Matt. 10:40-42      “Sharing Jesus in Practical Ways”

     Jared and his dad were playing a game of catch one afternoon, when Jared asked his dad if there was a God.  The dad didn’t know exactly how to answer that question, since he himself questioned the existence of God.  The little boy went even further, “If there is a God, how would you know him?”  Again, the dad had no satisfactory answer for his son.

     After a few minutes Jared interrupted their game of catch and headed for the house.  He soon returned with a mylar balloon he had gotten recently, along with a pen and an index card.  He told his dad, “I’m going to send a message to God – airmail.”  Jared started writing on the index card, “Dear God, if you are real and if you are there, send people who know you to Dad and me.”  And with that Jared let go of the balloon and both father and son watched it sail away.

     A couple of days later, Jared and his dad pulled into a car wash that a church was holding as part of their outreach into the community.  “How much?” the dad asked.

     “It’s free,” the guy told him.  “No strings attached.”  And when asked why they were doing this, the guy said, “We just want to show you God’s love in a practical way.”  It was then the father realized that his son’s prayers had been answered.

     That, my friends, is what servant evangelism is all about, doing acts of humble service with no strings attached.  It’s making God real to others.  It’s sharing Jesus in practical ways. 

     When Jesus talks about sharing a cup of cold water in today’s Gospel, he’s talking about practical ways to live the Christian life.  For while Christianity and our relationship with God is indeed personal in nature, it is by no means meant to be private.  Our life with God is a life that is designed to touch others in practical ways.  And so today I’d like us to look at three principles to share Jesus in practical ways.

     Principle #1 is: Do the small thing to show the main thing of God’s love at work.  

     Let me give you a “What would you do?” challenge.  You’re driving in your car on a dark, stormy night.  You pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus: an older woman who looks as if she is about to die, an old friend who once saved your life, and the perfect man (or) woman you’ve been dreaming about.  You can only offer one person a ride.  Which one would you choose? 

     This moral/ethical dilemma was once actually used as part of a job application.  The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with the perfect answer.  He answered: “I would give the car keys to my old friend, and let him take the lady to the hospital.  I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the woman of my dreams.”

     A lot of times it takes “thinking outside the box.”  In Matthew 10, it’s giving a cup of cold water.  In John 13, the night before Jesus dies, he washes his disciples feet and then challenges them to love others, so that everyone will know that they were his disciples.  In Matthew 25 Jesus talks about feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, taking care of the sick, visiting those in prison.  It’s about doing the small thing to show the main thing of God’s love at work for we never know what small act of kindness will touch and change a life.

     Principle #2 is: understand that simple acts done with great love will change the world.  

     Think for a moment how God came into this world.  How did he come?  Not with bells and whistles, not riding white horses with trumpets blaring, he came as a baby.  He touched people at their point of need, not just to heal them physically or to lift their spirits, but to change their lives.  He came and gave his life on a cross, on an instrument of death, to pay for our sins and to change the world with his love.  God was well aware that we’d never achieve salvation on our own, so he sent his Son to die for us and his Holy Spirit to lead us to faith and to change our hearts.  And now God invites us to share his love in practical ways so that he can change the hearts of others, too.

     Principle #3 is: realize that our power to serve isn’t based on who we are, but who Jesus is through us. 

     It’s real easy to feel guilty or inadequate, to think that we’re not doing enough to show love toward others.  The reason we feel guilty or inadequate is because we try to love under our own power.  But in reality the power to share Jesus in practical ways comes from Christ himself.  Paul knew this to be true.  Even when he was in prison, Paul knew and experienced the power of Christ at work, and that’s why he tells the Philippians and us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

     Salvation and life with God isn’t by our power, but by what Christ has done.  Once a Sunday School teacher asked her class, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would I get into heaven?”  “No!” all the children answered.

     “If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into heaven?”  Again, the answer was an emphatic “no!”

     “Well,” the teacher continued, “then how can I get to heaven?”  In the back of the room one little boy shouted out, “You gotta be dead!”

     We get into heaven not by what we do, but by what Christ has done for us.  The power of the life we live in love toward God and others flows out of God working in us.

     Nike commercials at one time challenged us to “Just do it!”  Sharing Jesus in practical ways with a cup of cold water, with a meal, with words of encouragement, a listening ear, a ride to the doctor’s office and in so many other ways is a call to just do it.  Yet we need to always remember why we just do it.  Our actions flow out of the realization that Jesus did it.  He died for us.  He gives us life eternal.  He empowers us with his presence.  He challenges us to live out our purpose not only in the big moments of life, but in all of its little ones as well, even a cup of cold water given in his name.  

     Dear friends, simple acts done in love might seem so small, yet when you realize that God is at work through them to change the lives of others, you’ll discover the joy of sharing Jesus in practical ways.

                                                AMEN

back to top