Doing the Gospel today

Some thoughts for the Sunday of the Ascension (Easter 7) May 12 2013

Let’s not make evangelisation too hard!

In this Ascension period, Jesus tells the disciples that we must now be the ones

who take responsibility

for telling other people about

God’s Good News.

I often get a sense

when we I talk this way

that people nod sagely

but that there is an undercurrent going on which is saying

that is for someone else other than me to do.

We don’t actually get that what is required is simply to help people connect the dots

So let’s not be surprised

if our world seems to be losing the Christian story

or if we have a sense of being overtaken

by an atheism which is stridently

proclaiming there is no good

or by an Islam which is taking its proclamation of faith

way more seriously than we seem to.

A couple of mistakes

The first mistake is that we may make it too hard.

In sharing Christianity

we may think that this means we have to understand everything about, the Bible, theology, Church History, spirituality and prayer.

And we don’t…At least I don’t

And as we look at the curious group of people that Jesus chose

we saw that not many of them were learned, bookish or scholarly

What they did have was a belief that when God said

I am giving you something to share (The Good News of love, forgiveness, healing, salvation)

That they had indeed been given something

and that they had the means to do it

A big stick

What God did not give us was a big stick.

We sometimes tell the Gospel very negatively

“If you are not good, then you will be punished”

Doesn’t actually sound like GOOD news!

What we are being asked to do is to share what God has done for us.

This is much easier to grasp.

And we might add the word….What has God done for us  lately?

This way we are likely to relate the positive,

and get in touch with what is meaningful.

We need to take time to do this

We should not keep silent

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to have a university degree to do this.

And if you are tempted to express this negatively…then think again

What am I trying to say which sets people free….

rather than how can I control and manipulate others

For thought and prayer and action

What has God been doing in my life lately?
 Is there someone who would find this interesting or uplifting
 Can I get someone to behave better by telling them my story…then forget it…we are not to wield the big stick!