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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 9th November 2008 AMCHRIST'S WITNESSES TO THE WORLD Pastor Colin Meadows Acts 1: 1-11
We have been focusing in the past few weeks on the privilege and responsibility we all have to share the Good News of Jesus with our community. This morning we look at the words of Jesus to his disciples just before he ascended into heaven. What can we learn from this vitally important passage?
►Amazed by what Jesus has done! Let us never lose our sense of awe at what Jesus has done for us all. Jesus lived a life of complete obedience to his Father. He gave himself for the world when he died on the cross. Three days later he rose from the dead. Then for forty days he moved around, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom to all who would listen. When he had accomplished all that his father wished him to do he was then taken up into heaven.
What is even more amazing about this story is that this is what Jesus ‘began to do and to teach’.
Acts 1:1-2 “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.”
This was just the beginning! Jesus’ work was to go on now through his disciples. When confronted by such a task, his disciples must have shaken in their sandals. How could they possibly share the Good News in such a hostile environment? The Romans hated them, seeing the small group of disciples as just rabble rousers, people not faithful to Rome. The Jews disliked them, seeing them as apostates, Jews not faithful to Moses and the Prophets. In fact, no one liked them, it seemed! How could they possibly share of their faith in Christ with others?
They needed to be empowered by God himself if this was to happen. That in fact is what truly did take place!
►Empowered by the Holy Spirit! The disciples were to wait in Jerusalem for a very special event, the coming of the Holy Spirit in power upon them.
Acts 1:5-6 “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
At that special time they would be empowered by God through his Holy Spirit to tell the Good News.
Acts 1:8a “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;”
The word used here for power means ‘strength or ability in action’. God’s Holy Spirit seeks to strengthen us so as to bring about his purposes. This is not power for our personal use or to somehow show others that we are better people. We are empowered to exalt Christ and no one else! This power is demonstrated as in weakness as we step out and share the Good News. This wonderful power however is only released when we step out in obedience. Let us step out each day in obedience to Christ, empowered by his Holy Spirit! What should we do as we step out?
►Called to be witnesses of what Christ has done! We are called to be witnesses of Jesus.
Acts 1:8b “And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We are called to be witnesses, the word in Greek being Martur, which literally means ‘one who bears witness by his death’. When we first went to Botswana, our Field Leader said jokingly that as missionaries we must be prepared to preach, pray and die at a moment’s notice. What he meant was that we are to be totally available for Christ to use us. As Christ’s witnesses we are to die to our own personal ambitions and agendas and to seek to live for his purposes. Many of the early Christians went to their deaths because of their faith. That is how serious it is being a witness.
What should a good witness do? I was checking some legal websites about what it means to be a good witness. Here are some of the tips that lawyers recommend if you find yourself in court as a witness. As you hear these tips, apply them to how we should live as good witnesses for Christ:
There is much we can learn there about being a good witness for Christ. As Christians who bear witness to the wonderful Good News, we need to bear in mind two important matters:
►Understand the language and culture! On the day of Pentecost the wonderful promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred. Thousands of people heard the Good News for the first time and were transformed. At that time, God released his message through his people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in languages that the people could understand.
Acts 2:4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
The people standing near, who came from many different countries, thus heard and understood about the wonders of God in their own language. They heard clearly in a language that they could understand.
When we first went to live in Botswana in 1981 we needed to have a working knowledge of the language of the people, in order to effectively share the Good News of Jesus. We thus spent a long time seeking to learn and understand Setswana, language of the people. Along with language learning came cultural awareness as we absorbed what was happening around us. Many things were so different to what we were familiar with so we had much to learn. How long did this go on for? When did we feel we had really got on top on this learning process? We were still learning when we left some seventeen years later.
Each of us living here in Australia, need to understand the language and culture of main stream Australians. The language that is spoken in churches is different to that which is spoken on the streets and in the suburbs. We thus need to translate key Biblical concepts into contemporary language so that people will understand what God’s Word says. As has been said before, many people may never read a Bible but they will read our lives. Speak clearly through how you live!
I remember as a non-Christian hearing the song ‘There is power in the blood of the Lamb’ but I had no idea what the song was about. We must never assume that people in mainstream Australia understand the Christian language we use. Let us learn the language of the local people and share our faith in that language. Can you tell your faith story in words that your next door neighbour can understand?
Let us also know the culture. The apostle Peter and others tailored the Gospel message so that it connected with the cultural background of their listeners. There were times in Israel’s past when leaders sought to understand the cultural shape of their times.
1 Chronicles 12:32 “Men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do…”
We need to do the same today. It has been suggested that you discover what the cultural values of a community by looking at the weekend newspaper. Last weekend’s Saturday paper for instance was divided up roughly as follows:
Comics 2%, Travel section – 4%, Sport (including Cup special feature) – 4%, World and local news – 6%, Motoring – 6%, Life magazine stories – 8%, Entertainment – 9%, Employment Opportunities – 10%, Advertisements – at least 17%, Real Estate - 34%
I wonder why it is still called a newspaper! It would be better to call it a Real Estate guide with accompanying features. If I was an alien dropping in on Perth from outer space, I would assume that the most important part of Australian culture these days is our fascination with real estate in general and our homes in particular, and I don’t think I would be far wrong.
We have a huge interest with where we live, how we can make our homes a little bigger and better, how we can furnish them better, etc. Our homes are getting bigger while our families are getting smaller. Those of us who don’t have a home perhaps wish that we did or else wish that we were renting in a better area, etc. We are fascinated with our homes to such a point that they have become our refuge from the world, where we can retreat and hide ourselves away, sitting in front of our High Definition Digital TV’s.
This focus on retreating into our homes is called cocooning. It has become a new feature of modern living. Cocooning is the name given to the trend that sees individuals socializing less and retreating into their home more. The term was coined in the 1990s by Faith Popcorn, a trend forecaster and marketing consultant in the US. Popcorn identified cocooning as a commercially significant trend that would lead to, among other things, stay-at-home electronic shopping. The creation of the World Wide Web (WWW), home entertainment technology, advances in communication technology (mobile phones, PDAs, and Blackberries) which allow 'work-at-home' options and demographic changes have made cocooning an increasingly attractive option.
This cocooning is affecting all strata of society. People are thus hiding more inside their homes. How then can we reach them with the Good News? We share the Good News with them as has always been the way, through genuine, sincere relationships, of seeking to befriend people through the everyday interactions of life, conversations over the fence, involvement in local community groups, helping people work through challenging time, through sporting clubs etc.
Allow God to use you to be part of the link in the chain, so that others can hear the gospel. I remember once myself when sharing at a camp. Allow God to work. Share the gospel in language that people can understand, while at the same being sensitive to the culture in which we live.
►Let’s be Christ’s witnesses to the world! In the light of all these things, let us shine the light of Jesus to the world. We have been given the responsibility by Jesus to complete the work that he began. Allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to go and be his witnesses, people who with honesty and integrity share the Good News about what God has done in our lives. Tell the story in language that is understandable, while at the same time being sensitive to our local culture. What is your faith story? Are you able to share it in language that is understandable? Perhaps you haven’t yet started your faith journey. Today is the best day to get started!
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