Day 26 — Scattered Witness

Luke 23:39-43

39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

I love this encounter Jesus has with the criminal beside him. He is all by himself on a cross. He’s in his own kind of isolation, rejected and abandoned by his friends. Socially and religiously quarantined by his society and left hanging on a cross to die. There’s no moving worship songs playing in the background, no soothing synth pad setting the mood. Not even a sermon to respond to and right there Jesus leads someone to salvation. All this criminal really needed was an encounter with Jesus, and he got it. 

The same applies in our everyday lives today. As a member of our worship team it pains me to say this but… you don’t need my soaring electric guitar tones for someone to encounter Jesus. You just need Jesus. 

I was recently in a prayer session with the incredible Fiona Harding and as she prayed for me over FaceTime the presence of Jesus filled the room and I began to shed some (very manly) tears. Jesus was all we needed. Jesus and a bit of boldness. 

You (yes, you!) can offer people encounters with Jesus. In your Zoom meetings, during your two-metre chats with friends, as you send links to church online, can you sense Jesus beside you?  Our role is simply to help others notice Jesus beside them and be bold enough to help them hear his offer of eternal hope. Whenever someone turns to Jesus he responds by pouring out his love and by saying to them, ‘You will be with me in paradise’.

We can’t gather in person on Sundays like we used to but that doesn’t mean our mission to be ‘Light for the City’ stops. 

Prayer: Open my eyes to see where you are already moving in my world and give me boldness to invite my friends to encounter you.

Tim Muller
Leadership Team