This week marks the finale of our 4-week journey exploring a better way to look at evangelism - reaching out to others through our personal relationships, as we start to reach out by "Just Walking Across the Room."  We've been reminded that the single greatest gift we can offer people around us is to help them get closer to the God who created and loves them.

     We looked at what it means to "live in 3-D": Develop friendships, Discover the stories of others, and Discern, by the power of the Spirit, the next steps in the relationship.  We then delved into the power of Story - God's story and our own personal spiritual story, our own walk with God.

     Our topic this weekend is "Grander Vision Living," and I want to ask you this: How do we maintain the momentum that we've gained these past 3 weeks?  I can sense that we have gained in our understanding of just how important our personal evangelism is in God's marvelous salvation plan. So how do we keep this fire burning through the spring and summer, as we begin to live out God's Grander Vision for our lives as Christians?

     Well, the first thing we'll do is go on a 3-minute vacation. Anyone in need of a vacation around here? OK, then, I'm sending you and your friends on a free trip to Hawaii, and do what I did several years ago when I was there - you're going snorkeling!  Imagine that you're on a lovely, deserted beach in Hawaii with some friends and you plan to snorkel. So you get there, and you get decked out in your fins and you've been taught how to use your mask and your snorkel.

     So you wade out into the water, and you're floating above the water, just looking up at this wonderful blue sky and light, fluffy clouds and perfect weather - the serenity of it all. You're experiencing a slice of peacefulness like you haven't had for a long time.  Is there anything wrong with this picture? Anything at all? Can't be - can't be. Look, you've somehow scored a free trip to Hawaii, you're out there on the beautiful ocean in the bright sunshine. Not a care in the world. Sounds pretty good to me. But what if I told you that just under the water's surface, right below your present line of sight, you were missing an unbelievable universe of activity?

     So you decide to see if that's true. You finally muster the energy to put on your mask, adjust your breathing tube, roll over and put your face in the water.  As you look a little closer at your new surroundings, you think to yourself, "Wow! Where did all these beautiful fish come from?  Why didn't I feel them if they were this close to me?  As you use your flippers to paddle to another area, a school of neon blue and yellow angel fish swim right by you, and just a little bit deeper below, you see that there's a bed of bright red and gold coral shining like a rainbow. And then you realize, "I can see all the way down to the ocean floor. Has the water been this clear all the time and I just didn't realize it?"

     And so you pop back up out of the water and you see the above-surface view again and the contrast is baffling. Above, it's calm, and tranquil, while below, it's full of movement and vibrancy. So, if you had to choose, which is the better view? I know, from personal experience, which view I chose when I went snorkeling.  At the time, it took Diane a while to stop me from snorkeling and staring at all the fascinating activity around me and get me out of the water!

     You see, life is like that. You can ignore much of it, in quest of a "false peace," or you can be a part of the action, part of where God is working, part of God's "Grander Vision" of this life - in preparation for the life to come.

     Next let me take you to another body of water, the Sea of Galilee. We just heard about how Jesus confronted three fishermen - Peter, James, and John - one morning on the shores of that Sea. Imagine if you were those three...you had just worked all night and caught nothing...and then, following Jesus' advice, you went out on the sea again and caught this monstrous catch of fish - never caught anything like it! Your nets were bulging, as never before! Well, now that Jesus had gotten your attention, He wasn't going to waste this moment. I can imagine Him saying, "Hey guys, you think this was something, catching some scaly underwater creatures?  How about thinking a grander thought for a second? Not that there's anything wrong with catching fish - it's your livelihood, I know. But instead of just netting a few dollars here or there, imagine what it would be like if you landed a few eternal destinies instead. Let me tell you where the action is."

     I bet Jesus' eyes were sparkling at that point. He said, "You fellas so far have been fishing for fish, but what I want you to do NOW is fish for people, for men and women. Put your mental and spiritual focus on saving people's souls. Come with me and see what real living is all about!"

     See, basically Jesus was focusing on the "bigger fish argument."  For from the moment He arrived on the scene, 2,000 years ago, all the way up through today, Jesus has been asking all sorts of people, not only career fishermen, but Business men and women, stay at home moms and dads, retired men and women, bus drivers, singers, writers, hair stylists, waiters, secretaries, bosses, pilots, lawyers, doctors, teachers, managers, and all the rest to join Him in His Larger Vision Effort. Here's His challenge: are we going to throw away our one and only life pursuing small fish, or do we have "bigger fish to fry" - so to speak - bigger, human-sized fish, to catch, for heaven's sake?!

     Let me show you, the people of King of Glory, all of you gathered here, what living this Grander Vision is all about.  First of all, this life is all about serving God by serving other people. In "Grander Vision Living," the priority is people.  God wants us to put people first. This is what it's all about: walking across the room - for other people; caring more for others than yourself; a radical inclusiveness for people, even if they look different, talk different, act different, vote different, and so on. So Jesus asks all of us who say we want to be "Walk Across the Room"-type people, "Will you choose the Grander Vision in your situation?"

