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Scripture — Acts 1:6–8 (NRSV)

“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.’”

Devotion

The disciples wanted to know what Jesus was going to do about the world.

“Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

It is an understandable question. They had seen injustice and oppression. They had watched powerful people use their power badly. They believed Jesus was God’s Messiah, and they wanted to know when he was finally going to set everything right.

Jesus doesn’t really answer their question. Instead, he gives them a calling: “You will be my witnesses.”

That changes the focus considerably.

Jesus does not send them out to control the world. He does not tell them to make everyone agree with them. He doesn’t even promise that the world will treat them kindly. He sends ordinary people, filled with the Holy Spirit, to show the world what they have seen in him.

That is still our calling.

Christian witness is what happens when the life of Jesus becomes visible in the lives of his people. We tell the truth when lying would be easier. We welcome the person others would rather avoid. We serve rather than grasp for power. We stand against injustice without learning to hate. We love even when love becomes costly.

None of that means we will always get it right. The first disciples certainly didn’t. Neither does the Church. Neither do we.

But the good news is that Jesus did not say, “Go be impressive witnesses.” He promised, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

Our witness begins with grace.

The Spirit keeps forming us into people whose lives point beyond ourselves to Jesus.

And perhaps that is the question worth carrying with us as we go into another week:

When people encounter my life, what do they learn about Jesus?

The world is watching. Not because we need its approval, and certainly not because we need to win every argument.

We have something much better to offer.

We can show them Jesus.

Daily Bread

My calling is not to control the world, but to bear faithful witness to Jesus within it.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, fill me and form me into a faithful witness to Jesus. Let his truth shape my words, his mercy shape my relationships, his courage shape my choices, and his love shape the way I live. May someone see something of Jesus in me today. Amen.

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