Disciples and witnesses - Acts 1:7-8

One of my favourite quotes is from St. Seraphim of Sarov a nineteenth century Russian Saint. He says: “Acquire the Spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you shall be saved.”

In these days of frenetic activity and frantic busyness one of the first casualties of the Christian’s life - let alone the priest’s life—is that of spending quality time in the presence of God. I don’t mean saying the offices or attending services—although they are, I believe, the minimum requirement of the Christian’s life—I mean silent engagement with God in a way which enables us to meet Him at the very deepest levels of our existence. It is this engagement that enables us, says Seraphim, to acquire the spirit of peace which will itself have an impact not only on our own lives but that of others around us.

As one who has made Jesus’ call to “make disciples of all nations” his own personal mantra, evangelism has for much of my ministry been one of concentrating on the outward activity of setting up and running various courses from Emmaus to Alpha, or Christianity Explored to Saints Alive, any tool that would help me fulfil the charge that Jesus has laid at my feet and the feet of His Church. But those words of Seraphim have caused me to re-visit the scriptures and look again at what else Jesus said with regard to this calling to make disciples of all nations.

It was in Acts 1:8 that I discovered how the words of Seraphim fit in so perfectly with Jesus’ plan for taking the message of the Good News and making it known to a needy world. Here Jesus reminds the disciples that taking the message out from Jerusalem and into the ends of the earth should not become a human resourced activity, but like any other God-directed work, be dependant on the power of God manifested in and the through the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is in this context that Jesus adds a further comment which suddenly gelled with the words of St.
Seraphim. He tells them: “and you will become my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. And it’s that word ‘witness’ that suddenly struck me. It is not just the witnesses words that are important in a court of Law but whether:

First, whether his/her words can be corroborated with that of other witnesses or pieces of evidence; and,
2. Whether the character of the witness is such that he/she can be deemed trustworthy when
considering what they say. The point is that in terms of evangelistic outreach of any sort, the medium is the message. It is the quality of our Christian character that ultimately gives the message of the Good News both legitimacy and power. No wonder Jesus tells the disciples to wait until the Spirit comes—the same Spirit that produces the fruit of love, joy and peace etc—so that by continual contact with Him we may be ready to take a more holistic approach to evangelism and mission.

So to come back to St. Seraphim of Sarov, his message is a soundly biblical one. That if we do take the time to spend with God and acquire the spirit of peace then in and through the same Spirit we will be able to do as Jesus has called us to do and be His instruments in the salvation of many souls.

O heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth who art everywhere and all places, come and abide in us. Cleanse us from all impurity and of thy goodness, save our souls.