Sermon January 31, 1999 You Will Be My Witnesses based on Acts 1:1-9

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

LCMS Missionaries Tim and Beth Heiney served in Guinea, West Africa, where it is part of the culture to share whatever you have. Salvation is the best of all God's gifts, so when you receive it, you also share it! Tim saw this in action when he visited a small refugee church in the village of Kolobengu. On the wall was a calendar with the name of a nearby village written under each day of the week. Heiney thought it was a prayer list, and he praised Pastor Nathaniel Abu and leader James Yassah for praying regularly for so many others. But then he got a surprise. Nathaniel told him it was not a prayer list at all, but a visiting schedule. Every day he visits a different village to teach God's Word. God is blessing his teaching, and many are coming to faith in Jesus! By the faithful sharing of leaders like Nathaniel, many more enjoy the gift of God's salvation. They are examples of witnesses to the ends of the earth.

The command of Jesus for all believers to be witnesses to the ends of the earth is the theme of our service today and this message. In our text from Acts we have this command which is included in Jesus' final words to His disciples before He returned to heaven. These would be the last face-to-face words of Jesus. He would later speak to Paul, struck down on the Damascus road, but He only appeared as a flash of light then. Here Jesus is with His disciples just before His ascension. He says to them, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Jesus lines up for them the important task of witnessing. Several times in Acts is mentioned the role of witnesses. People who share what they know and believe play a crucial role in carrying forward the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The locations that Jesus mentions lay out a pattern: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. This can even serve as an outline for us for the book of Acts. Jesus commands the apostles to go to these places at the very start of the book, and the remainder of the book demonstrates their obedience to what Christ commanded. Chapters 1-7 of Acts deal with the witness in Jerusalem. Chapters 8-9 cover the work in Judea and Samaria. The remainder, Chapters 10-28 speak of the witness to the rest of the world, including Caesarea, Antioch, Asia Minor, Greece and Rome. These locations Jesus mentions also lay out a pattern for us in our day and age.

The category of Jerusalem represents for us those who are nearby who are like us. Friends, relatives, and neighbors need to hear the Gospel. We are closer to these people and share a common language and culture.

The category of Judea and Samaria represent reaching those who are further away in culture or distance. We cannot stop with those near us. Judea means people in our county and state who have the same culture as we do. Often this reaching out is done today by the planting of new churches. Not too long ago a new LC-MS church was planted in LaCresent, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River. This church is losing financial support after 1999 and has appealed to our congregation for further support.

Samaria means people who live close to us but have a very different culture. They are strange to us because of their language, customs or religion. It includes immigrants and international students. It includes homeless, the very poor, and the very rich, and for us who live in a rural setting it includes the people living in urban or suburban settings. It includes people who are deaf, blind or mentally handicapped. For example, the Minnesota South District has mission congregations reaching out to people of the Hmong and Hispanic groups in Minneapolis.

The last category, the ends of the earth, represents all the rest of the people. Now, the earth doesn't actually have ends because it is a sphere. However, what is written in the original language of the Bible is better translated "to the last of the earth." It means the remainder, the rest of it. In other words, cover the whole thing. As we share in the privilege of being Christ's witnesses to all nations, we can look forward to that day when Christ returns and we see "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." (Rev. 7:9)

In the past this job of sending missionaries to the ends of the earth was left to LCMS World Mission, through the Synod's Board for Mission Services. Today congregations are increasingly getting directly involved in partnerships to send missionaries. They support missionaries through constant prayer, encouragement and generous giving. Some congregations develop a special relationship with a missionary through the Together in Mission program. Some congregations are working with other congregations to form mission societies to reach out to unreached people around the globe.

Jesus puts a challenge before us in our text. He says we are to be witnesses to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. This means we don't just pick one, but it is our duty to witness to all areas. We often find it easiest to support mission work financially and through prayer. We have given money in our congregation to support work at the District and Synodical level. We have given a special offering the past three years to our District for a program called "Fear Not...Go Forward in Missions." This we find easier to do than to actually witness ourselves. To go out firsthand and share the gospel-that is hard to do, isn't it?

