by Marcel Rebiai

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God is looking for witnesses. He is seeking people who have experienced in their own lives his healing, his liberation, his reconciliation and redemption. He in search of people who have heard, seen and felt the good news. God let his son Jesus descend into the darkness to create a path to life, freedom and peace because he loves his world. He is looking for people who proclaim that he, the creator of the universe, handed over his own heart to the world in his son. Now we who follow our own ways and are lost in fear, darkness and death can find the way back home. Is. 53:6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."  
My own ways revolve around myself, around my own needs, rights, desires and problems. As we know, egocentricity turns every life into a prison of loneliness, despair and emptiness. Therefore we cannot avoid guilt over ourselves, towards others and towards God. This is true not only of those who have not yet entered God's kingdom, but often of those who consider themselves Jesus' disciples as well. We, too, can go astray taking our own paths; then we need loving caring brothers and sisters who seek us out in order to remind us of the way back to the father's house.
But not everyone - not even every believer - who is following his own path realizes that he is lost and wandering. Many don't want to hear that without God's mercy man is lost and heading for destruction. "There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death" (Prov. 16:25.)  We wander through life's darkness on paths of our own choice which ultimately lead to death. Whoever’s grasped the good news and thus found his way home will set out to seek the lost and to proclaim God's message of salvation. But such a person will encounter the tragedy that our proud, independent and wayward hearts often bluntly reject God's kindness, ignore or mock it.
At these times it is often tempting to withdraw and leave people to their own fate and will. It is one thing to bring the message to people who want to hear it. But Jesus died on the cross just for those who rejected, hated and opposed him. He died for his enemies. "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting" (Is. 50:6).
Those of us who wish to bear witness to his message must constantly keep in mind that past witnesses to God's seeking love always experienced discouragement and the temptation to retreat in the face of rejection, exclusion, beatings or even murder. Jesus warned his disciples, "For my sake you will be hated by everyone." But those who bore witness also received God's help. Those who remained faithful to their commission to witness were rewarded with the experience that God achieves what he set out to do. The lost are found and the homeless do find their way back home and there share their father's joy.
Yet many people think that being a witness requires specific talents or education and therefore isn’t relevant to every disciple of Jesus. Of course education is helpful. It is also true that not everybody is called to be an evangelist. But everybody who says that Jesus, the light of the world, lives in his heart is a witness.

You are the light of the world

Everyone with the light of the world living in his heart becomes a light-bearer. Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the light of the world." You and I - disciples of Jesus - are the light of the world. What a statement! Let’s be honest. Most decent people are upset by this. Our healthy sense of humility demands that we dilute this claim if we don't want to be labelled arrogant. We disciples are the light of the world? How do we perceive this?
We don’t need much knowledge of history to ask if it wasn't just this self-understanding amongst Christians, which brought so much distress and misery on the world. We disciples of Jesus are elitist good people? That would be a tragic misunderstanding. To whom was it said, "You are the light of the world?" To those who stood under Jesus' cross and accepted the divine verdict, "There is no one righteous, not even one; no one who does good, no one who seeks God" (Rom. 3:10-12). God chose the lowly, those with nothing to show, those who came up short, the unimportant, the weak in body, soul and spirit (1 Cor. 1:27-31). Whoever considers himself one of these and comes to the cross daily will be brought into the light by him who said, "I am the light of the world".
Only at the cross can Jesus fill our inner void, loneliness, restlessness and fear with his security, warmth, hope and peace. Whoever constantly makes room in his heart for this light will be filled to over-flowing. Out of his heart will flow a stream of living water, dispensing warmth and hope to others.
"You are my witnesses," says Jesus. We witness that the Son of God came to seek the lost and bring them home; that he came to bring us out of darkness and death; that there is a living hope and therefore all suffering, all misery, fear and violence will come to an end. "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning, nor crying nor pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  He who was seated on the throne said, 'I make everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true'" (Rev. 21:3-5).

The quintessence of human hope

When we talk about hope it often appears to be wishful thinking. But God's word says, "Hope does not disappoint us" (Rom. 5:5) and "He who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt. 10:22).  Wishful thinking is diametrically opposed to Biblical truth. It reveals the ground in which our hope is anchored. The Bible speaks of hope as an anchor for the soul (Hebr. 6:18-19).
What is my testimony concerning the anchor of my soul, of my life's boat in the midst of the waves and storms of illness, unemployment, relational conflicts, families and congregations breaking up - even in war and crime? What hope do I have when my congregation is shaken by events, when spiritual stagnation causes a crisis of faith? Do I still hope for my unbelieving colleagues, friends and relatives who are in obvious trouble but looking for help everywhere except  from the living God and his Messiah? Do I still hope for my country and my people? What is the basis of my hope when I myself experience a desert, disappointment from other believers, or rejection and misunderstanding from the world?
If my hope is based on faith in the goodness of man, or faith in other believers' friendship and integrity, I will eventually be disappointed. In the heart of man - even a believing man - there is nothing which gives reason for hope. "Every inclination of man's heart is evil from childhood" (Gen. 8:21).

