Where? Who?
Howard Thurman was a significant American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, civil rights leader, and pastor. He once said…
“There are two questions that we have to ask ourselves. The first is ‘Where am I going?’ and the second is ‘Who will go with me?'”
– Howard Thurman
Where am I going?
Who will go with me?
I think that’s true for all of us. Whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not, this principle is true:
We are all heading somewhere and we are not going alone.
Red Light, Green Light
When I was a kid I loved to play the game, “Red Light, Green Light.”
You know how the game works. You set a starting line and a finish line. One person is in charge of saying Red Light or Green Light, then you’ve got two or more people trying to make it to the finish line first!
Whenever the person in charge says GO!, or GREEN LIGHT!, you’re off to the races.
But when they say RED LIGHT!, you have to freeze!
It’s a great game. You can play it at the park. You can play it in the front yard. You can play at the store, at school, just about anywhere!
The game works because there is a starting point and a final destination. And it’s only fun because you play it with others. You choose where you’re headed and you GO there together.
Stuck on Red
It’s a fun game to play with your kids, but a lot of us have grown up and we’re still playing Red Light, Green Light. But if we’re honest, a lot of us aren’t GO-ing anywhere because we’re stuck on RED!
We’ve stopped moving forward toward our goal. We’ve stopped moving toward any goal. We’re stuck. Paralyzed. Frozen. At a stand still. And we’re not moving in any direction, much less moving forward.
And that can be for a lot of reasons.
Sometimes it’s paralysis by analysis.
We’re trying to think through every possible angle, every imaginable scenario. We’re overthinking it and we say we’re just trying to do our due diligence, just trying to be good stewards. And it’s important to be thoughtful, intentional, and even careful when it comes to important decisions. But none of us has a crystal ball. At some point you’ve got to make a decision and move forward.
Sometimes it’s good old fashioned FEAR.
We’re afraid to do anything because of what might happen. We don’t know what will happen. We might even think things will work out well. But what if they don’t?! And that fear freezes us in our tracks. We’re too scared to take the next step so we don’t. We feel the fear and we’re letting the fear win.
Sometimes, Comfort is King!
Then there are times when the simple fact is that we’re COMFORTable right where we are with things as they are. We might even know and believe and agree that things need to change, that things probably will change, but we’re comfortable. If someone says Green Light then that means moving out of my comfort zone and… I don’t want to do that. Even if it’s needed, even if it’s for the best, sometimes… even if it’s needed for my survival. I’ll choose comfort over change. I’ll choose the Red Light over the Green Light.
Stuck, But Not Stuck!
But even when we’re stuck, we’re NOT stuck. The illusion is that we’re not moving, that we’re stuck on red. But it’s a LIE. It’s a DECEPTION.
Because…
We are all heading somewhere and we are NOT going alone.
And if we’re not moving forward to where we need to be, to where God wants us to be, then we’re moving in a direction that is in opposition to His will and His way for our lives.
Moving Forward
From the very beginning, the church of Jesus Christ was moving forward, on mission with God and for God in this world. They could answer the questions, Where are we going? And… Who will go with us?
In fact, when we turn back the story and we see what life was like in the first church, after the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, we see the early church not just GATHERING for worship, not just GROWING in their faith, but GOING into all the world to share this Good News that they believed so deeply, this Good News that had so radically impacted and changed and altered the trajectory of their lives!
What started as a GATHERING in Jerusalem is about to be SCATTERED to different places and spaces because of persecution that was rising against those who believed Jesus is Messiah.
In Acts 8.1 Luke, the author of this story, writes:
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.
…the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. – Acts 8.4
Now don’t miss this… What was intended to STOP the gospel SPREAD the gospel.
I want you to see that because, if you’re anything like me, sometimes we look at our suffering and we pray for it to STOP but we fail to see it is an opportunity to SPREAD the message of the great love of God.
Proclaim or Complain
More often than not our suffering gives us a platform to PROCLAIM or COMPLAIN.
It’s easy to complain. It’s natural to complain.
It’s different to proclaim. It’s supernatural to proclaim the goodness of God when you are suffering.
These early Christians, they didn’t see this suffering as a reason to complain. If anything, they considered it an honor!
In fact, James, someone who was a leader and a part of this early church in Jerusalem wrote these words:
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. – James 1.2
Their suffering wouldn’t silence their message. Their faith in the God who raised Jesus from the grave was greater than any fear of scattering, suffering, or dying.
After all, why be afraid of death when your God resurrects the dead?
Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. – Acts 8.5
Now this is an important move. Some of you may know this, but Jews and Samaritans at this time did NOT get along. But Jesus had told his disciples…
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1.8
The church was compelled to GO because of persecution.
But also because of their MESSAGE and MANDATE!
And now, because of this persecution in Jerusalem, what Jesus predicted is coming true. The Gospel is moving from Jerusalem and Judea into Samaria.
Already, the walls of division and separation that had been erected between races and people groups for ages are breaking down because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Jews and Samaritans don’t normally get along. But their identity in Christ supersedes all other identities. What once divided people is now overcome by what unites people. Jesus Christ is Lord of All!
Witness
Philip goes into Samaria, what normally would have been thought of as enemy territory, what normally would have been avoided, and he goes to be a witness for Jesus!
A WITNESS. That’s what Jesus called his first disciples to be.
And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere. – Acts 1.8
What do witnesses do? They tell people what they have SEEN and HEARD.
Maybe you’ve thought, I don’t know enough about the Bible to share the gospel. I don’t have answers to all the hard questions. I don’t even know what to say to someone about Jesus.
Here’s the good news. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You only need to be a WITNESS. Just tell people about what you have SEEN and HEARD.
Phillip went to Samaria to tell the people about Jesus. And here’s what happened…
6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
12 …the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. – Acts 8.6-8; 12
You may think, I can’t perform miracles. I can’t cast out evil spirits or heal people who are paralyzed or anything like that. And I can’t either.
But you know what we can do?
We can meet the needs of people in different ways. And we can share with them what God has done for us. We can help people in need in the name of Jesus and we can be a WITNESS for Jesus.
And when we do that… whether we go across the world on a mission trip or we go across the street with a plate of cookies, whether we go to serve the homeless or we go to meet a friend for coffee, we have an opportunity before us to serve those around us and share with them what the Lord has done for us.
When we GO in the name of Jesus, here’s what is true: the power and the presence of Jesus goes with us.
Philip went to Samaria to share the gospel, then he met a man from Ethiopia and he baptized him, then the Holy Spirit took Him to Caesarea. Legend has it that Philip made it all the way to modern day Turkey carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So… Where are you going? And… Who will go with you?
You are all heading somewhere and you are not going alone.
Super Bowl What If…
There’s this game called the Super Bowl coming up in a couple of weeks. It’s a pretty big deal.
Can you imagine if one of the teams who made it all the way to the Super Bowl, I mean… they’ve fought through a hard season, they’ve won every game in the playoffs, they’ve battled through injuries, adversities, set backs, hardships, you name it… they’ve gone through it all and now they’ve made it to be the biggest game of their lives.
They’re in the locker room. They can hear the stadium rocking! It’s time to take the field. They’re ready to start the game.
But there’s a problem. The team won’t come out of the locker room.
They’re STUCK!
Is it PARALYSIS by analysis?
Are they AFRAID of what might happen?
Or is the locker room just so COMFORTABLE they don’t want to leave?
Whatever the reason, that’s crazy, right!? That’s never happened.
No team has ever made it to the Super Bowl and refused the leave the locker room to play in the biggest game of their lives!
But every Sunday there are people in churches all around this country and all around the world who come to church but refuse to GO into the world, to be a WITNESS for Jesus, to make a bold difference in this world for Christ.
May that NOT be true of us. May that not be true of you.
Who do you need to go to? Who do you need to be a witness for Jesus?
Can I ask you right now to write down the name of that person?
You know this is true: You have a mission and a mandate to GO. You’ve got the Green Light from God to GO and share this good news of the great love of God revealed in Jesus with someone. You’ve been called by Jesus to be a WITNESS for Him.
Where are you going? And… Who will go with you?
You are all heading somewhere and you are not going alone.
God is Calling All of Us to GO to Someone
Not everyone will be receptive, but that’s not up to us. We believe the Holy Spirit is already working in the hearts and lives of people all around us.
Our responsibility is to keep sharing and going and telling and witnessing and waiting and trusting to see who is ready to receive this message! We plant, we water, God gives the increase.
Everyone is called to tell someone about the ONE who changes everything!
So today, let me just ask you: Who is your ONE? Write down that name. Commit to pray for them. Then have the courage to talk to them about Jesus. Invite them to church. Share with them what the Lord has done for you.
Just imagine one year from today, that person you’re praying for sitting right next to you in church. That can happen when we get in the game, when we share the Good News, when we GO!
Want more from this Series… Click here.
