Sunday
02/04/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Proclaim the Gospel!”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Gospel Lesson:
Mark 1:29-39
My brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome once again on
this the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. Five Sundays after the Wise Men came
to Jesus one way, and left transformed and remade in God’s love.
Next Sunday, we will celebrate Transfiguration Sunday and
Scout Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday, is the Sunday that we celebrate Jesus upon
the mountain top changed and miraculously transfigured. Next Sunday, I would also
encourage you to show your pride and support for scouting. It is my hope that
next Sunday we will be able to honor and appreciate our scouts and our scout leaders.
This Sunday though, I want to preach again from one of the
Apostle Paul’s epistles or letters. This morning we are given a reading from 1 Corinthians
9:16-23, in which the Apostle Paul says,
“and woe to me if do not proclaim
the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16b, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul, also called the Apostle to the Gentiles,
was called by God, by Jesus Christ, to preach the gospel to the gentiles. Just
like United Methodist Ministers, the Apostle Paul also did not stay in one city
forever, but rather God called him to various places. The Apostle Paul went to
places like Ephesus or the Ephesians, to Corinth or the Corinthians, to Galatia
or the Galatians, to Thessalonica or the Thessalonians, and etc. The Apostle
Paul was called by God to not just stay in one place forever, but to move to
preach and live the gospel wherever God called him to do so.
So if the Apostle Paul says to us this morning:
“and
woe to me if do not proclaim the gospel!,” then just what is the Gospel?
(1 Cor. 9:16b,
NRSV).
I have heard people talking before that have said things
like, “Well I think that is the truth, but I am not saying it’s the Gospel”.
Has anyone here ever heard a statement like this? I think that in our culture
most people have heard the word “Gospel,” but what is the “Gospel”? Further,
why are we supposed to “Proclaim the Gospel” as Christians?
According the www.dictionary.com, the Gospel can be defined
as:
1.
The teachings of Jesus and the apostles; the Christian revelation.
2.
The story of Christ's life and teachings, especially as contained in the
first four books of the New Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John.
With this being the definition of the Gospel, what
significance do the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and the Christian revelation
have? Why are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John important?
The life, teachings, and the gospels of Jesus Christ first
and foremost lead us to eternal life. Through Christ and him crucified and resurrected,
we are offered grace, love, healing, and forgiveness. This offer cleanses our
sins and restores us to a right relationship with the living God. Yet, the
gospel of Jesus Christ is much more than this alone.
In the gospel of Jesus Christ we are given a blue print of
how to live, how to treat each other, how to care for our community, how to
serve each other, and how seek justice in a world of grave injustice. The Gospel
of Jesus Christ isn’t just a road map to salvation and eternal life, but it is
set of instructions and teaching of how to live each and every day.
I think that in our culture today some people bear the
title “Christian,” yet for some their lives don’t seem to resemble Christ or
his gospel. The Apostle Paul preached the gospel, preached salvation in Christ,
but then built churches with God’s help to live that faith out. When we as
Christians “Proclaim the Gospel” therefore, we are supposed to be doing much
more than just preaching salvation. We are made new creations in Christ when we
accept him and are filled with the Holy Spirit, but the gospels also call us to
be servants. We are called to love, heal, and forgive in world that is broken
and is suffering.
To “Proclaim the Gospel” of Jesus Christ isn’t just to
proclaim forgiveness and salvation in Christ therefore, which is the core, but
it is also teaching, loving, and forming communities that look like Christ. I believe
that in our culture we have some churches that are great at “Proclaiming the
Gospel” around salvation and eternal life, but that fall terribly short when it
comes to serving and loving their neighbors. Understand my brothers and sisters,
that the future of the Christian Church is heavily grounded in our ability to
live and proclaim the whole gospel of Jesus Christ, not only salvation and
eternity.
In this morning’s reading from the Apostle Paul’s First Epistle
or letter to the Corinthians he is explaining he is a follower of Christ, a
follower of the Gospel. This reading once again starts with the Apostle Paul
writing:
“If I proclaim the gospel, this
gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me
if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if
not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward?
Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as
not to make full use of my rights in the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16-18, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul is saying that has been called by Jesus
Christ to proclaim, make known, and to teach many people how to serve and live
lives that look like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I also like how the
Apostle Paul says:
“I may
make the gospel free of charge” (1 Cor. 9:18b, NRSV).
The Apostle
Paul is saying that salvation and eternity through Jesus Christ, and living for
Christ is a free and an abundant gift.
The Apostle
Paul continues on saying:
“For though I am free with
respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of
them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the
law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so
that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one
outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law)
so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I
might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all
means save some. I
do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings”. (1 Cor. 9:19-23, NRSV)
The Apostle Paul is saying here that he has and will continue
to go to many places and cities, and that he is meeting the people where they
are at. The Apostle Paul is doing this for the sake of Christ and his gospel. The
Apostle Paul is meeting people where they are at, so that they will have salvation
and eternity in Christ, but also so that they can then learn and live out the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
I remember one day one of my seminary professors telling us
about the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, of his life, and his teachings.
This professor really enjoyed watching “Westerns” or movies of the Old West.
These are movies with the two saloon doors that open and close both ways, and
of our course fights and shoot outs at high noon. This professor had done extensive
research on the Old West, and from his findings he concluded that what
sometimes prevented some of these new settlements and towns from descending into
total barbarism and total debauchery, was the preachers. Sometimes they were
Methodist Circuit Riders, sometimes others. These pastors would sometimes
remind the men who were about to have a shootout in the heat of that moment,
that the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us a better way. This professor said
that without the ministers, the preachers, and the priests, that “Wild West” as
it was called, would have been several times worse than it actually was. These
are the kind of reasons my brothers and sisters, that I believe that the
Apostle Paul was so emphatic about preaching, teaching, and living the gospel
of Jesus Christ. This is also why I, like the Apostle Paul, believe that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is our hope for a world of peace, love, mercy, and
justice. This is why as Christians we are called to proclaim the full and
robust gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We do this because we have
been changed, and likewise the world will change in faith, function, and how it
interacts and treats each other.
In looking briefly at our gospel of Mark reading for this
morning, we have a narrative of one of the gospels of Jesus Christ. We have his
life, teachings, and Lordship in motion is this gospel reading. Once again, the
Gospel of Mark reading says:
“As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the
house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was
in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her
by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve
them. That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or
possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he
cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and
he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him”
(Mk.
1:29-34, NRSV).
So in this gospel of Jesus Christ that
the Apostle tells us to proclaim and live, we have Jesus Christ, our savior,
healing, loving, curing, teaching, and saving. Imagine what the world would
look like we saw a hurting and a broken world and sought to live out our faith
in the way that Jesus lived. This is the fullness of proclaiming the gospel.
The gospel of Mark reading for this morning
once again concludes by speaking of Jesus:
“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out
to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted
for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for
you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may
proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he
went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and
casting out demons” (Mk. 1:35-39, NRSV).
Jesus Christ, our Lord, proclaimed the
good news of his gospel, and he went to various places doing this. He loved,
healed, forgave, and even laid his very life down for us, so that we might live
like him and through him have everlasting life.
Are we as individuals, and as a church
living and proclaiming the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Imagine what
our community and the world would look like if we all did? Amen.
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