A sermon from Ian Guy, Sunday 20th March 2011, based on ‘Just Walk Across the Room’ by Bill Hybels. Please refer to Galatians 4:4-20, 1 Cor 3:1-11

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This morning we begin a four week series, based upon the book by Bill Hybels “Just Walk Across the Room”.

The aim of the book and of these sermons is to remind us of the importance of reaching out to one another, to ‘walk across a room’ to form that connection with someone that then gives opportunity for the sharing of faith, and the encouragement for that person to begin trusting their lives to God.

It is said that the single greatest gift Christ-followers can give to the people around them is an introduction to the God who created them, who loves them, and who has a purpose for their life.

Nothing beats it—not monetary gains, not job opportunities, not recognition or accolades. Knowing God is our highest purpose – the reason we live.

These next few weeks I am encouraging you to take seriously the call of God to all who follow Jesus to share the story, to point others to Jesus, to encourage faith. To understand that God wants to and can use you to help others.

And it does not need to be hard, it starts with caring enough to do something as simple as taking a ‘walk across a room’.

Already I can sense some saying ‘this is not for me’, but friends there is a basic truth we need to recognise: every follower of Jesus has something to share with others:

• We all have time, or can make time for others.
• We all have an experience of God, our faith story.
• We all have the indwelling Spirit of God, who encourages and nudges us.
• We all have God’s love which is given to be shared.

In these things it does not matter if we are new to faith or have a life-time of experience, for what we all have is distinctively ours.

I’m sure we all know this but I’m equally aware it can be hard to begin – it’s that way with most things: beginning is the hardest part.

We have only to watch a toddler make those first faltering steps, falling over more than moving forward, or fast forward a few years to the first day at school. Some of us remember the fear.

Fast forward a few more years and there’s an awkward teen, wondering if he should walk across the room to talk to that girl; actually knowing he should; knowing he really wants to, but scared of her reaction.

In reality most of us have those feelings to one degree or another, every time we go to speak to a neighbour, call someone at church, say something to a stranger we enter the zone of the unknown so there’s a hesitation and all the possible scenario’s of what could happen in the unknown fly through the mind:

What if…

• I am not understood
• I stammer
• he ignores me
• she is too busy to speak right now
• he doesn’t really like me
• they think I’m a pain

For some fears like this can be paralyzing, for others they cause us to put off what should be done, or at least hesitate, and a few – the lucky few in this regard, have no such fears.

From Galatians today we read of a God who at the right time sent his Son – taking a huge step from comfort and glory across the room to our place. God knows all things so in stepping out like this God knew that his Son would be ignored by some, scorned by others, rejected and sent packing – yet Jesus still came. Jesus knowing all that still chose to step across the room and enter our world.

Do you ever wonder why?

John 3:16 says it the plainest:

Motivated by love, motivated by care, Jesus came. This is and always will be the first, the best and the purest motivation for evangelism – and yes that is what God was doing in sending Jesus, it was and is pure evangelism – the sharing of good news for the purpose of calling us to the Father’s love.

This is what Jesus did for us – this is what Jesus desires we do for others. He stepped across the room to “redeem those” under the law (Gal 4:5).

We all needed that, without his initiative we are “helpless, unworthy, ungodly, sinners”, so Jesus took that step; that risk, and asks us to do likewise.

So how do we do it?

We begin with first steps.

And the first step in becoming usable to God is that we must be willing to leave our place of comfort and reach out to another, where we enter the zone of the unknown.

This last week in Christchurch I had a bit of practice at this: knocking on doors, about 240 of them over 4 days. To do so I had to leave my comfort and enter the zone of the unknown.

But you don’t have to go to Christchurch to do this.

Think about this story with me for a moment. A person in a social setting was standing in what we’re calling a conversational “Circle of Comfort.” Maybe it was after church one day.

In this his ‘circle of comfort’ he was relaxed, felt good, it was easy to be here, conversation flowed, he belonged. He was in no hurry to move on.

Looking across the room he saw someone: someone alone, an unknown, an outsider; someone looking like they could do with encouragement.

