The Joy of Witnessing

The Joy of Witnessing

(Acts 10:34-43)

10:30 am, Sun, Jan 13, 2014; Windsor UBC; J G White

2014, for me, in my preaching, shall be a “Year of Joy.”  I have pondered this for the past couple months, and decided, “Yes, we need more joy in our faith and fellowship.”

So I start, in the season of Epiphany, with the joys of sharing Jesus with the whole world. 

It is not always natural for the Christian believer to be a witness, to speak directly and “always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in” him or her. (1 Peter 3:15) Though opportunities do come along. 

Was walking into a garage the other day, to fetch a repaired car, and was greeted by the owner seeing me and exclaiming: “Praise the Lord!”  What does one say to that?  Uhh… duhh.  I didn’t say much of anything.  What could I have said? Let me give you multiple choice and see what you say…

“Oh, I didn’t know you praised Him too.”

“Oh, I didn’t know He is your Lord too.”

“Hallelujah!”  “Amen, brother!”

“I love praising the Lord.”

“Well, thank you for the compliment.”

“…and pass the ammunition.” I think that’s actually what I did say, come to think of it!  The title of a 1942 song; not a very good response to the opportunity.  He took me totally by surprise.

In Acts 10, we read of some folks in a Roman town who had been touched by God, and were guided to send for a well-known disciple of Jesus who was nearby, Peter. His ‘sermon’ in Caesarea, before a soldier, Cornelius, and others, is recorded briefly here.  Peter had witnessed the action and purposes of God, and he speaks of all this.  He is a ‘witness,’ he tells what he has seen. 

This is our mandate. 

Peter, in his sermon, spells out the gospel with at least eight points about Jesus and His life events.  Jesus’ baptism, His anointing by the Spirit, His doing good, His death, His resurrection, His appearances to people, His role as Judge, and His forgiveness of us. 

1.      Baptism: “the baptism that John announced” only alludes to the fact that Jesus was baptized, after his cousin John has prepared people for Christ by baptizing them for forgiveness of sins, out in the countryside.  Baptism for us is a way of saying “yes” to the Lord that is beyond words and promises: it is a public action. 

2.      Holy Spirit and power anointing: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power”.  We might say in Jesus was God, and God’s power to do what we can’t. 

3.      Doing good: “he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”.  How wonderful and profound the stories of Jesus are, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

4.      Death: “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree”.  The wooden cross of old was an instrument of torture, humiliation and death, in popular use by the Roman Empire, back then.  This was how Jesus was executed.  Executed by… a lot of people, really… and in a deep sense, by all of us throughout history. 

5.      Resurrection: “but God raised him on the third day”.  If we have reason for joy, within, this surely is a root.  The sins of the world could not keep Jesus down.  The mortality of humanity and all creation could not win over God.  Death, and suffering, and sin, do not have the final word!  “Praise the Lord!”

6.      Appearances: “…and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”  Real, personal experience with Jesus, alive again, was the strong testimony of people like Peter, who were there in those days.  We don’t have this same experience, but we have other experience in our day.  We have God the Holy Spirit, whom we can call “another Jesus,” as John Bartol beautifully explains Him. Jesus with us all, in Spirit.

7.      Judge: “he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.” Or as we said four hundred years ago, “judge of the quick and the dead.”  I don’t think I’ve ever explored God’s judgment with you at any length, and it would be worth doing this sometime...  We, Christian believers, anticipate being judged by Jesus one day in terms of our faith, our confidence, in Him.  How have we relied upon Christ to make us right, instead of relying on ourselves to be good?  Jesus’ righteousness becomes our righteousness, since we don’t really have any.  Our being in the right is like filthy rags, scripture says.  There is judgment of how we have lived. This includes our obedience, our love and sharing, including what we have done with Jesus.  Some speak that we will be asked, on approaching the judgment of Jesus, “What did you do with Me?’ or, “Who did you bring with you?”  We will be judged upon our witnessing.

