GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
EVANGELISM AND HOSPITALITY
DR. JIM DIXON
SEPTEMBER 17, 2000
EPHESIANS 4:7-13
Many of you have heard of “the Lost Colony.” The Lost Colony is what historians call the second English settlement in America. The Lost Colony is what historians call the first English attempt to establish a permanent settlement in America. It was July 22, 1587, when 117 English colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh arrived at Roanoke Island off the coast of what is now called North Carolina. There were 91 men, 17 women, and 9 children. They came under the leadership of a man named John White.
Less than a month later, on August 18, 1587, John White’s daughter, Eleanor Dare, who was married to Ananias Dare, gave birth to a little baby girl. This was the first British child born in America, and they called her Virginia Dare. Virginia Dare was only nine days old when her grandfather, John White, left the colony to return to England for supplies. He thought he would return in a few months, but it did not happen because England went to war with Spain. The Atlantic Ocean was not considered safe for colonial travel. So, it was three years later when John White returned to the colony on Roanoke Island. It was August of the year 1590.
He looked forward to seeing his daughter, his son-in-law, his granddaughter, and the rest of the colony; but when he arrived on Roanoke Island in August of 1590, he was devastated. They were all gone. His daughter, his son-in-law, his granddaughter, the whole colony—all of them were gone. The colony had just disappeared. It had vanished. There was no indication of where they had gone. It was the lost colony. The buildings had been very neatly disassembled piece by piece. The area where the colony had been was now overgrown with grass. All of the supplies were gone. There was no sign of any struggle, no sign of any fight, and no sign of any warfare. There were no graves. Everybody was simply gone.
There were just a few clues. There were three letters, “C-R-O,” carved in one tree; and in a nearby tree, the word “Croatan.” The Croatans were an Indian tribe that lived on the island of Hatteras just south of Roanoke Island. They were considered peaceful and friendly. There are some historians today who believe the lost colony actually went to live with the Croatan Indians. They merged their peoples, and they produced offspring of mixed blood. Some historians believe that.
Today, the Lumbee Indian tribe, which is the largest Indian tribe in the United States of America east of the Mississippi River with 48,000 Lumbee Indians, claim to be descended from the Croatans. It is a fact that many of the Lumbee Indians have the same last names as members of the lost colony. It is a fact that some of the Lumbee Indians have eye coloring more like Europeans than Native Americans. It is a fact that some of the Lumbee Indians have traditions that are more European than Native American.
So, there are some historians today who believe the Lumbee Indians were the Croatans, and that the lost colony merged with them. But most historians don’t buy it because they say that, while the Lumbee Indians were called the Croatans in the early 19th Century and late 18th Century, they’re unrelated to the Croatans who lived on Hatteras Island in the 16th Century. The historians also point out that the Lumbees adopted European style and traditions in an effort to blend in with what they called the “white man’s world.” And they did this 200 years after the lost colony was lost.
So, most historians have other explanations as to what happened to the lost colony. Some believe they took one of the remaining ships that was harbored near Roanoke Island, tried to return to England, and were then lost at sea. Some believe they went up into the Chesapeake Bay area. There, some of them died of exposure to the cold; some of them died of disease; some of them were killed by hostile Indians. But the truth is that nobody knows.
But I can tell you this: from a biblical perspective, and in the sight of God, the whole world is a lost colony. The human race is a lost civilization because the Bible says that the human race is fallen. We are separated from God, and we are spiritually lost. The Bible tells us that that is why Jesus Christ came into the world—to seek, find, and save the lost. That’s why He died for our sins in substitutionary atonement. He offers salvation and eternal life to all who believe in His name. This is the good news of the gospel. Jesus Christ has come to save the lost!
Those who take the gospel to people in their neighborhoods, cities, and all over the world are called “evangelists.” This morning, we take a look at the gift of evangelism and the gift of hospitality.
The word “evangelism” in the Bible comes from the word “euangelion.” This word literally means “good message” or “good news.” It is the exact equivalent of the Middle English word “gospel,” which also means “good message” or “good news.” An evangelist is simply someone who takes the good news to the lost, someone who takes the good news of Jesus Christ to the unsaved. God gives this special gift called the gift of evangelism.