You've got to have the right tools for a job. If you try to paint your house with a screwdriver, you are going to have a hard time of it. Likewise, if you try to tune up your car with a paintbrush you won't have much success. You won't get very far in cultivating your farm field with a shovel. The corn planter just won't do when it comes to planting flowers in pots. So, we know it pays to have the right tools for a job.

Often times, people will give excuses for why they cannot be witnesses to the faith to which they have been called. Most often, these excuses are that they do not have the right skills to witness. They claim to not have the right tools for the job. How about you? Do you ever find yourself saying, "Lord, I don't know what to say." "I am not a good speaker." "I don't know my Bible well enough." "Lord, I don't have the right tools to do the job."

All of these excuses are a result of our sinful nature. We sin against our Lord by refusing to do as He commands us. We back away from the witnessing we are called to do. We shy away from the missions we are each sent to do among those people near us, those people that we come into contact with each day. We sin, as we neglect to do that which we are called to do by our Lord. Our sin is deserving of punishment.

We do have a gracious and loving God, however. We have a God who did not leave us lost in our sin. Rather, He sent His Son to die for our sins. Because Christ came to die for us, there is now no condemnation for us. Though we sin, our sins are washed clean by Christ's blood, poured out on the cross. Our God saved us through this incredible act of kindness: suffering and dying for us. We are forgiven.

In this forgiveness lies the power spoken of in our text. Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses." Power, when the Holy Spirit comes on you. This power is the power of knowing the forgiveness we have in Christ. It is the power of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit comes upon us when He calls us to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Knowing our Savior and knowing the forgiveness we possess, we are then given power to witness. We have the power of knowing our past mistakes are forgiven. We have power of knowing that our sins of not witnessing are erased. We have power of knowing Christ will continue to forgive us, should we fail again.

This power is the right tool for the job. It is the ultimate "power tool," that would put Tim the Tool-man to shame. We have power to witness because we believe in Christ and we know we are forgiven. Faith comes with power, enough power to get the job done.

We have power, in addition, knowing what this life is all about. Yes, we do understand what life is about. We know it is a temporary existence here, for a short time, in which we are to serve our Lord. That is what life is about. Then, the life to come follows this life, incredibly unpleasant and painful for some, but extremely joyful and a delight for others. This life to come will last forever. Some forever in pain and others forever in bliss. We have the power of knowing that those who believe in Christ will be delivered into the life of forever-bliss. We are assured of this by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We know Jesus was raised from the dead and we too will be raised from the dead into everlasting joy. We know Jesus was raised because, as our text says, "After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." Jesus proved He was raised from the dead by appearing to His apostles. He gave them proofs. He ate with them. He spoke with them. Jesus demonstrated his resurrection. He showed us the way it will be for all who trust in Him.

Knowing that our life to come is all-set gives us power for this life. We have comfort in knowing the future is completely arranged for a pleasant outcome. We don't need to worry about it, and can instead focus on our task for this life. Rather than being concerned about the life to come, we can concentrate on doing the Lord's work now, knowing that what is to come is all pre-arranged for a favorable result. The resurrection gives us power.

Every Sunday is a "Little Easter" for Christians who celebrate the resurrection by worshiping on that day. Ted and Helga Kuster, missionaries in Kazakstan, explain that the Russian word for Sunday means "Resurrection." They add, "It's amazing that the word survived all the years of Communist rule!" God's Word has outlasted all human institutions, governments and earthly powers. It always will.

So, we have power through Christ and the forgiveness He brings to us. We have power to be His witnesses to Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We have power to witness to unchurched people in our neighborhoods. We have power to plant new churches in our district. We have power to support ethnic ministries in the United States and to take the Gospel to the lost people all around the world. We have power through the blessings of Christ, through the faith created by the Holy Spirit, to be our Lord's witnesses. You have power--to spread the Good News of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.