With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
Risen Christ, by your death and resurrection you brought dawn to darkness. You have made a new way, from death to life, cross to crown, grave to glory. We are frail creatures in a world of change and decay. Rule over us in your resurrection power. Subdue sin and evil, disease and destruction. We have nothing apart from you, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.
Confession
O Lord, I live a world of dead ends. There is always an end. An end to my energy. My time. My love. My patience. My money. My very life. I am trapped by limits. I am burdened by my frail, finite limits. I have exhausted all other options. Nothing else satisfies. You burst forth from the grave to give me life beyond the horizon. You are my singular hope, my only prayer. Risen Savior, have mercy on my dead ends.
Word: Acts 1:8
“. . . you will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.”
Meditation: A Witness to His Story
Today’s meditation is written by Pastor Paul Cloeter.
Four weeks ago in my Daily Pattern meditation, I briefly introduced my great, great grandfather who was a missionary to Native Americans in the mid-19th century. Coming from Germany to America and then to the wilds of northern Minnesota must have seemed to him like going to “the ends of the earth.” To me, his mission efforts and sacrifices have been and continue to be a source of pride and encouragement as I live out my own Christian faith and vocational calling.
However, in the multicultural world of today with its openness to religious pluralism, there are many who would disagree with, and even sharply criticize, my ancestor’s mission work. They would say we shouldn’t try to change people’s firmly held beliefs. To them, Christian missions smack of colonialism and even conversion therapy, insensitive and intolerant of others, at best. They may believe that institutional churches who engage in cross-cultural missions are only concerned about numbers and self-survival.
To be sure, there are attitudes and strategies in the church’s outreach efforts to save the lost that have changed over the years. For example, my ancestor’s effort to change the nomadic customs of Native Americans in order to teach what was considered back then to be a better “Christian lifestyle,” we today would see as misguided. And in the end, that effort proved unsuccessful. Today, evangelism programs that still employ door to door “cold calling” at the homes of strangers are likely to be stereotyped as religious fanatics and, for a number of reasons, will tend to have limited success.
None of us wants to be stereotyped or thought of as insensitive or intolerant. In this kind of social climate then, how do we follow Jesus’ commission to “make disciples of all nations,” and “be his witnesses to the ends of the earth?” How can the church Jesus established to bring his Gospel to the world survive, let alone grow?
Virgil is a member of my congregation that I would identify as having the gift of evangelism. It’s not that he has deep theological insights, although he is a faithful Bible class attender who, no matter what Scripture topic or text is being studied, can be counted on to say, “It’s all about Jesus.” It’s not that he has eloquence of speech, although he does have a working knowledge of the Kennedy evangelism outline and uses it weekly on calls in our community. And it’s not that his physical presence is so convincing, although he has suffered through the death of a wife, cancer, heart disease, and severe rheumatoid arthritis with remarkable positivity.
Virgil is one of the best evangelists I know because he is a witness. Pure and simple! He has a story to tell: his story of how God has been lovingly active through the ups and downs in his life. And within that story he includes another story, a story that does not belong to one culture or custom: His-story, God’s story of how Jesus has made his life eternal. Tying those two stories together, Virgil humbly counts it a privilege (his word) to be a witness . . . who will go “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), knowing his life is all about Jesus who is with him “to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)
Holy Spirit, restore to me the joy of my salvation, that I, too, may consider it a privilege to be a witness for Jesus. Amen.
Benediction
The God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (I Pet. 5:10-11)