Why We Need To Witness (June 2, 2013).

WHY WE NEED TO WITNESS

Text: Galatians 1:1 -12

The story is told about a professional violinist who was giving a concert. When he finished, the crowd jumped from their seats and gave him a standing ovation. He had delivered a magnificent performance. The young violinist, with tears coming down his cheeks, walked off the stage dejected. The stagehand saw him and said, “Why are you so sad? Those people are going crazy out there and you are crying. I don’t understand.”

“Do you see the one man sitting in the center down there? He is still sitting.”

The stagehand said, “Yeah, so what? There are two thousand other people who are standing.”

“This is true, but you don’t understand. That man down there in the middle is my dad. He’s also my violin teacher. If he doesn’t stand, it doesn’t matter what two thousand other people do.”

If God doesn’t applaud when He sees how you live your life, it doesn’t matter what everybody else does.” (Dr. Tony Evans. Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations. Chicago: Moody Press, 2009, p. 277). If it had been any other pupil, the chances are that it would not have mattered that much. What we do as God’s children matters.

We are called to be God’s witnesses. Our calling is an ongoing call because the world chases after illusions that can rob people of their souls.

GOD’S WITNESSES

Would we rather avoid opportunities to witness? 1) Can we wait for the changing of the guard? The answer is no! Have we ever been guilty of waiting for the changing of the guard or shift? How many times could we think of that we could answer yes? 2) The other day I talked with a nurse who used to work in a hospital where the service of those on duty was second to none. Then, one day, they had a change in hospital administration and the service began to diminish over the course of time as nurses would start watching the clock for the changing of the shift during the last hour. That nurse said she began to look for another place to work as a nurse after that. 3) God did not to call us to be idle! God did not call us to pass the buck either! God called us to witness and to always be on duty as His witness in the world.

Would you want a guard slacking off his duty for preserving security? 1) There was a time in history when guards were also known as sentries. The job of a sentry was to keep watch and warn of danger. They were also know for keeping watch over the entrance and exit points. 2) They could be punished for falling asleep, or letting a prisoner get away. In fact, the likely penalty for a guard who was on duty when his prisoner escaped was death. Peter had been set free by angels when he was in prison (Acts 12:1-16) and the guards who were on duty when it happened were put to death (Acts 12:19). That is why the one who guarded Paul in Acts 16 considered killing himself to avoid public disgrace until Paul stopped him and told him that he was still there. 3) Like sentries, we must not make light of our time on duty as God’s witnesses. God has a mission for us to reach as many as we can on our watch! Doesn’t that seem to be the kind of point that Paul is making in Galatians 1:1-12?

OUR CALLING IS CONSTANT

How do we define our calling? Would it be nice to think of being able to clock out because we have put time in on our shift as God’s witnesses? 1) Is that the way our calling is? Is our calling based only on eight hours of a given day? We would more than likely answer that question by saying “Of course not---we know that our calling is not bound by a daily time constraint.” 2) The “evil age” Paul spoke of is not bound by time either. We like our holidays, but evil does not have any holidays! Not only is our calling as Christians not bound by time, it should not be bound by the culture of being exclusive. 3) Someone (Heidi Husted Armstrong) said, “…occasionally congregations experience a renewed longing to be faithful, or give voice to the plea, If only we could be like the early church today! Paul’s Letter to the Galatians reminds us we are! Like the churches in Galatia, our churches are often marked by conflict and theological confusion and we busily doctor the gospel, concocting alternative Christologies [where we study how Christ did ministry]. (David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. eds. Feasting On The Word. Heidi Husted Armstrong. “The Pastoral Perspective”. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p. 90). The Gospel is timeless!