Lesson 1
God decided you should witness
The very first thing that we must focus on in a study about witnessing is
what God said. In order to fully appreciate our need to witness, we need to
understand the order of things. I always begin with the story of Abraham (Gen
12: 1-3) and the blessing that God gave to Abraham if he would follow the
desires of God. He blessed him and his descendants who would be as numerous of
the stars (Gen 15:5) and said that they would be a blessing to the families of
the world. Now we can get into a theological discussion about what that means,
but for the brevity of time, let me simply say that I believe that God is
blessing Abraham so that he would become a spokesperson through his actions,
words and deeds to the power of God in the world. And by doing that the world
would be blessed because all would come to know the love and grace of God. We
can also argue that by virtue of our descending in faith from first Abraham,
then the Hebrew people and through Jesus as Christians, we are all descendants
of Abraham and therefore part of this covenant of God. And so we too are to be
both blessed by the power and grace of God and then be a blessing to the world.
We then follow that line of thinking into the prophets where Isaiah
answers God’s call in Isaiah 6:8, Then I
heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom
shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send
me!" I truly wonder how each of us might respond to God’s call
on our lives. Are we prepared to sacrifice what we have and what we know for
what God would have us do? In the Gospels we receive further instruction about
what it means to be a follower of God through Jesus. Let me share with you some
scriptural reference from none other than Jesus as he talked with the disciples
about their role in the world.
NRS Matthew 10:27 What I
say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered,
proclaim from the housetops.
NAS Mark 1:17 And
Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of
men."
NRS Mark
16:15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world
and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.
There can be no doubt about what Jesus expected of the disciples. And once
you stood before the congregation and before God and professed your faith, at
least in the Methodist understanding, you took a vow to follow God’s
commandments, God’s desires and God’s direction. So on that day, each of us in
fact became a disciple until such time as we are called to glory or lifted to
be an Apostle. I think that the mandate then for God’s calling on our lives is
very clear, don’t you? Now before we put the cart before the horse, an
expression I have always enjoyed, let me caution you about what priority God
puts on that witness. In one of the lessons on the Gospel about Jesus calling
disciples to follow is the lesson of “I can’t go because…” We find it in the
Gospel of Luke.
NRS Luke 9:61 Another
said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my
home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Clearly Jesus believes that our first priority in life, before family and
vocation is to be a disciple. Anything else excludes us from heaven. Now that
is a powerful statement but it goes straight to the concept of faith, belief
and our hearts. If we do not believe then we are lost. If we believe and yet
hold back, we are lost. Only complete submission to the will of God is
acceptable.
I want to share two more
scriptures with you about our witnessing journey. One is a commandment and the
other provides strength and direction. The first is the “Great Commission.”
NRS Matthew
28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And
remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Jesus directed us to first “GO” and the make disciples in all nations.
Clearly his desire of us is that we witness to the power of God to all of
creation so that all may know about the grace and love of God. And in Acts
before his ascension he tells us:
NRS Acts 1:8 But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
So what are we supposed to do? Witness through our actions, words and
deeds!
Questions for Lesson One
·
What is God’s purpose in the world and how can
we be a part of that?
·
Why were the people building a tower in Babel
and how did God’s reaction make our job more difficult?
·
What is the blessing that God gave to Abraham?
·
What did God expect in return?
·
What good news should we the people want to
share?
·
What does God want us to do in the Great
Commission?
·
Can we do one part without the others?
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