Living Letters
2 Corinthians 3.1-6
1 Does it sound like we're patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we're not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. 2 You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. 3 Christ himself wrote it - not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives - and we publish it. 4 We couldn't be more sure of ourselves in this - that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. 5 We wouldn't think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. 6 His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn't written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It's written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives! (from The Message)
One evening, Dave and I were eating dinner and as we often do, we were discussing our day and our work. He shared about the new railroad-to-truck trans-loading station that they’ve been utilizing to transport popcorn by train from the fields in Ohio to the plant here in Mount Joy. And when the conversation turned to my work, Dave asked when I’d be preaching next and what it would be about. I said that my next sermon would be this morning and then I asked, “so...what do think of when I say evangelism?” And we looked at each other and both said, “Clarence Hobbs.” (name changed to protect the innocent)
Here’s the story… Dave had earned his private pilots’ license as a college student and when we were newlyweds, he was up for his first biennial flight review, something required of all pilots. And so he took off, shoulder-to-shoulder in the small aircraft with flight instructor, Clarence Hobbs. Clarence instructed Dave to complete a series of flight maneuvers, one of which was to stall the airplane and then of course demonstrate a proficient stall recovery, which he did. (This is all very “textbook” stuff - skill demonstration protocol.) Then Dave slowly closed the throttle and gently, but firmly pulled back on the yoke at 3000 feet, when out of the blue, Clarence asked Dave, “So, are you saved? When were you born again?”
Once the review was complete and they were back on the ground, it didn’t take Clarence long to ask me those same questions. Dave and I were both uncomfortable with what felt like “in your face” evangelism. Questions that felt personal, using vocabulary that felt a bit “itchy.” Although Clarence was a nice enough guy, the intensity with which he asked his questions led us to fear that we better have the right answers. If we didn’t measure up, we had a hunch that he would be ready and willing to tell us how and what to believe.
We all might have had similar experiences to Dave’s encounter at 3000 feet, experiences that have left us perhaps feeling guilty, maybe angry, potentially judged, and most likely confused. There’s a perception that evangelism is all about saving souls and making converts, to be certain where we’ll be in the afterlife, where we’ll spend eternity. Equally disconcerting, evangelism is often perceived as THE way to grow the church -- getting more bodies in the pews and more money in the plate.
It’s interesting that the words “evangelism”, “evangelize” and “evangelical” aren’t even found in the Bible. “Evangelist” is there three times, all in the New Testament, referring to those who are “bringers of good tidings.” The Greek root of these words means GOOD NEWS or GLAD TIDINGS. Like much of our Christian vocabulary, evangelism, although coming from a noble root, can be a loaded word these days! Now it even carries a political connotation -- many would assume a certain political persuasion and clear set of beliefs when those words are heard, which may or may NOT resonate at all with our understanding of good news. One author writes that today the term “evangelical” is like a pair of hand-me-down underwear. It’s been stretched over so many shapes and sizes that it’s lost its snap and doesn’t fit anyone anymore. Billy Graham, Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Carter, Jim Wallis, Bill Hybels and many more, have all had their turn sporting this hand-me-down garment.
Just this past Dec. 31, at a New Year’s Eve party in southern California, moments before the clock struck mid-night, a friend asked Rob Bell, former pastor of Mars Hill mega-Church in Michigan and author of the highly-acclaimed and highly-criticized book, Love Wins, what “evangelical” really means. With a glass to toast in one hand, and a smile on his face, Rob answered “It’s someone who, when they leave the room, you have more hope than when they entered.”
Hope – now there’s good news...and isn’t that really what it’s about? The hope that we have, as followers of Jesus, that God is love and God is always with us. And we are invited to join God - to engage in and nurture this present life, that God’ kingdom might come to the “land and sea and sky and all who dwell therein.” That’s something to share – a message to keep alive. But I wonder if we sometimes hesitate to share the good news because we don’t want to come across like Clarence Hobbs – and so many words get in our way. Perhaps our noble and honorable impulses toward tolerance and inclusivity have turned us into a people who, being out of practice, have forgotten how to speak the simple words of our faith. We, who love to talk, twitter, text, instant message, email and phone, often have a paralyzing fear of speaking about the one thing that can offer hope and good news and defines who we are at the core, which is our experience of the living God.
There are those who would like to rediscover and recover the true meaning of evangelism, those who would reclaim the word evangelism, those who would reframe our understanding of evangelism, and those who would just like to rename it. Perhaps that’s our best bet right now. It really is about sharing that hope...hope in the good news of God’s love as manifested and understood in the life and teachings of Jesus -- now that’s something we can think about sharing.
