that suggested that evangelism is mostly about this: Flee the flames. By flames, I mean the flames of hell. Evangelism was primarily envisioned as just rescuing people from hell. Once in college I was invited to participate in an evangelistic campaign. We were to go door to door in this town and ask people this question: “If Jesus came back today, do you know, for sure, that you would go to heaven?” It’s not a horrible question. But it’s not a good first question. It suggested to me that the primary issue in evangelism is getting people to avoid hell. There’s some truth in that. But it left a question in my mind: What then? Let’s say someone is persuaded to be baptized and become a Christian in order to escape hell. What do they do for the rest of their lives while they are waiting for heaven? We rescued them from hell but we didn’t give them anything meaningful to be part of until they died and went to heaven.
Jesus had a different view of evangelism. He put it simply in Matt. 28: 19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” The problem with the view that some have of evangelism is that it’s too short-sighted. Jesus wasn’t merely interested in filling seats. Jesus wasn’t even merely interested in saving people from hell. What Jesus was after is summed up in the word “disciple”—Go and make disciples. We don’t use the word “disciple” much today. But it was the word of choice for Jesus. He envisioned the goal of evangelism with this one word: “disciple.” In Jesus’ day, a disciple was someone who followed a mentor or a leader; someone who did what the mentor or leader did; someone who surrendered his/her story for the mentor’s or leader’s story.
Here, then, is a better definition of evangelism: Play your part. To be a disciple means to make Jesus’ story your story. Thus, to evangelize is to invite others to make Jesus’ story their story. To evangelize is to invite people to play their part in Jesus’ story. It’s not simply to get people to fill a seat. It’s not merely to help people flee the flames. It’s so much bigger than that. Evangelism is inviting people to find the purpose of their life in the story of Jesus. It’s inviting them to play their part in Jesus’ story.
That brings us back to Jesus’ story. What exactly is Jesus’ story? What would it mean to invite a person to play his/her part in that story? I’d like to use the tomb, the resurrection, to answer that question. About three years ago a scholar named N. T. Wright wrote a book about the resurrection. In this book, Surprised by Hope, Wright says that many in the Christian faith assume this is the point of the resurrection: “Jesus was raised from the dead so that when we die we too can be raised and go to heaven and live there forever.”[3] Many of us automatically think that’s the main point of the tomb. Jesus was raised from the dead. Thus, I will be raised from the dead. If that’s the main point of the tomb, it would seem evangelism is largely about inviting people to be part of a story that allows them to escape death. That’s a pretty good story: “Come follow Jesus so you can escape death.” That’s a compelling story. But it’s still short-sighted. Wright shows the biblical meaning of the resurrection is much grander. In the context of the whole story of Scripture, here’s the true meaning of the tomb: “Jesus was raised from the dead to inaugurate the final chapter of God’s renewal of the cosmos so that one day heaven can come to earth.” God brought life from death and restored wounded flesh and bones at the tomb as the ultimate illustration of what he’s doing with the entire cosmos. The great story of God, which Jesus participated in, is bringing wholeness to brokenness, breathing life into death, making beautiful what has become ugly. The tomb was the climax of that work. And according to Wright early Christians believed that “God [is] going to do for the whole cosmos was he had done for Jesus at Easter.” If you want one scene that best illustrates what God has been working on since Genesis 3, look at the tomb. His primary work is repairing, restoring, and turning death to life.
Here’s the point: Jesus’ story is about so much more than just getting people off the earth and into heaven. Jesus came as part of God’s historic project to renew and recreate the cosmos and us. The story of the tomb is essentially this: Through Jesus God is renewing, recreating, and reconciling. Jesus’ story is the climax of a much larger story that starts in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve and their rebellion throw the entire universe off center and decay and death and evil start to reign. Ever since that moment, God’s been recreating and renewing us and the world. He’s been taking dead things and breathing life into them. And this work climaxed at the resurrection. The resurrection was God’s announcement to the world that this is what he intends to do to the entire world. And we’ve been invited to play a part in that story. God not only wishes to renew and recreate us so that we are the people he created us to be. He also invites us to participate with him in this renewing work. That’s what the tomb is about.
