St John's Anglican Church

  

Galatians 6 : 7 – 18

Luke 10: 1 – 12, 17 – 20

 

Galatians 6 : 17 Paul writes: I bear on my body the marks of Jesus

You know how sometimes there is a phrase that sets you thinking – well that was the starting point for me.

 I bear on my body the marks of Jesus

 

Some commentators have suggested that the ‘marks’ Paul referred to, were scars from having been beaten for being a Christian.  Whatever the explanation, it made me wonder whether I have any distinguishing marks [apart from the robes & clerical collar!] – anything that distinguishes me as a Christian.

 

There are many who have distinguishing marks –  think of these folk:

Donald Trump  -  His distinguishing mark is his hair!

Michael Jackson – characterized by the moonwalk – and of course, his glove.

Then there’s Moses? Peter and Paul himself!   All had characteristics that set them apart.

 

Every living person has a distinguishing mark about their lives and the way they live and the things they do.

 

It’s no different with churches  - each characterized by a style of worship, whether they are Bible based or sadly not, in some cases, AND , as we’ve been seeing,  –  the distinguishing marks of football teams – style of play, game plan, the colourful dress of supporters, flags & banners.

 

As Christians our distinguishing mark should be the mark of Jesus on our lives.   If Jesus is sown into our lives, then what we should produce, is Christlikeness – a life that is only like that of Jesus – and no one else.

A little illustration:

On his father’s farm a little boy loved to climb up into the branches of a tree at the back of the property – it had loads of leaves, but hadn’t produced any fruit for many years.  Anyway, there, amongst those branches, he could be anything he wanted – astronaut, pirate, Tarzan – it was his hideaway.  So you can imagine how upset he was when he overheard his dad say to his mother that he was going to cut down the old fruit tree because it hadn’t produced anything.  He certainly didn’t want his hideaway tree to be chopped down, but couldn’t beg his dad to keep it otherwise his secret place would be revealed.  So he devised a plan.  One evening when the folks were busy, he picked a whole bunch of apples from a nearby orchard & tied them to the branches of his tree.

Next morning, the father went out & was amazed to see the fruit on the tree.  He called the boy’s mother to witness the miracle – the old tree just laden with apples!   AND he said, it was a double miracle, because it wasn’t even an apple tree – it was a pear tree!

We might laugh about that, but it’s a fact, pear trees are not supposed to produce apples.

What you sow, you reap.  You sow wheat and you expect a field of wheat, not weeds.  You accept Jesus into your heart & life – your life  should produce Christlike qualities!

 

When God formed the earth, we read in Genesis 1 : 11& 12  that He said

Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.  And it was so. The land produced vegetation;  plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

 

Bear seed or fruit according to your kind – 

As Christians, our lives need to bear the fruit of our faith in our Lord and Saviour -  produce the characteristics – the marks of Jesus in our living – the fruit of His Spirit – love, joy, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control.   Anything else:  bitterness, revenge, jealously,

Etc – these do not come from a relationship with the Lord

 

Now there were two professed Christians who worked together for ten years in the same business office.  Over the years, though, neither of them knew that the other was a Christian.  In conversation later, one of the men said to his priest, ‘wasn’t it funny that Fred & I were friends in the same office and yet neither of us knew until recently that the other was Christian?’ 

The Priest replied that, to him, it certainly wasn’t funny – instead it was a tragedy that their lives hadn’t exhibited clearly what should have been their new birth in Christ – the new creations that Paul wrote of in Galatians!   In fact he doubted the validity of that ‘new birth’ in their lives!

 

Our family, our friends, our work colleagues need to know by our lives, by our behavior and speech that we are Christians – people of faith – who love to talk of Jesus  -  the One we love and serve.

 

As we read in Luke’s Gospel earlier, when Jesus sent out the seventy-two –– he warned them that he was sending them out like lambs among wolves.  They would not be welcome everywhere they went.

And it is just that fear of rejection – fear of being ‘attacked’ – that makes many Christians ‘play it safe’ and not share their faith – not sow their faith into others lives.

 

When a church member was asked by St Peter as he approached the Pearly Gates, how many seeds of faith, how many seeds of the Gospel he had planted while on earth, he replied – ‘none actually, I thought it better to play it safe.  I was afraid that some would think I was trying to show them I was better than they were.  In fact they knew I wasn’t better than them, so I didn’t want to be called a hypocrite.  Besides, I’m not that sure enough about my faith to be telling others about it.  But  Peter really, isn’t that what we pay Rob & the team to do, isn’t it their job to plant seeds of faith and win souls for Jesus?” 

Then as he looked through the Gates into Heaven, he asked Peter, –  “Tell me, why do I see so few people moving about back there?”

Peter replied, “That’s easy – there were so few labourers, so few seeds sown, that the harvest was never taken in.”!!

 

I suppose this is a subject that we battle to deal with effectively …….  As a church and as individuals ….. The subject of witnessing …. The subject of telling others about our faith in Jesus and our sure salvation through Him. 

