GOD IS MAKING HIS APPEAL THROUGH YOU

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Sunday, March 18, 2007

This text will always have a special place in my memory. It was the first Scripture on which I ever wrote a sermon. I remember carefully studying all of the Greek and researching what all the possible meanings could be; I read the Lutheran confessions to look for applications and I even searched through Martin Luther’s writings to see if he had anything to say about it. I chose each word carefully, loading each word with as much meaning as it would hold and turned it in to my professor.

He gave it back, saying something like, “This sermon is too high-falluting, no one will know what you’re talking about.” Taking his words as encouragement to try again, I went back and revised. I practiced it everyday for a week. I had fifteen minutes of sermon—don’t you wish they still lasted only that long?

The day came. It was a Wednesday evening service in Lent at Peace Lutheran Church in Woodson Terrace, Missouri. I presented the sermon—brilliantly, I thought. Afterward, a friend in the congregation came to me and said, “Sold to the lady in the red dress!” When I asked him to explain, he said, “You talked faster than an auctioneer! You took only eight minutes!” Don’t you just long for an eight-minute sermon?

I share that with you to assure you that, even though you may not have the most polished presentation; God still makes His appeal through you. How awesome is that? This is our God, Who has spoken through prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Moses. This is our God, Who rumbled through the lightning and clouds on Mount Sinai and spoke from the cloud at Jesus’ Baptism and Transfiguration. This is our God, Who wrapped His Word in the flesh of His Son to speak to us. This is our God, Who chooses to make His appeal through you!

Next Sunday, we’ve designated as “Friendship Sunday.” Next Sunday is an opportunity for you to be the one God chooses through whom to make His appeal. What is His appeal?

Paul encourages the Corinthians: “Be reconciled to God.” Today’s Gospel lesson has Jesus telling the story of the prodigal son. He had walked away from his father and spent all that he had on himself and now was living with pigs. He needed to be reconciled to his father. While you and I may not be living with pigs, we have lived lives that have wasted what our Father has given and we have run after our choices, turning our backs on our Father, just to do what we wanted. We’re lost, too, without His help.

The Father comes running to save us. He unfolded His plan to save us—to reconcile Himself to us. Our sin and selfishness separated us—put us in that “far country”—and He runs to reconnect us to Him, sending His Son into our flesh. Jesus comes into our country and reaches out to reconcile us to Himself as those arms are nailed to the cross. He dies the death we should have—His grave is the one reserved for us. Through His death and resurrection, we are reconciled—we were dead and are now alive, and the Father rejoices.

That’s God’s appeal: be connected to Jesus. That’s the appeal He makes through you and me: connect others to Jesus. Immediately, that selfishness and fear comes rushing back into our hearts and minds, looking for a foothold. Fear would shut our mouths and selfishness would keep us still, wondering what will we say? Or, what if we’re rejected?

Remember, it’s God’s appeal. When Jesus sent out the Seventy to be His witnesses in the Gospel, He told them not to worry what they should say when called before kings and rulers, since the Holy Spirit would give them the words. Well, if the Holy Spirit will help before kings and rulers, He will certainly help make His appeal with your friends at work or school and your family members.

Remember, it’s God’s appeal to meet your selfishness, too. Let’s go back to the story Jesus told. We act like the older brother when we let our selfishness or feelings get in the way of God’s appeal. We look at that other person, in need of the Gospel in their lives and say, “Here am I, Lord, send someone else! I mean, that “son of yours” needs saving!”

See how the father meets the brother’s selfishness? He changes things. He makes the stranger his brother—“your brother” the Father calls the one needing salvation. He reconciles us to one another as He reconciles us to Himself in Jesus. So you can make your appeal.

Because God is making His appeal through you, your confidence in this whole adventure isn’t in your words or courage, it’s in Christ. God’s power is at work, taking your words and putting His appeal there. Where do you start?

Start with God’s reconciling work in Christ as it has connected to your story. Your friend may have heard to story of Jesus before. You can tell him or her that story from a fresh perspective—it isn’t just history, it’s your story, too. Tell your friend how being connected with Jesus changed your life—your way of living, your way of thinking, your eternity. Let them see Jesus’ story at work in your life. Show them how when you lost someone, Jesus’ resurrection changed how you faced grief. Show them how Jesus’ forgiveness changed your fear, guilt and grief.

God is making His appeal through you. Tell your friend your story and invite him or her to have this same joy and hope in his or her life. So, how do you make your invitation?

We can go back to the Scriptures for advice. The first person invited to meet Jesus by another believer after Jesus began His public ministry was Simon Peter. His brother Andrew invited him. How did he do it? He didn’t present some sort of theological argument. He didn’t give an eight minute sermon. He simply said, “Come and see.” God is making His appeal through your invitation.

It’s important that you don’t just invite them once. They may not respond right away. You need to follow-up with them. Pick them up—promise them breakfast! Then, when you get here, don’t be like a parent dropping your child off at college, leaving your guest to figure it out while you go see your friends.

Introduce them. Let them see other Christians. Let them see that you aren’t some fluke—that Jesus’ story has connected to the lives of others and that connection, that reconciliation has changed their lives, too. Introduce them to the service, too. Unless they were raised in a liturgical church culture, the hymnal can be a mystery. Help them be comfortable with what’s happening. Help them feel welcome and at home. Let them hear God’s appeal in all that you do.

This can be daunting. This can be a big step outside our comfort zones. Fear might immobilize us, but only if we think that this whole adventure is about us. It’s not. It’s about connecting people to Jesus. It’s God’s desire, so it has His power and His Word at work in it. It’s in His hands—those nail-scarred hands of Jesus that reach out to change everything. He’s making His appeal through you.