8.      Forgiveness: “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”  Peter also had mentioned “preaching peace by Jesus Christ”.  Peace for the inner turmoil, peace with others in this life, peace with God for the human soul – these all come thanks to the forgiving sacrifice of Jesus.

Peter’s little sermon, here, begins and ends with forgiveness of sins, and the emphasis on this being a message to share.  To share with all. With a roman soldier like Cornelius, and with all who were not even Jews. 

I see several categories of joyful witnessing in our lives.  And the first, for many of us is the JOY of being a witness of our Church, our religion… this is possible, with caution. 

I glimpse this all the time when folk invite a friend to a concert here, or a small group meeting, or Sunday worship.  This is a subtle, and sometimes effective way of witness.  We are not saying anything about Jesus, but we are inviting someone to a place where Christ may be shared and seen. 

I will always recall the Eulogy for Mable Parker by her grandson, Brian.  Mable was not likely one of these people who preached at her grandsons about Jesus and so forth.   Brian spoke of how she brought him with her to worship here, where he learned about Jesus, and met Jesus.  

Now, I’d say that being a witness for our local church and being a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ are two different things, which do overlap.  When we recommend our church to people, we are recommending an imperfect thing, an entity with gospel goodness and fallen badness.  When we recommend Christ to someone, we are telling them about the perfect Saviour. 

There is the JOY of witnessing as part of the team.  Together we know and can tell the more complete story of salvation by Jesus Christ. We get to see and know all this too, though any one of us will not know it all, from our own experience.  Together, we do. 

Just think about those eight elements Peter mentioned.  Some Christians have had a very special moment in their spiritual journey that has to do with healing, a healing that comes from God.  Others can’t speak of that from first-hand experience.  But some have faced a death in their family that profoundly showed them that Jesus provides life after death.  So they can testify about that.  Other people have personal stories of sin and forgiveness to tell, and point to Jesus that way.   Still other individuals have experienced the anointing by the Holy Spirit in amazing ways, and that is part of their story.  Not one of us has experienced all the things Peter outlined in his sermon that day, but together, one hundred of us likely can tell the whole story from our many firsthand experiences.  When we are a team, the whole story of God doing these things in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries can be shared and come to life for others!

So, there is also the JOY of not having to know it all. I do not have to know Him completely to be a witness.  We share what we do know.  That is what being a witness is.  As in a court room; that’s the metaphor.  The Lord gives us joy in what we do know in our life with Him, and what we can understand and explain.  There is joy in having faith, small as it may be, and using that little light to shine for Jesus.  This is the sentiment of many a gospel song, such as…

I don't know about tomorrow; I just live from day to day.

I don't borrow from its sunshine

For its skies may turn to grey.

I don't worry o'er the future, For I know what Jesus said.

And today I'll walk beside Him, For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand,

But I know who holds tomorrow

And I know who holds my hand. (Ira F. Stanphill)

One more point.  There is the JOY that we are also chosen witnesses, today, of the saving acts of God. 

The Apostle Peter preached of himself and others who “were chosen by God as witnesses.”  Jesus commanded them “to testify that He is the one.”  And, “all the prophets testify about him.”  Almost two thousand years later, we are the witnesses. 

Years ago I knew a retired pastor named Eric Miner.  I think he was ordinary, kind, hard-working, in his career.  He told of serving in his early years of his ministry on Long Island, Digby County.  Another local church had held revival services – the thing to do in those days.  Not much came of them, few converts, we’d say.  Then the Baptists decided to try.  And Eric talked about seeing a response – a revival – that he never saw before or after in his life.  Hundreds of people responded.  They had been primed; they were ready.  Eric could not explain it, he was simply a witness, and gave the credit to the Holy Spirit.  And all those years later, he testified to me about that moving of the spirit in one rural Nova Scotia place.

Our faith can grow, our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ can grow, our experiences of God can grow.  So it is meant to be.  And we must tell what we know, what we do know!  

In a live church the preacher does not do all the talking. Dependable witnesses are as indispensable in the church as in the courtroom. Lawyers and preachers are helpless if there are no witnesses. (sermoncentral.com)