July 4, 2004 * St. Luke Window * Luke 1:1-4 * Vicar Caauwe

“You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48). That’s what Jesus told his disciples before he ascended into heaven. “You are witnesses”—and they were. They were eyewitnesses to all the things that had happened in recent times. They had seen Jesus heal the sick, drive out demons, and raise the dead. They witnessed his perfect life. They witnessed his innocent death. They saw Jesus risen from the dead. They were witnesses.

Today we consider the third part of our series on the Windows to the Word. On the last two Sundays we heard about two of these eyewitnesses, John and Matthew. Both of them were Jesus’ disciples, and as eyewitnesses, they testified to what they saw and heard by recording their Gospel accounts.

Today we come to the St. Luke window. Luke wrote the third Gospel, the third record of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke also wrote the book of Acts, which details the history of the early Christian church and how the gospel spread throughout the world.

But Luke wasn’t an apostle. He wasn’t one of the twelve. He wasn’t an eyewitness. And that puts him in the same boat as everyone here today. We, too, are not eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life.

But we are

WITNESSES OF THE WORD, just like Luke.

I. We are witnesses of what the Word of God has accomplished in our own lives, and

II. as witnesses, we testify to what we have seen and heard.

Luke begins his gospel account this way: “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.” (1)

Even though Luke was not an eyewitness, the events of Jesus’ life were carefully passed down by those who were. Apparently, there were already written accounts of these events. So the reason Luke notes the reliability of these early accounts is not just to give his own upcoming book some credibility, but because it was probably one of these accounts by which Luke came to faith. It is believed that Luke was from the city of Antioch, a Gentile convert to Christianity.

Luke is symbolized by the image of an ox. He is probably depicted as such because of the emphasis Luke gives to the concept of sacrifice. An ox was one animal often used for sacrifices. Remember how Luke records Jesus’ parents making the sacrifice in the temple after his birth. Throughout his life Jesus then kept every law perfectly so that he himself could be a perfect sacrifice for us.

The Old Testament has many laws concerning sacrifices. Yet all these laws made two things very clear. The first is that there was no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. When God said the wages of sin is death, he meant it, and the slaughter of bulls and goats demonstrated what would happen to those who transgressed God’s holy law. Without exception, death would come to all who sinned.

And all had sinned. There was no one who had perfectly kept all of God’s law. No one. The Old Testament law showed that all people were in need of the sacrifices.

The second thing they showed was that even though the punishment for sin was death, it was not the people who sinned that died. Instead, a lamb, bird, or an ox was killed. The sacrifices showed that there was to be a substitution.

Sacrifice is a common theme in Luke’s Gospel, not just because it is a theme that runs through all of Scripture, but because it is a theme that ran through Luke’s life. It is a theme that runs through our lives as well.

We are witnesses of the Word. As witnesses, we cannot change or ignore what we have seen and heard. We can’t ignore the fact that our lives and the perfect life that God demands of us do not match. We can’t simply change what God has said because it doesn’t fit our culture today. We cannot change the fact that death is the sentence for all sinners. We are witnesses.

So put yourself in Luke’s shoes and hear about a man who has obeyed all God’s laws. Hear about a man who has compassion on the weak, on the poor, on the outcasts. Hear about a man who is everything that you are not.

See him suffer anguish he did not deserve. See him carry the weight of sins he did not commit. See him abandoned by God, suffering hell, as a sacrifice, a substitute for you.

Though we were not there, we, too, are witness. We are witnesses of the gospel. We are witnesses of the Word.

But a witness who see and hears, and does not tell, is not a very good witness. A witness who does not testify to what he has seen is not that helpful.

Testifying to what he had seen and heard was exactly what Luke did. You may know that in the book of Acts, which primarily chronicles the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul, there are several sections, where the action is described with the word “we.” “We put out to sea...we traveled...” Apparently, Luke was with Paul at various points in his travels, including his final trip to Jerusalem and his shipwrecked trip to Rome. And we read in our second lesson about how at the end of Paul’s life, Luke was the only one still with him.

Yet I don’t think I have ever heard Luke called a missionary or a pastor. He is called an evangelist because he wrote the third Gospel. But he is most commonly referred to as Luke the Physician. That is because in Colossians Paul calls him “the beloved physician.” Luke was a doctor. And so the left panel of this window contains a mortar and pestle, tools that a doctor might have used, and which are often used to symbolize the field of medicine.

Isn’t it interesting that Luke is primarily known for his secular occupation? Some might say that it is important because in his Gospel he gives particular emphasis to Jesus’ healing of the sick and maybe even uses words that only a doctor would know. Certainly it tells us that Luke was an educated man, who knew how to write well.

But I think there is more. We don’t really know what Luke’s role was as a traveling companion of Paul. Paul called him a fellow worker, but we don’t exactly know what work he did. We never hear of Luke getting up and preaching. We don’t hear of him pastoring a congregation.

Perhaps Luke simply did what a doctor did. Perhaps he served Paul and his companions as their doctor. Perhaps when Luke was with Paul in prison in Rome, the needs he was taking care of were Paul’s physical, medical needs.

In any case, Luke’s role seems to have been a supporting role. He was a witness to the Word. He testified to what he had seen and heard by supporting and assisting those who were bringing the gospel to foreign lands.

Not all of us are missionaries. Most of us have not been called to go overseas to publicly proclaim the gospel . Most of us have not been called to by God to publicly proclaim his Word here at St. John’s.

But perhaps you have been called to be a doctor, a nurse, an electrician, a store clerk, a homemaker, a student, a teacher. And in that role, you are also called to be a witness to the Word.

Now, not all of us will ever have the opportunity to use our vocation in a foreign mission field to support the work being done there. But we all have the opportunity to support those who do. We all have the opportunity to testify to what we have seen and heard by supporting the work of missionaries, and all those who carry the gospel to those who do not have it. We have the opportunity to use our skills and talents, or the money earned in our vocation, to be a witness to the Word.

But this is not the only way to testify. Not only did Luke support the work of Paul, he also recorded recorded what he had seen and heard. Luke wrote, “Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus.”(2)

Luke testified to the Word by writing the books of Luke and Acts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He wrote them both to a man named Theophilus. We don’t know much about him, but Theophilus was probably someone Luke met later in his life, perhaps at Rome. Luke does tell us the reason he wrote to him: “so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”(4) That tells us that Theophilus had been taught the truths of Christianity and was probably a believer. These books would serve to solidify his faith and strengthen him.

We are witnesses to the Word. We may not have the writing skills that Luke had. We may never have the opportunity to witness to people across the world and across centuries. But we all know people who need encouragement in the faith. We all know people who, while they are believers, need to be reminded that the things they have been taught are certain and true.

Perhaps they need to be reminded that God is serious about sin, every sin. Maybe they need to be reminded that God truly does forgive sin, every sin. Maybe they need to be reminded that troubles and difficulties do not mean that God has abandoned us or forsaken us, but that he uses these things to strengthen us and to move us to trust him all the more.

I’ve never testified in court, but I guess if I ever had the opportunity to do that, and see justice done—to convict the guilty or acquit the innocent—I would be happy to do that.

We are witnesses of what God has done. We are witnesses to the Word of God that proclaims what God has done. And our testimony, whether that happens as we support missionaries with our prayers and offerings or as we speak privately with people we know; our testimony frees people. It releases people from guilt and shame, from death and hell. And what a joy to be able to do that!

Today we thank God for the work and writing of St. Luke, the evangelist and physician. But even more than that, we thank God for what we have seen and heard and for allowing us to be a witness to the Word. Amen.