Powerful New Clothes

Why I Go On Mission Trips: A Biblical Warrant, Part III

We can’t go it alone.  We can’t live in a vacuum.  We can’t think that we have what it takes to be a success.  We need others, and most importantly, we need God’s Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to be effective in our calling and in our work. The Holy Spirit enables us to go where we haven’t been before and to share about our faith.  The Holy Spirit is the only one who can make our work effective.

How is this so?  After his resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus taught his disciples what they (and we) are to teach others about who Jesus is:

“And he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem…so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’” –Luke 24:46-49

Jesus tells them to stay in Jerusalem, the city, to be clothed with power from on high.  He calls them to, first of all, wait.  Secondly, he tells them to proclaim the good news to all the nations.  Thirdly, he promises to clothe his disciples with the power that is necessary for them to be able to share about who he is.

It’s this power he gives them (and us) that enables missions to be effective.

So what is the power that clothes us and makes our sharing with the nations effective? Jesus later tells his disciples:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” –Acts 1:8

It’s God’s Holy Spirit that gives us this power.  Being clothed with the Holy Spirit is what gives missions power.

We cannot do it alone.  We cannot think that we have all it takes to be a success.  We need to rely on the wisdom and guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus concludes with telling them why they need the Holy Spirit:

“…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” –Acts 1:8

Once they have been clothed in the power of the Holy Spirit, then they are to go outward. This is our call too.  When we receive the Holy Spirit in our life (at our moment of conversion), we are supposed to go out and witness to Christ.

There are four places that we, as the church and Christ’s disciples, are to witness.

1. In our own cities, i.e. Jerusalem, to the original hearers
2. In our own regions, i.e. Judea, to the original hearers
3. Across culture in our own regions, i.e. the Samaritans, to the original hearers
4. Across culture outside of our own city/region, i.e. to the ends of the earth, to the original hearers

Jesus clothed the believers with the Holy Spirit so that they would be able to go out and witness to him in these four areas.  Likewise, Christ gives us this same powerful new clothing as his disciples, so that our work in these four areas will be effective as well.

How do you witness to your faith in Christ?  Have you seen a difference when you relied on the Holy Spirit and when you didn’t?

Read another post in this series: Traveling Out of My Comfort Zone, How One Man Blessed Us All, or Answering the Call