Chosen Witnesses

(Scriptures:  Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:15-23 John 17:1-25)

When I looked at this morning’s texts, the first thing that came to my mind was, of all things, a car commercial. You’ve likely seen it – a little girl, maybe Penny’s age, is sitting in the car’s driver’s seat, and daddy is telling her about adjusting the mirrors, instructs her to wear her seat belt, cautions her against driving on the freeway, and on and on. At the end of the commercial, we see that the driver is a young lady in her late teens or early 20’s, and the voiceover says, “You knew this day would come……” Daddy’s little girl is all grown up and ready for her turn in the driver’s seat.




Our reading from the first chapter of Acts this morning shows Jesus and the disciples in a moment that perhaps is not so different. Jesus is about to ascend to the Father, and while he will be present spiritually, he will no longer be in the flesh walking beside them. The training wheels are coming off. While Jesus will be present to guide them, the disciples, in a sense, are going to be in the driver’s seat. I’m hoping that it isn’t pushing the metaphor too far to say that henceforth, Jesus will be like their GPS system, showing them the way forward, cautioning them – like a GPS saying “recalculating” – when they’re going off course. But GPS systems can be ignored and shut off, and history bears sad testimony that sometimes the church has ignored the guidance of the Spirit as well.



Even in today’s reading in Acts, it’s clear the disciples don’t yet know where they’re headed. They ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” After all they’ve been through together, they will don’t quite get it. But, like the father in the commercial, Jesus gives them cautions and instructions: He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem – sort of like daddy in the commercial cautioning “don’t drive on the freeway yet” - until they have received the power of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus told them, “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.” To the ends of the earth! – wow – better fasten your seatbelts, this is going to be quite a ride.



The car commercial I mentioned has no particular religious overtones, but from the concerned or worried tone of the father’s voice, you might think he’s sending up some silent prayers for his daughter’s safety. In our reading from John’s Gospel – sometimes referred to as Jesus’ high priestly prayer for his disciples - which takes place while the disciples are gathered at the Last Supper, just before Jesus departs for the garden where he will be betrayed, Jesus knows that he will not be with them much longer, and he prays aloud to his heavenly father to keep the disciples safe when Jesus is no longer with them in the flesh. Jesus prays that even though he will no longer be physically with them, that Jesus will in some mystical sense be in them, and they in him, just as he is in the Father and the Father is in him. You who are parents know what it is, when your children have come of age, to cut loose the apron strings and send them out into the world. You hope that of all you taught them, at least some of it has stuck; you’ll be there to step in if they get into serious trouble, but they will no longer be under your watchful eye every minute of every day. And this is how for Jesus and his disciples when Jesus makes this prayer - He prays that as they go forth, Jesus will be in them so that where they go, Jesus goes, and he prays to God to keep the disciples together – that they may all be one – when they are sent out into the world.



Last week during the Bible study, we looked at this reading from John’s Gospel, Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. And there was a question: “Do you really believe that we’re chosen by God?” And I answered “yes” – after all, earlier that morning we’d read Jesus’ words, “You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” But that question has been tugging at me since then all week – “Do you really believe we’re chosen by God?” And I thought about Emanuel Church, our presence here in Bridesburg these 150 years. And I do believe we, each of us here, has been chosen by God. It’s only because we were first chosen by God that we in turn can respond to God’s choice by choosing to be here. We did not choose Christ, but Christ first chose us. I remember the opening words of Emanuel’s 100th anniversary history, which were retained in the 150th anniversary booklet: “This is the history of your church from a humble beginning – the need of which God made known to a few in 1857 – to the present day.” So from the earliest days of your church history, there was a sense that those who founded this church were chosen by God to meet a distinctive need, to carry a distinctive message, to carry out a distinctive purpose. Remember also that in the earliest years of this church’s history, the congregation was served by Lutheran and Methodist pastors. While the members were grateful for the efforts of these pastors, they felt that in their Reformed tradition there was a distinctive voice, a distinctive Word of Good News, which would be silenced if the congregation followed these early pastors into the Lutheran or Methodist tradition. And I believe that to this day, even though Bridesburg has no shortage of churches, I believe that we as a congregation of the United Church of Christ have a distinctive word of welcome and good news to proclaim. So, yes, I believe we as individuals were chosen, and I believe our congregation was chosen by God to witness to the Gospel here in Bridesburg. It’s not because of any particular merit on our part – if we start feeling puffed up at being chosen by God, perhaps we can reflect that Balaam’s donkey was chosen by God to speak to Balaam. And certainly the disciples, as we read about them in the Gospels, were very ordinary people. And yet God chose them – as God has chosen us – has called them and us out of the world, to be sent back into the world bearing the Good News of Christ.



Jesus said, “I appointed you to go to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” Jesus has chosen and appointed us, not to pat ourselves on the back, but to bear fruit. Our reading from Acts gives us more specific information on what it means to bear fruit: “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.” In your bulletin, I printed an expanded image of our UCC logo – partly because I had available space – but mostly because this logo is drawn directly from today’s readings from John and Acts. The words “that they may all be one” are drawn directly from Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John’s Gospel.that we read today. The image in the center is drawn from Acts: The crown, cross and globe represent the Lordship of Christ over the whole world, and the division of the globe into three parts represents the words, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem” – that’s one of the smaller parts – “in all Judea and Samaria” – that’s the other smaller part – and to the ends of the earth” – that represents the bottom portion of the globe. These verses – that we may all be one and that we may be witnesses to Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth – were the vision that guided those who brought together the Congregational Christian and Evangelical and Reformed Churches to form the United Church of Christ. And it provides a vision for us here in Bridesburg. We are to be united in Christ, and we are to be Christ’s witnesses – to those immediately around us, to those a little further distant, and around the world. Emanuel Church’s version of Jesus’ commission might sound like this: “you will be my witnesses in Bridesburg, in Port Richmond and Philadelphia, and to the ends of the earth.” This is the work for which God has chosen us and appointed us here at Emanuel Church. May we at Emanuel Church never balk at carrying out the great work for which we have been chosen. Amen.