Reflection by Rev. Christine Dudley -June 5, 2011

Last Sunday of Easter Season

  Scripture Text: Acts 1:6-14
                          Isaiah 58:6-11

Remembering the scripture passages we heard this morning, I'll begin this time of reflection with a poem and a prayer:

We look for you, straining our eyes into the far country,
but our vision is disrupted by the least,
the lost, the littlest, the last among us.
We race after you, trying to catch up,
and turning the corner find only a homeless family in our path.
We wander the streets, yearning to find you,
calling your name, but it is only a single mother
who turns and wearily smiles,
a street person who whispers "hello",
a little girl who pirouettes and takes our hand.
Gone... But you are still here, Christ
Help us to see.
           Written by Thom M. Shuman, Fire and Bread, p.146, Wild Goose Publications

And so we pray...

Be with us, O Spirit,
and form us as witnesses
to the love of God in Christ.
Grace us with your power,
so that we may embody this love
for those who long for the gift of presence,
the hope of acceptance,
and the blessing of compassion.
Amen

The theme that has been powerfully present in my thoughts and prayers this week is that of witness. When I was studying theology one of my teachers often used the word witness. She'd declare that as Christians we are called to "witness" and "be witnesses" of Christ's presence in the world. In the first year of my theological studies this made me very nervous. The word witness carried a lot of baggage for me. I shuddered when I thought of standing on a street corner, holding religious tracts, or going door to door trying to convert people to the one true way. But, of course, that wasn't at all what my teacher had in mind.

The word witness simply means "one who testifies to what is known to be true". In Christian context a witness is someone who, by their words and actions, testifies to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for witness is martyria from which our word martyr comes from.

In my musings this week I was thinking about some of the meanings of witness in the context of Christian scriptures. What first came to mind was that witness can be passive and experiential such as when Jesus so often invited people to "come and see" for themselves what his ministry and the commonwealth of God was all about. He invited them to observe, to experience, to witness God's spirit empowering people to live and work together for the common good.

Then, I thought about how dynamic and active was the witness of the people that did come and see and whose lives were transformed by their experiences of God's grace and love through the ministry of Jesus Christ. He beckoned them to "come and see" and then to "go and do likewise"; to live the commonwealth of God in the actions of their lives.

On Easter Sunday, when reflecting on the empty tomb, I commented that Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the risen Christ according to the Gospel of John. When she saw that the stone had been rolled away, Mary immediately went to tell others and two male disciples came to verify her finding. You may remember me saying that women, in Jesus' day, were not thought to be reliable witnesses so the law required that two men verify a woman's testimony. After the men left, Mary had an experience of the risen Christ. She quickly went to the place where the other disciples were gathered and boldly proclaimed, "I have seen the Lord". (John 20:18)

One of the stories of the early Christian community, which we heard this morning, recalls Jesus' followers, women and men, who after his death and resurrection were "constantly devoting themselves to prayer" seeking guidance from God. They experienced the risen Christ who reassures and encourages them. Christ said,"you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem...and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

Last week, David, Peter, Leah and I, attended a general gathering of the United Church in our region known as BC Conference. The delegates who attend these general meetings represent all the United Church congregations in our Conference. BC Conference has three overarching goals which have been established by Conference staff and executive to address the mission and values of the Conference. These are, Healthy Congregations and Ministries, Effective Leadership, and Faithful Public Witness. I checked the BC Conference website this week and noted that one of the points under Effective Leadership is "leadership whose way of life bears witness to their faith".

The focus theme for last week's four day gathering of BC Conference was Faithful Public Witness. The scripture passage which informed the worship and the theme presentations was Isaiah 58:6-11. (This is the same passage from Isaiah that I chose to include as one of our scripture readings this morning.)

The Youth at Conference focussed on "Be the Change" during their time together and one of the general workshop leaders was a 15 year old who did a presentation on the Kielburger brothers' "Me to We" movement.

The Children at Conference focussed on "Compassion" and one of the highlights for me at Conference was when the two children in my table group asked each of the adults at our table, "What does compassion mean to you?". As we each took a turn to answer they listened carefully. They were, it seems, doing their "homework".

