WITNESSES...Acts 1. 1-9; Acts 2. 22-33

The twelve saw Jesus alive, risen from the dead. They related to him, talked with him, and walked with him.  Then they saw him whisked away, taken into the clouds.  But just before they saw that, they had one last conversation that went like this:  "Jesus, now that you've risen from the dead are you going to set up your kingdom?  Is now the time?"

And Jesus aid, "That's the wrong question: one the Father doesn't want to answer.  So I don't know. But what I do know is that you shall receive power and you will be my witnesses."  Ten days later, with the sound like a strong wind, the Spirit came, all the disciples were propelled into the street speaking about "The mighty deeds of God" and one of the twelve, Peter, stood up to tell the crowd all about it.  And he says, "God raised Jesus up, and we are witnesses to the fact!" 

So what is a witness?  What does it mean to be a witness?  
1. Witness is personal A witness is someone who has a story to tell; someone who has seen and experienced something and is able to pass that on.  A witness does not usually talk bout their opinions.  They talk about their experience.  Peter doesn't say, "In my opinion Jesus is alive."  What he does say is "Jesus us alive. I know. I saw him."  He talks about it as a fact. That's witness. Peter could talk about his experience: he had seen Jesus, listened to him and talked with him; eaten with him. He had sensed the Holy Spirit inside him.   Imagine standing the witness box, and you are asked is "Where were you on the night of the crime?"  You answer "I was on holiday in Spain."  The lawyer asks, "You didn't see the crime being committed?  You weren't offered any stolen goods for sale? What light can you shed on events of that night?"  Your answer is a bit lame: "Nothing really!"  No story, no witness.

You and I are witnesses: we have a story to tell.  We have an experience of Jesus. We know Jesus is alive.  We can say, "This happened in my experience."  That may be seeing Jesus. It may be having him clearly answer prayer. It may be knowing you are forgiven and clean. It may be having joy instead of sadness inside you.  It may be in being able to do something you couldn't do before.  If you are a Christian, you have God's Spirit in you; you have encountered Jesus. There is a process that brought you to that point, people or things that helped - maybe some that didn't - and a change, maybe subtle but still real, inside you.  Now you know Jesus. He is in you and you are in him.  You have an experience. 

2. Witness is for everyone An opinion is OK. Argument is OK. Some of us may have a particular gift for apologetics, giving reasons for what we believe, discussing things with other people, presenting a case.  If you are able to answer difficult questions, that's a gift. You should use it. But if you haven't got that gift, there is still something you can say for Jesus: you don't need to have a special gift to be a witness. You just need to have a story to tell.

3. Witness is the work of the Spirit in us. Not a special gift for a few but an anointing for everyone. It is the natural consequence of the Spirit coming.  What did Jesus said about the initial evidence for the Spirit coming.  Not tongues, not joy, not love, but becoming a witness. Nothing against any of these other things. But when the Spirit comes, witness flows, naturally.

So how do you do it?
1.  Make sure you have a story to tell. In order to be a witness, you need to have an experience. 
If you haven't got your own story of an encounter with Jesus, a journey with him into a living faith, you need to let that happen. "God says call to me and I will answer you." (Jeremiah 33.3) and loads of people in church today can tell you from our experience that is true. So if you call to him, telling him you want to be different, to be forgiven and clean, telling him you want his Kingdom in your life, he will answer.  And you will know he has answered.  So first of all, make sure you have your own story. 

2.  Think about your story....
Keep your story up to date.  It's a bit boring if all you ever are able to talk about is how, fifty years ago, you discovered you weren't going to heaven, and felt real peace when you asked Jesus to be your saviour.  Yes, that may be the most important thing that has every happened to you.  But how does that work out in your life today?  Has there been a recent answer to prayer? A recent challenge to grow? A recent special gift given, maybe something that has really spoken to you from God's word. 
Know the difference between opinion and the story.  We already defined witness as telling about your own experience. It's telling your story. As you reflect on your story, that story will illustrate some of the great Bible truths about God: I'm sure it will. But know story as your story.
Thankfully reflect on your story.  Give God thanks for what he has done in your life.   It is in an attitude of thanksgiving for the way grace has worked out in your life, that speaking about his grace to others becomes a natural outflow.   What we need to do is be a wee bit less Scottish, or British, and take the lid off that stuff.  I believe that real encounter is there, in each of our lives.  There may be a whole load of negative things that press that experience down: intellectual doubts; past hurts; the fear of emotion.   We need to get in touch with experienced reality. 

