Believe 20- sharing our faith RUMC March 19, 2017

Believe 20- sharing our faith

RUMC March 19, 2017

Most people know the story of Jonah being swallowed by a fish… but do you know why? Even if you know the Biblical story, which is sandwiched between the books of Obadiah and Micah, there more to it than that… let me tell you how it really went.

Jonah was a faithful man. He was a prophet in Israel from a little town north of Nazareth.

He was active during the mid 700’s B.C. during the reign of the second King named Jereboam. He liked being a prophet in Israel. Almost all the people believed in God, even if they didn’t always live their lives the way God would want. He may have worked as a royal prophet because II Kings tells us that he prophesied that Jeroboam would reclaim some of the land Israel had lost in war.

If he lived in the kings courts, and probably even if he didn’t, Jonah was quite comfortable and happy.

One day, God turned everything upside down. He said, “Jonah, Go to the capital of Assyria, called Nineveh and tell them about me. Their behavior is not Godly and they need to be lead to know me and follow me in all my ways.”

Now, we need to know that Assyria was a mortal enemy of Israel. They were a wicked nation, filled with terrible sinners who would think nothing of slaughtering Israelites. And Nineveh… Nineveh was the heart of this great wickedness and it was a huge city. It took 3 days just to walk across the city.

 This was more than Jonah could stand, so he started making excuses.

•             “God, Nineveh is a long way away and I’m not so familiar with it. Maybe someone else should GO.” And God replied, “Jonah, I said GO.”

•             “But God,” Jonah replied, “they aren’t my kind of people. I am a lot more comfortable working among the faithful, maybe even teaching the Children in Sabbath school, or singing in the choir, or I’ll even be on the synagogue board, if I don’t have to go to Nineveh.” God said, “Those are all good things, but GO!”

•             “But God, they aren’t like us. I don’t know if I want them to be among your people. They talk funny, the dress funny, their skin is even a different color, and they are foreigners. They won’t fit in well and they probably wouldn’t be comfortable here anyway.” God said, “I know… GO.”

•             “But God, I don’t know what to say. What if they ask a question I can’t answer?” God said,” GO!”

•             “But God, it is hard to bring up the subject of faith. I don’t know if I can.” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God, I have never been comfortable sharing my faith.” God said, “Go.”

•             “But God, what if they are offended. People don’t like others getting in their business.” God said, “GO.”

•             Jonah continued to protest, “But God, shouldn’t that be the preacher’s job. I’m just a prophet.” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God, polite people don’t’ talk about politics or religion. I can’t do this.” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God, What if they reject me. I will look like a fool and I’ll feel even more foolish” God said, “GO.”

•             “But God” Jonah kept making excuses, “I’ve never done that before and it is scary.” God said, “I know. GO.”

•             “But God, I do evangelism by the way I live. I don’t need to use words. They can see you in my behavior and they’ll know what to do.” God said, “GO.”

… Oh man.. that one hit close to home didn’t it?

•             “But God, they are religious. They worship. And since you are the only God don’t all religious path’s lead to you?” God said, “Good try…but GO.”

I know I’ve gone from preaching to meddling.

•             “But God, people will laugh at me and they’ll think I am some kind of God freak.” God said, “SO? GO!”

•             “But God, they’ll be OK even if they don’t repent. Won’t they? You are so loving and gracious, in the end, everyone will be saved.” God said, “No they won’t. GO”

•             “But God. I don’t know them. They are strangers. You don’t expect me to talk to strangers do you? God said, “Yes I do. GO!”

•             “God, you know I have not always been perfect and I am afraid they will think I am a hypocrite.” God said, “GO.”

•             “OK bottom line here God. I just don’t like them and as far as I am concerned they deserve to be destroyed.” God said, “Oh, that’s different…no it’s not…GO.”

Does any of that sound familiar?

God says to each of us, “GO.”

•             “GO ye into all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

•             “GO be my ambassadors.”

•             “GO be by body.”

•             GO tell your friends about me.

•             GO share my love with your neighbors.

•             GO be my witnesses.

•             GO and bring people into faith and into the church.

•             Just GO.

And we have every excuse in the book. Those 18 excuses I put in Jonah’s mouth don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the excuses we have for not sharing our faith today. But whatever you excuse is, God’s answer is the same. “GO.”

Now, probably God is not calling you to go to Nineveh which today is called Mousul… does that name sound familiar?… It has been the center of some of the worst of the recent battles with Isis.

God may not even be calling you to go to Waterloo.

But I guarantee that God is calling you to share your faith. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says that we are ambassadors for Christ. Carrying God’s message of salvation to anyone we see.

Jesus himself said, “Go ye into all the world and share the good news.” Go to your neighbors, Go to your friends, Go to your co-workers. GO to your family. Go to anyone and everyone because God loves them all and they all need God. After all, how will they find out if you don’t tell them?

If you have not noticed, the church is not a magnet or a vacuum. People are not sucked through the doors of the church. They are not flocking to worship.

If you have not noticed, just living your life and hooping people will read the message between lines is not working.

If you have not noticed, waiting for someone to ask, “Can I come to your church?” or waiting for them to show up on Sunday morning is not working.

Whatever we are doing is not working,

 In 2015, (the latest available statistics) The United Methodist Church alone lost so many members it would have been like losing the Reinbeck UMC 328 times.

