A STORY TO SHARE

The 6^TH Sermon in the “You Ought’a Preach That” Series

            One of the responsibilities of Christ’s church is to encourage imagi-nation, hoping, & dreaming, then help persons live the new possibilities we imagined, hoped, & dreamt.   Through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, we bring our imaginings, hopes, & dreams to a living kingdom reality.

            As United Methodists who renew our vows at every baptism, confirmation, & time of spiritual renewal & membership, we intentionally set out to enrich one’s prayer life, to encourage presence & participation in worship, to share financial gifts with the people of God’s reign, to put  talents & abilities to use by serving persons & situations of need, & to share our story in Christ with others who need Jesus as much as we do. 

            To that last point….  Regularly, you tell me how the blessings of Christ fill your lives.  You write a thank-you note detailing how you’ve experienced an answer to prayer.  You share with your group or class what God’s been actively doing in your life.  You talk about an unbelievable change, or healing, that’s occurred with you & your family that can only be a “God thing.”

            Sharing your personal salvation stories & spiritual stories with me & the rest of us here is welcomed, even essential.  We all need encourage-ment.  We need Good News reminders of how & where God is active.  It’s important to know that Christ’s Spirit works in extraordinary ways with ordinary people to transform us.  Miracles, changed lives, & blessings are not reserved solely for Bible times or the saints of ages past.  The saints & heroes of the Bible were everyday persons at one time, too.  You & I are grateful when friends in our midst communicate their faith stories to us.

            How necessary it is to share our stories with others who are not here, who never think about being here, who do not consider giving the time of day to Jesus.  There are a lot of good people searching for meaning in their lives who don’t “do” church, but who need to hear a good word from someone they know & trust, like you.  You communicate your faith to us.  Will you communicate your faith to them?  How much better life & eternity will be for them as they develop a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ.  Does their well-being matter that much to you? 

Talking about your faith & relationship with Jesus may not be some-thing you’ve done, thought about doing, or even imagined.  Would you try?  Can you imagine telling your faith story, or some aspect of it? Can you imagine the difference your story in Christ will make in someone’s life?

Preachers don’t know your friends, & there are a lot more of you than me!

            Matthew’s gospel is written to an established group of believers.  The two brief parables in our lesson address persons who need to find meaning in life.  The first person wasn’t deliberately looking for anything in particular, but when he stumbled upon it, knew that he happened upon a bona fide treasure that he just had to possess, no matter what the cost.  He would move heaven & earth to acquire this previously-hidden gift.

            Let’s update the tale.  This is the person who is so busy & burdened that just making it through the day is hard enough.  Her coping strategy is to survive another day.  There’s not much joy, just a lot to do.  Caring for het kids, dealing with the boss, getting out a product, making ends meet, keep her occupied.  In the course of conversation, when she hears your story, she’s deeply moved.  She cries.  She realizes there’s something else, something new, something better to life.  It’s encouraging.  It’s different.  It’s real.  Thank God for your willingness to share your testimony.  Thank God for your love for her.  Your life made a difference in someone else’s life & all you did was humbly talk about it.   How easy is that!

The second person in Matthew’s gospel, in contrast to the first individual, was an honest-to-goodness seeker on a quest.  When he found what he was looking for, he knew that he discovered the genuine article.

Over the years, he’s thrown his lot in with all kinds of philosophies & world views.  Science helped him sort out things.  Certain philosophers made sense to him.  Other religions gave him something to cling to.  Even a good book or movie provided temporary inspiration.  The idea that any or all of those encounters were from God, God’s prevenient grace, never really crossed his mind.  He even went to church years ago, but was left cold.  When he hears your words, watches your body language, per-ceives the nuanced emotion in your tone, & connects with the depth of your honest encounter with Christ, he knows that what you have is exactly what he’s searching for.  He just never heard it put like you do.

Both of these persons -- the one who stumbles upon grace & the one intentionally looking for it -- depend on you.  You are someone whom they know & learned to trust.  Whether they’ve known you for two minutes as you sit at the airport & sense your genuineness, or have been their best friend & neighbor for 15 years & seen how you live, something in your interaction connects. 