Then deep in his being he felt a nudge from God the Spirit – almost a voice saying ‘get over there, welcome him, be a friend.’

So how hard is it to actually do that? To excuse himself from the group he is with, to leave his nice safe circle of comfort, to enter the zone of the unknown.

Not hard at all really, and often that first step can make all the difference in a person’s life.

We are called to leave comfort and enter that place, the unknown. Have you ever done that? Walked into the zone of the unknown – I’m sure you have. We actually do it all the time when the motivation is strong enough.

• To say hi to that pretty girl
• To find a job
• Attend a new church
• Join a club
• Take up a new sport

We do it all the time – but do we do it for the purpose of conveying God’s love, encouraging someone, welcoming someone in God’s name.

You see it’s these first steps where the gates of hell shudder, these first steps when God is able to do so much good work, where the light came be let in, just a crack sometimes, and a little salt poured out.

Think about it: if you knew that walking across a room could impact someone’s eternal destiny – wouldn’t you do it?

Well believe it: you may not know how, or when but every word spoken in Jesus’ name is valuable, every sharing of Jesus’ love makes a difference.

Everyone of us who seeks to follow Jesus has a role to play in this, often small, but always important.

Did you hear what Paul was saying in that passage from 1 Corinthians 3 that we read:

We all have a role to play, sometimes dramatic but normally it’s seemingly small, even mundane, yet always important.

I don’t have a whole raft of memory verses for you today; no procedures you need to learn, this is not a programme to immerse yourself in; rather the key in taking those first steps and walking across the room is to listen to the prompting of the Spirit.

Often it’s a quiet voice, a gentle push – ‘hey wake up – see that person over there…’

I remember once driving across town, and as I was nearing a certain building I felt the Spirit was saying go in. This wasn’t part of my plan that day yet after a short debate with God I parked the car got out and walked across the carpark. As I did I could see through a window a man I knew sitting by himself, I went in – said hello, sat beside him; and he said thank God: I didn’t know what to do and was praying and God said talk to you, and you’re here.

We talked, we prayed, my friend was encouraged – I don’t know what would have happened if I driven past, but I do know by stopping I was able to share the love of God in a meaningful, timely, and powerful way.

Going to Christchurch was like that for me also – I saw the need, was nudged by the Spirit, and almost impulsively responded, and I could recount many other such instances.

However I could also tell of times I’ve seen and sensed don’t go, this is not for you.

It’s important to recognise this: sometimes you get a green light and sometimes you don’t:

The key is this: being walk-across-the-room people means that we walk when the Spirit tells us to walk and we don’t walk when the Spirit says not to walk. We develop AN EAR for what the Spirit is telling us. There are no formula’s to follow, no set verses to recite, it’s about listening and responding to the nudge of the Spirit.

In Matthew 5:13 it says

You are the salt of the earth…

To be of use SALT has to have it’s taste, it must be salty, but equally important it must be used. It must come into contact with whatever needs salt.

Driving home on Friday from I was hungry and tired so stopped for a rest, a coffee, and some hot chips.

They were tasteless, badly in need of salt.

There was some salt on the table, safely contained in it’s glass bottle – but as I’ve said before to be of use the salt must be shaken – and that’s exactly what I did. What a difference a little salt makes!

A simple illustration but I’m sure you know what I mean!

You are the salt of the earth – but you must be shaken out of your comfort into the zone of the unknown to be of use; you must be poured out.

I appreciate that most of us are uncomfortable with this sermon – we far prefer our circles of comfort, me included. But I am finding that God does not want me to stay there – he never has, but with nudges, encouragement and pushes God has moved me way out of comfort on many occasions.

I’ve also discovered that the zone of the unknown is nowhere near as frightening as I imagine. Yes I still have those same insecurities, every time I knock on a door, make a call, or walk across the room I have those same ‘what if’s’ running through my mind.

Sometimes I must say the ‘what if’s’ actually come true; I have been rejected, ignored, scorned but I have found these things don’t really matter and are a small price to pay for sharing the love of God.

So this week as you listen to the Spirit may you Keep Your Eyes Open, Keep Your Ears Open and take that first step and Walk.

Arohanui

Ian

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