Kite guy on the beach

Crowd, how do you do it, where can I get one. Asked him all about it.

Now, try to get a crowd around you at the mall excited about kite flying if you don’t have a kite, you’ve never flown one yourself, and you just have some little booklets with info about how to do it.

That would be hard, wouldn’t it? The real thing and experience would work a lot better.

If you’ve been in the church for awhile, you probably have gotten the idea that you’re supposed to be sharing with others about your faith in God.

But the very words “evangelism” and “witnessing” make some of us sweat.

The picture that comes to mind is a hard task that isn’t very fun, like trying to get people at the mall interested in kite flying without knowing being a flyer ourselves.

If you haven’t been in the church very long, you might not have ever thought that what you have found in your new relationship with God is something anybody else would want to know.

These days, there’s a definite idea that religion is a private thing, that spirituality is something for each person to find for themselves. We’re not supposed to try to influence somebody else to follow our way of knowing God, and we certainly aren’t supposed to come across like our way is better than anybody else’s.

The first line in our vision statement goes directly against that way of thinking.

Last week, we talked about being “a growing community”, and we emphasized the bond we have with each other. We talked about wanting to deepen our community with each other.

This week, we want to emphasize a different part of being a growing community. We also want to expand. We want the number of people, the size of our community to grow, too.

Life with God is the best thing in the world!

It’s something that others should know about, something we should be willing to share with people who aren’t following Jesus Christ. And the model I think we ought to aim for is the model of the guy flying a kite on the beach: as we live our lives for God, people will be drawn to what they see, and they’ll ask about it and want it for themselves.

We want this because this is what God wants: God wants nothing less than all of creation as a part of his family.

In the last couple of years, I’ve been amazed at how many times I’ve heard myself quote from Ephesians 1.

This is just one of many verses in the bible that give us a really clear picture of how the message about Jesus Christ is not supposed to be kept in exclusive little “clubs” we call churches.

God is on the move! God has a mission! And we’re invited to be a part of it. Listen to Eph. 1: 9-10

“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”

God let us know what he’s doing: his plan is to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, Jesus Christ.

Then there’s the passage that was read earlier in several different languages:

“This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:3, 4, NRSV.

God wants everyone to be saved and to know the truth. We’re all welcome in God’s family!

This is why we want to be the kind of growing community that is constantly adding new people.

This is God’s plan and idea. And we don’t want to steal people from other churches. Our strongest desire is that our community grow by adding people who don’t already follow Jesus. We don’t want to just add to OUR church community; we want to add to Christ’s family in the world.

Jesus is the one who gave us this task. Our vision is to be a community that grows, because this is the mission that Jesus gave to all of us. Matthew 28 is known as the Great Commission:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” Matthew 28:18-20, NIV.

And along with the mission comes a promise, to the first disciples and to us, as it says in Acts 1:8:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” Acts 1:8, NIV.

At the risk of making this sound like a “should” instead of the most natural thing possible, Jesus asks us to purposefully GO.

Becoming a growing community, if we do it God’s way, is more than a passive thing. It’s intentional activism, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

But before we get filled with two much “should” anxiety, we can bring back the picture of the kite flyer on the beach.

The best “sacrament”, the best thing that demonstrates to the world that God is active, alive, at work, and worth following, is the changed lives of the people who follow him.

You and I are the best evidence for God in the world! People see and believe in God, people want to follow Jesus, because of what they see in others. It’s always been this way. Jesus gave us one of the best pictures of it.

In John chapter 4, Jesus breaks all the rules and starts a conversation with a Samaritan woman.

Both of those things–“Samaritan” and “woman”–should have been enough to make Jesus, a good Jewish man, ignore her. But as he sits by a well, waiting for his disciples to come back with some food, Jesus decides to go. He crosses barriers and talks with a woman who has issues.

She can babble on about theological differences between Jews and Samaritans. Her life with men doesn’t demonstrate faithfulness in any way. But when Jesus initiates a conversation, when he tells her about a new kind of worship in Spirit and in Truth, when he demonstrates to her that he’s willing to have a relationship with her that will speak the truth…this woman is incredibly drawn to Jesus.

Jesus takes advantage of every opportunity, taking a conversation about water and thirst to a deep level. He doesn’t let her get caught up in where to worship, he invites her into worship by claiming to be the Messiah, the promised one who will explain everything.

Jesus showed what the huge goal of bringing everything in all of creation into God’s family looks like on a personal level.

And it brings amazing results!

John 4:28:

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way towards him.” John 4:28-30, NIV.

When she met Jesus, she wanted others to meet him, too. I wonder if our vision could be lived out as simply as that? I wonder if our meetings with Jesus are profound enough that we want others to experience him, too?

This story’s heroes are Jesus and the woman. Both of them are a part of helping God’s family expand. Listen to what happens because of their meeting:

“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”” John 4:39-42, NIV.

To be a growing community, expanding in number, means we will meet Jesus ourselves and bring others to him.

Our trip to India reminded me in vivid ways that Jesus really does matter. We can sometimes be lulled into thinking that Jesus is good for those of us who have him, but that other people are doing just fine without him. It can make us wonder whether it’s really necessary to share Jesus with anyone.

But Jesus really matters!

And what Jesus is doing to bring all things in heaven and earth under his authority is significant. It’s our mission, and the Holy Spirit wants to empower us to do it.

I believe the most effective form of helping new people choose to follow Jesus Christ with their whole life is going to be long term relationships with other Christians where they see, through the ups and downs of life, that a life with God is different and that it is worth living.

Now, that may sound like pressure.

That may sound overwhelming. That may sound like you can’t measure up, that you can’t live in such a way that will make a difference to anybody else.

This isn’t about pressure at all. It’s about discovering a new and deeper life with God for all of us.

The picture we’re holding out is that guy on the beach, having a great time flying his kite. He wasn’t feeling any pressure to be a kite salesman or to be the world’s ambassador for kiting. He was enjoying himself!

If we life the life God really intends for us, we’ll find we’re enjoying ourselves, too! That doesn’t mean it’s all easy, that it comes all at once, or that it’s natural. Just like the kite man on the beach had to count the cost and buy a kite, learn how to use it, and practice and practice the skills, we must put some effort into our life with God as well.

No one becomes a kite ambassador and salesman simply by saying, “I want to fly a kite.” That’s just the beginning.

No one becomes Christ’s ambassador and evangelist simply by saying, “I want to follow God.” That’s just the beginning.

Go deeper. Dive in. Make some effort. Find the joy that comes from investing in something, working hard, and watching the results and the payoff!