Acts 1:3-8        You Shall Be My Witnesses        March 30, 2008

How many of us can easily and readily recall the last words we ever heard from a loved one?  As a pastor, I have been in many a hospital room as families have gathered around their departing loved one.  In every case, they always listen intently and carefully over those last words spoken.  Furthermore, families will go to great lengths to follow the final requests of their loved ones. 

 Jesus had last words to speak to his followers before he left this earth.  It was forty days after Easter, after Jesus was raised from the dead.  He had appeared to the disciples, to the women who followed him, and to over 500 people who saw him alive.  Now it was time for him to leave so that the Holy Spirit could come.  He only had one final command.  You shall be my witnesses.  Today is my last sermon in this series on the Words of Jesus.  We have come a long way since Christmas.  Jesus has taught us how to stop worrying, how to choose our future, how to take a Sabbath rest, how to live as a disciple, how to live for eternity.  I hope you can remember some of those words and that they will continue to impact your life.  But now there is one final word.  You shall be my witnesses.  We are given good news.  The best news in all the world concerning the love of God.  And we are not to keep it to ourselves but share it with everyone.  Today I want us to see how sharing our faith is the calling of every Christian and that to fulfill our calling we must have something to share. 

   The biggest barrier to the spread of God’s world vision is that the average Christian in the pews does not realize that the spreading of the good news is the calling, is the job, is the command of every Christian.  It is not the job of the clergy to spread the gospel.  The gospel will never reach the world if left in the hands of the clergy.  This church, Augusta Road UMC, will never grow to reach more people if left up to me.   Ministers simply do not have the community contacts which you do.  Every day, every week, you interact with people on your job, in school, in your family, among your friends whom I will never meet.  By and large, the people I interact with are you, the members of the church.  Of course, I meet some other people through community events but not in an everyday fashion as you do.  I will never meet those people, talk to those people, have an opportunity to invite them to church.  No.  My primary job is in training you to reach the world for Christ.  Clergy are more like coaches who train you to be the players in the game.  But it is the calling of the men and women of the church to be witnesses for Christ.  

  Is it really important that the average Christian share his or her faith with others?  In 1855 a Mr. Kimball, a rather shy shoe salesman in Chicago, told another shoe salesman about Jesus Christ.  Mr. Kimball was not a good talker but by his quiet words and actions, he shared his faith. The other salesman’s name was Dwight L. Moody who went on to become the greatest preacher of the late 1800s.  In 1879, Moody was preaching in a small town in England and a man named Frederick Meyer was converted to Christ.  Meyers went on to become a minister who taught on numerous college campuses.  At one campus, he led a young man named J. Wilber Chapman to know Jesus.  Now Chapman was never a clergyman or ever famous, but he volunteered a little of his time each week in the work of the YMCA.  Through the YMCA, Chapman met a young pro baseball player named Billy Sunday who was converted to Christ and became the greatest evangelist of the early 20^th century.  Now Billy Sunday was preaching in Charlotte, NC and created such a revival that the area churches held a second week of revivals with another preacher named Rev. Mordecai Hamm.  Now Hamm was never very well known as a minister but in those revivals, he led a young man to know Jesus.  That man’s name was Billy Graham.  Who here has ever heard that name?  How many people were touched by the witness of Wilber Chapman who gave a few hours each week to the YMCA?  How many were touched by that shy shoe salesman in Chicago named Mr. Kimball?  History does not even remember his first name.  All we know is Mr. Kimball.  But let me tell you, God knows his name.  God knows all that was accomplished by his witness for Jesus Christ.  And when Mr. Kimball entered the gates of Heaven, he heard the words form Jesus, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.  Come into your reward.”  All because he told a fellow shoe salesman about Jesus.  All Christians are called to be witnesses.

    Now before you can share, you must have something to share.  You yourself must have a relationship with the master.  You must know him, love Him, and see His Spirit in your life.  You know, I notice how quickly grandparents show me photographs of their grandchildren.  Why is that?  They love those grandchildren.  Their hearts are warmed by the mere thought of those grandchildren.  Listen, when our hearts are really warmed by Jesus, then we will have a witness to tell.  We must open ourselves to that spirit.

   Why are we shy about sharing our faith?  Our culture has convinced us that religion is a private matter.  In fact, our culture has convinced us to never talk about matters that are very deep or important.  Most of our conversations are filled with trivia.  We talk about the high price of gas, the weather, our diet, the stock market, what car to buy, our aches and pains, and what movie to see.  But with the very people whom we love the most, we rarely speak of personal matters of importance.  We really rarely ever communicate.  Do we fear that other people will not want to talk about these things?  In fact, so many people are searching about spiritual matters.  In my wife’s counseling practice, when she worked for the State of SC and now in her private practice, people come into her office with a multitude of problems.  And so very often, not her but the clients bring up the subject of God or spiritual matters.  People all around you are suffering in their troubles and not very far beneath the surface of their hurt is the question of God.  They are just waiting for someone to speak the good news to them that someone cares for them.  Once the silence is broken, once the barrier is penetrated, people want to talk about things that matter, about their deep feelings, about life, death, love, and purpose. 

   Now many of us are reluctant to share our faith because we have been turned off by Christians who shove religion upon us in an aggressive fashion.  I am not suggesting that you beat people over the head with your Bible or force religion down anyone’s throat.  But if we will listen to where they are in life, there are many, many people who will listen to a Word from Jesus Christ about life.  First, we listen.  We do not talk, talk, talk when we witness about Jesus.  First we listen, listen, listen.  We must know where they are, what they need.  As we listen, really listen, we also pray, “Lord, help me to love this person into your Kingdom.”    Then we can speak the right words of life for them for where they are.  

  Let me ask you honestly.  Do you believe Jesus has made a difference in your life?  Do you believe Jesus could make a difference in the life of someone you know—a friend or family member?  If you believe that, then you will find a passion and plan for being a witness for Christ.  Jesus said, “You shall be my witnesses.”  Let us commit ourselves this day to be those witnesses, to invite people into this church, to tell them of God’s love.  Amen.