When you think of the gift of evangelism, you think of somebody like Franklin Graham. (He is coming to our church next week. We will have three services: 8:00, 9:45, and 11:30. We are privileged and blessed to have Franklin Graham here.) Or you think of his father, Billy Graham, who is anointed with the gift of evangelism—perhaps above and beyond all others. When you think of the gift of evangelism, you think of people like Billy Sunday who, in the early 20th Century, preached 20,000 sermons to a total of more than 1,300,000 people. When you think of the gift of evangelism, you think of people like evangelist D. L. Moody who led more than a million people to Christ in the United States and England and shook two continents for Christ. When you think of the gift of evangelism, you think of people like Charles Finney, the 19th century revivalist who, in a single sermon, led 50,000 men and women to Christ.
But the gift of evangelism isn’t just about famous evangelists and revivalists. The gift of evangelism is given to common everyday people. This endowment of the Holy Spirit is given to businessmen and businesswomen. It’s given to homemakers. It’s given to everyday people so that they can share their faith in Christ with their next-door neighbor, with another person at work, and with people in their community. The gift is given so that, ultimately, the gospel can cover the nations.
The Bible tells us that every Christian, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, is called to evangelize. We’re all called to be His witnesses. We’re all called to share our faith, so we all need to pray for the gift of evangelism. We’re all called to evangelize, so we all better pray for the gift of evangelism. If you pray for this gift and you don’t receive it, you’re still called to share your faith.
And we want to help you. In the back of your “Grace Notes” today, on the inside of the back page, you can see “Outreach Opportunities Ahead.” There are three classes listed there, and they are all designed to help you share your faith in Jesus Christ lovingly and relationally, to help you feel more comfortable with that, to give you skills in evangelism, and to help you understand your call. This is the will of God for us—that we share our faith in Christ, that we would be witnesses for Christ, that we would make disciples. So, we all should take advantage of these classes. There’s a class on becoming a contagious Christian, a connections class, and a class which has to do with training for that outreach party. There’s a registration form at the bottom. It can be turned in this morning to the outreach table out in the lobby. I want to encourage you to develop skills in sharing Christ with others.
If you pray for the gift of evangelism and you’re not given that gift, don’t lose hope because anointing is on the gospel itself. I mean, as you share your love for Christ with another person, that message itself is anointed. We should have this confidence as we share Christ with people. The message itself, the gospel itself, is anointed. The blessing of God is upon it and attends it.
In Jamaica today, there is a plant called “the life plant.” They call it the life plant because you can’t kill it. I mean, you can kill it, but it’s hard. You can chop it down near the base, and the plant will just grow right back. (A lot of weeds are like that.) You can actually take a single leaf off of the life plant, put a hole in it, and put some sewing thread through it. Then, you can hang that leaf from a line, and the leaf will begin to shoot out rootlets, drawing moisture from the air. It will send out rootlets, and those rootlets will begin to grow more leaves. Pretty soon you’ll have this huge thing just suspended in the air, hanging from that wire, drawing life from the moisture that is in the air. The life plant. You can’t kill it. The gospel is like that.
The Roman Empire tried to kill it and couldn’t do it. The Soviet Union tried to kill it and couldn’t do it. China tried to kill it. There are more than 50 million Chinese men and women who love Christ today. You can’t kill the gospel. So, as you go and share your faith, pray for the gift of evangelism; but if you’re not given that gift, know that His power attends the message itself. We’re called to obedience, and we’re called to faithfulness.
There’s a second gift that’s kind of related. It’s the gift of hospitality. The gift of hospitality is kind of like the gift of evangelism. Even though it’s a special endowment of the Holy Spirit given to some Christians, all Christians are called to participate in it. All Christians are called to hospitality, just as all Christians are called to evangelism. So, here’s another gift we’d all better pray for.
