Bearing Witness for God

Politics

It’s possible that in my opening statement that I might stand alone in thinking this way, but I’m going to say it anyway.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this recent election campaign.

Do I get an amen? - thought not.

I know this might make me weird, but I’ll tell you why I liked it - and it wasn’t because of the countless ads on TV (they did get annoying!)

But what I did like was the contest of ideas. Some other years, I must admit that I found the two major parties not that very different.

But this time, we had some clear differences. The took quite different takes on the role of renewable energy. On some of the moral issues like abortion, there were clear points of difference.

And love it or hate it, Labor had some bold plans for tax reform.

I loved listening to the politicians as they stood up and argued why their approach was the better one.

Now I know that most people get sick of the political spin that gets put on everything, but for me, hearing people speak passionately about what they believe, is a beautiful thing.

Religion and politics

Now they say there are two topics that you should avoid in polite conversation, that is politics and religion. Unfortunately for me, these are perhaps my two favourite topics.

They’re my favourite topic because in both politics and religion, it affects peoples lives.

I think it would be fair to say that pretty much, every politician gets into politics because they want to make a positive difference in our society. Now you might completely disagree with how any specific politician goes about that, but I would suggest that they do (or at least did when they started) have the best of intentions.

Sometimes when something is important, we need to stand up to be counted.

Why religion is more important

Now politics is important, but given what we believe about our eternal status, shouldn’t we think that religion is even more important.

People say: you can have your religion, but just keep it to yourself. But is that good advice.

Now, are you familiar with the duo Penn and Teller?

They are very talented magicians, but as it turns out, they are also atheists.

But despite being atheists, Penn Jillette, has been quoted as saying:

“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?

“I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”

Isn’t it interesting, that here we have an atheist who seems to get it better then we do.

As he says: “how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?”

The Great Commision

This month we observe what we call May Mission Month. A month where our mission gets greater focus.

The first week I gave a general overview of the Bible and tried to show how God’s mission is evident throughout.

Last week, I looked more specifically about finding our identity in who God is, and by living holy lives, we can show God to others.

But while it is very important that we live holy lives, and to show God’s love by our actions, there needs to be more.

And this is where as Christians we can sometimes start to freak out. We freak out because what I’m about to say can really take us out of our comfort zone.

You see, we need to not only live good lives, but it is also important to tell others about why we have the hope in which we do.

In many ways it shouldn’t be a hard thing to do, but we make it hard because we worry about what people will think about us.

What if they start to think that we’re one of those weird people?

Well, if we’re going to be weird, why not be weird in such a way that we make a positive difference in the lives of others!

Now, when it comes to what the bible has to say regarding the way we share the good news, the passage that perhaps first comes to mind is . This is the passage that we often refer to as the Great Commissioning.

If you’re unfamiliar with the passage, it occurs after the resurrection of Jesus, and just before he ascends into heaven.

Jesus then gives this specific instruction to his disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

It was these words that spurred on the disciples to share the good news. And they took it very seriously. If you follow the book of Acts, you’ll see how the good news spread like wildfire. That wildfire really took off, and now we are a result of what they started. We are part of the church which grew from this command given some 2000 years ago.

But while this passage is really important in the spread of Christianity, I actually want to step back into the Old Testament and show how this idea of being God’s witnesses is something that can be traced back even earlier.

And as we explore this idea from an Old Testament context we will actually find some points that are really important for us today.

Return of the Exiles

So I’m going to go to the passage that I read earlier from , but it’s important that we figure out the context. So let me try to set the scene.

First with a bit of history. I’ll start from when the newly formed nation of Israel enters the promised land. Once in the land they settle in and over the course of hundreds of years, actually probably closer to a thousand years, they work out their lives in this land. They form a kingdom with a king as their ruler, but while there are some wonderful high points, such as under King David, there were also many low points. Until eventually they got to the point where they had moved too far away from God, and he allowed them to be taken from the land.

