Video Transcript: Three Powerful Excuses

Here we are again, moving right along. My wife and I like to take road trips. When we do, we need the map. She reads the map, and I drive. And bit by bit, we make progress. If you look at a map here where I live, we go 30 miles to the east and come to one city and then, another 60 miles, come to another, and another 40 miles, come to another. I know the map, because I go there often. And that's what we're on now. We started out on our map toward vocal witnessing, toward you actually talking to someone about Jesus Christ. And not only that, but leading them across the line to Jesus. We started out talking about how that was possible by ordinary, everyday people - people, their only qualification it said in the Book of Acts is that they had been with Jesus. They surprised people by their ability. But when you're with Jesus, you've got the message, and you're ready for vocal witness. 

And then, we saw how important vocal witness is. We have to mention the name of Jesus. We have to talk about Jesus. It's wonderful to live a life for him, but there's a lot of nice people living fairly nice lives the way we do. How will people know that we do it for Jesus? The Bible says, "How can they believe on the one they have never heard about?"

Then, we talked about the fact of the lack of vocal witness in my life and maybe in yours and in the lives of many and why that would be. Remember, we said some of it was fear. And some of it was just a lack of concern. And some of it is just plain old disobedience. Maybe that's true in parts of our lives. We have to think about it. And then, the final one was the joy of the vocal witness. The joy for God, himself, and for Jesus. It says in the Bible, "There is rejoicing in Heaven when one sinner repents." And then, it was joy for other people. Do you know what? We're going to save someone's life in this life and for eternity. And then, finally, the joy that comes to us, the joy of knowing that we have a treasure in Heaven and that we're learning about our faith.

And so, as you think about those things now, we're pausing for just a minute and asking is there a reason why you're not giving a vocal witness for Jesus? Or is it an excuse? A reason comes from a word that means the basis, the bottom, something to stand on. And an excuse comes from words that mean to push to the side, to put outside. And so, what are you doing with a vocal witness for Jesus? Can you really say there's a reason for it or are we pushing it aside? Are we making an excuse? 

People around us are dying without Jesus. Satan never ever takes a vacation - 24/7. We're going to work on being a vocal witness for our Lord. Let's pray first.

Dear Lord Jesus, you left us here on this earth to be vocal witnesses for you. And all around us, there are people who don't know you. And I feel sometimes that you're in Heaven and you're just urging us to speak about you. We're going to do it. We're getting closer. We're promising. We want to do it and we love you. Amen. 

And so, the first thing we want to talk about is about three powerful excuses in overcoming the vocal witness barriers. There's a verse there that we want to spend some time on. It's a short verse. I just took part of it. Acts 1:8, "And you shall be my witnesses." We listen a lot to a person's last words. Many times, in movies, they'll show a person just dying maybe on the battlefield or in bed with his family gathered around him, and that person is saying these words and people are listening. You're not going to wander off. You're not going to tell lies when you're saying your last words. I'm just thinking how when my wife died, I knew in a minute what I wanted on her tombstone. And those words are there now. It just says, "Gentle servant of Jesus." That's who she was.  I got to live with here for 40 years. And in 40 years and four years of courting, she was never mean. She was always giving and it fit her - gentle servant of Jesus. 

Well, we're talking about Jesus now. And what were his last words? Just before he left to be raised up into Heaven, his Father took him. He ascended into Heaven. That was his victory parade. He had won the victory. And what were his last words? "You shall be my witnesses." 

There's a lot in those small words. And what we want to do is to look at three powerful excuses that we make in terms of this verse. These are things that I have used in my life and things that, in the 53 years that I've been a pastor, I've heard over and over again. These are not reasons. These are excuses. And we're going to look at them. 

