"[God] wants you to go about the world preaching, because God did not call you for yourself alone but also for the salvation of others." And then the hand of the Lord came over St. Francis. As soon as he heard this answer and thereby knew the will of Christ, he got to his feet, all aflame with divine power and said to Brother Masseo with great fervor: "So let's go - in the name of the Lord!"
He preached so fervently that all the men and women of the village, as a result of his sermon and the miracle of the swallows, in their great devotion wanted to follow him and abandon the village. But St. Francis did not let them, saying to them: "Don't be in a hurry and don't leave, for I will arrange what you should do for the salvation of your souls." (pp. 296-297)
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)Sharing the message of salvation is at the heart of having faith in God. What else could the desire of Christ be other than "God did not call you for yourself alone but also for the salvation of others." The God who sent his Word to us as Jesus would have us withhold our own words from others. The God who spoke to us out of love, joy, and peace would not have us be silent, but also have the love, joy, and peace of sharing his love and presence through the message of grace.
When such a great joy is made into a burden, I cannot but think of Jesus words to the Pharisees about how they search the world and make a convert twice the son of hell that they are themselves (Matthew 23). What better way to silence the joy of the message than take the joy out of it? And the peace and the love? The gospel preached in such a spirit would drive people away and make disciples afraid to share it because of the such false gospels.
I think of people who go around telling people that God hates them and that they will go to hell. No doubt God hates sin. No doubt that hell is real. But is this good news? The gospel is a story of deliverance. God has made a way for deliverance from our sins and hell. Jesus shows us that there is a way to talk about sin and hell with great love and compassion. Preaching and sharing the good news is much more than information, it is using the words to save and comfort and make whole rather than condemn, attack, and skewer people. The spirit of the words is at least as important as the words themselves.
I love Francis' humility. When people wanted to up and follow him, he told them to stay and not hurry. The message of grace is not that we have to leave our places, but our ways. We do not have to hurry to God, but remain with him as we find him. We are tempted to follow the messenger rather than the message. Francis saw this tendency and told the people to remain, knowing that, like Jacob, each person could say, "God is in this place and I did not know it!"
The gospel is simply the Good News. How can I do anything but share? The only way I might have trouble sharing is if this good news has somehow become bad or not "news." Badness comes from how I and other people mistreat the message by making it mean. It becomes boring old news when I fail to live and believe it, leaving it as a used and empty formula.
Lord, may I have the joy of Francis. May I simply get up in response to your will and word and say, "Let's go!" May I have the humility of Francis who saw that if the gospel must be lived where each person is to be real news and not old news. Forgive me when I make the gospel anything but Good News. Amen.
Sharing the gospel deepens joy in the gospel. Living out the deliverance of God in my life keeps the gospel fresh. The greatest deterrent to sharing is the bad news that masquerades as the gospel. The life and reality of the gospel can only live through my own continual practice and surrender to God saving me from my sins and former way of life. It is the spirit of the gospel that makes it good and makes it real. Mistreating the gospel makes it mean and boring.
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