What Does It Mean to Witness?
As Christians, we are called to witness to the ends of the world, but what does that mean? Are we really to cross the seas and venture deep into the jungles?
Scripture: Acts 1:1-10
"Will you be my witness?"
In our modern society, when asked this phrase it’s usually attached to some variation of a legal implication. For example, you saw an automobile accident, and a traffic officer wants a third party to share their perspective. Perhaps you get to be witness to the joyous union of two beloved friends. But what does it mean when God asks that of us?
When it comes to the rest of the world, the number one vow that we make as the children of God is that we're not going to insulate ourselves within our faith. In the Great Commission, Jesus calls us that once you have you have experienced the joy of what it means to follow me, you will have the power of the Holy Spirit. As you go to work, school, and play, you do not relinquish what it means to live those vows of being a Jesus follower to the world. God can do amazing things through simple commitments that go to the very depths of our hearts.
In Acts 1, Jesus is preparing for the ascension and has called his disciples together. This is the seventh encounter that Jesus has had after the resurrection. After his suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive and spoke about the Kingdom of God. He tells them about the fantastic thing that's going to happen at Pentecost, and the first question they want to know is, "when are you going to restore Israel?" Talk about getting off track.
"It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses." (Acts 1:7)
It doesn't say that you might be my witness or suggest that you will be my witnesses if you have time. What does it say? "You will be my witnesses." Jesus takes a declarative stance. "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
After He said that, Jesus was taken into the heavens before their eyes. Now you have to get this picture. These two men dressed in white come stand by them, and everybody's looking up there. The robed men tell them, "Why do you stand here looking into the sky for this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you have seen Him go to heaven."
Let me translate what they're essentially saying. "Stop looking up in the sky. You'll eventually see Jesus again, but your work is here now." Unfortunately, for so many of us, the church can get distracted by great, glorious things looking at the sky and miss what it means to commit to the vow we made to be followers of Jesus, to be a witness to the ends of the earth.
What does it mean to be called to witness?
1. Expectations of a Changed Life
You are not an acquaintance of God. You are not simply a neighbor of God. That is not the way God sees you. You are called a friend of God, even if you haven't acted like a friend. Even if you have a shame or burden that causes you to think that God can't be your friend, Luke says that the gospel changed everything in the book of Acts. You are indeed a friend of God.
Being a friend is the expectation of the changed life that Jesus wants you to join Him in. He doesn't want you to be someone who is in religion. Jesus wants us to understand the power of relationship. And it was in the power of that relationship, is where we see 12 very unassuming men, the disciples, change the world.
Are you a part of anything right now, other than your faith, that 2000 years from now, someone's going to be talking about you?
2. Witness to Life
Luke frames the story of Jesus' ascension (Acts 1:7) as a witness to life. Christ is not expecting those with a changed life to continue about their business as if nothing happened. Your life has been changed. But how do you live it out now? Christ expects you to go into your office, your life, and the world, to change other lives.
How do we rectify with faith in Christ alone? According to what Luke is saying in this passage, if you have faith, you have to live it. You can't just say you believe in something. You have to live what you believe. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. And that's as simple as I can put it.
To live out this witness means that we have all the authority of the Father per Jesus' instructions. Think about that. The Father, who's the same one who has authority over the end of time, has said that He wants you to carry His authority in that witness to the world. But look at what else He says in verses four and five.
"And on one of those occasions, while He was eating with them, He gave them this demand 'Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for my gift from my father who 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.'" (Acts 1:4-5)
Can you imagine anything more spectacular? That God said guess what, I'm going to come live directly in your heart, so that what you speak you can have the full authority and the witness of what it means to follow my Son.
We are equipped with no less than the power of the Holy Spirit. God gave you the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, Paul says in Philippians. He's given that to you so that you can go into the world and tell others about Him.
Now, look at what he says in verse 8, "But you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses first in Jerusalem." Jerusalem represents our family, those closest to us, and the people that live under the same roof. So it's the people that you're going to be witnesses to them.
There there are strengths and weaknesses of that. I will tell you that your children are shaped most by your faith walk. But they come to a knowledge of their walk by those who live in Judea. If you don't believe me, just think about it for a moment. My children have watched their mother and father, good and bad, walk our lives in faith. In every one of my children, I can point out some shape or another, have their walk with Jesus related to what they learned, saw, and heard us do. It's how you live, and most of our Jerusalem witness will go without words.
But you come to faith in the power of the community's witness. That's why your children mustn't be Christians alone by themselves. They need to be part of a community, a church, a Body of Christ that can help shape them, their Judea. So yes, church, you are the Judea. The friends, the neighbors, the people who live in communion with those around you.
3. Witness to Samaritans
Samaritans are the ones that are the outcast, the marginalized ones, those who don't fit, the ones that make us uncomfortable and cause us to be unsettled. These are the people you have to stretch across the aisle to reach. These are your co-workers and neighbors that rub you the wrong way. Maybe this is someone who voted differently than you. By accepting the authority of Christ we are acknowledging that we have been empowered to reach these people.
4. Witness to the Ends of the Earth
The final witness says this, "…and then to the ends of the earth." I love this part. What was Jesus trying to say? Because we can't all go to the ends of the earth, can we? Probably not, but we all can go to our ends of the earth. Sometimes your end of the planet might be the end of your street, or it might literally be around the world. Ultimately, it's the place that you have least expected and feels the most unprepared, yet God sometimes can use the most.
Think about what it means to go to the ends of the earth. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in some areas and the ends of the world, and I know right now that feels like it's overwhelming. But then it seems overwhelming that Jesus would tell 12 Hebrew men to go to the ends of the earth, most of them who never had gone more than 20 miles from their home until they met Jesus.
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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.
