But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. Deut. 30:17-18a In this Season after Pentecost, and especially in September this year, the words from Jesus are particularly hard to hear… they make us cringe as we are convicted of how wrongly we, like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, are oriented – toward the ways of the world and not toward the ways of God. These are hard words, but necessary for us to hear, as we are called to follow Christ and change our ways. Throughout the month of August, our WITNESS Sermon Series dealt with the “The Great Commission” and began with the phrase “Come and See | Go and Tell.” Witness? You say… in what ways? The whole point is that, as Peter tells in his first epistle, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” - (1 Peter 1:5) Holy – meaning different – set apart – for God. As followers of Christ, we live a different life and have a different view of how the world SHOULD be. But there are times when these words are hard to hear… It is often so much easier to follow the world and go along with whatever others believe – don’t make waves, keep your head down, follow the crowd… but WITNESS?! That’s hard to do! And we fear the repercussions when we try. Jesus, however, calls us to repentance and points us to His cross to see forgiveness and the true meaning of a love that lasts. When the Holy Spirit directs, that day will come… as the prophet Isaiah gives us words of hope, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” Isaiah 29:18 With the gift of Faith, let us have ears to hear and eyes to see… and LIVE as God leads us, then WITNESS with the help of His Holy Spirit. Pastor Jim Kirschenmann Zion Lutheran Church - Vassar, KS