Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ”This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:45–49
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
John 1:6–8
“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.”
Acts 1:8
“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.”
Acts 2:32
“Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.”
Acts 26:16
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15
Evangelism is sometimes mistaken for a form of product promotion, in which we have to wheedle, cajole, frighten, or trick people into sampling God. Our performance as reps is assessed on numbers as all performance is – how many did we sign up to giving our spiritual commodity a go?
Christian faith is more often than not seen as a personal attribute of the believer – “I wish I had your faith,” people say, believing that faith arises from having a particular personality type, or being brought up in a home where spirituality was accepted and understood.
Our passages here would suggest otherwise. John the Baptist was not himself the light; he only bore witness to the light, John’s Gospel says – faith is not an attribute of myself; it points beyond to a living Lord. “You are witnesses of these things,” Jesus says – we are to report on what we have experienced first-hand for ourselves. And this is not to be pushed on people: always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you, Peter says – but with gentleness and respect. And that’s all. We don’t need to knock on people’s doors and harass them in their homes, or stop them in the street; what they see in us should be enough to make them be the ones to ask the questions.
Living Lord, we give you thanks for the hope and peace you have brought to our lives. Thank you for the times you have been our strength when trouble came to us. Thank you for the release and joy you have brought us in setting us free from sin. Here and now I invite you again: come into my heart, Lord Jesus; make your home with me. Cleanse and forgive anything I have done wrong. Heal the wounds that have been left by the hurly-burly of living. Make yourself real to me. Be the king of my life, of my heart. Stay with me, Lord Jesus, and never take your Holy Spirit from me. This prayer we ask in Jesus’ holy name, for his glory; Amen.
