A very busy corporate lawyer was called from an important meeting to the bedside of an extremely wealthy widow who was one of the law firm’s most prestigious clients. She was also well known for being a devoted Christian. He was taken into her bedroom, and asked, “What can I do for you, Mrs. Wong?”

“Just come and stand beside my bed,” she said. He did as instructed. About five minutes later, a lawyer from another firm that served the widow’s family interests was brought in. She instructed him to stand on the other side of the bed. After 15 minutes of standing there, with no further indication of what either one of them had been called in to do, the first lawyer said, “Mrs. Wong, I do not want to neglect you at a time like this, but I left a very important meeting to come here, and I really should be getting back. I am sure that Mr. Chan has a busy schedule as well. Is there anything you need either one of us to do before we go? We will be glad to take care of any concerns you have at this time.”

The widow said, “No, I am dying, and I do not need any more legal services. What I want you to do for me now is to stand where you are until I am gone, because I have always wanted to die like my Lord did – between two thieves!”
On the 11th of September 2001 at 9:47 in the morning, Cee Cee Lyles phoned her husband. “Babe, my plane has been hijacked,” she said. “Huh? Stop joking,” he said. “No babe, I would not joke like that. I love you. Tell the boys I love them. The pair prayed 23rd Psalm over the phone. There was a lot of commotion in the background, and at 10:03 the line went dead as United Flight 93 had through the bravery of many of the passengers crashed into a field.
“I love you, tell the boys I love you”, apart from Psalm 23 were, the last words of his wife to him. He will forever remember those words of his wife in his mind.
The last words of a any person are very important words. In a court of law here in Hong Kong, deathbed statements, even the statement was not taken under oath, and the person cannot attend court to validate them, are taken to be admissible as evidence.

Many times during our lifetime what people tell us before they leave us or what we tell them before they leave us may very often be the cause and even occasion of much joy or encouragement, or at times, they could unfortunately be the cause of much regret and remorse.

Normally people take very seriously the last words loves ones have spoken to them. We normally will keep on thinking of those words. We normally will think of them carefully. We normally will store them up in our hearts and consider them. We normally will keep on pondering on them in our minds.

I am sure that most of you will be in agreement with me if I said that should the last words of a loved one to us are spoken in the form of a declaration, or if they are spoken with any seriousness, spoken in the knowledge that very soon, time and space will be separating us, and if they request anything of us, we are all incline to do everything which is in our power to perform and complete what has been asked of us.

Last words of any person are important words.

Today, I would like you all, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to think about the last words of Jesus. I wonder, what would be the answer if we were to ask most people, what the last words of Jesus were. It is quite probable that they might tell you that his last words were “Father, forgive them, they know what they do”, or maybe they will tell you, “Father, into they hands I command my spirit.”

A lot of people when they think of the last word that Jesus spoken here in this world; will tend to think of those words that Jesus last spoke upon the cross. Those very word that Jesus spoken just before his death.

They normally will not think of the words that the resurrected Jesus spoke to his disciples, and to every member of his believers. The words Jesus spoke on the day when he ascended into heaven.

The very last words that Jesus spoken just before he ascended into heaven were:

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you shall 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.”

You shall receive power… you shall be my witness….

There is a story of a man who has been called to the witness stand in a local court case. The lawyer was questioning the man about the events surrounding the crime…What was it? Who were you with? Where were you going? The questions went on and on, until finally the lawyer asked. “Did you see the accused enter the store?” “No”. “Did you see the man with a gun enter the store?” “No.” The lawyer was getting exasperated, and shouted out, “Well, please tell us what you did see.” “I saw nothing.” “Nothing?” shouted the lawyer. “No. Nothing.” Said the man. “When I saw the man with the gun, I was scared so I put my hands over my eyes.”

In a court of law a witness is a person who supposedly has seen the event in question and can tell the story. The court is not normally that interested in the character or personal attributes of the witness. All the court really wanted is what the witness has seen and heard.

A witness could witness, or see an event happing, and then when that witness tells the story about the event he or she will be witnessing to other people about what happened.

“You shall be my witness, in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

“You shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, right at the very centre, and in Judea, out among the family, and Samaria, the land of our distant cousins, and to the ends of the earth.

The Christian gospels were early Christian preachers’ oral attempts to witness to what they have seen and heard. The gospel in written form was unknown, until Mark decided to write everything down.

Gospels are attempts to witness to the person and life of Jesus Christ. They are not history, poetry, or fact. They are stories. Within the gospels, we are not just obtaining information and data about Jesus. We are hearing a story about Jesus and how his life touched all the lives of the people all around him. Just like any good story, we find that just by listening to it, we are drawn by it. As a result our lives are caught up in his life and his life into ours.

“You shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus did not tell you that you may be. Jesus did not tell you that you might be. Jesus told you that “you shall be.”