We hear an echo of this in one of the summary passages. In Col. 1:20 Paul writes that through Jesus God is reconciling to himself all things. One definition of that word “reconcile” is this: “to bring back a former state of harmony.”[4] In other words, it means to bring everything back to the way it was created to be. To bring everything back into its right relationship with God and with others. To bring everything back to its right function and role in the world. That’s why Jesus lifted up women, children, the poor and the marginal. He was restoring to them their original worth. That’s why Jesus urged rich people to give to the poor. He was restoring to the poor the life they were meant for. That’s why Jesus forgave the unforgivable and befriended the unlovely. He was restoring them to the position of value and love they were intended for. And at the tomb, God showed just how great his power is to restore, renew, and recreate.
Evangelism, then, is inviting people to let Jesus renew, recreate, and reconcile them. But it’s even more. It’s inviting them to take up their role in working with Jesus to renew, recreate, and reconcile the whole cosmos. Just think of this: There was an ideal way that people were to relate to each other, an ideal way that governments were supposed to function, an ideal way in which families were to live, an ideal way in which marriages were supposed to thrive, an ideal way in which friendships were to be rich and rewarding, an ideal way in which work was to be fulfilling, an ideal way in which companies were supposed to operate, an ideal way in which churches were to function, an ideal way in which nations were to relate to nations, an ideal way in which people everywhere related to God. And through Jesus God is working to bring back everything to that ideal state. And the resurrection was God’s way of demonstrating that even when things look dead and broken beyond repair, he has the power to breathe new life into them and restore them to their original and intended state. That’s what the tomb was about. And if evangelism is inviting people to be disciples, it’s inviting them to take up their part in that story. It’s not simply inviting people to fill a seat or flee the flames. It’s inviting people to take up their part in Jesus’ story of renewal, recreating, and reconciling. One thing the tomb does is remind us what evangelism is really all about.
But how do we do that? How do we invite others to take up their part in Jesus’ story, a story of renewal and reconciliation? I want to briefly introduce a concept I’ll call Three Story Evangelism. Sharing Jesus revolves around three stories.
- First, listen to their story. The first step in sharing Jesus is to listen. Listen to others as they share their story. Ask questions so you can learn the story of the person you’re trying to share Jesus with. Listen for the things in their story that seem broken. Listen for areas that need renewal. Listen for perspectives that have gone askew. That will give you a better sense of how to help them see that Jesus can renew even them.
- Second, look for opportunities to share one story in Scripture that, to you, summarizes the renewing, recreating, and reconciling story of Jesus. Find one story in Scripture that captures the renewing work of Jesus and look for opportunities to share just that one story with other people. Share it in a way that says, “To me, that’s the heart of Jesus’ story and that’s why I follow him. That’s why I’ve made his story my story. That’s why I’m a Christian. And that’s why you should be one too.”
- Third, look for opportunities to share one story from your life that summarizes what it’s like to play a part in the story of Jesus. Think back through your life. There are probably a handful of experiences that capture the way in which Jesus has brought new life into some aspect of your life or in which Jesus has allowed you to be part of bringing renewal to the cosmos. Find just one story from your own life that summarizes how you’ve experienced Jesus’ story. Then share that story with others. Share it in a way that says, “This is how I’ve experienced Jesus’ story. This is why I follow him. This is why I’ve made his story my story. And this is why you should as well.” ‘
Life Center Only – A band called Gungor has a song called “Beautiful Things.” It’s a song about the tomb. It’s a song about how God is making beautiful things even out of dust; how God renews and recreates. As we listen to this song, I want you to think of those last two stories I just mentioned. What is one story from Jesus’ ministry that best illustrates how God is makes all things new through Jesus? And what is one story from your own life that best illustrates how you’ve experienced Jesus’ renewing work. As the video plays, think of one or both of those stories. And be prepared to share them with someone this week.
[1] http://www.barna.org/faith-spirituality/504-barna-examines-trends-in-14-religious-factors-over-20-years-1991-to-2011
[2] http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/403-how-teenagers-faith-practices-are-changing?q=evangelism.
[3] N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (HarperOne, 2008).
[4] Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
