April 22, 2012

Called to be Christ’s Witnesses

One of the many things I deeply love about Christianity is its earthiness, its deep
connection with creation. Rather than a book of theology, God sent Jesus, a three
dimensional human being, to enter, as our scientists call it “the space-time continuum.”
Not a disembodied spiritual concept but a real live flesh and blood human being to walk
our walk, share our death, and then up the ante by pointing an even greater life beyond
the grave.

This understanding of Jesus as a real live, three dimensional -- actually four
dimensional if we throw in the whole space-time continuum thing -- flesh and blood
human being continues after his resurrection as well. In today’s Gospel from Luke
Jesus is once again back among the disciples and they have the same predictably
astonished reaction as the women at the empty tomb had two weeks ago: they
were “startled and terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost”. Jesus tries to
convince them that it is really he -- “see my hands and feet, touch me, for a ghost does
not have flesh and bones as I do”, yet they are still can’t believe their eyes. So what
does he do? “You got anything here to eat?” and they sit down and eat broiled fish with
him and only then are their eyes really opened. In the tangible, concrete sharing of
food -- the mainstay of human existence -- the very basic act of eating together. Not a
disembodied spiritual concept, a real live, flesh and blood human being there with them
as they ate together, here with us as we share the bread and wine of communion.

But to be fully human does not stop with just sustaining our physical needs. To be
fully human means to engage, be stewards of the gifts of higher functioning which God
gave us: the ability to reason and create. The ability to love and have compassion.
The ability to put the needs of others above those of our own. Interestingly, recent
scientific studies show that there might be actually be something called the “altruism
gene” in our genetic palate, that the inclination to do good for others might actually be
hard-wired within us.

In his conversation with the disciples that night over a shared meal of broiled fish,
Jesus also addresses these higher functioning abilities of what it means to be human.
He summarizes the purpose of his life, death, and resurrection and then empowers
them (us) to be “witnesses of these things”.

Rev’d Jo-Ann often quotes the following words attributed to St. Francis: “Preach
the Gospel always. If necessary use words.” Preaching the Gospel always and using
words if necessary is inherent in Jesus words to the disciples (and to us) that they (we)
are to be his witnesses. Since our faith is indelibly connected to this life, this earth,
this creation and all its inhabitants -- since Jesus himself came to preach, teach, heal,
suffer, die and then open the way for an even greater life -- since Jesus was mostly not
about talk but rather action his directive to his disciples and to us his disciples in this
concrete world today to “be witnesses” very much means don’t just talk the talk; walk
the walk.

I know David Hitt always loves it when I use Greek words from the pulpit, so I hope
the rest of you will indulge me as well! Since Greek was the language in which the New
Testament was written, it might be helpful to know what the original word for “witness”
is: “martureo”. Does that sound familiar? Yup -- the Greek word for “witness” is the
same word from which we get “martyr”. Gives it a whole different level of intensity,
doesn’t it? I think of a witness as someone who observes, someone who stands on the
sidelines, who’s giving the option of getting involved or not. But a “martyr”? That’s a
whole different understanding of what being a “witness” is. There is no choice about
involvement. We’re in it; intimately involved, just as God, was, is, and always will be
intimately involved with all of creation. To be a witness for Jesus Christ means to get
our hands dirty, engage all of the higher functioning gifts God has given us, and get
involved.

That being human means being involved, that being Christian means being involved
undergirds both goals we have set for ourselves for the next five years here at St.
Stephen’s as well as our mission statement. Our five year goals are in the areas of
Evangelism, Worship, Fellowship, and Worship. One of the things we’ve identified in
the area of Fellowship here at St. Stephen’s is that we are pretty good at welcoming
people but need to do a better job on how we help people to feel more included, more
connected, more involved.

And then we have our mission statement in which “We celebrate in our
community a real and present God, who affirms the precious value of every
person in the life and example of Jesus. We seek out, invite, and welcome all
people and encourage them to join us in a life of mercy, justice, learning and
service.”

A life of mercy, justice, learning, and service. That, certainly, fleshes out
Jesus’ words to us that we become his witnesses -- preaching the Gospel and
using words when necessary. And what better way for people who are new to
St. Stephen’s to become more closely connected, than by being encouraged
to get involved in one of those areas! To that end we will be undertaking
something during each of the next four weeks during this Easter season.
Starting next Sunday, we will highlight a separate area of ministry here at St.
Stephen’s and, in what we hope will be a fun and interactive way, invite people
to get involved in or just learn more about the different ministries we have here
at St. Stephen’s in the areas of: Learning, Justice and Service, Worship, and
Mercy. Each week a different area will be highlighted and my hope is that all of
us, not just you who are new to the St. Stephen’s community, but all of us can
connect more deeply with ways we can serve and learn.

Another word for all of this, actually, is “stewardship.” We hear a lot in the
fall about the stewardship of our financial resources -- how everything we have
is a gift from God and we are expected to return a portion from our earthly
treasure. But stewardship involves far more than just money, just treasure.
Stewardship also involves how we take care of our God-given gifts of time and
talent as well. And being good stewards of our time and talent also means
sharing them for the greater good of all. and in doing so we, paradoxically, find
our own lives strengthened, our own spiritual lives more fulfilled.
No, God did not send us a disembodied theological treatise. God did
not just give us words. God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ,
entering into and making holy our creaturely existence. And Jesus continues
to call us to do the same: to make holy our creaturely existence by actively
participating in his work in this world that he has given us.

As St. Teresa of Avila said:
Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world:
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world now. AMEN.