The final blow was when Babylon rose in power and conquered Jerusalem, taking all but the poorest people to Babylon. There they spent about 70 years in exile.

But at the end of the 70 year period, they were released and allowed to return to their land. For a point of reference, this return happened roughly 500 years prior to Jesus.

So in , we have Isaiah speaking into this time.

Understanding God’s role

He actually starts speaking into this context back in . Prior to that he had been speaking about events prior to the exile even starting.

But as Isaiah speaks to these people who are returning back to the land that they were promised, there is a message that is important to convey.

That is, that despite Israel having been defeated by their enemy and so taken into captivity, this in no way reduces God’s power, rather God is still sovereign over all.

Now there is perhaps a little more context that is required to understand why that is an important message.

You see, in those times, everyone in every nation believed in some notion of a god. Leaving Israel aside for a moment, the almost universal understanding of gods in practically every nation is that there were many gods and most of them were local deities.

They then brought this understanding with them into battles. If one nation defeated another nation, it was because their god was more powerful then the other nations god.

At various times throughout the Old Testament you see other nations showing respect for the God of Israel because they were able to remain strong for so long.

But all that changed when the Israelites were taken into exile. You see, you have this mighty nation of Babylon who were able to completely roll over the top of the much smaller nation of Israel. Therefore the clear assumption is that the gods of Babylon are much more powerful than the God of Israel.

Now to prove that this is not the case, God is going to suggest something unexpected.

He is going to offer His vanquished people as proof of his sovereignty.

The court scene

Now something that you’ll often see in the writings of the Old Testament prophets, is that they imagine a court room scene as a way of presenting the case the want to prove.

Now the court room back then wouldn’t look exactly like what we do today, but that being said, there are some elements to it which remain the same.

Those essential ingredients are: Firstly, a charge has to be made. Once a charge is made, the prosecutor has the opportunity to present the case with proof of why the charge is valid. But also, the person in which the charge is made has an opportunity to defend themselves against the charge.

In both presenting the case and defending the case, witnesses are also allowed to be called to argue their point.

Well, in the book of Isaiah, we can see the beginning of this sort of courtroom language back in .

says: “Present your case, says the Lord, set forth your arguments”

From the context, we could imagine what their case would likely have been - and it would have seemed quite a simple argument - you were defeated, therefore you don’t have control over all the earth.

God’s defeat today

If I take us for a moment from this context back into our own context we can see a similar case.

Some of you might be aware of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who famously said “God is dead”, suggesting that science disproved God.

His idea took hold, and in 1966 there was a famous cover of Time magazine asking: Is God Dead?

Certainly there are many people today who would state - yes. And while much of the population still hold to some idea of a supernatural being, most of them would not see the relevant to their every day life.

And so, we too can imagine a court room. The charge is: God does not hold any sway over us.

The defence

While the charge in the context of our passage this morning might be stated differently, the reality is, it’s much the same idea. If Israel’s God had been defeated, then Israel’s God is no longer important.

Well, much of chapter 42 outlines God’s defence, but it is our passage in chapter 43 that I want to jump down to now.

You see, it is in these verses that the courtroom language again becomes apparent.

It starts in verse 8 with some people being led out.

Now sometimes I don’t think we fully appreciate the brilliant writing that we find in these parts of the Bible, but it is actually quite clever how it is written.

You see, if you think about people being led out in a courtroom, my initial reaction is that they are probably being led out as people who have a charge against them.

That initial suspicion seems to almost be validated when we read who these people are. You see they are described as people who have eyes but are blind, and have ears but are deaf.

My wife probably think that those words are a good description of me. I have perfectly good eyes, but somehow miss seeing what’s directly in front of me, and I have perfectly good ears, but when Fiona speaks to me, I’ve shamefully missed every word she said.

But here is the surprising thing. This deaf and blind people are not being brought out to have a charge laid against them, rather God is actually sending them out as his defence! These people who have done such a bad job, are actually the ones that God is using to defend him.