The focal passage for worship at Conference was a phrase from Isaiah 58:10, "...then your light shall rise..." and the Keynote Speaker was the Reverend Dr. Marilyn Legge, professor of Christian Ethics at Emmanuel College in Toronto. Marilyn, as she likes to be called, is also a passionate and committed member of the United Church of Canada. Marilyn spoke about many aspects of Faithful Public Witness. She began the first of her presentations by quoting Frederick Beuchner who says, "Our calling is where our deep gladness and the world's hunger meet" and Margaret Wheatley who claims that, "Bearing witness means being brave enough to bear witness to human suffering". Connecting these quotes with Christian Scripture, Marilyn, reminded us that 1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

All of these things have been in my mind, and in my heart, as I have reflected on today's passage from Acts. The risen Christ, encouraging his followers to take heart and continue their shared ministry, told them, "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses... " (Acts 1:8)

Reflecting on this, I remembered a time in my life when I witnessed a violent incident and was called by my faith to respond. It was many years ago. I was leaving the dental office, where I was employed, via the back door which faced onto the parking lot. As I opened the door I witnessed a car stopped on the road beside the parking lot. In front of the car, preventing it from moving forward, was a truck. Hanging out of the passenger side of the truck was a man who was in a rage, yelling at a young woman who was sitting in the driver's seat of the car. The man jumped out of the truck and still yelling at the woman, spat violently in the women's face (she'd opened the window to talk with him). He then ripped the windshield wiper from her car and threw it on the street before jumping back in the truck which quickly sped away.

I immediately went to the woman who was visibly shaken and upset. I noticed she was not alone, there was a toddler in a car seat in the back. She was in a state of shock and wasn't able to think what she needed to do so I gently but firmly told her she needed to pull off the road into our staff parking lot. She was able to tell me that she was on her way to take her child to the doctor's office which was below our dental clinic. I suggested she come with me to our staff room, which I knew was empty, where she could clean up and calm down before going to the doctor. I said I would phone and explain what happened and that she would be there soon. I gave her a drink of water and offered to call the police and be a witness for her.

The police interviewed me and in due course I was called as a witness in court. The lawyer for the defence asked me if I'd witnessed the tete a tete between his client and the woman. I was stunned by this manipulation of the facts in an attempt to downplay the actions of his client. Clearly this was not a case of the putting together of two heads in quiet conversation. I was able to tell the court that this certainly was not a tete a tete but a man yelling at the top of his voice in an state of what I could only describe as rage the likes of which I had never before witnessed in my life.

When I think about that experience it's clear that I was a witness, in the public sense of testifying in court. I was able to corroborate the woman's testimony with my own testimony of the incident. Where my faith comes into the story is that in caring for the woman's physical and emotional needs, at the time of the attack, I was bearing witness to the call of my faith tradition to respond to those in need with love and compassion.

Two of the definitions that the Gage Canadian Dictionary gives to explain the word witness is, "a person who is present when something happens; one who has direct or first-hand knowledge of an event, and, a person who gives evidence or testifies under oath before a judge..." It notes also that one of the defintions of "bear witness" is to "be evidence". This is the crux of the matter with respect to Christian witness for me. To "be evidence" that Christ's ministry is alive and well and that in bearing witness as the Body of Christ, in our faith-filled actions, God's love and concern for justice is made known in the world.

A story, like mine, is not what might first come to mind when discussing bearing faithful witness to our Christian faith. But, I believe it is no less a valid and credible offering of Christian witness than when I've marched for social justice causes or preached the good news of the Gospel in worship. There are many ways we bear witness to our faith in Christ. Our very lives bear witness to Christ's ministry. We all have stories we could tell in which our faith has been reflected in actions of compassion, justice, kindness, hospitality and many other ordinary, yet extraordinary ways.

Together we are the Body of Christ, in this time and place. We gain strength from God's presence in prayer and practice and in the many ways we encourage and support the nurturing and offering of the Spirit-given gifts we are blessed to share.

We are also strengthened by the "great cloud of witnesses" past and present. The early Christian church, through sacred scripture, reminds us that, "since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every burden...and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

May our lives "be evidence" of the Body of Christ; fully human, fully alive, fully dedicated to Christ's ministry of love and justice. And, with gratitude for the faithful witness that Christ calls us to bear, we give thanks for our ancestors in faith as I offer a traditional Celtic blessing:

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
walk with you on the road.
May the Christ who serves with wounded hands
stretch out your hands to serve.
May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart
open your hearts to love.
May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet,
and may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you.
           Traditional Celtic Prayer, Voices United 349