I think that Paul had it right in this passage in his letter, or epistle, to the church at Corinth. In Paul’s world, letters of recommendation were common, much as they are in our day. We write letters to help people as they apply to school or for a new job. In this way, we introduce that person to the potential faculty or employer. In Paul’s world, without telephone or email, one might have given a letter to a traveler to introduce him or her to friends at the journey’s destination. It would not be surprising if apostles and traveling missionaries carried letters of commendation from one church to another as they traveled about. It appears that Paul and the Corinthian community had shared a lively exchange of written communication. So “letter” meant something significant to both Paul and that community of believers. Paul, then, turned the metaphor of the letter inward to the heart, in those times thought to be the center of both physical and spiritual life. Where the letters of the Law in the Old Testament had been written on tablets of stone, these letters were living, breathing organisms. These letters were alive with the Spirit of God because Paul and his followers had witnessed Christ in their midst. These were God’s letters of love, Valentine’s – for the people of Corinth and for the world. Paul was encouraging the recipients of this letter that their very lives were living letters…letters to keep and to share. And so it is for us as well. God’s spirit has written love letters on our hearts...not on stone or papyrus or even paper....but they are carved into our human lives, to keep and to share...and we’re the publishers! These are letters of good news and hope for us…and for the world.
God loves us and loves this world…we are called to believe it, called to proclaim it, called to invite people into it, to embrace and be embraced by it. So how do we share our faith, without feeling like we are telling others what they should believe? That’s really the bottom line, isn’t it?
We know we can share our faith by doing. We are pretty good at the doing piece – we have a reputation as a denomination and as a congregation for service and helping others, whenever there’s a need. We excel in providing meals in times of crisis, offering transportation to those who need a ride, cleaning up after floods and earthquakes and tsunamis, to care lovingly for the earth. It’s in our DNA to respond selflessly to needs and suffering, here at home and around the world. That certainly is an expression of faith, it’s sharing our faith in tangible ways, as we serve as the hands and face and feet of Jesus in a world in need. We resonate with the saying attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi – “Share the gospel...and if necessary use words.”
When it comes to sharing our faith in word, however, we may not be so bold, perhaps for fear of being a “Clarence Hobbs.” Jesus invited people to join him on the way…as he shared God’s love in deed and in word. We can invite people to join us on the way…as we, too, share God’s love in deed and word!
What if, together, we would practice sharing our faith in word? In some circles that’s called “testimony” – which can be another “charged” word. But it’s really just about telling our story. Rose told a bit of her story this morning; Kurt told a bit of his.
Our Sunday school teachers tell their stories. Greg gave us a question to think about: “Where have we shown and where have we been shown God’s love?” We all have stories to tell, and maybe it just takes some practice. A few weeks ago, we heard some stories…about Nepal and Haiti, from Krista and Dave and Curtis. We heard about how their experiences had touched them at many levels and had transformed them. Perhaps a new chapter was even written on their hearts.
Last year we planned for an open mic time of response to our Lenten Series. We called it “congregational dialog” and it was an invitation to share from the heart – just a few sentences about where we were experiencing the living God. Not only did it give us the opportunity to articulate what was written on our hearts, but we were able to hear from others and be inspired. And as we share our stories here, as we practice sharing our faith, we may become more confident that we are living letters, with a message of God’s love to keep and to share!
We can even invite people to come along with us church…not because we think we need to save their souls or because we want to fill our pews and offering plates. But we think we might have something that we have found meaningful, hopeful, even life-changing...and we want to share it. When we pastors talk with people who are new to our church, we often hear that they are grateful to have found something new here, something different. Not that we are perfect by any means, or superior in any way, but we are seeking together to be faithful to this journey that we’re on, as a people of God and as followers of Jesus.
Quaker Philip Gulley is one of my favorite authors and theologians. He writes in a way that I am often able to find that “new light” that we sang in the opening hymn. His words speak to me, and help me to find new ways of expression. He writes: “Perhaps the traditional views of God and Jesus no longer resonate with you, nor are they consistent with your spiritual experiences. God is always pleased by our determination to think high and noble thoughts. It is, of this I am convinced, impossible to think too generously of God. How often God has born our mean and narrow thoughts of her, how often God has struggled to move us beyond our miserly ideologies, which only belittle her character or reputation. How pleased God must be when our minds consider the broad expanse of God’s compassion, creative energy and commitment to our journey. God is creating a better Christianity. God is doing it right now, through people just like you and me. God’s love will not rest until all are loved and all can love. It is hope eternal; it is grace unending. And God is creating it through you, right now. We are living letters of recommendation, letters carved into our human hearts, our human lives by God’s love. And that’s good, good news - God loves us, God helps us to live that love here and now, and God is always, always with us.
