April 27, 2025
Can I Get a Witness?
Acts 1:1-11
Rev. David Germer
Our second text is the beginning of Acts, sometimes called the Acts of the Apostles but maybe the more appropriate title would be the Acts of the Holy Spirit. We’ll be in Acts at least until Pentecost in early June; readings from Acts are part of the lectionary every year during the Easter season, and it’s particularly fitting for us to be in these texts following the past couple months in Luke’s Gospel, to which Acts is the sequel, part 2.
This may come out in various ways over the coming weeks, but it’s important for us to recognize right up front. Luke is all about Jesus: who he was, and what he did. Acts, in many ways, bears striking resemblances to Luke, not just in style but in content. In Acts we see the Apostles, through and with the Spirit, picking up where Jesus left off – doing many of the same things, or doing the things that Jesus told them that they would do. So this book tells us, most often by showing us, with stories, how to live in light of the resurrection of Jesus. These are the acts of an Easter People, in a world that desperately needs to see and experience an alternate way of life; so these texts are bursting with relevance, for us.
Here’s how the book begins. Listen for God’s Word.
“In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
What are the acts of an Easter people to be?
Right from the start of the book, Luke show us, importantly, three things that are NOT central to their call. (And it’s important for us to name and see these, as well).
First: the disciples want a revolution. And Jesus, in effect says: “It’s coming, but this is not a revolution of political domination.”
Much more could be said here…
And I have a confession to make. This morning I was trying to listen to the Spirit, and I can’t always hear or discern in this way, but it was overwhelmingly clear this morning that I needed to cut about a page and a half from my sermon on this point, because I realized most of us in this room don’t need to hear it. And it was hard to do, because I had lots of words that I really think most of you would have really loved, about the disciples still not getting it, even after the resurrection; about their thirst for worldly power; about their idolatrous nationalistic desires and how that might relate to our world today. And some congregations probably need that sermon – it is relevant, today, and our passage invites it. But as I preached it out loud in this space this morning, I had this sense of preaching into an echo chamber, and it didn’t feel right; it didn’t feel like God’s Word for us, today. And so I cut about a page and a half and leaned into something else, making the title in our bulletin – “You Say You Want a Revolution” – not quite as fitting. My summary of that page and a half is that we are right to want a revolution, but that revolution is not about restoring greatness to one group of people. It’s about recognizing the truth of Psalm 47 – God brings people of all nations together and is king over all nations. That’s the first corrective.
The second corrective from this passage: The angels tell the disciples, who are standing around looking up to heaven: “Hey. Get on with it. Don’t just wait around for Jesus to come set things right. You say you want a revolution… it’s coming through you.
Third corrective: that revolution is not a revolution of political power and domination, and neither is it a revolution of persuasion through “right doctrine.”
It’s interesting that Jesus presents himself as alive to them by many convincing proofs – but doesn’t say: now YOU go convince others. Go be my apologists and teachers of doctrine. (Some are called to do this, but thank God, not all). What we are all called to; what Jesus says is: be my witnesses.
A witness is someone who has seen or experienced something, and shares about it with others. This is the central task, the central act, of an Easter people.
I came across a piece of art this week that struck me as such a powerful visual representation of this idea of what it means to be a witness. Look at the front of your bulletin with me. This is “The Upper Room,” by John Biggers, and I want to just read the caption that came from “Imaging the Word.”
“Biggers situated the ‘empty tomb’ in the rural South of the United States and depicts its witnesses as the African American women who dwell there. His title suggests that their witness to the power of the risen Christ in their lives continues in the tradition of the weekly prayer gathering known as the ‘Upper Room.’”
I love that the women are moving forward, and facing forward; they aren’t looking up to heaven. And they are carrying with them the witness both of the story of Jesus (the empty tomb) and the experiences of their own lives (the upper room). This is the embodiment of being a witness.
My revised, better sermon title is now: “Can I Get a Witness?”
