Eastertide 2

Sermon ~ You Are Witnesses

Preacher ~ George Thompson

My friend Carl has worked for the past eleven years as an instructor and adult mentor for his church’s confirmation classes. He has discovered this involvement to be one of the most exhilarating experiences of his life. He has become a friend and role model for several hundred youth who are now outstanding church leaders and conscientious disciples.

Recently he received the following e-mail challenge: Name the five wealthiest people in the world. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. Name the ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for the best actor and actress. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

Carl confesses that he did terrible on the quiz. I did even worse. Yet, this e-mail inquiry had merely asked him to recall some of the most successful people on the planet. These achievements have been universally applauded and recognized. But Carl observes that awards tarnish. Accolades, certificates, and even Oscars are buried with their owners.

Carl’s e-mail inquiry contained this subsequent quiz: List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.1/

These contrasting inquiries amplify the obvious: we all recall those persons who have made a qualitative difference in our personal lives. We remember with affection that special teacher who embedded within us a desire to learn. When we viewed the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus, our emotions were driven by the memory of a similar classroom teacher in our experience. We shall never forget the name of that friend who restored our self-worth when we lost our job. Engraved upon the interior wall of our soul is the memory of that science professor who made the grandeur of the universe to come alive for us, or that literature professor whose interpretations of Shakespeare truly made all the world a stage. We all carry within us the image of heroes who have inspired us to become a skillful physician, a resourceful teacher, an inspiring musician, or a productive banker.

We are all witnesses to something. We all make an impression of some sort, for good or ill. We all drink from wells we did not dig. We all come to a saving knowledge of Christ through the influence of someone in who eyes we first glimpsed the truth about the Man of Nazareth.

In our lectionary reading for this third Sunday of Eastertide, we hear the voice of Peter in Jerusalem. He and John have just touched the life of a man born lame who inhabited the temple every day. At the Gate Beautiful Peter grasped his hand and commanded him to walk.. The man not only stood, but he began to leap for sheer joy. He joined Peter and John as they entered the temple praising God. Naturally, as they departed from worship, his appearance drew a crowd. Every worshipper was familiar with this unsightly beggar whom they had passed on the way to the sanctuary. So Peter used the occasion to preach. He proclaimed that the glorified servant Jesus was the fulfillment of all that had been promised by the Hebrew ancestors. But this Jesus had been rejected and murdered. Yet God raised the crucified One from the dead. After saying these things, Peter glanced in the direction of John and other transformed followers and said, “To this we are witnesses.”2/

Indeed, the initial evangelists were eye-witnesses to the resurrection. Each apostle was a chosen witness to the risen Lord. Through the centuries, their liberating message has been passed on. We too are, therefore, witnesses to God’s victorious love through Christ. We know his power and presence through the breaking of bread and drinking of wine. We are witnesses to the message of hope for a world that dwells in despair.

We each are called to be witnesses to this message. We each are commissioned to embody divine love. We have been given this dignified title by Jesus himself: “You are the light of the world.”3/ The apostle Paul addressed a mixture of ordinary disciples in Corinth whose lives were no more spectacular than our own, saying, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us . . . .”4/

Sometimes we complain that we are not growing spiritually. We confess that our prayer life is not improving. Perhaps the reason is this: we cannot get God’s spirit into us because so little of God’s spirit is coming out of us. If we truly want to grow in our faith, we must share our faith. The spiritual power surge of the Christian life is like electricity: if we open up the lines, it flows into us and through us. The more of the gospel we give away, the more we retain. If we don’t use it, we lose it.

I want to provide more opportunities for us to share our faith stories with one another here at Providence Church. Everyone has a witness. At this time some of us find that our faith journey is too personal and private yet to share. I shall always respect your privacy, as will others in this congregation. But in small, intimate, and confidential groups like ChristCare; we are more prone to exercise our personal witness. At last Sunday’s vesper service, Jim Wollin rendered a portion of his faith pilgrimage. C.J. Underwood will speak at next month’s service. I want to encourage others to share, as led by God’s spirit.

A church in one city had sustained the heritage of ringing the bells of its carillon at noon and each evening. Joyous music has filled the neighborhood with sound for many years. Because the community has became more diversified, one cynic initiated a petition to stop the bells. He decided to start his campaign by visiting a leader of the Jewish community and asking him to sign first. When he took the carefully worded document to the door of this revered Jewish leader, the man refused to grant his signature. He was not afraid of reprisal from the members of the church. No, he merely said that “if he believed what those people believed, that their Savior has come, he would probably be noisier than they are.”5/

We are all witnesses to something. We all have a faith story to tell. By coming to this altar today we are making a witness inside these walls that we intend to take into the world this week. Thus, we shall pray today, “Make this bread and wine be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.”

By the grace of God, we are the body of the redeemed. Therefore, in the words of the ancient Psalmist, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so . . . .”6/

Footnotes:

1. Carl Phillips, “Thoughts of a Confirmation Leader,” Christ Church Messenger (Volume 39, No. 16; April 30, 2000), p. 1

2. Acts 3: 15b NRSV

3. Matthew 5: 14 a NRSV

4. II Corinthians 5: 20 a NRSV

5. William H. Hinson, The Power of Holy Habits: A Discipline for Faithful Discipleship, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991), p. 71.

6. Psalm 107:2 a NRSV