John Wycliffe is best known to us as a Bible translator. He is remembered as a historical figure for translating the Vulgate, the Bible written in Latin that only the priests could read, into English, a Bible which the common man could read for himself. We also recognize him from the organization that was established in his name, the Wycliffe Bible Translators. It is the mission of this organization to translate the Bible into the common vernacular of every country that presently does not have a Bible that can be read by the general populace.
Wycliffe was a part of the Protestant Reformation that rejected many of the theological positions and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. This led to his dismissal as a professor at Oxford University in 1381. In 1384 he died of a stroke and was buried.
The Catholic church continued to view Wycliffe as a heretic because of his challenges to the doctrines of Roman Catholicism. Condemned as a heretic, at the Council of Constance in 1415, Pope Martin V ordered that Wycliffe’s body be exhumed and burned, the same punishment for all heretics.
But this was not the end of Wycliffe’s story. The townspeople came to Lutterworth and took his ashes and deposited them into the river. The ashes then floated from Lutterworth to the Avon, and from the Avon into the Severn, and from the Severn into the ocean. The ashes of Wycliffe became an emblem of his doctrine which was now dispersed the world over.
We are to preach the word of God so it will be spread across the globe. This is the message that Paul presents to us in the closing paragraph of the book of Romans. Paul begins by telling us that God’s message has become a part of our lives. Then Paul concludes that since God’s message was so life-changing for each and every one of us, that we are to share God’s message with others.
Paul wrote in the opening line of his summary statement to his letter to the churches in Rome, “Now to God who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ.” Paul wrote that we have consumed the word of God, and it has changed our lives. The word of God has become a part of our being. With these words, in the closing paragraph in what biblical scholars consider Romans to be the outline of Paul’s systematic theology, he concludes in his closing that the word of God has engulfed our lives. Paul confesses that the word of God dwells within us.
This, certainly, has changed us. To use some biblical imagery we are the shepherds of the flock, not hirelings; we no longer live in darkness, but have come into the light; we no longer live by the flesh, but we now live by the spirit; we are no longer the sons of predation, but we are the children of God; we no longer live a life of judging others, but we now live a life that understands forgiveness; we are no longer guided by hate, but we now are motivated by compassion; we are no longer self- centered, but we understand the meaning of humility. We have replaced ridicule with grace.
We have all become Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, the legalistic Jewish sect that was adamantly opposed to Jesus. It was the leaders of the Pharisees who stirred up the crowd, as Jesus stood before them next to Pontius Pilate, to yell, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Nicodemus, knowing he would lose his status in society if he was seen with Jesus, so he came to Jesus unseen in the night. Nicodemus was also held in high regard because he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling assembly that presided over the Jews. Another reason to come unseen in the darkness of night.
Nicodemus was aware of the teachings of Jesus and wanted to know for himself if this is how we are to live. In response to Nicodemus inquiry Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Confused, Nicodemus asked, “How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” The scriptures go on to report Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” It is from this incident in the life of Jesus we have come to hear the common phrase that a Christian is “born again.”
We were born into original sin. We have now been “born again” into the life of Jesus.
The television actor Tom Selleck said he owes his success because of his faith in Jesus. Selleck confessed that Jesus has guided him over the years. After college, Selleck planned to have a career with United Airlines. He caught the attention of Hollywood from the television commercials that he was doing while working for United, and from these commercials he was even offered an acting contract by Twentieth Century Fox. He turned it down believing that God had called him to serve in the army. After serving in the army, Selleck returned to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.
His big break came when he was offered the lead role in the television series Magnum, P.I. The show ran from 1980 to 1988. In a December 2019 interview with CBN News, Selleck said, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” Regarding the fame and fortune that acting has brought to him, Selleck confesses that his relationship with Jesus has kept him grounded. The actor said, “I try very hard to conduct myself in an ethical way, because that’s important to my stability now. We’re a culture that’s so centered on the individual. The culture says that basically nothing is more important than the way you feel.”
Paul in his concluding statement to the churches in Rome articulated that when we accept Jesus into our lives — when we are born gain — that we become renewed individuals who live in the image of Jesus. Paul then went on to instruct the Christians in Rome, and all the Christians he encountered on his missionary journeys, and in the timeless nature of the Bible to us today, that we are to share that good news with others. We are to be evangelists.
Paul wrote in his concluding paragraph to his letter, “but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith — to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
It was originally understood by the first followers of Jesus that he came just for the Jews. Jesus was the long expected Jewish Messiah spoken of by the prophets. A few years later, as Paul began his missionary journeys, he held to the doctrine that Jesus was the Messiah for all people. Jesus came for the Jews and the non-Jews alike, which would be the Gentiles.
The word “Gentile” means all nations except the nation of Israel. In course of time, as the Jews began to more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges as the “chosen ones,” the word Jew acquired unpleasant associations, and was often used as a term of contempt. Paul, disagreeing with this ideology, saw his mission to be one to the Jews and Gentiles, that is, to all the citizens of the world. He understood that Jesus was the Messiah not just for the Jews, but for all individuals of any ethnic and cultural background. Rome, being a cosmopolitan city, had a very diverse population. Paul realized that the message of Jesus was for all the citizens of Rome; it was likewise the message for all the citizens of the world.
Of our many responsibilities as Christians, one of the foremost is to be an evangelist. And not far from where you are sitting in the pew there is a massive missionary field. We probably realize it; we just won’t acknowledge it.
There are many reasons why we don’t assume the role of being an evangelist. And the list of reasons is common to us all, as we have heard them so often and even used them ourselves. Probably the two most common are: “I don’t know the Bible well enough to answer someone’s questions.” And the other being, “Everyone I know is a Christian.” Feeling unqualified and unnecessary, we forsake the task of being an evangelist.
We also realize, if we are willing to admit it, that we do know enough. We also realize, if we are willing to admit it, that even though one professes to be a Christian they may have never really dedicated themselves to the teachings of Jesus.
You are qualified because you believe. You don’t need to know all the answers, you only need to know how to express, with sincerity, what Jesus means to you. As for not knowing anyone who is not a Christian, that is not your place to judge. The only thing you need to know is how to be attentive enough to enter into their lives, at the proper time, with the appropriate message of Jesus.
When we hear the name Carry Nation we immediately associate it with prohibition. She was born as Carrier Amelia Moore in November 1846 in the state of Kentucky. After the Civil War, when she was 21-years-old, her family moved to Missouri. There she married a young doctor, Charles Gloyd. Charles served with the Union in the war, and on his return he was an alcoholic. His alcoholism went to such an extreme that he could no longer support Carry. When Carry became pregnant she left Charles and returned to live with her parents. A few months after her daughter, Charlien — named after her father — was born, Charles died. Carry was able to rebuild her life, becoming a school teacher and marrying a lawyer, David Nation.
Over the years the scar of alcoholism left upon Nation’s soul did not leave her soul. She began to have visions and became increasing religious. After David Nation became a pastor, the family moved once again, this time to Kansas. It was in Kansas that Carry Nation organized the local chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance League.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1874, and its goal was to abolish the sale of alcohol because of the suffering it caused to families, specifically to women and children whose husbands and fathers drank to excess. At a time when women lacked legal rights and recourses and had to depend on male breadwinners for some or all of the family income, an alcoholic spouse, and perhaps violent and abusive alcoholic spouse, seriously endangered the household. The anti-alcohol crusade quickly came to also encompass other perceived sources of social “impurity,” such as smoking and sexual promiscuity. The union proposed to cure these vices through empowering women to vote and through the social ministrations of middle-class white women. Nation took a more direct-action approach to the prohibition crusade. On December 27, 1900, she used a hatchet to smash up the bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita. She was arrested but was released shortly after her incarceration. Though, she now became famous and front-page news as the prohibitionist who carried a hatchet and wrecked a saloon.
Nation, who was almost six feet tall, used her imposing presence to promote her movement and her brand. She also moved outside of Kansas, where the sale of alcohol was already technically illegal, and brought her vision, and her hatchet, to other saloons.
Her behavior provoked a tremendous uproar and sent her to jail repeatedly for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. Her fines were paid by the sale of pewter hatchet pins. Nation wielded her voice as effectively as her hatchet, eloquently speaking her mind and inspiring others. She was able to support herself from her speaking fees.
Nation and her husband divorced in 1901. After the divorce she continued, for the rest of her life, her prohibition campaign. The speaking fees she received enabled her to buy a small farm in Arkansas. The purpose of the farm was to turn it into a prohibition school to teach other campaigners. However, she died in January 1911, before the school could be completed and almost a decade before the Eighteenth Amendment was passed.
We are empowered by the word of God that dwells within us. Empowered by God, we are to proclaim the gospel message to others, while acting upon its commands for justice.
Amen.