Now if you ask me, that sounds like a strange thing to do.

I’m aware that in court cases today, if you have a witness that is somewhat suspect, they tend not to get used because they don’t do much for the case.

But God often does things differently.

He wants His people to be his witnesses.

The audience

Now in this cosmic court room, you might notice in verse 9 that that it is every nation that is gathered to hear the case.

God’s universal sovereignty is in question and so his case needs to be made to all people.

The task

But when God brings in his people, there are actually two things that he says of his people.

But as we read from verse 10 he talks about how they are to be witnesses, and it is this that I want to take some lessons for us from.

Essentially, as witnesses they are to demonstrate the saving work of God.

Let’s look specifically at verse 12.

In this verse, God explains: “I have revealed and saved and proclaimed - I, and not some foreign god among you.”

There are three components there, which I’m going to suggest are in a particular order, and it is the Israelites that can bear witness to it.

Firstly, God reveals.

Those three components are firstly revealing, then saving and then proclaiming.

We see this time and time again with God. He first reveals how he is going to save. He then does it. And then proclaims the implications of it.

We see that when he saves them out of Egypt. We see it at other times in their history when he saves them from his enemy.

But most recently for these Israelites, we see how God foretold that they would be released from exile, then they are released, and then comes the proclamation.

Now there is something beautiful in this progression. By revealing first what is going to happen, it proves that he in not some opportunistic deity, rather he has it perfectly in control.

The reason that the Israelites were able to be witnesses to this fact is that they can clearly show that they knew what God was going to do and then he did it.

Firstly, as I’ve already mentioned, he calls them his witnesses. But in verse 10, he also calls them his

In this way, their witness is given extra power.

The fact that the Israelites were defeated just prior to going into exile was not because God was not powerful enough, but rather it was because God allowed it due to the them turning away from God.

This is where it becomes so important to see the whole sweep of what God has done. He is always true to his word. He expects holiness, but he is gracious to his people. The Israelites are witnesses to who God is.

Despite their sinfulness, despite their blindness and deafness, they are still able to witness to who God is - and here in , God is offering this broken nation as proof of who he is to the world.

Application

While we often turn to and the Great Commission for our impetus for witnessing to others, in many ways we can go back to this time just after the exile to see God wanting his people to be his witnesses to the world.

And so from here I want to draw my main point for this morning.

Your life, no matter how broken, no matter how much you’ve stumbled, can be a witness to God. And not only can it be, but God wants it to be.

As I’ve already described, we can draw a parallel with the post-exilic context, and our context.

People are declaring God dead - but somehow I don’t think the answer is in clever and sharp words and arguments. Rather it is in us standing up in all our weakness, and saying - this is what God has done in my life.

God has taken me, a broken individual, and he has done something amazing.

And we can align our story with that of the bigger story of the Bible. In this way, we show how God revealed his saving plan and then saved us.

You see, in the Bible we see that God has a plan for our lives. A plan that was designed by God and carried out in the work of Christ - and your life is testament to that.

If you have taken the time to realise just how amazing this is in your life, this desire to be a witness should be a natural thing.

It is not about doing some evangelism course, or figuring out all the answers. It’s about standing up and telling others about your life.

Now not everyone is naturally going to have the gift of evangelism where they can easily bring God into the conversation. But I want to suggest that this does not mean this message is not for us.

You see, as this passage shows, God calls the deaf and blind. Even if it doesn’t come naturally, as you just reflect what God has done for you, and then not hide it, you can do your bit as a witness for God.

Conclusion

God has a plan for our lives - a plan that involves us going from hopeless sinners, to being blameless before God.

But as part of this plan, he also wants us to allow this change to be a witness for who he is and what he is doing in the world.

So are we going to be the witness that God wants us to be?

There is a contest in this world. And God wants us to be his witnesses to prove his point.

Let’s pray...