There is hope only in Jesus

In Hebr. 6:18-19 we read, "We who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." The anchor of hope for our soul, the hope which can resist all the adversities of life, is Jesus alone. He is incarnated hope. He will renew everything. As he says of himself, "He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn" (Is. 61:12).
What a message for our day! We needn't be prophets to see that the time in which we live is characterized by decaying Biblical values and by the increase of violence, crime, apathy, egocentricity and lack of enduring relationships. Economic and existential fears paralyze the quality of life, gradually eating it away. Our witness to the God of the Bible and his Messiah Jesus counters this perspective of the world with the message that God creates a new beginning. He transforms fear into confidence, resignation into hope, war into peace, guilt and bitterness into forgiveness and salvation, mourning into joy, death into life.
Is. 61 emphasizes the year of the Lord's favour in his Messiah. Through his Messiah Jesus, God turns toward his people Israel and toward all of creation. He offers us a new beginning. Guilt is anulled, prisoners of every kind released, relationships set in order, mercy granted instead of justice, and grace instead of judgment.
God wants to send us to witness and to be a light; to make visible, audible and tangible the message that the Biblical God is a God of grace, a God whose whole being is merciful. The multitudes who are inwardly and outwardly imprisoned are longing for salvation. The broken hearted and humiliated, the misused and neglected crave healing and restoration. The disappointed, resigned and hopeless ache for comfort, encouragement and rehabilitation.
The inwardly and outwardly poor are waiting to hear that God loves them and calls them to a life of peace and joy. God wants to halt the fear and darkness in everyone’s life; he wants to create something new. The message of favour is all-encompassing. It is the only answer to all the cries for salvation and relief from pain, suffering and need. It is the only message which does not disappoint the hopeless.

Whom shall I send?

"Whom shall I send?" asks God (Is. 6:8). Which of us who have experienced this message in our own lives will go for him? How many will give the same answer today as the prophet Isaiah, "Here I am, send me!"? God is waiting for his joyous message to be brought to billions of people. How many of us disciples of Jesus - members of his congregation, leaders, young, old - will respond to God's call and let ourselves be sent or else send others from our midst? Or are we so far from God's mercy that we are no longer touched when people for whom Jesus gave his life continue on their own self-destructive path and perish in darkness?
The kernel of wheat must die in order to bring new life.

Every year impressive and expensive conferences are held. They present a wealth of information which  encourages the participants to make genuine and decisive commitments to Jesus and to God's kingdom. Conference leaders attempt to mediate understanding for the good news of reconciliation between God and man; understanding of God's longing that this message of grace and a new beginning be carried out to a world which is hurtling toward its own destruction.
But what is the fruit of these efforts? How many hearts are opened to God's call and answer, "Here I am, send me!"? How many men, women and youngsters decide to renounce their professional careers, a secure home, or even a Christian career in their home country? How many will fall into a field somewhere as a kernel of wheat; a kernel which must be buried and broken apart so that those who sit in darkness can have the fruit of mercy, grace and light?
After these conferences won't the great majority of kernels return to their secure, warm homes? The pile of wheat is stored and saved. At the same time the field outside is overgrown with weeds; the wilderness of godlessness overgrows and suffocates the last grains of receptive earth!
But God speaks not only to conference participants. How often during the course of your life and mine has he asked, "Will you be my messenger? Will you go to those who don't yet know me, who haven't heard that there is a year of the Lord's favour, a new beginning? Do you want to be a kernel of wheat in my hand?"
And how did you respond? Are you quite certain that your answer was not just a cheap, reasonable or spiritually clever excuse to avoid God's calling? Are you certain that your present life and your future plans are really God's will? Does what you have chosen serve to make his mercy known in this world?
It is costly to be a kernel of wheat in God's hand. The field where we kernels die is our relationships, for God's kingdom is manifested there. When confronted with guilt and need, with rejection and pride, with mistrust and coldness; when we face the ugly, dark, painful part of most people's lives, we ourselves die. But we can be certain that God will give over to death only the things which in any case cannot inherit his kingdom; they must be transformed by resurrection, which turns them into treasure in God's kingdom.
If we do not avoid this death we will be broken open like a kernel of wheat. This is im- possible without daily willingness to leave our secure homes and go out into the cold and danger; to fall into the vast unfamiliar wilderness where we seem to lose our security. Our lives will seldom be spent in large amounts, but rather in small change. But without this daily dying the kingdom of God cannot achieve life through us.

Children and youngsters

Friends, I want to say one last thing to you. It is something which is burning in my heart. Today half of the world's population is under 15 years old - children and young teenagers! It is distressing that so few accept the call to bear witness to the Islamic world. It is equally grievous that so few women and even fewer men reach out for children's hands to lead them out of a sea of misery, hopelessness and fear, so that they find a home with the heavenly father; so that they can set their feet on the rock of hope which is Jesus. Investing in children is clearly hard work for our hearts. It means losing our lives for them so that they can experience God's father- and motherhood in us. It is no small thing to lead children to God's fatherhood, to friendship and trust in Jesus.
The path on which God comes to children and youngsters, on which he calls them to himself, leads solely through our hearts. We must invest not only time, material things and nerve in order to establish this path. The lion's share of the price we pay is our suffering with God that these children are in need and abandoned. This is usually expressed as fatherlessness and even motherlessness.
When I devote myself to children I share their pains, their aggression, their powerlessness, as well as their loneliness and fear. Children are the weakest members of society vis-a-vis the dark powers of this world such as hatred, greed and apathy. Only genuine fathers and mothers can suffer with them. God is seeking men and women who will make his father- and mother-hood tangible and visible to these youngsters. Where are the witnesses? Where are the messengers? Where are the fathers? Where are the mothers?
Who is willing to renounce his professional, social, even his Christian career and „squander“ his life on children and youth in order to fulfill the ardent longing in God's heart? Without such dedication no new life will be born in children. It will be nearly impossible to lead them to the father and help them develop personally. "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (John 12:24). This same principle applies to youngsters, in our own family and in every other encounter with them.
Come, men! Come, women! The world’s younsters are waiting for you to give them your hearts and lead them to the father in heaven. They need role models, friends, mothers... and especially fathers, in order to enter the kingdom of the heavenly father. May this plea, which is God's plea, not leave our hearts untouched. "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" (Is. 6:8).

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