     There are many ways in which Jesus showed his preference for "Big Fish" actions, over small. Matthew wrote once that Jesus said to us, "Let your light shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works and then glorify your Father who is in heaven."  Did you catch that? "Let your light shine in such a way," means that there's probably more than one way to shine your light. And I think what Jesus is saying is, that our light will either shine on people and point them toward God or we'll keep our light to ourselves, "under a bushel," and, in essence, deny the people we supposedly care about a more meaningful relationship with God. But our light shines by how we respond immediately, by how we embrace and give hope, by how we put people first - because that's the way God's Kingdom gets built. Through your light and your light and your light and...

     Now I also believe your light and mine gets "turned on brighter" when we realize that "Grander Living" involves keeping our focus on someone else's potential. Jesus saw some surprising potential in his future disciples. I mean, imagine: if they had had a "discipleship draft" in Israel, like in the NBA, do you think Peter and James and John would have been among the top 10 picks in that draft? No way. They were just regular people, like you and me. And yet Jesus saw their potential - and was He ever right!!  Now, seeing the potential in others involves doing some heavy-duty "looking past" their faults: Looking past the self-centeredness of others...and see the potential for servant hood; looking past rebelliousness...and seeing the potential for righteousness; looking past superficial charm...and seeing the potential for kingdom-building.  [Pause]   Aren't you glad Christ did this with you and me? Saw our potential? I know I am.  Remember the poster from some years ago: "God don't make no junk." Bad grammar - but very good theology, that! Just look at St. Paul; the worst enemy of the early church, but Jesus knew he could became its greatest leader, and confronted and converted Paul, which spurs us to do the same, and share Christ with someone and - who knows that someone can lead so many more to Him!

     Okay, once we decide to go down the path of "Grander Vision Living," what, practically speaking, does that mean? Well, let's go back to Matthew again. Last week we showed a clip of Matthew hosting a party. At that party Matthew invited all of his outcast friends - a party that he knew ahead of time Christ was going to attend. Now, in our own, "social" way, you and I can throw a party - and it counts as evangelism! Isn't that something!  Some of you are breathing a sigh of relief: An approach to evangelism that involves partying? Cool!  Call it a neighborhood party - call it a get-together for just a few friends - call it a backyard get-together among your closest fellow workers - whatever - but social occasions are a great way to reach out. Unlike here in church, social occasions are considered neutral turf. People tend to relax in social situations. So, whatever kind of get-together you get together, keep it simple, do what makes sense for you, but at least reach out to others! Take that first step.

     The bottom line is, it is time for us to be available, be around others, should the need for God that is IN people be expressed by them one day and someone like us is "on the spot" to direct them to the fulfillment of that need. We should be that "friend who is a Christian" - not just a "friend" - who is an important resource for spiritual guidance in times of trouble or when the possibility of re-commitment is there.

     I read the other day that noted ex-vampire novelist Anne Rice has returned to the Church.  For over 30 years, in grief over the death of her 5-year-old daughter, Rice poured out her anger in vampire characters who hated life. But then, she finally stopped running away. She recently said this: "I do get people saying, ‘How can you be such a fool to believe in God?' I sense many are young Goth kids who feel abandoned. I just say, ‘Look, you're looking for the same things that I was, transcendence and redemption. I found what my characters were looking for.'" There were people around Rice who helped her find that transcendent God-to find the Jesus of redemption. Each of us can be that person who introduces someone else to the God who is here for them, who is offering total love and grace.

     One time Bill Hybels witnessed a talk that impressed him. He saw someone putting stickers on everything in the room - stickers marked "temporary." And each time he put the sticker down, the man said, "Temporary. Temporary."  "There is only one kind of thing in this room that is NOT temporary," the speaker continued. "There is only one thing you can take with you into the next world." Then this man pulled someone up to the stage with him, and he placed a different sticker on her/him, and said, "Here it is. Someone's soul. When you get to the end of your life and take your last breath," he said, "What do you want your life to have been about?" And Bill Hybels thought, "It is really all about people." He went on to think this: "Jesus Christ taught that every human being will spend an eternity in either heaven with God or in isolation from God in hell. So He focused his life - and wants us to focus OUR life, not on the bank accounts, the titles, the achievements, not on the Lesser Vision - that ensnaring trap of the temporal. He thought so much of you and me that He wanted us to live out this Grander Vision with Him now - and in the life to come."

     So, my friends, it has come down to this: let's turn from floating on our backs, on the ocean, basking in our own salvation, and put our masks on, knowing the Spirit is blowing through our snorkels, and let's explore the world just within our sight - a world that is vibrant, alive, and in need - in need of the God of Jesus Christ.  Amen!