Jesus’ One Clear Voice

Dear Lord, Your Word has the power to make a difference; to make us different. As the ground beneath our feet seems unstable and frightening, please speak to us Your truth and the power of Your love. Help us to remember moment by moment that not one thing happens that is outside of Your control or Your sovereignty. Teach us to look to You alone for our answers and then to submit to what You teach. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Luke 21:7-19

⁷And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. ⁹And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. ¹²But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. ¹³This will be your opportunity to bear witness. ¹⁴Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, ¹⁵for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ¹⁷You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. ¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹By your endurance you will gain your lives.

I’m not going to sugar coat it; it’s been a tough week for the U.S. Because of television and social media the discord and struggle among our people has come right into our living rooms; and it is disturbing to say the very least. Then, I open my Bible to read the words that come next in our study of the Gospel of Luke and find that Jesus has already addressed our worst fears. His warnings ring out in the chambers of our minds and His truth reverberates through our souls. While He alone holds the answers for our troubles we are prone to disregard Him.

As Jesus teaches His disciples about what to expect in the coming day, weeks, years, millennia we have to admit it looks bleak; wars, earthquakes, unrest, hatred, terrors. Yet right in the heart of these verses we find a path through the trouble. “This will be your opportunity to bear witness.” It brings tears to my eyes to even read the words. Here is my opportunity to love others – especially if they are different from me. And I don’t even have to “plan” on what to say. The Spirit will provide the words and the actions that will be a helpful witness to the Love of God; the God who died on the cross to save me from the ugliness of my sin. The cross of Christ is the ONLY place to look for answer. The ONLY place. Anything else will be hollow and unsustainable.

With that said I am also prepared for the rejection of this message. Jesus also promised our witness would fall to the ground unheeded on many occasions – but not all! I still have to try. The Apostle Paul writes about what the world will hear when the Gospel is shared.

1 Corinthians 1:18–25

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” [Isaiah 29:14] ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

One on one – that is the only answer here, for God wins souls into His Kingdom one at a time. I am not helpless in the midst of national strife. I am not useless in the corner; for I bear the image of the Most High God and know the Love of Jesus for the world. He is the only answer, and I want to share it with anyone who will listen and even those who won’t.