Looking Ahead To January 7, 2018

This being the first Sunday of the month (and indeed of the year) we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

From now until Easter the Narrative Lectionary has us exploring the Gospel of John. This week's selection is John 1:35-51.

The Sermon title is Come and See

Early Thoughts:  Evangelism.  What thoughts does that word evoke?  Possibly signs like this?

Photo Credit

TO be fair the person who posted that labelled it as "A very poor evangelism attempt"

Or maybe this is the image that comes to mind? (Looks like a Watchtower Society pamphlet to me)

Photo Credit

Those would be common images.  OR maybe the couple knocking at the door, or the street corner preacher...

And because of images like that many of us find evangelism to be a hard topic. It is a word we don't use much anymore.  Not many United Church of Canada people would say they are evangelical.  But is that true?

Have you ever invited someone to come to church with you?  If so you have been an evangelist.

Have you ever shared some part of your faith story with someone?  Have you ever said that your faith influences the choices you make/priorities you have?  If so then you are an evangelist.

In our John reading for this week we see evangelism.  We sort of see it in John's proclamation "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" but we see it most clearly at the end of the passage.

Having met Jesus, having talked with Jesus, Andrew felt something.  And that something led him to go to his brother Simon and say "you gotta meet this guy!".  Andrew is the first evangelist in John's Gospel.  He is the first person to lead someone else to meet Jesus, to share the person he has met. Then a few verses later Phillip does the same thing (even if Nathanael is dubious that this fellow from Nazareth could be that special).


I suggest this is evangelism in its best and healthiest form. A gentle invitation, no threats of eternal punishment, no promises of eternal reward or earthly riches, no guarantee of a miraculous event, just a gentle invitation, "Come and see, come and experience for yourself, come and decide for yourself".

Can we say to a friend "there's someone I want you to meet"?  Can we be evangelists?

I would argue that we have no choice.  If our faith makes a difference in our lives, in how we live, in what we choose, in what we find important, then people should be able to see that difference.  And that is being evangelistic.  And if people ask why you make such "weird" choices and you link it to your faith?  Then you are being evangelistic.

Can we do that?

Oh and more than one article has stated that the #1 reason people first come to experience a church is because someone personally invited them, because somebody said "you should give this a try"...

To whom would you say "Come and see"?
--Gord