Let me tell you a story about Tony, no, not our Tony. He met this young lady at a cocktail party. After a few drinks, he said to her. “Look, I like you a lot. You arouse in me feelings that very few women have been able to. Let us stop by my apartment.” She told him, “No, I really do not think that we are ready for that. After all, we only just met. We got to spend a lot more time together before getting that close.” He asked, “Is there anything wrong? Have I said something wrong?” She said, “No, it is just that I am not going to your apartment.” He asked her, “Why?” “Well, she said, without really thinking, “Because I am a Methodist.” “What is that?” he asked. “Well, a Methodist is a kind of Christian,” she said. “And what is that, being a Christian?” He asked her. “Well, it is somebody who believes that some things are right, and some things are wrong, and that God has plans for every one of us, and we should not violate God’s plans,” she said. In a society in which every one is encouraged to say “Yes”, and having this young lady said “No” to him, he found this encounter to be rather unusual. He never met anyone with such self-possession and presence of mind. He was curious about this Christian thing. He asked her if he could go with her to the Methodist place called “church” sometime. And he did.

You see, witnessing, telling others of our faith in God, does not need to be done in a loud and pushy manner that will only threaten and offends other people. I had heard of people running away, when they see a particular Christian friend coming from a distance, for that friend has been too pushy. In fact that is not witnessing at all, it is inducing someone to accept your point of view.

Witnessing is most often done by giving loving care to your friends, and by personal story telling. It should be done through things that you do all the time. A visit to a friend who is grieving for the loss of a love one. Having a cup of coffee with a neighbour or friend who is going through a difficult time. A visit to to a relative or friend who is in hospital or nursing home. During that visit, during that cup of coffee, you express your concern, you offer your prayers, you share with that person the hope that you have found in Jesus.

We, as believers in Christ, we as people who are baptized by water and by the Spirit, we have the power, a power that was given us by God, our Heavenly Father, to make a difference in this world. We have the power to bring people to the knowledge and love of God. We do that by what we do and in what we said in their presence. We do that through the story we have to share. We do that with the love that Jesus shown to us.

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you shall 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.”

After Jesus had said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid them from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee”, they said, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Why do you stand looking into the sky?

I think that the same question might just as well be asked of us all. Why do we stand looking up to the heavens? Why do we think and worry about all those things which we have absolutely no control? Why do we spend so much time socializing just among those of us who are already a part of the family of God, when out there, there are so many here in Hong Kong and around the world who need to hear the story of God’s love for the world. When there are so many people out there who need the hope and the healing that we have all found in Jesus Christ, our Lord? When there are so many out there who not only need a kind word or a kind deed from you of what has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ.

I remember what a radio broadcaster once said, “Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men, but keepers of the aquarium.”

I put it to you that many Christians today are more concern about what goes on inside the church, than we are about touching the lives of other people around us. Many Christians are more concern about preserving tradition than about helping people discover the source of wholeness. Many Christians are more concern about doing unnecessary things rather then helping people discover the fountain of living water that gives eternal life.

“You shall 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.”

We, as believers in Christ, we as people who are baptized by water and by the Spirit, we have the power, a power that was given us by God, our Heavenly Father, to make a difference in this world. We have the power to bring people to the knowledge and love of God. We do that by what we do and in what we said in their presence. We do that through the story we have to share. We do that with the love that Jesus shown to us.

I am going to tell you one final story before I finish off my sermon of today.

There was an artist who was trying to shown on canvas the meaning of preaching the gospel, drew a painting of a storm as sea. Black clouds filled the sky. Illuminated by a flash of lightening, a little boat could be seen being bashed apart by the pounding of the ocean. People were struggling in the stormy seas, their anguished faces crying out for help. The only glimmer of hope appeared in the foreground of the painting, where a very large rock protruded out of the water. There, right at the rock, clutching desperately with both hands, was a lone seaman.

It was a moving scene. Looking at the painting, one could already see in it a symbol of mankind’s hopeless condition. True to the Gospel, the only hope of being saved was “the Rock of Ages”, a shelter needed in the time of the storm.

Looking at his finished work, the artist suddenly thrown away the canvas, as the painting did not accurately portray what he wanted to draw. So he painted another one after discarding the first one. The second painting was very similar to the first one. The black clouds, the flashing lightning, the angry seas, the little boat crushed by the pounding waves, as well as the crew struggling in vain in the sea. In the foreground the seaman was clutching the large rock for salvation. However, this time the artist makes one small change. The survivor was only holding to the rock with one hand, and the other hand, he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend.

That is precisely the picture of witnessing in the gospels. The hand represents our reaching down to rescue the perishing. Unless we extend that hand, there is no Gospel, and there will be no hope for this world of us. Until we extend that hand, we have not followed the last words of Jesus.

Let all of us, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, seriously ponder the last words of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us store his last words up in our hearts. Let us all go forth as witnesses to the faith. Let us all go forth and tell our story so that others might believe and be able to find salvation.

Blessed be God, day by day. Amen.