Here’s what being Jesus’ witnesses might look like…
Telling people about Jesus. Telling the story of Jesus, over, and over again, creatively, winsomely, as the gospel – good news of what has happened.
That’s easier said than done, for a few reasons, but primarily because most people we encounter know or think they know the story of Jesus.
I want to tell one personal story this morning. One of the most exhilarating moments of my life, came during my senior year of college. I was a philosophy minor and needed one last philosophy course during my final semester, and I signed up for “Asian Philosophy,” primarily because the course ended several weeks before the end of the semester, with a culminating Spring Break trip… to China. It was memorable for many reason – we went to the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall; my luggage didn’t make it to China so I spent the week in borrowed clothes and my professor’s shoes which were a couple sizes too big; but the most memorable aspect of the trip was a conversation that I had. On our last day, we met with a class of Chinese students from a University in Beijing, and we were paired up to talk for about an hour and a half. This was a great way for them to practice their English, and our professor (of my somewhat conservative Presbyterian college) told us that if we’d like to, this could be an opportunity for us to share the gospel.
I’m embarrassed that I don’t remember the name of the young woman with whom I spoke, but I learned quickly that indeed she had never heard the story of Jesus. She’d heard the name, but knew nothing about his life, his death, his resurrection. The weight of the moment really hit me when I realized that this person was going to get to hear the greatest story that’s ever been told… from me, through my words. It was such an honor, and that powerful moment has stayed with me. We emailed for a few years after the trip, me attempting to answer some of her questions, and simply checking in as friends. I got to be a witness to her.
We can share the good news of Jesus with anyone, whether they are familiar with the story or not. Sometimes that means telling stories. Sometimes that means creatively thinking through: what actually IS the good news of Jesus’ redemptive life, death and resurrection, for THIS person. Because the gospel is good news for every person.
The gospel is good news to the ICE agent, and good news to the undocumented worker; good news to the Palestinian and the Israeli; good news to the small business owner in Sylva and the Charlotte city council member and the App State professor and the single mom staying at Transformation Village. Being a witness means articulating the good news of Jesus in such a way that it could be recognized as good news to all of those people. One way we might think about it (that I hope will resonate especially with musicians) is that the good news is the good news, no matter what key it’s sung or played in. I think a skill followers of Jesus need to cultivate, particularly now, is the ability to transpose the gospel into different keys, according to how it might best and most clearly be heard and understood to those with whom we are singing or playing it.
Being a witness can also look like telling stories about the way that other people have embodied the good news.
In fact, when we tell stories from the book of Acts, that’s what we’re doing.
The Apostle Paul said: imitate me, as I imitate Christ (and the other apostles followed suit).
A lot of this past week I and I bet many of us have been thinking about the ways that one faithful man emulated Christ, so profoundly and beautifully, in front of the watching world: Pope Francis. He was a witness.
- He was a witness in the way that he allowed children to interrupt his speeches and took kids for spins in the Popemobile;
- in the way he would often sneak out of the Vatican at night to give alms to the poor and to go spend time with people without homes,
- and in the way he would invite a group of homeless men to celebrate his birthday;
- in the way he would open up the Vatican museums and Sistine chapel for private tours for those without homes.
- He was a witness in the way he would embrace and kiss people with tumorous disfigurements, and cold-call strangers who wrote to him, and take time to speak to each baby during a visit to a neonatal unit of a hospital.
- He was a witness in the way that persistently centered the plight of refugees from around the world,
- in the way he washed a woman’s feet on Maundy Thursday,
- in the way he constantly asked people, almost pleading with them, to pray for him.
We could study the actions of Francis, from just the 12 years he served as Pope, if we wanted a clue as to what it means to be a witness.
Our actions aren’t going to make worldwide or national or probably even local news… but what if you imagined the stories that people might tell about you – and the way that you were a witness to Jesus. That thought gets my creative juices flowing and makes me want to conspire with friends, and family members, and with groups of you – what might we do, to powerfully witness to the good news of Jesus?