3.  Listen for the cues...  The witness comes to court at the right time, when he is called to the witness box.  You don't get all the witnesses jostling in the witness-box and shouting out their stories at the same time. Each witness waits until he is called. Now, the Monday Morning after something really special ha happened at Church, with a group of people whom you know well, it may be right to walk into the office and say, "You'd never guess what happened yesterday..." But often we need to wait, listen, and tell a bit of our story when there is an appropriate cue... and tell the story working from the cue you have been given.  Sometimes all you need to say is "Knowing Jesus has really turned my life around"

IF you want more cues, live a life that gets questions asked about what motivates, drives and empowers your life...

4.  Tell the story as a story with a beginning, a middle and an end: or a cycle of problem, crisis, discovery, appreciation, maturity. It is your story, so use your own language.  It's no use telling someone you were trying the broken cisterns, living for the world the flesh and the devil, unaware you were facing a lost eternity; then one day you had a Damascus Road experience, realised your need of a Saviour, because you were so deeply convicted of your sin. Then you trusted in Jesus as your own personal saviour, and now you are washed in the blood, sanctified, and your name is written in the Lamb's book of life! 

I'm a Bob Dylan fan, and I was trilled when Dylan became a Christian an about 1978. His first Christian album, "Slow Train Coming'" is fresh, creative passionate and real.  His next one, "Saved" is frustrating: the language is more "churchy".  Use your own words... It's your story. 

5.  Led by the Spirit...
I don't want to nag at you. It doesn't do any good.  I want to resource you.  If you're struggling with witness, don't go on a guilt trip. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, to help you, to make you a witness.  At every point in the witness process, the Holy Spirit comes to us...
Having a real and current story, of an encounter with Jesus, is mediated by the Spirit.  Ask Him
Thankful reflection is something the Spirit will lead us into. Ask him
Living a life that makes people curious is the spirit's work. Ask Him
Recognizing the opportunities is something the Spirit can prompt us to. Ask Him.
Responding to the cues with the right words is the Spirit's guidance. Ask Him.

© Gilmour Lilly October 2010

2 Chronicles 7.14-15 - Call to Prayer - Sunday 24 October

The background to this well-used little scripture is a long story... We read the whole chapter to try to capture something of the story but in fact it goes way back to Solomon's father, King David, the warrior king who established Israel as a strong, powerful nation.  When he had won his battles and built his palace, David felt somehow it was wrong that he should be living in a nice big house with a cedar roof, while the Lord's place was still, as it had been since the beginning of the nation's history, a tent. But the Lord had said, "No, David, you have fought too many battles, your hands are stained with blood; your son shall build a house for me." 

So King Solomon took on the task.  And it was a huge task: stone quarried from the hill country, cut to size and shape at the quarries, then hauled to Jerusalem.  Cedar wood purchased from King Hiram of Tyre at great expense.  There was a work force of 70,000 men.  I guess that beats the new Forth Bridge!   There was to be the best of everything for the new Temple.  Then at last the day came when the building was finished.  At the right moment, on the first day of the seventh month, of a jubilee year (a special year of liberation, rest and celebration) all the new furnishings were in place and the ark and other holy things were brought from the Tent.  There were so many sheep and oxen sacrificed that they could not be counted (2Ch 5:6) The choir was singing, the band was playing; the priests on duty weren't able to stand, they were overcome by the presence of God.  And then Solomon himself led in a dedication prayer. (Chapter 6) And what a prayer... there's worship that stands in awe at the presence of God (v. 18 "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!); there's penitence (v 22-39; the prayer does not presume just because they have the temple that they have God on their side; it recognises that sin blocks blessing and repentance releases blessing.) and there's a confident faith (v. 41  "And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.")

And then the fire fell and burned up the offerings on the altar. Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. The festival went on for seven days, had a special service on day eight, and then continued for another fortnight.  Then Solomon sent everyone home.  There was quietness, and Solomon was able to hear God speaking to him.  We need all the different parts of the cycle of busy-ness, sacrifice, enthusiastic worship, and solitude, for the voice of God to come through. 

And what God gave was this call and this promise.  We too are a people of prayer and promise.  As we hear the call to prayer, we come as Israel did with our history... a long period of blessings and challenges.  . This Church was formed in 1918; the BU of Scotland was founded in 1869, with 51 churches averaging 70 members in each; but there have been Baptists in Scotland for much longer than that. So we have lots of history, some good, with dedication, effective mission and growth; some bad, with times of division and independence: to what extent do the things we have carried in our past, prevent us from building with God for the future?  It's a thought!

And we come with a sacrifice. For Israel there was a huge commitment in terms of obtaining and working with materials, both stone and timber. A huge effort on the part of workers; and a vast number of sacrifices on the altar.  There needs to be a sacrifice.  We can't expect God to bless what we are not committed to, or what he is not committed to.  We can't get blessing on the cheap.  God is looking for commitment; and he is looking for surrender.  We can't ask God to bless us and our situation, while we remain in control of it all. Our "sacrifice" means we're not just investing in our own comfort and advancement. Remember, the humility and honesty in Solomon's prayer, to recognize that sin blocks blessing and repentance releases blessing.

So the call itself presumes that there are felt needs: verse 13 speaks about times when the land will experience drought, locusts, pestilence.  Difficulties do come along, as they have come along to our churches in the Western world.  When they do we can either moan and groan and say, "how terrible that the world isn't interested in Christianity any more. How terrible that we have become such a secular society. How terrible that we are having such an economic upheaval. How terrible that our nation has gone away from God."  I have problems with that because I don't believe we've ever been that close to God. Scotland, England, or the USA have never been God's people.  And it's to God's people that God makes his promise.


God says, "If my people will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways:" four things...
1. Humbling ourselves... bending the knee, bowing low, and coming in an attitude of absolute dependency to God.
2. Prayer. It does what it says on the tin. The word can mean mediate, judge, or intervene.  It's about stepping in to bring to God the needs of a world that cannot be expected to pray for itself
3. Seeking God's face (Literally striving after his presence) God is presence.    There's no such thing as God without presence. As Len Magee used to sing, "it's the presence of your Spirit Lord we need." When we pray we are not looking first of all for a few little coincidences that wouldn't have happened otherwise.  We are not looking first of all for a healing or a conversion or one or two new people in Church. We are looking for God's presence.  We are admitting we can't do it without Him, and calling upon Him to act.
4. Repentance. Turning from our wicked ways. (Literally "turning around from the bad, evil, hurtful road.") Repentance begins at the household of God.  We are the ones to be saying sorry to God for our failure to share the message in a clear and meaningful way; for the hundred and one ways in which we - and the means we have used - have contradicted and denied the message we try to proclaim.  In a time when the Church goes through a difficult time, we need to hear the call to come back to the core of our faith, our call, our discipleship. 

"Then," God says, "I will hear, forgive and heal.."
1. Hearing from heaven. And as God hears (attentively, with interest and understanding) all the resources of Heaven are released to grant the request.
2. Forgiving sins. God begins by removing the blockages in our lives and our life together, to the full blessing he wants to give. 
3. Healing the land.  God sews together, mends a broken world.  The Hebrew word "land" means literally "Earth, territory, or soil".  It only refers to the people who live in the land as a secondary meaning.  (That would normally be the words "nation, kingdom, or people")  God is talking in the context of troubles that have come upon the physical "land" (drought, locust and pestilence) and he is talking about a healing that goes down to the very soil itself.  That is the work of healing that is needed in 21st century Scotland.  What does God want? Bigger Baptist Churches? A bigger Baptist Union?  Or churches that can be a blessing and a healing to our nation?

© Gilmour Lilly October 2010

Luke 11. 1-13 with Matthew 7. 14-21; PRAYER

1. Struggling?
How many of us can say that we find prayer really easy? We never have any problems with it? We feel we are really good at it?  Note my hand is firmly down! 

Difficulties include simply things like concentration, time, staying awake; finding the right words, what to ask for. Am I being selfish? How do I know what is God's will?  How long should I keep on praying for something?  Will everyone listening think I am stupid? Will God think I am stupid?   Deeper questions include these... Can I change God's will when I pray?  Should I pray for someone's conversion or healing against their will? If God knows what we need, what is the point of praying?

And, to be honest, that all reflects in what happens when we announce there is a time of prayer. Very few of us are there.  Very few of us feel really positive about taking part.
   
The good news is that Jesus in God's word answers some if not all of these questions, or at least points us in the right direction...So let's look closer at Luke 11...

We're in good company if we feel we need to ask for help. Even the twelve, when they saw Jesus engage in prayer, realised that he hadn't chosen them because they were good at prayer: they came to ask him "Jesus, teach us how to pray..."  

2. Structure
Jesus gives a pattern and, as in so many areas of life, a simple plan is helpful. This is the shorter version of the Lord's Prayer; we don't use it often, although it's used in the Anglican and Catholic churches. This shorter version gives us the absolute basics:
a. Begin with praise: "Father, your name is and should be kept holy."
b. Others: "Your Kingdom come" - so what does God's kingdom look like in the lives of people in our world; in the lives of people in your family?

c. Pray for your own physical needs: "Give us today our daily bread."  Just the basics; the things we really need.
d. Confession: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive."  Confession means admitting something; it's about open-ness.  Confession is about facing up to the wrong things in our lives, and as we do that we need to face up to the people around us, including those who have hurt us. It's a pretty dangerous thing to say to God "Forgive me the same way I forgive ..." and then not forgive. We might not want that prayer answered!  (Forgiving does not mean we say that the wrong things others have done to us don't matter: quite the opposite. Knowing that we have been hurt, we give up our right to get even.) We need to bring our own sin to God in prayer. As we confess forgive, and ask, God forgives us. 
e. Protection: "Lead us not into temptation"
Do you notice that three of these points are about ourselves? We often think we can only  pray for other people; but it's OK to tell God about your own needs, physically and spiritually.

3. Shamelessness.
Then there's a simple, almost silly story.  A man is asleep in bed; around him in the one-roomed house are the cots and mats his children sleep on.  Suddenly the silence is broken by someone knocking the door and shouting, "Got any food? A visitor has arrived and I have nothing to give them."  The man indoors answers, "Go away, it's midnight! Don't you have any consideration? And be quiet, you'll wake the kids."  And, says Jesus, the man who asks will get what he needs, not because the he's a friends of the other man, but because of his sheer shamelessness.  It's OK to ask God for things we need. It's fine to make a disturbance. Remember blind Bartimaeus, who created a disturbance when Jesus came to Jericho, and everyone was telling him to be quiet? (Mark 10. 46-52) God doesn't mind being disturbed by our prayers.  The Greek word that's translated "boldness" in the NIV (and "importunity" in the AV) means "shamelessness"; literally a "lack of looking at the floor." 

Our prayer life suffers by turns from a lack of respect, awe and wonder -  a failure to be aware of the majesty and greatness and authority of the God to whom we pray.  Sometimes we pray a bit like the man who came to the disciples seeking healing for his wee boy in Mark 9. 22, who eventually says to Jesus "help us if you possibly can."  True reverence says, "Father in Heaven, you are who you are, sovereign and awesome in your power. Can you fix this? Yes you can!"  But there's a false reverence that says, "Lord, I'm not going to ask you do anything for me; you've got enough to do looking after the rest of the universe.  Who am I to tell you what to do about this lost person, this illness, this threat to your Church?" Actually, when we are shameless scroungers, prepared to admit we're completely stuck, and ask God to help us out, he delights to answer. 

There's one proviso here though: the man who asks so shamelessly, wants to get to give.  He isn't looking for bread for himself; he is looking for bread for his visitor.  Eastern hospitality is even more outgoing than Scottish hospitality.  Think of the first time you were offered a cup of tea on the opposite side of the border.  If you went from Scotland to England, and someone offered you a cup of tea, you were kind of surprised when you were handed exactly that: a cup of tea; maybe accompanied by a rich tea biscuit. On the other hand, if you crossed the border in the opposite direction, and accepted the offer of a cup of tea, especially a wee cup of tea, you better not be in a diet.    But Eastern hospitality was even more extreme. It wasn't uncommon for guests to show up in the middle of the night (they would start a journey just before sundown to travel in the cool). And when they did show up you'd give them a place to sleep, and something to eat and drink. It was a necessity and an expression of generosity.  To be caught out and be unable to provide for a friend on a journey was a terrible shame and disgrace.  Jesus wants us to ask. Especially when we want to get so we can give.  

4. Simplicity.

Ask and you will receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened. We ask for what we don't have. We seek - look for - what we have lost; we knock when we are shut out .  And when we ask, seek knock, we receive, we find, the door opens.  Now the normal preacher's ploy at this point is to get out the old traffic lights illustration and say how God sometimes answers "yes", sometimes answers, "Wait" and sometimes answers "no!"  And there is a truth there. But that is not the truth to draw out of these words.  The truth to draw out of these words is that we should ask expecting to be given, seek expecting to find, and to knock, expecting the door to open. Jesus wants us to raise, not lower our expectancy of answered prayer.  We have no business taking the words of Jesus and directly contradicting them with our theology. We can begin to wrestle with the problem of unanswered prayer, when we have lived under the authority of these words, and not before. Jesus has promised. We accept with simplicity that come with....

5. Sonship:

Fathers would not give their children nasty surprises, like a snake instead of a fish, or an egg instead of a scorpion. How much more, he says, will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit - "the best gift of all" according to the Fisherfolk song - to those who call on him?  The key word is "Father".  If we can get that truth into our thick skulls, maybe we can begin to deal with our struggles around this prayer thing.  Prayer can be simple, because God is our heavenly father.  Prayer is an expression of trust as we ask our heavenly father.  It's good to be unashamed in asking for what we need, because we come to our heavenly father.  Does prayer change God's mind?  Can our prayer change the free will of another human being?  Actually it's not the point.  Our Father wants us to pray.  And as we pray, we participate in the work of God, rather than getting God to participate in our work.  As we pray, in the simple, shameless cries of his bairns, a subtle change in the spiritual atmosphere begins to happen, and God is at work, the kingdom comes, his will is done.   That's the mustard seed of faith, that can move our Scottish mountains. In Matthew, the parable of the mustard seed comes at the end of the story of the epileptic boy. When we pray we can set people free; and we can move mountains.

© Gilmour Lilly October 2010