God's Fingerprints

Photo by Kolby Milton on Unsplash

Yesterday, our congregation hosted a big, annual Christmas party for clients with the local hospital system's mental health treatment services. This has everything you could want in a holiday shindig: piles of food and plenty of desserts to go around, a visit from Santa Claus, caroling, and kids playing elf and passing out every gift off your list. Elvis even shows up and sings (that's when some spontaneous dancing broke out this year). 

It's a really joyful time.

The book of Acts is the story of the news about Jesus crossing the borders of Judea and reaching to the ends of the earth (1:8). At first, the apostles are preaching to fellow Jews, and so their presentation of the gospel is bursting at the seams with Old Testament references. Peter spends 25 verses preaching and teaching on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, and 11 of those 25 verses are direct quotations from the Old Testament. That's because his audience knew the scriptures, and they understood themselves as the children of Abraham, followers of Moses who were awaiting a "Son of David" savior. This was their story.

Richard Beck has pointed out that, in Acts 14, for the very first time, we see the gospel preached to an audience made up entirely of pagans who've never heard of Abraham, Moses, or David. That isn't their story. There are no Jews or God-fearing Gentiles in the crowd at Lystra—these people worshipped Zeus, and Hermes. 

So how does Paul introduce his unbelieving listeners to the God of the Jews?

Even though these folks don't know the scriptures, this God, Paul insists, hasn't left himself without a witness. "He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (14:17) The kindness of the Lord that we experience in our ordinary lives witnesses to God. It's the testimony telling the world about the God of the Bible. 

How do we experience God's kindness? What are the specific things Paul mentions that testify to God? He points to rain from heaven, crops in their seasons, food—and what else? 

Joy. 

Joy testifies to the one who made heaven and earth. 

Joy is evidence of a God who has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a hope and a future. 

Joy points us towards the God who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him wouldn't perish, but have everlasting life.

Joy is God's fingerprint. It reminds us that, though we may not see him with our eyes, God's been here. God's at work. And God's work, God's desire for us, is that we would have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10), that our joy may be complete (John 15:11).

And just think: whenever you can bring some of that joy to another person, you're working side by side with our Lord, making, even in just a small way, the kingdom come and God's will be done on earth, the way it is in heaven. That's what happened at our Christmas party yesterday. Elvis impersonators, tambourines, banana pudding, and fried chicken—some days that's exactly what the Kingdom of God looks like. That's how you know, God's been here.

I hope you experience real joy this Christmas, that you see God's fingerprints all around you. I also hope that you and I will start to wonder: how can I bring joy to someone else this holiday season? How could I leave God's fingerprint on someone's life this Christmas?

You can listen to this week's devotional right here: