Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Luke 21:5-19 “An Opportunity to Testify”
November 17, 2019
The scripture I have for you today is from Luke 21:5-19. Listen to the word of God.
Luke 21:5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls.
Jesus seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed. For some reason, Jesus wants to talk about persecution, betrayal, and hatred. You are probably wondering why we have to deal with this today. But Jesus has a pearl of great wisdom in the midst of all this. And we will get to this. But first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (Calvin)
Jesus’s ministry on earth was coming to an end and he wanted to prepare his followers for what was coming. Jesus knew that hatred for the Roman occupiers was growing among the Jewish population. Jews believed that the Messiah would come leading a great army to overthrow the Romans and restore the Davidic kingdom of Israel. Many people expected Jesus to be this kind of messiah.
But Jesus was not on earth to lead a Jewish army against Rome. Rather, he came to start a movement of peaceful resistance. But he knew that violence was coming and that the Romans would respond by destroying Jerusalem and the beautiful temple they were in. Jesus wanted to prepare them for the temple’s destruction and what would follow. Jesus knew that just 35 years later the temple would be destroyed by the Romans and this would unleash a period of violence against both Christians and Jews.
So Jesus warned them to watch out for war as the world’s great powers collide. He also warned them about earthquakes, famines, and plagues. And Jesus told them that many of these things will come as surprises. They won’t know when disaster will fall. So they have to be ready for it to happen at any time.
When the disciples heard all this they must have wondered what we are wondering right now. Why must all these terrible things occur? If Jesus can still a storm and raise people from the dead, then certainly he can prevent war and natural disasters. Right? Well, yes, unless, of course, Jesus has a really good reason for letting these terrible things occur. So what might this really good reason be? Jesus told us this in verse 13.
13 This will give you an opportunity to testify.
So according to Jesus, there will be war, persecution and natural disasters so that we will have the opportunity to tell others about what Jesus has done for us.
The world we live in is fallen. It was created by God to be good. But sin has destroyed it. And so we now have war, persecution and natural disasters. The world’s only hope is that it will be redeemed by the grace of God. And the only way the world will know about the grace of God is if we tell them about the grace we have received. So according to Jesus, the reason we have war, persecution and natural disasters is that these give us the opportunity to share our faith with others.
When nations engage in war, we can talk about our God who desires peace. When Christian are persecuted around the world we can tell people about our prayers for their safety. When people suffer from natural disasters we can talk about our God whose followers mobilize to help those who are suffering.
So all we have to do is tell others about our experience with our gracious God. But all of this is difficult. We have a hard time talking about our faith. We just can’t go up to people and talk about our faith. We can’t bear witness to the grace of God in our lives to people we don’t know. We can’t tell people about Jesus. We do not have the ability to testify.
I have been working with a small group in our Sunday morning Bible study. And we have been looking at this problem of being unable to testify about our faith in Christ. So can any of you, from that class, remember the solution we found to this problem? … That’s right, we must first be empowered by the Holy Spirit before we can testify to others about our faith. Jesus put it this way.
15 … I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
So Jesus promises to empower us by giving us the words we will need to talk about our faith with others. Whenever we are in conversations about war in the Middle East, impeachment in Washington, or fires in California, Jesus will help us through his Spirit to respond by testifying to the grace of God in our lives.
In a couple of weeks, you are going to be gathering around tables with your family for Thanksgiving. And no doubt the conversation will turn to war, politics, and natural disaster. If we are willing, Jesus will give us the words we will speak about God’s grace in our lives.
How will our family and friends respond to our testimony about Jesus? Jesus knew exactly what will happen.
16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name.
So Jesus wants us to do something that will generate conflict around the Thanksgiving table. Jesus wants us to testify to our faith knowing that some of our family and friends will be offended by what we say, may hate us and may even respond violently. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to do this around the Thanksgiving table. But Jesus responded to our objections this way.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls.
Jesus’ promise is that if we testify about our faith to others he will protect us. We are to remain persistent in our testimony as if our own souls depend on us sharing our faith.
Let me tell you a story about someone’s testimony of faith in the midst of suffering. Thomas Dorsey was a songwriter and pianist. To make ends meet he would perform in clubs at night and at church on Sunday mornings. In August of 1932, Thomas left his pregnant wife in Chicago and traveled to St. Louis to perform at a large revival. While in St. Louis he learned that his wife had died in childbirth. His son died the next day. While suffering intense grief Dorsey wrote and recorded his testimony about his gracious God.
“Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on. Let me stand. I am tired. I am weak. I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”
As Christians, we live in a fallen world. We suffer from war, persecution and natural disasters. In our suffering, we are called to give our testimonies about the gracious God who loves us. Jesus will empower us to give testimony by giving us the words to speak. Jesus will protect us if the people we talk to feel offended and angry. We are to be persistent and share our faith with others. The testimony of our experience of a gracious God is what a fallen world really needs. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, keep us ever faithful. Protect us from war, persecution and natural disasters. Help us to speak a word of grace into this fallen world. Empower us and give us the words to speak that will bring others to faith. This we pray in your son’s name. Amen.
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