Acts 1:6-8
Made in the Image of God: Why God Uses Flawed People - Acts 1:6-8
Acts 1:6-8 (NIVUK)
6 Then they gathered round him and asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' 7 He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'
Commentary
Revd. Mark Fletcher: It does, however, I think, beg one question. And the question is, why us? I don’t know if you ever think that. But why must it be that flawed and often fallible human beings are those who are witness to Jesus? Surely somebody else would do a better job than us. Sometimes I think we have a sort of spiritual imposter syndrome. And maybe that’s right. But there is in that question one of the foundational understandings about the way that God works in this world. Remember that even Jesus himself came not in power and majesty, but in humility and service and sacrifice. And you and I, well actually we have the greatest dignity. Because we are made in the image of God. An image, yes, which is flawed and broken, but is true nonetheless. You and I are created to be image bearers, to be stewards of this good creation, to reflect God’s goodness and love in this world. And that Holy Spirit, that Spirit of Christ which is at work in us, is restoring us to that role. We are being remade as we were intended to be. And so the church, you and I, is the means by which God is at work in this world. Church is not, as someone said, a holding bay for people waiting to be shipped to heaven. And it isn’t the building which is the witness. It is us in our worship and our proclamation of the gospel and our prayer and our love and our service which sows the seeds of the new creation. We are the yeast which spreads throughout the whole dough and causes the whole world to rise.