"Be a Witness"
So…
Have you ever been a witness?
Perhaps a witness to an accident.
Or been at a sporting event where the underdog won!
Maybe you were a witness to your child’s birth!
Or like this past week saw or felt the building shake because of an earthquake.
You were a witness and can speak with some authority to what you saw, heard, and felt!
Bill Henderson stopped in the church office on Wednesday after helping unload the 4500lbs of food for the Food Pantry.
He showed me a picture of a car that had been a couple in front of him on Route 211, that had a hole in it where a branch had plunged from the tree above right through the passenger side windshield! No one was hurt, but oh my!
It was unbelievable. Such a scary occurrence. Accidents happen!
But here is the thing to note today: Bill was a witness of the carnage, if not the accident itself.
And he was sharing what he witnessed!
It’s exactly what we are invited by Jesus to do. To share what we have witnessed, just like the author of the letter known as 1 John is doing!
John is saying that he saw God’s Word incarnate. That he had been with the one who become life and now this John is telling the story of what he has seen and heard.
This is really important!
Because sometimes there is a tendency in the Christian community to try and be a witness to what we haven’t seen and heard. What we haven’t experienced.
We try to tell friends and family about what others have discovered or experienced.
But it is not the same!
Telling someone else’s story is not nearly the same thing as telling your own.
Many years ago, I woke up ready to get the kids on the bus and Sue off to work, but I had this nagging pain and tightness in my chest and arm.
I got the kids on the bus as Sue got ready, and then I told her what I was experiencing.
I am cute, but sometimes not too bright!
A quick trip to Urgent Care at Crystal Run revealed I was having a possible heart attack, so off to Horton Hospital I went for a catheterization, and then to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood NJ, for two, it turns out, cardiac stents!
Sue tells her story of following the ambulance down to Ridgewood, and crazy panic-stricken drive. She might have wanted to kill me for all this!
I, of course, tell a different story!
About how the medic in the back of the ambulance seemed a bit panic stricken as he gave me more and more Nitroglycerin, asking me if the pain was diminishing, which it wasn’t.
And, I tell folks about the amazing peace I had during the whole experience!
Especially in that ambulance!
I wasn’t panicked, not because I was sure I was going to be fine, but because I somehow knew God had me in the palm of his hand.
That is just one of the stories I can tell of God’s provision, how I knew God was with me, even in very scary, dark circumstances.
Being a witness is all about us telling our stories of faith, about of our encounters with Jesus, about our moments when we realized a miracle was taking place, and we have become witnesses!
And then, we can share how we understand what has happened!
We can share why we are confident that God has us!
So, what story do you have that speaks about your faith in way that makes that story one you could tell, and be a witness to the resurrection power of Jesus in your life?
Think about that…
And then…
Tell your story!
Amen