You have a story … a story to share.  The story is unique to you.  Only you know it.  Only you live it.  Only you can tell it.  There’s no rehearsing it.  There’s no speech communication class that can enhance it.  There’s no story-telling techniques to employ.  The story is you & about you.  It’s where Jesus Christ, &/or his people, have made a profound difference in you, who you are, how you live.  Whether it’s how you came to know Jesus’ love is real, or how someone here showed the love of Christ to you, or how some unplanned Holy Spiritual encounter changed you or healed you or a loved one, your story is meant to be shared, shared with someone who needs it.  You share your prayers for others.  You share your time & energy.  You share your money.  Share your story.  Sometimes no words can substitute for actions.  In this instance, no actions can substitute for your heartfelt words.

You don’t need to be able to recite Bible verses from memory.  You don’t need to have watched a video about evangelism techniques “proven to win souls.”  You don’t need to be a preacher or Sunday School teacher or lay leader in the congregation.  You don’t have to worry about being the quiet & shy type who could never do such a thing.  “With God all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26).  “God’s power is made perfect in our weakness” (2^nd Cor. 12:9).

You do need compassion, though – that sense of caring & concern for others that wants what is best for them.  You must be open to the responsibility that what happened in you cannot just be selfishly kept to yourself.  God blesses you to be a blessing to others.  Expect that God will use you & your experience.  And trust that God will do exactly that!

I have a friend who golfs.  In his foursome was a vocal atheist-agnostic.  My friend is not an in-your-face, John 3:16-quoting, Bible-thumping evangelist.  He’s no shrinking violet, but he’s no flitting-around extrovert, either.  His antagonistic golf partner one day this past summer, got started up on faith & just started spinning while on the links.   He ended his diatribe with a question, one designed to put down & silence any opposition – a “gotcha” question. 

Call it a co-incidence, or better yet, a “God-incidence,” but my friend, only the day before, heard a sermon from his pastor on exactly the subject his golf buddy addressed.  The Apostle St. Peter wrote: “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness & respect” (1 Peter 3:15b-16a). 

With that advice in mind, my friend reverently responded.  He heard the hurt & pain behind the man’s words.  Gentleness & respect were definitely in order.  So, he told his story.  He gave his testimony.  Somewhat out of character & without any practice, without ever doing anything like this before, & with nothing more than a quick prayer, he relied on God to do what was needed, to help him say the words when telling his story.  As Acts 1:8 promises, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; & you will be my witness….”   He surely was.

How did that story turn out?  I don’t know.  Neither does my friend.  A follower’s responsibility is not to lead every soul to Christ.  It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convince/convict.  There are no “performance criteria” for us.  Our job is simply to perform -- to share the blessing we have in Christ.  Jesus shared himself with us for our sake.  We are to share ourselves with others for their sakes.  We are to tell of God’s goodness & mercy & how positively we’ve each been changed by grace – no matter how little the example or how big.  It’s for us to communicate, then let the Holy Spirit do the rest.  We cooperate with God, but we’re not God.

The story my friend shared may be the first time his golfing buddy ever heard such a thing.  Or, having heard something similar many times before, it may be the second-to-last time the friend learned about Jesus Christ’s impact on someone’s life, such that the next time he hears about God’s grace will be the time he has his “come to Jesus” moment.  Each instance, each witness, each honest sharing of one’s personal story has a cumulative effect.  It’s not about taking credit or earning brownie points in heaven.  It’s about being grateful for what God’s done in your life by being faithful in sharing that testimony, so that others may know God’s love, too.

Think about what Christ has done in your life.  Could you have ever imagined that on your own?  Probably not.  It’s just that amazing. 

Can you imagine ever sharing that story - your story in Christ?  It wouldn’t be the first time you couldn’t imagine something!  Let Christ bless others as he’s blest you. 

In the Name….                  Copyright 2011 by G.D.Knerr at Lansdale, Pa.  All rights reserved.