FIRST THINGS FIRST
March 14, 2010

"God made him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21)
 
On the Christian radio station the other day, one of the folks asked the question of a noted seminary professor if he thought the average Christian could explain the Gospel in 2 mn or less.  The feeling was that in this day and age, in order to give to anyone who asks the Hope you have within you, that you would have to deliver it in that short time frame or your prospective convert would lose interest.  This professor's humble opinion was that most church goers couldn't do it and most really didn't know the Gospel.
 
Now I realize that this is an above-average congregation and that all of you could answer the question as succinctly as I could.  When the host asked the professor to define the Gospel, I yelled out loud in the middle of Sokol park (luckily deep in the woods with no audience other than the big guy) "I Corinthians 15:3"!
 
The noted professor obviously knew his stuff because in the next instant, he said: "It's all there in I Cor 15.  It's the Gospel, or as Eugene Peterson calls it "the message in a nutshell".  Paul laid it out clearly and succinctly: "the first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: (I would say that Jesus showing up physically on the road to Damascus is quite emphatic); that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as the scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as scripture says, that he presented himself alive to Peter..." (I Cor 15 3-5ff)
 
That's it!  That is the Gospel that is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom 1:16), nothing more, nothing less.  The Bible tells us that there would be wolves in sheep's clothing teaching in seminary and from church pulpits, who would add things to the Gospel to make it more palatable (i.e, easier to swallow) for future intelligentsia.  Things like the resurrection not being a literal raising of Jesus' dead body from the grave, but an "Easter moment" where the disciples could have hope, even though the master had died, were supposed to make the gospel more believable to this scientifically savvy generation.
 
To that, Paul says: "let me be blunt: if one of us even an angel from heaven, were to preach other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed.  I said it once, I will say it again; if anyone regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let them be cursed". (Gal 1: 8-9)  So Paul, how do you really feel about adding to or subtracting from, or changing the Gospel to make more relevant the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ?
 
So you see, we have no excuse not to share the good news of Jesus dying for our sins and being raised and on the throne to assist us in living the life that Jesus asks his followers to live.  It's simple; you don't have to be a brilliant theologian (in fact, in most cases, that is a serious liability), we just have to be obedient, knowing that the simple story that Jesus died for our sins and that if one receives this  gift of His precious death on our behalf and commits to live no longer for ourselves but for Him who died and rose again, they too can have the assurance that their sins are forgiven and that an eternity of blissful intimacy with Jesus awaits.
 
We don't have to add to it, and it's the message itself that has the power to break down the differences, not our oratorical skill.  It is a simple Gospel that some believe 80% of the people in the pews on any given Sunday really don't get or understand in a way that would give them assurance of their reconciled relationship with their creator.
 
I'm glad all y'all know it; you will be blessed if you share it more and more as the days ahead get darker and darker.
 
YTAT

Peace and Love,

Fr. Mike

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