“You Are Witnesses”

Luke 24:36-48

Today we have the opportunity to ordain and install

Officers who will lead our church.

It is a sacred and holy responsibility

And we take it seriously.

Each of the officers is called by God through

The Nomination Committee

And elected by God through the congregation.

Each of the officers has gone through a period of training

Like the original disciples (including Paul).

And each of the officers has been examined

According to their “personal faith, knowledge of

doctrine, government and discipline

and the duties of the office.”

I am happy to say that all passed

But in the process as we asked questions

We learned some things together.

For example when I asked one elder

To reflect on the elder ordination question:

“Will you be a faithful elder, watching over the people,

providing for their worship, nurture and service.”

Her response was:

“Well, I think I’m pretty faithful”.

And that was the best response.

More important than any of the things

we are called to do,

is the person we are called to be.

We are called to be faithful

We are not called to be perfect.

Look at today’s story in Luke.

When Jesus appeared, even though the disciples had been

told what would happen to Jesus three different times

When Jesus appeared to them after the resurrection it says:

“they were startled and frightened.”

And when he showed them his hands and feet

“They disbelieved for joy and wondered.”

These disciples were not perfect, even their faith wasn’t perfect

They didn’t remember everything Jesus had taught them.

And yet they were the ones Jesus called, and taught,

And set aside for service because of faithfulness

First there was Jesus’ faith in them and faithfulness to God,

But then there was their response of faith.

They were “pretty faithful”.

Another question I asked an elder to reflect on was:

“Will you seek to serve the people with energy,

intelligence, imagination and love?”

Which of these four attributes strikes you as most interesting.

The answer was actually what I hoped for- “imagination”

Don’t get me wrong!

Energy, intelligence and love are crucial

Gifts with which to serve God

But so is imagination.

Last week in Wednesday night Bible study we looked in depth

At the Gospel of Judas and discovered

that as strange as it is and it is strange.

It tells a story of many gods not one god,

Of a Jesus who was merely in human form

Not fully human, fully divine,

Of secret knowledge being the key to salvation

Instead of the saving death of Christ.

We discovered that in the ancient Greek culture

That the Gospel of Judas would have been normative

And that our Gospels that declare one God

Who sent his son into the world to save it,

A God who chooses to suffer with us

Who endured a brutal death on the cross

And who was raised up by God on the third day,

And preached not vengeance and revenge but

Repentance and forgiveness…

Not to a select group of people

But to all the world.

That is the radical Gospel message.

That message described in today’s Gospel of Luke

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer

and on the third day rise from the dead, and that

repentance and forgiveness of sins should be

preached in his name to all nations, beginning

from Jerusalem.”

The early disciples had to have the holy gift of imagination

To be able to shift from the Jewish and Greek

Understanding of a distant God

To a radical new understanding of God

revealed personally in Jesus Christ.

And we need imagination today to respond to that God

Who is not done surprising us.

Every time I look at scripture I discover

Something new and exciting that

I had never seen before.

Every time I go on a mission trip,

Or teach a class, or lead worship,

Or visit in the hospital

God surprises me.

Imagination is that gift God gives us to recognize

God at work in the world today and then dare to

Participate in the God who dares to participate in us

Lastly, but most importantly, we are called to be witnesses.

During our interview of the officers last week

There was one over riding theme:

“God has been with me through many trials and struggles”

“God has cared for me in these times.”

“God has grown me in my life and my faith”

“And so I had to say yes when God called

me to serve God in this way.”

That testimony is called witnessing.

Witnessing is not telling what someone else saw or felt

Witnessing is telling what you encountered first hand.

I saw a beautiful sunrise,

I am thankful for the cards and support I received

I have felt God’s presence in my journey

And God’s answer to my prayers.

And that is what Jesus tells his disciples

to do in the punch line- verse 48:

“You are witnesses to these things.”

This is not the only time that the phrase “You are witnesses”

Appears in the Gospel of Luke

In Luke 11: 48 Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees

“So you are witnesses and consent

to the deeds of your fathers;

for they killed the prophets.”

It is an interesting phenomenon

That bad news seems to spread fast.

But Jesus is saying the today’s lesson

Let the God news of the resurrection,

The life giving and redeeming news,

Be your witness today:

You are witnesses to Jesus’ friendship

You are witnesses to the wounds

in his hands and feet.

You ate meals with him,

He taught you, surprised you,

And is calling you today

As his witness

And he is not just calling his first disciples

And he is not just calling the church leaders

But he is calling each on of us

Whom he has touched and loved

To be his witnesses.

In our extensive study of the Book of Order

We discovered the highest calling

Is our calling in Baptism to membership

And that the first calling as members

“is proclaiming the good news.”

So when Jesus says “You are witnesses of these things”

He is talking to each one of us.

How has God touched you in your life?

When have you felt God’s presence?

Where have you encountered the wounds

Of Christ in others and in your self?

In whom have you seen the presence of Christ?

You are witnesses to these things.

God’s faithfulness revealed in Jesus Christ

And your response of being “pretty faithful”

Which allows you to

“disbelieve for joy and wonder.”

The gift of imagination which allows us to encounter

The risen Chris, not only in scripture

but at work and worship in the world today.

It is a high calling

It is our calling

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen