Last time I wrote we considered the powerful miracle of the Pentecost story. We listened to it from Luke’s perspective in Luke 24:45-49. 44  “Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46  and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47  and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48  You are witnesses of these things. 49  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. The Holy Spirit was equipping them and Jesus was handing over the baton to them. They were to carry on his work as witnesses. We talked about how being a witness has two separate, but related meanings. When I witness an event happen, I am watching and paying close attention to the event, so I can remember it. When I need to tell someone about it, I interpret what I have seen. This is what Jesus was commissioning his disciples to do. They were present with him for the many miracles he had performed, and the fulfilling of Old Testament prophecies. They had witnessed Jesus’ ministry and were about to be equipped to interpret those events correctly with the direction of the Holy Spirit. We talked about how that applies to us, too. We can begin with those who are near us, our family, friends, co-workers & others God brings into our life-circle. It is not by our power and strength nor by our courage and knowledge that we are called to tell Jesus’ story of love and redemption. We, too, are not expected to be able to live and transform others into followers of the Easter-risen Christ by our power. Jesus’ invites us to know that his Holy Spirit can be the spark within us that transforms us from the meek, hesitant, shy and flawed followers we are, to bold, inviting Christians telling His holy story. Our ability to witness depends totally on our trust in God through knowledge of Jesus and belief that the Holy Spirit directs our lives. We learn to trust God by knowledge of his very existence and view of his power throughout the universe. Here are some verses from the hymn, “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”: v.3 “Before the hills in order stood or earth received its frame, from everlasting Thou are God, to endless years the same. v.4 “A thousand ages in Thy sight are like an evening gone; short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun. v.6 “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come; be thou our guide while life shall last and our eternal home.”1 When we consider our small footprint on this earth in comparison to an all-powerful God, we are filled with wonder at how God would even notice us. And yet we know he sent his only Son, Jesus, his living image to live among us. Why? To teach us by example how to follow God’s purpose and to enable us through his death on the cross to be forgiven. Just the very world we live in breathes the evidence of God’s presence and reality in our lives. Everything we have comes from God and our trust in him is the measure of our acceptance of his sovereignty, providence and promises. Our Bible class is beginning the study of the book of Exodus. In the discovery of how God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob carried down to Joseph and the Israelites, we see God’s hand in many events in the lives of their people. That also carries over to us today. Even many generations later, we can see the evidence of God’s work in our lives preparing us for each next step. Sometimes we start in a direction that doesn’t match God’s purpose and specific gifts he has given us. If we embrace Jesus in the center of our lives, we see in retrospect how he has redirected our paths. With each of these discoveries, our trust in God grows. With prayerful recognition of God’s grace surrounding us, we can witness to the ever-growing evidence visible in our lives. Our trust in God produces our witness to others. Praise be to God, for is only by his strength that others see Jesus’ love lived out in our lives.

1 Words: Isaac Watts, 1719 (Psalm 90); Music Attr. to William Croft, 1708; harm. by W.H. Monk, 1861.

In the grace, Spirit and love of Christ, Carolyn Moe