Witness is the Word...

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

The words of Jesus.  You will receive power.  You shall be my witnesses.  Witnesses in Jerusalem.  In our homes.  In our neighborhoods.  In the places we live.  Among the people we live with.  Witnesses in Judea.  In our communities.  In our cities.  Among our countrymen and women.  Witnesses in Samaria.  Among our enemies.  Those who do not look like us, believe like us, look like us, spend money like us.  Those we would rather keep at arm's length.  Witnesses in the remotest part of the earth.  In the forgotten and abandoned corners.  In the city centers and back-alleys.  Among the rich and the poor.  In the desert places and the most fruitful fields.  There is not a place we cannot go nor a person we cannot reach because the power and presence of the Holy Spirit compels us, fills us, pushes us, draws us out.  Out of ourselves.  Out of our comfortable lives.  Out of our sinful and narcissistic perspectives.  This power gets us involved.  It connects us viscerally with those around us.  This power will not let us stand on the sidelines or observe as bystanders. 

It's important to note that this power isn't ours to possess.  Rather, it possesses us.  It isn't ours to control...it controls us.  It isn't ours to command...it commands us.  The Holy Spirit pursues us relentlessly and tirelessly.  His energy never flags.  His passion to reclaim our souls, to stake claim to every part of our lives, never fails.  And it is to this amazing power, this amazing love, this amazing grace that we bear witness...in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth. 

Once the Holy Spirit blows through us, filling us, and compelling us to be his witnesses...two more questions are pressed.  What is our witness?  How should we witness?  In the second chapter of Acts we see Peter bearing his witness.  A crowd has gathered, drawn by the sound of the Holy Spirit and the disciples speaking miraculously in the different dialects/languages of the Mediterranean basin.  In what reminds me of a Mardi Gras event, the crowd can't decide if these men are just drunk of if there is really something important happening here.  Enter Peter.  Filled by the power of the Holy Spirit, he makes his witness.  And in making his witness, he clearly articulates the missio Dei.  He shares the story of God's mission to reclaim and redeem the world for his very own.  Tracing God's plan throughout the Old Testament, he now offers the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as evidence that God's plan has come to fruition.  In this man, Jesus, God's purposes are revealed and made clear.  What God did for Jesus, he will do for all humanity for the Crucified One is now Lord over all.  

What about our witness?  Like Peter, are we called to stand on street corners and preach?  Or does it look different?  How should this account inform our own witness in our lives and in our time and in our context?  First, I think it's important that we seek out where the "crowd" in our life is gathering.  The crowds were drawn to the disciples that day.  They came seeking or at least spectating.  There was something about the disciples that drew them to that place.  Where in our lives do we sense people being drawn in?  Is it our neighbors?  A co-worker who seems to be reaching out?  A classmate making friendly overtures?  A friend who keeps asking for time?  Someone new that we have met with whom we seem to have a connection?  Who is the Holy Spirit drawing to us? 

Second, we wait for the question.  "What does this mean?" The people asked the disciples.  They wanted to know what was happening.  What was the reason for all the commotion.  As we live our lives authentically before others, the question will get asked.  It will come in many forms but the gist of it all is this...why do you live the way you do?  What is it about you that is different?  And when that question comes, we must be prepared to share.  Peter spent three years walking alongside Jesus.  He was with him through the highs and the lows (though he did run at the lowest of lows...) of ministry.  He saw Jesus in many different contexts and in many different situations.  He studied Jesus' teaching, asked questions, probed for answers.  He reflected.  He doubted.  He discovered.  And when the time came for him to make his witness, he was ready.  He was prepared.  This is what informs and will ultimately determine the quality of the content of our witness.    Frankly, there are no shortcuts to this.  We must spend time with Jesus.  We must spend time reflecting, probing, doubting, and asking our questions.  Through prayer.  Through Bible study.  With other believers.  With people who don't believe as we do. And the more we wrestle with the Jesus story, the more our own story will take shape.  And as our own story takes shape, the more confident and sure our witness will become. 

A friend of mine who is involved in Allelon has been asked a lot recently about what our church believes.  So she came to me to find out if we have a mission statement or statement of faith.  We don't have either.  What we do have is the life of Jesus as revealed by Scripture.  Rather than trying to boil that life down to a series of propositional statements about Jesus, I would much rather we seek to live life alongside his as Peter did.  I would much rather we engage in the messy, painful, freeing process of conforming our lives to his life.  And so I asked this friend of mine to think about how she would describe our life together in Allelon.  What ARE we about?  What DO we believe?  Her answers to these questions will form the basis of HER witness to her friends.  This, it seems to me, will yield a much fuller and richer witness to Jesus Christ than some static mission statement. 

Comments

[Andy]

Doug, I'm very curious about how your church is doing. And not just how as in how well, but how as in what form it is taking. If, when you have the time, you could share the goings-ons, I'd love to read all about it.

[Doug Resler]

Hey Andy! Fire me your email at reslerd@gmail.com and I will send you the latest report I made to presbytery. It's got a lot of the details you probably would be interested in. Plus, a lot of requests for prayers which I know I can always use! Thanks, my friend!

Peace,
Doug