The Center of Evangelism - Acts 2:22-36 We proclaim the living Jesus, not just doctrines or theories! By Father Raniero Cantalamessa Part 4 of a 5 part series So far, we've discussed the Pentecost experience, the celebration of Pentecost in the Jewish tradition, the power and reality of God's love, the transformation of the apostles, and the relatively untapped resource of charisma among the laity in the church. Let's move forward with this pageant to the fourth scene, found in Acts 2:22-36. Let's look at a few lines of this passage: "Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say." We all can receive the authority of Peter to speak like this. Remember; this is the same man who, a few days earlier, was so fearful that he was intimidated by a servant, a handmaid. Now he stands erect and dares to speak like this. "Men of Israel"-which today could mean, "People of all the earth, listen to me." He challenged his listeners saying: "Do you remember a certain Jesus of Nazareth; do you remember him?" Then, when everybody had recalled Jesus of Nazareth, Peter loosed a new thunderbolt: 'You have killed him." Three times he repeated this accusation using different words. 'You have put Jesus to death, but God raised him up from the dead. God has established him as Lord and Messiah." The Point is Jesus Christ What did this mean? It meant that after the coming of the Holy Spirit, the first thing the apostles did (after answering a few small questions of the Jews) was to get to the point. And the point is Jesus Christ. Whenever the Holy Spirit comes in a new and fresh way upon the church, Jesus Christ comes alive. Jesus Christ is set at the center. He is proclaimed in spirit and power, which means in the power of the Spirit. This is the first model of evangelization and if we want to re-evangelize our secularized, modern world, this is how we must start: Jesus Christ in the center, Jesus Christ as Lord. This is, I repeat, the model of any evangelization. We must start by presenting to modern man the person of Jesus, or better still, by helping modern mankind to come into a personal relationship with Jesus. This is not a slogan taken from our Evangelical, Pentecostal brothers and sisters. This is a proof, a great reality. What the world needs is to have a personal relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. The trouble is, Catholics, and other Christian and Protestant denominations, are suffering more or less the same problem. To me the problem is that we Catholics have developed in our church such a widespread heritage of doctrine, canon law, institutions, liturgies, devotions and spirituality that we can overlook or neglect the basic truths. We have developed such a huge heritage of doctrine, that we don't realize that this is too much for a person who does not yet know Jesus, who doesn't understand who Jesus is. It's like putting a solemn liturgical vestment on a child. Do you remember a very ornate vestment called the "cope" which a priest put on when he gave the blessings or the sacraments? Imagine this very heavy, gold vestment put upon a small child. This is similar to our rich, sophisticated Catholic understanding and doctrines being taught indiscriminately to people. We must follow a right order. All this comes later and will be very precious. But first we must put forth Jesus Christ. Be sure that people come to know Jesus-not necessarily all the theology about him, all the Christology, but that they know Jesus in the way St. Paul did when he said: "I was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. I was fine in many respects, a respectable man. As far as holiness and justice embodied in the observance of the law was concerned, I was a perfect man. But at one moment, all the things that were my assets became loss for me. My loss-manure. Why? Because I met Jesus Christ, my Lord." In this particular case he did not call Jesus "our Lord" but "my personal Lord." "And all this is so I may know him" (Philippians 3:4-11). Proclaiming the Living and Risen Jesus I remember a time in my life when I was teaching "Inkoduction to Christianity." I had written and read many books about Jesus Christ but there was one moment when I was given at least a small experience of the Holy Spirit. This moment came as I was reading this passage of Paul's. I was surprised when Paul said, "That I may know him," that simple personal pronoun "him." It says more than we might get from reading many books about Jesus. It means Christ in flesh and bone. A living Jesus- not just doctrines or theories or books about Jesus Christ. I was at an ecumenical conference in Orlando, Florida, recently where the main concern was precisely to find ground for a common witness among all Christians. We all agreed very easily that this common ground is Jesus-the person of Jesus. We can proclaim Christ together, with no distinction whatsoever. This is the one Christian doctrine or dogma which all denominations share together. Even the doctrine of the Trinity is not completely agreed upon; there is discussion among the Greeks, the Orthodox and the Latins about the "Filioque," the way of understanding the procession of the Trinity. Jesus Christ is the only heritage we share undivided. This is why we must proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord. I can see from my own experience that even if I speak of many beautiful concepts, nothing seems to happen. We must proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior, helping people to grasp what it means to have Jesus as their Savior-not in a theoretical way, but that every day they have a Savior, someone who will lift them from the fatigue of the day, of their sin, and their mistakes, and who renews them. He saves us. When you proclaim this living, crucified and risen Jesus, something always happens. This series continues in: Courage I AM with you: Acts 2:37-42 Back to Fr. Cantalamessa's Scripture series page This series first appeared in The WORD AMONG US, A DAILY APPROACH TO PRAYER & SCRIPTURE, and is used with permission. For further information contact them at: www.wau.org Top