The first excuse is this. I don't have the time. You'd love to do it. You know people ought to be saved. You know Jesus wants you to do it. But do you know what? "I just run out of time at the end of the day. I was going to do it and then, this came up. Then, I had to take a trip. Then, I didn't feel well. And I just didn't get around to doing it." And even now, as I'm talking with you, you're thinking, "I don't have the time to go out and to be a vocal witness for Jesus." And I want to ask you. Is that a reason? It can't be. It's got to be an excuse for me and for you. 

Think of time management - how we spend our time day after day. We say, "Well, I didn't have time to talk about Jesus to someone." But then, look back. Maybe 20 minutes watching a little bit longer on the TV than you thought you would. Maybe sleeping a half an hour later. Maybe just reading something you wanted to read and you hadn't planned on it. Maybe talking with someone a little bit longer over a cup of coffee or over a beer or whatever it is that you drink. But somewhere in there, we had time if we had managed our time well. 

I took a time management course a number of years ago. And one of the things I remember from that is that the instructor said, "Whenever you say, 'I don't have time for it,' you're saying something else is more important." Whenever you say, "I don't have the time for it," you're saying something else is more important. And that can be a good thing. There are times when I don't have time to play golf. Why? Because spending time with my wife is more important. Or meeting with someone who needs a listening ear is more important. 

But it can also go in the other way. That I didn't get around to something I should have done because something else was more important. Maybe playing a game or going swimming or just goofing off or something like that. It's a matter of time management. And what is essential to us is what's going to get done. 

I want to ask you again, to go back a little bit. When we say, "I don't have the time," is that fear? Really think about it. For me sometimes, it is. On a side note, it's like when I have to confront somebody about an unpleasant issue. I'll put it off for a day and another day and a week and sometimes forever. Why? Because I'm afraid to confront that person. 

Or is it just a lack of urgency? I become too familiar with my own good life. I've become too familiar with another person to recognize he is lost. 

Or is it just plain disobedience? Well, when we talk and say, "I don't have the time," here is the help that Jesus gives us. What does it say in this verse? "I don't have the time"? - "And you shall be my witnesses."

Jesus doesn't say here, "You shall do witnessing." He says it's something we are, not something we do. Wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever we're thinking, we are a witness for Jesus Christ. We can be a bad witness. We can curse at somebody. We can hurt their feelings. We can neglect them. We can be selfish. We're still Christians and they know we're Christians. But we're being bad witnesses. But we are always a witness. 

And Jesus said, "He wants us to be his witness." Do you hear that? It's not something you have to set time aside for. I was in a church some time ago and in their program, it said, "Meeting on Thursday night. Be a witness." Then, they wanted you to go out and hand out something for the church. 

But when we read that, we say, "But Thursday night is my night with the family." Or, "Thursday night is my night to read," or whatever it might, "so I don't have time." What we're saying is who do you know right now? What are you doing with your time? If you're going to lunch, you're going to lunch anyway. Take somebody with you. If you're going to go for a walk or a jog, you're going to do it anyway. If you're at work, you're going to have to take special time to go into work. You're there anyway. That is where you are his witness. 

Now, if that's true that we are his witness all the time, we can't escape it. Do you know I read some years ago that Joseph Stalin, the awful murderer who was the head of state in Russia, who murdered over 30 million people-- I don't know why I read it, but I read in a little line somewhere in his biography-- he used to go to a Christian seminary when he was little. Here it is, 100 years later, and can't get away from the fact, we are witnesses. 

But now, if that's true, then there comes another - we like to call it a reason. But let's think about like it's really an excuse. "I don't have the life. I'm not perfect. Who am I to talk about things like that?" In fact, we hear that from others when we begin to speak about our vocal witness. People will say, "Who are you to judge me? Are you perfect?"

Others will say, "I hear what you're saying, but you're not exactly perfect yourself." And here's a biggie. You hear this often. "The hardest people to be a vocal witness to are my relatives. Because they know me. They've seen me in action. They've heard the things that I say. They've known me all my life. Really, how can I be a vocal witness to them?"