 The attendance decline at united Methodist churches alone was so great that it was like losing our Sunday worship attendance 800 times.

Lest you think it is someone else’s problem, our jurisdiction (the North Central Jurisdiction) led the way with almost a 4% decline.

An economist, speaking to United Methodist church leaders says his analysis is that we have 13 years to find a way to reverse the decline, or it will be too late to prevent the collapse of the denomination.

I know, you will say part of that is the culture. And you are right. This is a different world than it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago. But I am also right that we have played the part of Jonah for far too long making up excuse after excuse, and maybe even worse… not making excuses and just saying, “No thank you, someone else can share their faith if they want, but I am just fine right here, preacher, don’t even ask me to go to Nineveh.” But each person who takes that attitude is not part of the solution. They are part of the problem.

Believe me. I know. I have heard every single one of those 18 excuses, and I’ve probably forgotten that many more. I know. I’ll admit, I have used at least half of those excuses myself at one time or another.

 When Jonah ran out of excuses, he ended up in the belly of the fish.

And today we as a church are in the belly of the fish. We have to decide which way this is going to go. We can stubbornly sit right where we are, set up camp in this stinking fish belly, and we will end up lying at the bottom of the ocean in a pile of fish poop… or we can decide today… right here and right now… that things are going to be different from here on out… at least for us, and for our congregation.

Does it require us to change the as individuals? YES.

Will it require us changing the way we as a congregation invite, welcome, and assimilate new folks. ABSOLUTELY. But the choice is clear and it is up to you.

 I know this is uncomfortable. These 10 chapters of the Believe book were kind of fun when we were talking about worship, and scripture, and prayer. But these last three weeks when we got down to giving time, sharing resources, and sharing our faith… the three sermons most United Methodists dread the most. But that’s OK. It should be uncomfortable, because we are being stretched and pushed. The spiritual practices are like strength training or endurance training. At first, we ask why would I want to put myself through that?… But if we keep our eyes on the prize… we can do it.

Do you want your friends and neighbors to know Jesus? Do you want more people in the pews on Sunday? Do you want more youth? Do you want more children? Do you want more leaders? Do you want more giving unit? There is only one way and it is not doing what we have always done.

We have to do two things.

 1. Build relationships with unchurched people. If we count our friends, most of us probably have to admit that most of our friends come from this church or another church in town. That’s natural. People who have something in common are drawn to each other.

Those relationships are key to our growth in discipleship and actually fulfill the spiritual practice of being part of a community of faith. But we have to remember: if the church was a business, WE ARE NOT THE CUSTOMERS. Jesus calls us servants. We are the employees working for the master. The customers are those who do not yet attend our church. We can’t stay in business without them.

So our job is to build relationships with potential customers. Make friends with folks who have no church. Not with the secret motive of dragging them into the church, but with the loving motive of loving them enough to share with them the one thing that has made more difference in your life than anything else… Jesus. If you don’t know any unchurched folks, get out more. If you know a bunch, you can check off step one.

 2. The second step is love them enough to share the best thing that has ever happened to you. Show them what Jesus had done in your life and invite them to have the same joy. Am I talking about strangers?… NO. Am I talking about standing on the street corners? NO. Am I talking about going into the highways and byways and setting up a tent and leading a tent revival to gather in the sinners? NO. I’m talking about being a good friend. If you find a good mechanic, are you afraid to tell your friends? If you find a way to save $100 a month, or to make an extra $1000 a month, wouldn’t you tell your friends? If you found an infinite supply of vitamins that warded off all kinds of disease and pain and suffering, wouldn’t you tell your friends? Since I consider myself one of your friends… let me say … you better say YES!!!

Of course, you would. And Jesus is more valuable than any of those things. Forgiveness is more valuable than any of those things. Being part of a loving supportive praying, growing, community of faith is worth more than all of those things put together. So why are we too selfish to share our faith with our friends?

Jonah sat in the belly of the fish for three days grumbling and grumping around. Finally had enough and prayed, “I’m worshiping you, GOD, calling out in thanksgiving! And I’ll do what I promised I would do! Salvation belongs to GOD!” In other words OK, UNCLE. I will go to Nineveh. I’ll share my faith. I will do as you have told me to do. I will GO.

It only took Jonah 3 days. The United Methodist Church and our predecessor denominations have been happily sitting in decline in the belly of this stinking fish since 1956. We have been doing all the other spiritual practices; like worship, Bible reading, prayer, Sabbath, community, and the rest, and you know what? I think we kind of like it here. It is comfortable. However, no one is going to join us as long as we sit in the belly of this rotten fish. We might as well say, “UNCLE. OK God. I’ll share my faith.” The good news is we don’t have to go to Nineveh. Just next door.

You do not have to like it. In fact, Jonah hated it. He grumbled an griped his way through Nineveh and when he found out that sharing his faith actually worked, and the people of Nineveh were saved, he sat down under a plant and wanted to die.

I don’t care if you like it or not. God doesn’t care if you like it or not. His command is still the same because it is what disciples do. GO. Go from your pew and make some unchurched friends. Go in love and share with them the best thing that has ever happened to you. Go and love them enough to tell the story of what God has done in your life. Go and be the ambassadors for Christ that you are called to be. Go share God’s love. Go share your faith. GO.

AMEN