November 25, 2007

Witnessing to the World
Isaiah 43:8-10; Acts 1:6-11

In a recent article entitled “The Challenges with Identity Verification,” Guy Huntington examines the various difficulties in verifying the identity of physical people. A woman, for example, claiming to be a long-lost wife in search of a share of Uncle Zeke’s estate. An aging drifter announcing that he is the former town mayor who vanished years and years before. Or recall the case of Anna Anderson. Anna was one of several people who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last autocratic ruler of pre-communist Russia. In this case and many others, bits of evidence are examined and people questioned in hopes of determining the person’s true identity. Anna Anderson, from virtually all accounts, was an imposter. And what became of the real Anastasia? While most assume that she was killed with the rest of her family in 1918, the search goes on in at least a few people’s minds.
This same issue of identity verification lies at the heart of our passage here in Isaiah 43. We find ourselves looking in on a global, judicial proceeding. All of the nations of the world are gathered, and apparently their gods have come under close scrutiny. Who is the true god? The gods of the nations, or the God of Israel? That’s the question that this process is intended to resolve. Evidence will be examined and people interrogated in hopes of finding the answer.
As the tension mounts in the court room, each side is invited to call witnesses in their defense. Alarmingly, the supposed gods of the nations have not a shred of evidence to offer and no one to call on—dead silence fills the courtroom. They are imposters: mute and impotent, no gods at all.
Then, after waiting his turn, Yahweh, the God of Israel, rises and calls his witnesses. He summons, not the thundering waters tumbling over Victoria Falls, as breath-taking as they are. Not the blazing sun or glistening stars shining overhead, as inspiring as they have been over the years. Not even the imposing heights of Mts. Kilimanjaro or Everest, as unconquerable as they appear to be. Yahweh instead invites the blind and the deaf to come in his defense. He asks ordinary people who work for a living, burp babies, forget appointments, struggle with temptation and get tired at night. “You are my witnesses,” the Lord announces to the people of Israel. “Take the stand and verify my identity among the nations.” “You show the world that I am God.”
Phew. Lucky for us. I’m glad that God called the Israelites. I wouldn’t want to testify on his behalf in court, would you? Then, just as we settle back in our recliners to watch the evening news, Jesus turns and hands you and me subpoenas as well: “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” he announces in Acts 1:8. In Grantham, Mechanicsburg, Harrisburg and beyond. We are now called to take the stand in God’s defense, and our sixth core value acknowledges this monumental responsibility: “Witnessing to the world: we value an active and loving witness for Christ to all people.”
So what makes effective witnesses? What are they like, and what do they do? From everything I’ve ever seen and heard about our judicial system, valuable witnesses share two things in common: a testimony and credibility. Not surprisingly, the same holds true for witnesses in the Bible as well.
First, a testimony. Witnesses are called to the stand to speak. There are eye witnesses or character witnesses who are called to give a personal account of the case or the defendant—what they themselves have seen or heard. Then there are so-called expert witnesses who provide informed explanations of the evidence or procedures under consideration. In calling us to be his witnesses, Jesus asks us to testify in precisely these two ways.
He calls us, to begin with, to serve as eye or character witnesses who testify of his goodness and grace in our own lives. As witnesses, in other words, we first and foremost share with others what God has done for us. I’ve long been struck by Jesus’ words to the man out of whom he had just cast a host of demons. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the story. Jesus doesn’t say to the healed man, “Go tell everyone you see about the omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence of God.” Neither does he say, “Hurry off and explain to all would-be listeners the nature of the universe or the differences between infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism” (whatever they are!). Instead, he instructs the man to “…go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you” (Mark 5:19). And when the man did, Mark informs us, people were amazed. Much the same thing can be said about the woman from Samaria in John 4. Overwhelmed by her conversation with Jesus at the well, the woman left her jars and ran back to the city to tell the people about the man who had told her everything about her past and present. Within moments, her listeners followed her back to the well to see this man for themselves.
We sometimes make witnessing far too complicated, I suspect. Perhaps we think that our own experiences with Christ lack glamour or excitement. We’re not former gang leaders, and we’ve had no near-death encounters with drugs. Or maybe we feel uneducated, slow with words, or just downright fearful. Fearful that people will ignore us, laugh at us, or raise questions that we are unable to answer. We can make the simple sharing of our faith so complex.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is for grandparents to pull out a picture of their grandchildren and tell you everything about them? Can you remember a time when a young groom shied away from an opportunity to show off his new bride? We typically find great excitement in telling others about the special people in our lives—it comes naturally to most of us, I think. In its most fundamental form, that is what witnessing is all about. We are called to the stand as eye or character witnesses to tell people what God has done in our lives. To inform people of what Jesus means to us. To acknowledge how the Holy Spirit is leading us. No pomp or pageantry. No contrived or forced speeches. Just a simple word at opportune times—wherever we happen to find ourselves—introducing others to the Lord. That is where witnessing begins.
