1.
In the Name of Jesus. You
are my witnesses, Jesus
says. Christ is the faithful witness as His life is a confession of the true
faith that reveals our compassionate Father’s heart. A witness to Christ
confesses the true faith. By the power of the Holy Spirit, our Lord has called
us His witnesses as people who share what He’s given to us so that all would
know the Father’s saving love. You are my witnesses, then, is Christ’s
call to our real identity for the true confession of the faith in words and
actions that inspire works of mercy in our life together.
2.
I’d like to tell you a story to illustrate this
point of giving a witness to our salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ.
There was an African man who had become a Christian, but he was also
afflicted by the dreaded elephantiasis disease. This terrible condition hardens
and enlarges the flesh of the lower legs and feet so they often appear as solid
columns of flesh from the knees down, sometimes 12 to 15 inches in diameter.
It’s a painful condition, making simple walking a challenge. But the man was so
appreciative of the grace of God that had come into his life that he thought
nothing of the pain. He went from hut to hut in his west African village,
sharing the good news of the gospel, knowing that none could believe unless
they heard the gospel. He hobbled on his afflicted legs day after day until all
had heard the good news.
3.
Once
he’d evangelized his entire village, he began a painful, daily walk to a
village 2 miles distant, not being able to bear the thought that some were
there who had not heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He would start
early in the morning and walk to the nearby village, go from hut to hut, then
walk home. This process he repeated until every hut in that village had
received the good news of the gospel. With
no one else to tell about Christ, he asked his pastor and the missionary about
going to the next closest village, a larger village located 10 miles from his
own. They discouraged him from considering the journey, given his condition.
But one day, his relatives awoke to find him gone. It wasn’t until later that
the full story came out, related by the inhabitants of the distant village.
4.
It
took him until noon to walk the 10 mile distance to the village, and when he
arrived, his legs were bloody and swollen. Not wasting time even to eat, he
spent the rest of the day in the village going from hut to hut telling people
about the grace of God. The sun was setting when he set out for his own
village. Somehow he made it through the dark jungle, falling upon the
missionary’s porch at midnight. The missionary, who was also a doctor, called
for help and they lifted the poor man into the clinic. The doctor related later
how his own tears mingled with the salve with which he bathed the beautiful
feet of this wounded gospel messenger. Without counting the cost to himself,
this man lived out the word; of the apostle Paul, “And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Rom.
10:14). Feet that in the eyes of the world could best be described as horrific
had become the beautiful feet of one who brings the good news (Rom. 10:15).
5.
And
so like that African man, Jesus our Savior speaks to us so that we are His witnesses. In today’s Gospel, Jesus the faithful
witness spoke to His disciples so that they could understand the Holy
Scriptures He fulfilled. He tells them why He came into the world: to suffer, die and rise from the dead to save
us from sin, death and the devil. He sends His Holy Spirit so that His people
may be witnesses as repentance and forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in
His name to all nations. You are my witnesses, Christ says to His
disciples.
6.
Christ
Jesus our Lord speaks to us today. He raises up pastors to preach the Word in
season and out of season. How are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? as the holy apostle Paul
wrote to the church in Rome. Pastors are sent by God to preach and teach the
Law, proclaiming what God expects of His people according to His divine
goodness. That Word of Law shows us our sin, our rebellious disregard for
Christ’s life and teaching and our ego-driven rejection of His promises. It
shows how deaf we are to Christ’s compassionate voice of forgiveness, life and
salvation as we reject our identity as His witnesses. Thankfully, though, our Lord raises up
pastors who also proclaim the Gospel to us that releases us from the vale of
sin and death and brings the peace of God that passes all understanding to us. The
Good News that Christ came into the world as the great witness to the Father’s
abounding love to suffer and die for our sin and rise again so that we may live
releases us from the bondage of suffering and death. As repentance and
forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in His Name, the promised Holy Spirit
continues to call, gather, enlighten and sanctify people in the one true
faith. The Word—who is Christ—is shared
so that God’s people may embrace their true identity in His grace. You are
my witnesses, Christ says to us today.
7.
Christ not only speaks to us so that we are His
witnesses; Christ leads us out so that we are His witnesses. He doesn’t send His people where
He Himself hasn’t gone. In today’s Gospel, He led His disciples out to Bethany.
Previously, He led them out of their previous vocations to follow Him. He led
His disciples out of slavery into freedom as He leads His people out of death
into life. He does this saving work as He died on the cross for our sin and
rose from the dead so that we may live as His witnesses. As Christ leads out
His disciples, He proclaims, You are my witnesses.
8.
Christ
continues to lead His Church out so that we may be His witnesses. He does this
when He brings us to the waters of Holy Baptism where we die to our sin and
rise to newness of life. Buried with Him in our baptism, we are united with Him
in His resurrection witness. As He gathers His people at His altar to receive
His precious Body and Blood, Christ leads His people out from the altar into
the world. As the Divine Service concludes inside the church building, divine
service continues in the world as the people of God are sent forth as witnesses.
There’s no need to fear; the resurrected Christ has gone before us to prepare
the way for us. As Christ leads us out into the world, He lovingly comforts us
saying, You are my witnesses.
9.
Christ
has led the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League out to be Lutheran Women in
Mission.. By the power of the Holy
Spirit given in the Means of the Spirit, Christ has led Lutheran Women in
Mission out from their individual homes and local congregations to cities and
countries far away. With money collected in mites, the women of the Lutheran
Women Missionary League have been led out by Christ to every continent on earth
sharing His redeeming love as they have heard the voice of Christ saying, You
are my witnesses.
10.
Christ speaks to us too and leads us as His
witnesses and He blesses us to be His witnesses. Jesus
opened His hands and blessed His disciples in today’s Gospel as He sent them
witnessing His death and resurrection. Eventually, they would share the Gospel
of Jesus Christ with countless people as day by day more were added to those
who were saved. Even today, Jesus opens His nail-pierced hands in love to
satisfy the desire of every living thing as He blesses us for His service in
the world through our various callings in life. Receiving the Blessed
Sacraments, we have been blessed with forgiveness, life, and salvation to share
the truth of His all-atoning love as His witnesses in the world.
11.
Today,
we celebrate how Christ blesses the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League to be
Lutheran Women in Mission. Our church body, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
and many others have been blessed through the hands of women who have shared
the gifts that God has given for the extension of His Kingdom. As congregations
have been founded, schools have been supported, outreach centers have been
funded, and lives have been transformed as Lutheran Women in Mission have confessed
the truth of the Gospel by bearing witness to Christ. By His amazing and
extravagant grace, human hands bring divine grace to others. As a crown of
beauty in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of [our] God, as
Isaiah the prophet reminded us earlier, the witness of God’s people brings hope
to the nations as we are His witnesses. It begins in worship as Christ comes to
us to speak to us, lead us out, and bless us, just as He did His disciples in
today’s Gospel. It continues in worship as Christ speaks through us, leads
through us, and blesses others through us. And it will culminate in endless
worship as we look to the Day of His return when we who have been spoken to by
Christ and who have been led out by Him are blessed to be raised from the dead
and in our flesh to live in the joy of being His people forever. You are my
witnesses, Christ our Lord says. Confessing the truth in love and serving
the Lord with gladness, we rejoice that Christ speaks to us, leads us out and
blesses us as He graciously entrusts us with the Gospel in our ears, eyes,
hands, and mouths saying, You are my witnesses. Amen.
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