The word hospitality comes from the Latin word “hospice.” This word means “guest.” Hospitality described a person who gave free and friendly welcome to another person, made that other person his or her guest. By the fifth century, in the Christian world, Christian churches in every community and in every town had established houses that travelers could go to. Whether they were friends or strangers, they could go to this house, and they could receive a free meal and free lodging. It was a free and friendly welcome, and they called those houses “hospices”—related to “hospitality.”
By the time of the Crusades, these hospices were run by religious orders, but they were still free. They offered free and friendly welcome to anybody who wanted a free meal or a free night’s lodging—any traveler, any friend, any visitor, any stranger. Free and friendly welcome. Now, after the Crusades, these hospices began to receive the sick and the infirmed. Ultimately, they were called “hospitals.” Of course, today we have hospitals. That all comes from the word “hospice,” but we all know that hospitals do not give free welcome. Hospitals are very expensive today, and so hospitals really don’t carry the meaning of that original word “hospitality.” They’re wonderful. Thank God for hospitals, but they don’t offer free and friendly welcome. They offer friendly welcome, but they do not offer anything free.
The Church of Jesus Christ is still called to hospitality. We are to offer free and friendly welcome to strangers. The word for “hospitality” in the Bible is the Greek word “philoxenos,” which means “love of strangers.” A lot of churches are xenophobic. They have a fear of strangers. The Church of Jesus Christ is to love strangers and welcome strangers. So, we have this call upon us. That’s why we have Manna Ministries at the church, so we can give free meals to anyone who wants them, friend or stranger. That’s why we, through the missions department, support ministries in this city and all over the world that give free lodging and free meals in the name of Jesus Christ. We want to be part of hospitality.
Of course, hospitality also has to do with the way we treat people when they come into these doors. We have greeters at the door. We have times for you to say hello to the person next to you. I talk to the staff about being a friendly staff, but it’s really all dependent upon you. If we’re a hospitable church, it’s going to be because of you. You need to pray for the gift of hospitality, and you need to seek to be obedient in the giving of welcome to people.
I read recently about a church in New York City, St. Bartholomew’s Church. It’s an Episcopalian church on 5th Avenue. Not too long ago, a man went into that church before the service and sat down in the third row wearing his hat. An usher came up to him and said, “Sir, this is church, and we don’t wear hats in church.” The man in the hat smiled at the usher. He introduced himself and shook the usher’s hand, but he left his hat on. Then the head usher came. He said, “Sir, this is a church. This is a house of worship. We take our hats off during worship.” The man in the hat smiled. He introduced himself and shook the head usher’s hand, but he left his hat on.
Then a woman who was the head of the women’s association in the church came up. She said, “This is an Episcopalian church. We have certain traditions. We take our hats off when we worship.” He introduced himself and shook her hand, but he left his hat on. Then the Senior Warden came up. The Senior Warden is an official position in the Episcopalian Church. The Senior Warden came up to him and said, “Sir, this is a worship service, and the worship service is about to start. You need to take your hat off.” The man in the hat smiled. He introduced himself and shook the Senior Warden’s hand. When the worship service started, he took his hat off.
After the service, the Senior Warden came up to him. He said, “I’m sorry to have had to talk to you about your hat, but we have a tradition here as Episcopalians. We don’t wear hats in church.” The man said to him, “I know that. In fact, I’m a member of this church. I wore my hat this morning because I’ve been coming here for two years, and I’ve never met anybody! But today, I met the usher, the head usher, the head of the women’s association, and the Senior Warden!”
I think some churches might be like that. I hope our church is not like that; but it’s up to you how friendly we are, how hospitable we are, and how we welcome and receive friends and strangers.
Our time is up here, but I do want to remind you that Franklin Graham is coming next week. There is a way that you can combine the gift of evangelism with the gift of hospitality. You can combine these two gifts by being what we sometimes call a “bringer.” You can bring someone to church next week. You can bring a friend, you can bring a stranger. You can bring anyone you want to church next week. That way, you participate in evangelism and hospitality, both of these gifts. Next week, as we have these three services and the privilege of having Franklin Graham with us, we hope that you will bring friends. Let’s close with a word of prayer.