At times we are also called to serve as expert witnesses. The Apostle Peter refers to this role in 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be ready,” he writes, “to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.” Be prepared, in other words, to offer fundamental explanations of what you believe and why you believe it when the need arises. Peter himself, along with John, Paul and others, provides such expert testimony throughout the book of Acts. In Acts 2:14-36, Peter addresses the crowds in Jerusalem and explains the erratic behavior of the Christians who have just received the Holy Spirit. Against charges of drunkenness, Peter takes the crowd through various Old Testament passages so that his listeners can better understand the life of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 4:1-31, Peter and John explain to their detractors that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone. In Acts 11:1-18, Peter offers a defense of his ministry among the Gentiles and explains to his accusers how God’s plan includes people outside of the house of Israel. And in Acts 17: 22-31, Paul stands before a crowd of Athenians who know nothing of the Gospel and brilliantly uses their own philosophical categories to wet their appetites for Christ. In each case, these followers of Jesus provide expert testimony concerning the things of God and salvation.
Not all of us, to be sure, are pastors, teachers and “professional” theologians. But we don’t have to be for the Holy Spirit to use us. We can still be prepared—sufficiently thought-out—to offer basic explanations for what we believe and why we believe it. Perhaps someone at work or school knows we are Christians and wants to learn more about the faith. What would we say? Maybe someone else inquires as to why we take the Bible seriously, affirm that hope lies in Christ alone, believe in the power of prayer, share our possessions with others rather than horde them for ourselves, or model love and forgiveness in this sinful world. When the people around us raise significant spiritual and ethical questions, don’t you think it would be helpful if we can begin to guide them along the way? What would we say in these and other situations? Christ’s witnesses share their testimony: what we have ourselves experienced and what we have come to understand about the faith through prayerful study and reflection.
And second, credibility. Credibility makes all the difference in the world. A witness with a sorted past or a reputation for lying is of little value. An inmate notorious for testifying in exchange for prison privileges carries little weight. Who the person on the stand “is” goes a long way in determining the value of what that same person “says.” So it is with our witness as followers of Christ.
In our tradition, we have always emphasized what is often referred to as the “visible” church. Various groups of Christians think instead of the “invisible” church. The invisible church consists of all the people around the world who are true followers of Jesus. Such people meet together in local gatherings for prayer and worship, but they do not do so alone. Unbelievers often join them. Local churches like this one, then, are in fact mixtures of believers and unbelievers, as we all know. Only the sum total of genuine believers sprinkled across the globe forms the true, invisible church.
Be that as it may—and I suppose it is unarguable—we here prefer to focus our attention on the visible church. Local congregations that people in the surrounding culture can actually see and touch. We emphasize this, not for the sake of theological nit-picking, but because we believe that our lives as individuals and our corporate life as a church are in and of themsleves a powerful witness for Christ. We as Christians, in other words, do not only announce the Gospel—we model the Gospel. We not only proclaim the message—we are the message. We don’t organize our various ministries, plan discipleship strategies, encourage participation in small groups, sponsor service and mission projects, join together in corporate worship and plant new churches simply so that we are ourselves transformed and drawn closer to God and each other. We don’t just promise to treat each other civilly and seek to work out our differences so that we are ourselves free of conflict. We don’t work at developing stable homes and marriages, train up our young people in the ways of the Lord, and share meals with the sick and lonely, simply so that we ourselves become more virtuous people. We want, of course, to be changed ourselves, and we want to be close to God.
But there is another reason we seek to live holy lives, treat each other with grace and dignity, resist the temptations of the world, confess our sins and seek forgiveness, and in all things glorify God. Credibility. The very essence of our lives as individuals, families, and as a congregation speak volumes to people around us who may never know anything of Christ save what they experience in us. When we take the witness stand for Christ, the evidence of our own lives can powerfully pull people toward Christ. Or push them away.
This past May, Deb and I spent a few days with some dear friends of ours in Vancouver who we hadn’t seen in some 27 years. None of us had children, in fact, when we were last together. Within minutes of entering Dan and Lois’ home, I couldn’t help but think just how wonderful their family was. They made loads of mistakes, to be sure, but they knew it, shared honestly, and laughed together. I can’t begin to tell you how much at home I felt there and how sad I was to leave so soon. I wanted to pitch my tent and stay with them for a long time.
Not all homes are that way, are they? In some, the tension is so thick that you could almost cut it with a knife. People either yelling at each other all of the time or not talking at all. No teamwork, no love, no grace—no sense that God or the life of the spirit matter at all. When you find yourself in a home like that, you long for a breath of fresh air and pray, “Lord, have mercy.”
Credibility. When people are in your presence and mine—when they sit with us, talk with us, eat with us, worship with us—what picture of Christ do they see? When they hear us talk, notice how we spend our time and money, and gain a sense of those things in life that really matter to us, what Jesus are they introduced to? Do they want to move in with us, or would they rather run away and never come back?
A lot has changed since the time of Isaiah. A lot hasn’t. In the minds of many people around the world, the identity of the one true God remains in question, just like it did way back then. And as the proceedings continue and the world looks on, God calls us to take the stand be his witnesses. That is our calling—putting on new garments in which our testimonies and credibility bring praise to God. And it is, in truth, a calling that we, like ordinary citizens of this country who are subpoenaed to testify in court, have no choice but to accept. We are Christ’s witnesses. We are on the stand every day whether we like it or not. The choice we do have involves instead the kind of witnesses we will be. Will we share vital stories of what Christ has done in our own lives? Will we offer to the world thoughtful explanations of the faith that is within us? Will we provide for all to see genuine demonstrations of Christ-like love, virtue and community that entice people to follow Jesus, too? When people see us up on the stand—and they will?will they recognize that our God really is God?