Creekside Church Sermon of January 27, 2002 "Having A Good Word In Our Mouths" Matthew 4:12-23	Rev. David Bibbee
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Late Monday afternoon I slipped into my cold weather clothes and drove to Shipshewana Lake to ice fish. When I arrived there were about 30 souls on the ice. I don't like fishing in crowds, so I claimed territory away from the pack, cut several holes, and spent the next 2-½ hours sitting over my lantern starring at rod tips. I heard some guys reciting the fisherman's Murphy's Law… "You should have been here this morning. It was a hot bite." That was then. Dusk was a different story. Only a few were catching fish, and I was hooking just enough to keep me interested.

As I fished, I noticed someone out of place in the wind and cold. He wasn't wearing the right clothing. His shoes had the traction of ice skates. He would talk to one fisherman, move to another, and then another. As he came closer I saw a camera slung around his neck and a spiral notebook in his gloved hand. I figured he was a cub reporter sent into the elements to do a feature story on ice fishermen, while senior reporters were on warm, cozy indoor assignments. He went from fisherman to fisherman trying to find someone with a good catch. He didn't pay any attention to me. If I had put my pile of fish on the ice he may have noticed, but I always slip into the box the second they were unhooked. With no evidence of fish around me I won't draw a crowd.

The reporter kept checking, but didn't take one picture or write a word in his notepad. He was after a good word, looking for fishing success to report, but he didn't find any. The last I saw him, he was shuffling toward two guys near the south shore a long walk away.

I thought about this reporter as I prepared this message. John the Baptist was a student of the General George Patton Preaching School. His sermons had rubbed very important people the wrong way. They ordered his arrest and soon afterward his decapitation. When Jesus heard the news, he picked up where John left off. "It's time to clean up your act. The kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus' arrival was the clearest, best evidence of God's relentless love and desire to have us, whatever the cost. That was the good word which had to be told.

Come Sunday, Christians flock to churches for an antidote to the barrage of bad news that blasts us every day. The singer Peggy Lee died this week. Her most recognized song was recorded 30 years ago. It was called, "Is That All There Is?" The song described some of the things which happened to her while growing up, and after each verse came this plaintive refrain, "Is that all there is? If that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. We'll break out the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is."

What we see on life's surface is not all we get. Life is deep. It is deep because God gave us the gift of Jesus. We didn't ask for him. We certainly didn't deserve him. We didn't dream him up. If we had, you can be sure we would have a Jesus not at all like the one we've got. The gift of Jesus is nothing of our doing. What makes the gift good is that Jesus was "God's doing." It is good news because in Jesus we have a well-marked path to God which is the only path necessary.

This was the good news gift that came to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were absolutely ordinary men who were accomplished fishermen, but who switched from fish to people. They used different nets. Capture wasn't the goal. Their nets were their own testimonies of Jesus and the amazing things they had heard and seen… of people restored, forgiven, healed. The stories were so important they were recorded and heard again and again so people today may have the same experience as those to whom Jesus first came two millennia ago.

The disciples had experiences they couldn't keep to themselves. Through Jesus, God reached out to them and reaches out to us, and now it's our turn to do the same for others. The word for it is evangelism. I haven't said the word till now because the mere mention of it will make some to feel faint. You might break out in hives, or get hot flashes. You will recite a litany of guilt mongering, manipulative, insensitive things done under the banner of evangelism. I understand. I've been the recipient of such efforts. I too have thought, "If this is good news, I'll pass on it."

Young Life youth ministry has a motto: "It's a sin to bore a kid with the gospel." There is something worse… not telling them at all. We have hidden ourselves behind the evangelism "abuse excuse" long enough. How do I know? Look around the sanctuary. We're missing a generation. Young people. They have gotten the impression that the gospel is dull and doesn't connect with the needs and longings of their lives. They have accepted the notion that Christianity is just one of many equally valid avenues to truth, meaning, and spiritual contentment. But Christianity isn't just another dish in a spiritual smorgasbord. It is unique. It's a movement that wouldn't have been had it not been revealed to us. It isn't a "find-it-yourself" religion. It finds you. You are a Christian because someone shared good news with you.

What is the difference between Christians and non-Christians? The best answer I've heard is, "Christians are not nicer, or smarter. They aren't better than others. They are better informed." Someone had a good word in their mouths…a caring deed in their heart. You were given something good upon which to build your life.

So why do we keep it to ourselves? We share good news about restaurants, vacation spots, sporting events, movies, and productive fishing holes. Why not our faith? We don't do it because we think we are open-minded, culturally sensitive, and respectful of other people's views. The Catholic theologian Avery Dulles says this is not "the" reason. We don't fish for people because we don't believe the gospel is as powerful as we've been told. We have doubts that the Good News is stronger than the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ, or corporations, or the Pentagon, or technology. These are forces we count upon to keep us comfortable, secure, and content.

There are other reasons. The fledgling church in the book of Acts was repeatedly ordered not to preach the name of Jesus. "Go ahead and believe what you want. Just don't talk about it in public!" But Peter wasn't about to swallow the good words in his mouth. "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." A burning word was on their tongues. The word was Jesus, and we must share it. Maybe we don't speak up because the opposite is true of us. We can't share it because we don't know it ourselves. We can't commend what we do not know.

In Chicago there is a 1950's style restaurant called Ed DeBevic's. If you want pampering, don't go there. Signs throughout the restaurant say, "Eat and get out!" The waitresses and waiters insult you. They rush you to order. When you do order they might say, "That's a lousy choice!" Ask them about their daily specials and they say, "It stinks." One time our waitress threw the menus at us, said they didn't serve anything worth eating, then barked, "So what duh ya want?" Imagine this in a place where it wasn't theater. How long could a restaurant stay in business if its staff didn't have anything good to say about their product?

How will the church continue if its members don't know the one they serve? How long will it continue if its members won't use their vocal cords?

When we become Christians, we promised by word and example to share the love of God in Christ. We promised to fish. When the last human institution has disappeared, there will still be the church and its Lord will reign forever. That's a grand thought, so why is it we think that there are just a few ways to share faith, most of which we are not wild about? What does it say about our faith in the abilities of God if the only options we have are evangelizing in distasteful ways, or not saying a word at all?

At last year's Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, Tony Campollo spoke at the evangelism dinner. He delivered a compelling message about three areas of ministry the church must promote: spiritual intimacy, ministries of healing, and evangelism.

He described a flight on which he had wanted a window seat, but was placed in the middle instead. The guy in the window seat looked shaky. He was fidgeting, tapping his feet, his knuckles were white, his complexion was pale. The guy was obviously scared of flying. As the plane taxied from the concourse and onto the runway he grew more agitated. Tony knew the guy needed help, but wasn't sure what to do. But as the engines began to scream, he leaned into the man who instinctively leaned into him. Campollo continued to lean until the aircraft leveled off and the man began to relax. Campollo said he had practiced evangelism. He felt compelled to help someone and he believed the care of Christ was shared between them.

There are a million ways to evangelize. God doesn't want you doing it in ways that are out of character. You each have styles and abilities that God can employ to get the good word out. More often than not, the ways you will do it are not spectacular… sending a note to a friend in need of encouragement, reading scripture to a hospitalized person, inviting someone to church with you. Barbara Taylor says, "If you're stuck for ideas, think of all the ways others delivered the good word to you, then practice sharing it that way with others.

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