Jesus has a cure for this excuse. What does he say in this verse? "And you shall be my witnesses." He doesn't say, "And you shall be a witness for yourself." He says, "You shall be my witnesses."

This came to me once because there's a lot of junk in my life, a lot of stuff I did that I wish I hadn't done, a lot of things I said, a lot of things I didn't say that I wish I had said. And I was thinking one day, "What if my friends from high school came to me and said, 'Who do you think you are being a pastor?'"

Or what if some of the people I hurt or someone that maybe when I was driving and I was rude to another driver and he knew I was a pastor, he'd come and say, "Who do you think you are?" I thought about that a long time. 

And then, I came across a verse in 1 Peter 2:25. It might be helpful for you as well. Peter says, "But you are like a sheep going astray. But now, you have returned to the shepherd of your soul." That was many years ago and it still encourages me. If there's stuff in my life, if there's stuff in your life that hasn't been good, go to that verse, confess your sin. And then, when I testify or when you testify and someone says, "I remember this about you," or, "I remember that," you say, "That was me. I did that. I'm sorry now. I wish I hadn't. I was like a sheep going astray. But now, I've returned to the shepherd of my soul. And let me tell you now about that shepherd."

Jesus said, "You shall be my witnesses." We don't have to have the perfect life. We just have to be a vocal witness for him. I had a neighbor who wasn't a Christian. He never went to church at all, never had any interest in things. And slowly, I made friends with him. And after about three years of being friends and talking a little bit when I could about Jesus here and about the Bible there, he said to me one day, "You know, Ren, I don't go to church as much as some of the other people here."

I said, "Well, you've got that right." But I said, "Have you ever heard me talk to you about church?"

He said, "No. That's why we're still talking."

I said, "Bill, that's why I talk to you about Jesus. It's not about me. It's not about the church. It's not about an organization. It's about Jesus."

And then, think of your relatives as well. They who know you so well. Maybe it's your parents, "Well, I remember what you were like." 

Or maybe it's a relative and they say, "Who do you think you are talking to us that way?"

Say, "I'm not talking about me. I want to talk to you about Jesus."

So, Jesus says, "You shall be my witnesses." And then, he says, "You shall be my witnesses." 

And then, there's one more excuse, if I can use the word that we use and I've used it many times. I hear people using it. And that is, "I don't have the skill. I just can't do it. I don't have the skill."

Do you know that question, "How do you eat an elephant?" And the answer is, "One bite at a time." And how do you become a vocal witness for Jesus? One step at a time. Bit by bit, we peel away the excuses. And it's true that we don't have the skills of the people around us. 

When I lived in a village in Africa, there were always sheep running around - and goats. And the sheep were pathetic things. They had long, skinny legs, always scared, always crouching up against buildings. And the goats were born strong and beautiful, little black and white things, husky legs, jumping all over. And I used to think, "Jesus didn't compare us to goats."

He didn't say, "We're going to be strong and desirable and beautiful." He said we were like sheep. And do you know what he does for his sheep? He takes care of them. 

It says here, "And you shall be my witnesses." Do you know why it starts with an "and"? Because it's connected to the verse before that. And Jesus said there, "My Spirit will come on you, and you shall be my witnesses." Do you hear that? It's not in our own power. We don't have the skill. We're going to talk a lot about the Holy Spirit in the next two sessions. I'm so eager for that. You're going to love it. 

I wanted to introduce the topic here. You don't have to have that ability right now. We've seen in the past, Jesus will give you the things to say. But here, he says, "It's not in your strength. You shall be my witness, but you shall do it because you will be connected to my Holy Spirit, and you shall be my witnesses."

Jesus knew who he was leaving behind and that's why he said, "Wait here." He said to the disciples, "Wait here. Don't do anything until my Holy Spirit comes on you." And when you read the Book of Acts, you see how that changed them from being nervous little defeated disciples to those who conquered the world. Jesus says to you this morning, "It's not your skill. It's my Holy Spirit in you. And you shall be my witnesses."