The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
July 8, 2001

By
The Rev. Ann M. Smith

Anglicans tend to be a little uptight about the whole subject of evangelism. Admit it! We get uneasy when the readings head us in that direction. Being thrust out like lambs in the midst of wolves is not a popular concept to most of us. We cannot conceive that God might be telling us to give up something in order to fulfill our call. Most of us are not called to preach God's word or to set out to convert everyone we meet. But we are certainly called to share our Christian faith.

As you may know a part of my ministry is the spiritual direction of Cursillo in our Diocese. One of the special things that we take away with us from our Cursillo experience is our group reunion. We meet in small groups to share our faith. A woman was telling me one day about her small group. She and her husband, she told me, were very much enjoying the fellowship as they met each Tuesday evening with their group, but she found herself reluctant to broadcast their activity. At work for example she would freely tell people about playing tennis and going to the theatre, but never about her prayer group.

Then one Tuesday evening they skipped the group to go to the theatre. In the foyer she met one of her acquaintances. "Aren't you supposed to be at your prayer meeting?" her friend asked her. "What?" she asked, completely confused by his question. "You know, the prayer thing that you go to every week?" Her face started to turn crimson as she realized that her husband must have said something about it. He continued to ask her questions about what they did and what they got out of it. She began to understand that given the opportunity people really want to know more about the faith. She learned as well that by being open about her faith, she had something to offer.

We need to learn as Christians that it does not take a theological degree to be able to talk about our faith. In fact, often it is not so much what we say, but our actions that have the greatest impact. The small acts of love that Christians simply do without considering the cost are by far and away the most effective tools for evangelism that we possess. A casserole taken to a family in need, a visit to a shut in, time volunteered in a hospital, a phone call to find out how someone is doing! Often we are not even aware of the impact we are having on someone's life. God offers wholeness, healing, acceptance and forgiveness in surprising ways.

That is the underlying theme of the today's readings. On the surface the Old Testament reading is about the healing of Namaan, one of the miracles of Elisha, yet Elisha does not even make an appearance in the story. Namaan is an important person, the commander of the Aramean army. What is more, he knows that he is important. But he has leprosy; not the virulent form of the disease, certainly, but a serious problem nonetheless for the commander. He has tried everything – doctors, ointments, costly treatments – nothing has worked. It is through his wife's young servant girl, a captive from Israel – so insignificant that she isn't even named in the story – that Namaan is cured. It is she who suggests that he seek out Elisha, the prophet from Samaria who is renowned for his miracles. Surely he will be able to cure Namaan of his leprosy.

And so Namaan goes to the King of Israel who just about has a heart attack thinking that it is a trick designed to conquer Israel. When he recovers his senses he sends him off to Elisha. Elisha almost ignores the man. He sends a message to Namaan saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times and you will be cured."

Namaan is deeply offended. He is a person of high rank who is accustomed to special treatment. "Elisha," he complains, "didn't even have the courtesy to leave his living room. I thought he would come out and call on his god and wave his hands and work his miracle. But to tell me, the commander of the Aramean army, to go and bathe in that muddy river! I didn't come all this way to be mocked. We have cleaner rivers at home!"

His servants give him the advice he needs to come to wholeness. "If he had told you to do something difficult wouldn't you have done it?" And so Namaan immerses himself in the Jordan seven times and receives a miracle. He becomes whole. A slave girl's information, a servant's prompting and a bath in a muddy river become tools for transformation. Faith comes about in unexpected ways and through unexpected people. God's grace has nothing to do with power or wealth or following the rules of society. It has to do with our openness and willingness to share God's love.

That is really the model of evangelism that Jesus gives us. We hear in the gospel about Jesus appointing seventy disciples. He sends them on ahead of him in pairs to all the places he intends to visit. They are simply to share the good news that God loves them. "Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals," he says to them. What a lot of confidence that takes on their part! They face rejection. They face hardship. Not everyone will want to hear the message they bear. They are not to take rejection personally. They are simply to move on. They are to offer the gospel and allow people to respond in their own way.

That is a very difficult concept for us to grasp as the people of God. For us evangelism is about numbers. How many people can we reach? We lose sight of the heart of the gospel message. We forget that it is about helping people to find their way to God. It is about sharing the good news that God loves us. One person defined it as "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." It is introducing people to God. It is communicating to them the love of God, the power that God offers, the meaning and purpose that God brings into our lives. It is about being present to people whom we meet in our daily lives, about sharing with them, about listening to them about their pains and sorrows and joys! In some small way we may be able to minister to them, to open up their lives to the love of God.

The disciples found that the response to their ministry was overwhelming. People were healed. Lives were changed. It was a time of excitement and energy as they returned to Jesus to report on the mission. Jesus told them that they are to be happy, not because they have power over evil, but because they belong to God and God has accomplished great things through them.

We are called to share the message of the gospel. Wherever there is poverty, discrimination, war, violence, exploitation or evil there is an urgency to work to change the unjust structures. Our call is to live out the gospel message in our lives. It is a call to respond in the way we live and the way we work. It is a call to understand that we may be the ones to prepare the way for God to touch someone's life. God may use us in unexpected ways as we open ourselves up and become spiritually alive. May we respond and live in love as God has called us.