Witnessing
Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips
Isaiah 6:5 (NRSV)
STORY
A “postcard” is how Craig Wilson described his weekly column The Final Word. In the column, which was published every Wednesday in the newspaper USA Today, he excelled in presenting the news in a narrative style. Wilson was so adept at sharing a news topic as a story that a Language Arts curriculum was developed for students using his columns as study material. The program would teach the high school students how to write a narrative essay.
Wilson, after writing The Final Word for thirteen years, published his last column on May 7, 2013. Reflecting on how he approached his weekly assignment, Wilson wrote, “But the column was never political. It was just a slice of life – my love of outdoor showers, a good snowstorm, and screen doors that slam shut on warm summer nights. I always thought of the column as a weekly postcard from a friend.”
DEVOTION
As we vacation, we send postcards to friends sharing with them that which we have seen and what we have been doing. The postcards invite others to be a part of our vacation experience. Our personal testimony of what Jesus means to me is a postcard that we share with a friend.
When we witness to a neighbor, a colleague, a friend, a family member, we are inviting them to be a part of our journey with Jesus. We want them to know what Jesus has done for me and what Jesus continues to do for me. Then, we want to invite them to be a part of that “vacation experience” because truly, living with Jesus is a vacation so far that it brings to us joyful and enriching experiences.
We desire to witness, though we are hesitant to do so because we are unsure of our ability to be convincing. Even though we read the Bible and attend Sunday school, we feel that our knowledge of the scriptures is limited. We tremble at the thought of being asked a difficult theological question. We contemplate if we are an authentic enough Christian to present an authentic witness. Thus, we don’t witness to our relationship with Jesus, not because we don’t want to, but because we consider ourselves to be lacking and unqualified.
With these feeling we stand in the shadow of Isaiah. After Isaiah had a heavenly vision of God and realized he was being called to be a witness, he felt inadequate so he protested saying, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips.” I am sure that these are our words as well. The protest is not that we don’t want to, we just consider ourselves insufficient.
No sooner had Isaiah finished his objection to the task set before him, than God immediately reassured him with divine intervention. An angel took a hot coal from the altar that was set before the throne of God, touched the lips of Isaiah with that coal, and then inspired Isaiah with these words, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Isaiah, now encouraged, set forth to proclaim the message of God to the people of Israel who have disobeyed their holy covenant.
Yes, you do feel lost. Yes, you do feel like you have unclean lips. I can assure you that most every Christian feels the same. And like Isaiah, God knows we are troubled servants. And like Isaiah, God has touched our lips and has cleansed our souls. As we stand in the shadow of Isaiah we can say, “Here am I; send me!” and we are able to go and proclaim the gospel message to the wayward souls of this generation.
Oswald Chambers was born in Scotland in 1874. He went through many years of spiritual struggle, trying to comprehend God and find his place in God’s dominion. His spiritual quest led him to Dunoon College, a small interdenominational theological school located in Scotland. It was at Dunoon that Chambers experienced his “spiritual emancipation.” He described the epiphany as, “Glory be to God, the last aching abyss of the human heart is filled to overflowing with the love of God.”
In 1911 Chambers founded and was principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham Common, Greater London. Chambers accommodated students of every age, education, and social standing as well as any student in need, believing he ought to “give to everyone who asks.” He went on to say, “No one was ever turned away from the door and whatever the person asked for, whether money, a winter overcoat, or a meal, was given.”
In 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I, Chambers suspended the operation of the school and was accepted as a YMCA army chaplain. He was assigned to Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt, where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops.
After Oswald’s death in 1917 his wife, Gertrude, took his all of his lecture and sermon notes and published them as a book in 1927 titled My Utmost for His Highest. The title was taken from one of Chambers’ sermons, where he said “Shut out every consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only – My Utmost for His Highest.”
Oswald Chambers is often considered the father of the daily devotional because, since it was first published, My Utmost for His Highest has become the template for all other daily devotionals. The book focused on spiritual renewal, as demonstrated with this line: “You will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.”
Let us be a witness for spiritual renewal.