Adventure - Day 20

At the end of each week of this series, we’ve been asking ourselves the question of what it looks like for us to live incarnational today, in the context of the topic for that week.  With this week’s focus on the angels of the Christmas story, and since angels were God’s messengers (the word in the Greek for angels, angelos, literally means messengers), how do you and I continue to herald the message of Jesus into our world today?

Well first and foremost our job is to continue to herald the good news to the rest of the world.  The Greek word for good news is the word euangelos, which is where we get the word evangelize from.  But I have a bone to pick with our modern ways of evangelizing.

You see, we’ve mistaken evangelism with a program, a set of meetings, a series of pamphlets to share.  When evangelism is reduced to a program, then it’s just another checkbox to mark off on our report card so we can show others that we’re holy.

But evangelism isn’t a program, it’s what happens when a heart is turned toward Jesus and has birthed in it the desire for family and friends to come to know Him too.

Notice how the shepherds didn’t have to be told by the angels what to do once they saw the newborn baby.  After the angels told them the good news, euangelos, they went to see for themselves.  Then this happened…

“After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.”
Luke 2: 17, NLT

I believe that when we share with people a clear image of the Jesus of the Scriptures, the good news that He not only told us but showed us in how He lived and gave His life for us, then we don’t have to tell people to go and evangelize.  If we paint a good enough picture, aided by the Holy Spirit, then people won’t be able to hep themselves.  They will want to go and tell their family, and tell their friends, and tell their coworkers, and tell the person bagging their groceries, all because the good news is so good that it must be shared.  And it’s not just good news for some.  In fact, that’s the litmus test for the gospel; it’s got to be good news for everyone.

So each week as we gather for worship, each time we open the Scriptures to study or preach, every time we close our eyes to pray, we are hoping to have receive and give an even clearer picture of God.

A daily prayer I say for myself, for my family and friends, and for my church, comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in which he prays and says, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”Ephesians 1: 17, NIV

This is our call - to get clear on who Jesus is, as clear as possible with the help of the Holy Spirit - and then to share that with others.  But when the picture is good, then we won’t have to be told to share, we will share because we can’t imagine doing anything else.

JOURNAL

1. When you imagine Jesus, what does He look like to you?  No right or wrong, just share who you see.
2. Was there ever a time in your life when you learned something about Jesus that you simply couldn’t keep to yourself, you had to share it with someone?
3. What are some ways that you and I go about getting an even clearer picture of Jesus, knowing that we still only see now as in a mirror dimly, but one day we’ll see face to face?