 

I know that many folk are in the same boat when it comes to sharing the faith – it’s risky – [I must admit though, a collar helps, because you’re expected to share your faith – so it’s easier] – but often out there, there’s a fear of what others might think.  There’s a fear of lack of knowledge  of our faith – and then not being able to answer questions that might be thrown at us.  There’s a fear of being called names or made fun of – and no only likes to be rejected.   But more than that, I think the problem with this subject is that most Christians don’t see it as their responsibility.

 

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus sends out seventy-two to say that “the Kingdom of God is near you”, because he knew that everyone IN the kingdom of God has the responsibility to witness to Him.  He knew his stay on earth was temporary – he would leave – as he did when he ascended into heaven – and then the only way people would know and hear about His love for them – His sacrifice for them – and His grace for them – the only way they would know,  would be for his disciples to tell them.  That was why he sent them out – beyond their own comfortable group –  on a practice mission as it were.  They needed to get a feeling of what they would be doing when he had gone.

 

Jesus told them exactly what it would be like – not easy -  possible rejection – he knew that not everyone would accept the good news of the Kingdom, but the important point is that he wanted them to try – to go out and tell – so that people at least had the opportunity to hear and then decide for themselves.   And what did those disciples discover:

“Even the demons submit to us in Your name.”

There is great power in the name of Jesus – we never have to share our faith in our own strength!

 

We’re all sinners – we all need Jesus – but at the same time, Jesus is counting on us to tell others about His saving grace in our lives.  He wants us to tell others – by word and by our living – just how we have been changed and affected by His grace in our lives.

“Evangelism  - after all – is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”

 

I love this illustration I found:

 

A group of people were sitting outside having tea one afternoon, when an ant appeared on the tablecloth and made its way to the sugar basin.  After eating some grains of sugar, it went off with a little grain of sugar.  Off it went, across the tablecloth, down the table leg and disappeared in a crack in the floor board.

Not long afterwards, it returned with several of its relations.  They climbed up the leg of the table, marched along, and led by the first ant, .. into the sugar basin –  they eat some sugar and then they left, each one carrying a grain of sugar.

That wasn’t all –  then a whole swarm of ants arrived and climbed into the sugar basin to eat .

 

 Jesus wants us to be like those first ants.   When we have experienced the love of Christ in our lives, he wants us to ‘show and tell’  ….  draw others to Him so that they can experience the good news of the Gospel in their lives as well.

 

Of course, it’s not just telling, it’s being the Christ example for others. 

As Paul said in his letter to the Galatians:

Carry each other’s burdens……. Let us not become weary in doing good.

 

Folk need not to just hear about the love of God but see it illustrated in us – in every day experiences.  It takes getting involved with others in their daily lives – being concerned about them – being concerned about their faith and their relationship to Jesus.  And here I know I’m talking to the converted – to the many of you in this parish – who do as Paul said – who are never weary of doing good.

 

What we need to tell folk out there as well, though,  is that doing good things, being a nice person, isn’t going to open the gates of heaven – only faith in Jesus’ death and Resurrection can do that!

 

The question is whether we are willing to take the risk – put ourselves ‘out there’ – speak of the good news of the Gospel – unselfishly share with others where our treasure is – where we find our food – our bowl ofsugar!

 

Do we carry in our lives the marks of Jesus? – a living faith? – evangelistic zeal?

 

I wonder, because just a few weeks ago each person who attended the services was given an invitation to the Alpha course – to pass on to an unbeliever & invite them to come and hear about Jesus.  On Friday we had to cancel the course this year for lack of adequate response.      We’ll try again next year!   I know I have friends and relatives who don’t know Jesus, so I am just as convicted by the Scriptures in this regard, as I hope you are.

 

One of the distinguishing marks of a disciple is that we witness wherever and whenever we can.

 

I want to close by reading you a letter that was received by the Rector of a church :

 

It was sent by a young lady who had attended a worship service there, and for the first time in her life, she heard the Gospel message of Jesus life and of His sacrificial death for the sins of the world, of his Resurrection and Ascension and of his promise of eternal life for those who love Him.

 

The letter went like this:

Dear Church members

Last Sunday, I attended your church, and I heard what the preacher said – that all men have sinned and rebelled against God.  Because of their rebellion and disobedience they all face eternal damnation and separation from God.

But then he also said that God loved men and sent his Son, Jesus Christ into the world to redeem men from their sins and that all those who believe in Him would go to heaven and live with God eternally.

I want you to know that both my parents died recently.  I know they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ, whom you call the Saviour of the world. Now, if what you believe is true, then they are damned and separated from God for ever.

You’ve said that that is what I should believe – now either the message is true – or you yourselves don’t believe it – or you don’t care about anyone else.   

You see, we live only three blocks from your church – and no one told us about Jesus.

 

I pray Gracious Lord, that you would renew  us your church and give your Word unstoppable power.

Pour down Your Holy Spirit onto each one of us, and Lord lead us to spiritual maturity – lead us to desire to know more of our faith to make us able to share – lead us to be obedient to Your Word.  Grow in us our faith and out hope and love for You.  Make us, Your children, burning witnesses – sharing the good news of the Gospel within our families, with our neighbours and our work colleagues.   Fill us with evangelistic zeal to be Your labourers  and so speed the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

 

To the Glory of God the Father

AMEN