Sunday, August 2, 2026 - Go Preach
August 2, 2026
Deborah Laforet
“Go Preach”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your
Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Did you know that Christianity is one of the few religions that is missional, meaning Christians
are encouraged to go out and share their faith, share the good news, and bring more followers to the way
of Christ. It’s one of the reasons it grew so significantly, from a minor new religion, to the official
religion of the Roman Empire, and then across the world. Islam is similar. Both religions are not just
taught within families and religious centres, but intentionally to those who do not follow the faith.
Now, it’s hasn’t often spread in helpful ways. Christianity was spread through colonialism and
imperialism, which was wrapped up in patriarchy, racism, white and heterosexual privilege, and a sense
of general superiority over people who lived and believed differently. Keeping that in mind, the theme
of my message today is to “Go Preach,” so as I offer words that encourage us to preach the good news, I
also want us to remember that spreading the gospel has been done in harmful ways, and we are now
learning how to apologize, to be humble, and to reconcile.
This is the third week of our “Go, Go, Go, Go” theme, inspired by a message from the moderator
of the United Church, Kimberly Heath, who was our keynote speaker in June at a church regional
conference. First, we explored Go Small, then Go Deep. Today we reflect on, Go Preach. Our
moderator told us that we need to learn how to share the story and how it makes a difference. We need to
learn how to use our words. We need to get the story out there.
We are not good at advertising ourselves. In particular, much of the United Church struggles to
‘toot it’s own horn.’ We don’t want to be viewed like those Christians who openly talk about their faith
and talk about God, or who intentionally try and convert non-Christians. We feel it makes people
uncomfortable and we don’t want people to mock us or get upset with us for mentioning our faith or,
even worse, inviting people to join them for church or to have a conversation about what God is up to in
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our world. Many of us might be uncomfortable in our own faith so talking about it with others makes us
feel inadequate. Some of us feel shame because of the way Christians have evangelized around the
world, with conversion as a goal, telling people they need to be saved or they would go to hell.
How do you feel when I tell you to go preach to your neighbours? How do you feel when I tell
you to share your faith with your co-workers? How do you feel when I ask you to talk about God or
Christ with your friends and your family? Does it make you cringe inside? Are you squirming in your
seat? Are you afraid to make eye contact with me?
We are a congregation that has worked hard to be relevant in our community. We have explored
what it means to create a space of belonging for everyone. We have assessed our resources and decided
that we needed to continue in a new way, so we sold our property. We are exploring the idea of working
with partners and sharing in the work of service and justice in our community. We still have a lot to
figure out, but, St. Paul’s, you need to “toot your horn”! Yes, there is grief and fear as we move from
this place to another, but I also hope there is some pride.
This week, I contacted a Marketing agency and talked to someone about our upcoming move. I
wanted to get a quote for how much it would cost to hire a professional to help us share our upcoming
move. We want people to find us in our new space. We also want to advertise to potential partners our
vision for this space. We cannot wait years to find partners to join us, and t’s not just going to happen
organically. We need to work for it, and the only way for that to happen is to start getting the word out,
to spread our news. We are a community of faith that is trying to be faithful to the teachings of Christ -
non-violent resistance, eating with outcasts, prioritizing those in need. We want to put our faith into
action in our community. Because of our privilege, because of Christianity’s dominance in the world,
we have resources that others don’t, and we have decided that we want to share those resources with a
others that shares our passion for justice, belonging, and compassion.
This experiment of ours though is not going to work if we stay silent, if we hide our light under a
bushel. As we heard in Matthew’s gospel, “You don’t light a lamp, then put it under a bushel basket...
you set it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house.” (5:15)
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I found the words in the letter to Timothy to be a bit prescient. Who knows? Maybe the people
of that time were experiencing something similar to what we are experiencing today. We heard, “For the
time is coming when people won’t put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they
will gather around them a great number of teachers who say what their fickle ears want to hear. They
will turn their ears away from truth and aside to myths.” (4:3-4).
We live in a world where there is so much information coming at us that we filter out only what
we want to hear. We live in what are called ‘echo chambers.’ The news we hear, the social media with
which we interact, the algorithms we create online, all lead us toward “an environment in which a person
encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are
reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered.” This is the definition of an echo chamber, and I
want you to hear that again: “an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that
coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not
considered.” It’s the reason why we encounter people more and more who are radicalized in their ideas
and beliefs.
Spreading the gospel, spreading the good news is harder as we try to push through these echo
chambers. It used to be that everyone found their information in just a few places. We could advertise
in a newspaper and most everyone would see it. Many used to watch the news on television, on one of
maybe three stations. It’s not bad that we have several ways of finding information and for connecting
with people, but it does make advertising and sharing news more difficult.
The writer of this letter offers some advice. We are told to “keep your head in all situations;
endure hardship, perform your work as an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. (4:5) So, first, don’t
panic. Don’t give up. There are ways of spreading the news. Second, it won’t be easy. Some many not
like our message and some may try to stop us from this work. Third, it is our work as followers of
Christ, to tell people they are loved and that they matter and that we are striving to create a space that is
open to all and belongs to all. Last, this is our ministry. This is our mission. We are called to make a
difference in this world. Jesus preached that the kingdom of God is at hand. It’s right here within our
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grasp, but we cannot do it alone. We must work together. We must go out and invite people to join us in
this work, to stand together against injustice, to stand together with love and compassion.
May our God keep us strong and resilient as we preach the good news. May Christ continue to
offer us wisdom in how we share that news. May the Spirit encourage us to find the line between pride
and humility as we strive to create a heaven on earth. May it be so. Amen.