We Are His Witnesses
The Spirit would put steel in the disciples' steps and give them courage to be witnesses for Christ.
With their own eyes, the disciples had seen the proof that God had chosen Jesus to take away the sins of the world. And with their own eyes, the disciples were about to see the proof that God had chosen them to tell the world about Jesus. They hadn’t seen the proof yet--they hadn’t done anything yet--but they would see the proof soon enough. And when they saw the proof, when they spoke the words God would give them and went to the places God would send them, they would know what God’s task for them actually was. And they would become as confident about their work as Jesus’ witnesses as they were about Jesus as their Savior.
What are we supposed to do now? The task Christ gives us is to tell the world that he’s the Savior. That was the Savior’s plan all along. He planned that he would come to earth and live and die and rise again. He planned that God would accept his work as the payment for sin. He planned that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life with him. And he planned that we would be his witnesses. That was the task he gave his first century followers and that’s the task he gives his twenty-first century followers.
It’s pretty obvious we don’t take this task too seriously, too cheerfully, or willingly. How many chances to tell the world about Jesus did you waste this past week? Forget about the week. How many chances did you waste today? At breakfast or lunch, did you pray out loud so you could witness to Jesus? At work today or when you were in class, did you witness to Jesus by showing how his followers live their lives? When you fill your envelope for church, do you think about how you prioritize your money as a witness for Jesus? Did you begin a conversation with the intention of directing someone’s thoughts to Jesus? I thought so. I didn’t have a very good day, either.
When we fail to take the task Christ gives us, we stifle the Savior’s plans in two ways: we stifle his plans for the people around us--the people he wants to be saved--and we stifle his plans for us the people he wants to be witnesses! What a mess we make sometimes!
The truth is, the really comforting truth is this: Jesus knows about the messes we make. In fact, when Jesus was getting ready to ascend into heaven, he knew that his witnesses in every age would have a problem being his witnesses. He knew these disciples would have problems. They were sinners to begin with, and over the span of three years they had shown themselves to be selfish, lazy, materialistic, gullible, and generally unspiritual. Jesus had a plan to help them, and he told them what it was: “I am going to send you what my Father has promised.” The plan was to send them the Holy Spirit; that was what the Father had promised, and he had made that promise already in the Old Testament.
The Spirit would open their eyes to see what they had trouble seeing before. He would expand their minds to believe what before had seemed unbelievable. The Spirit would warm their hearts and take away the selfishness and self-interest. And the Spirit would put steel in their steps and give them courage to be witnesses for Christ.
Just like he does for us today.
PRAYER: Open my eyes, O God, to see what I haven’t seen before … so that I can witness. Expand my mind, O God, to believe what seemed unbelievable before … so that I can witness. Warm my heart, O God, to take away my selfishness … so that I can witness. Amen.