But also our stories don’t have to be newsworthy. Part of being a witness is just telling simple, every-day stories of how God is showing up, where we see Jesus, how the Spirit is at work.
Theologian and missionary Leslie Newbigin, who many of you have heard Patrick talk about, famously said that “the hermeneutic of the gospel [meaning how the good news is interpreted and best understand] is a congregation which believes it, and lives by it.”
In another words: the most powerful witness to the living Christ… is a group of people who believe that Christ was raised and lives, and whose lives are evidence of that belief.
I reached out to a handful of folks who’ve been participating in the Lent Koinonia groups, asking them, “Where have you seen the risen Christ, what has God been up to in you, where is the Spirit at work?” Here’s what some said:
“We felt Jesus’ presence in our group in the trust that was built fairly quickly amongst the members of our group. This trust allowed us to share some fairly deep personal experiences that we have not felt comfortable sharing in previous groups.” That’s not headline news, but that is a witness, and so meaningful for those people.
Someone from another group told me the most significant conversations their group had were around forgiveness – grappling with how hard it is, when someone has truly hurt you, and hasn’t really made amends or changed. There was wisdom offered from experience, but no resolution found. It was the power of sharing, being heard, and knowing others are praying for you that made the time so meaningful and transformative.
Another person wrote:
“In our group, we saw the Holy Spirit unify us. Our group comprised people with questions and doubts, strong faith, wisdom, and knowledge. Each of us felt safe sharing and learning from each other.
Jesus’ love was evident in the grace we experienced and the insight we gained from each other.
I felt like God was glorified because we gained insight into how God can use each moment and person in our lives to teach us more about Him and His love for us.
This group made me feel at home; it was exactly what I needed. It’s kinda like God had that all planned out.”
That’s a witness.
One final reflection:
“Our Koinonia group meets on Wednesday nights because we’re all parents of young kids and the kids either have choir or nursery to give us the time and space to be together.
“And that’s maybe where I feel the presence of the living Christ the most in this group—in the time and space. One of the harder things about being a parent is deciding how to spend our time—being pulled in so many directions for both ourselves and our children. And yet, each family in this group is prioritizing finding time in the middle of the week to spend an hour to slow down, be with each other, spend time grappling with the teachings of Christ and how we teach them to our children. Discipleship feels like both an individual and collective act and I feel the strength and comfort of that when we come together on Wednesday nights.
“I’m grateful for the fellowship in this group, for the friendships being built that are rooted in a shared faith, and for all the congregation around us that shows up to help feed us and our children and be with them for that hour on Wednesday nights so we can have the time and space to be together with God.”
What a beautiful witness.
Being a witness, in part, is about expecting God to show up, expecting to see and experience Jesus, expecting the Spirit to be at work, in our lives.
I’ve felt both convicted and inspired the past couple weeks, because I have to say: I’ve experienced this deeply in other chapters of my life.. and want it to be true for me again. It’s not that I never see or feel God at work in my life… it’s just that I find myself not expecting it as the norm, the way I once did.
We have to be around people who ask us those questions – what is God doing in your life, where are you experiencing the living Christ, how is the Spirit at work in you? I need this; I need your help here. Will you ask those questions? … (I’m really asking. Will you ask me those questions?) Thank you. I need that. Let’s do that for each other. I want to be better about asking you, asking the youth, asking my family.
And when we do, let’s expect for there to be an answer! …
And let’s also be ok and non-judgmental if the answer is “I honestly don’t know,” or even, “I don’t even know what that means or would look like for God to be ‘doing something’ in my life.”
Then we might say: “well, let’s see if we can listen and observe and figure that out, together.” Let’s witness to each other.
Let’s pray:
God, help us to tell your story; to tell the story of Jesus, from Scripture; to tell the stories of the living Christ in people like the apostles and Pope Francis; and to tell stories of Jesus showing up and doing things in and through our own lives. Thank you for the good news, to which we are all witnesses. Amen.