Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36b-48
We are called to be witnesses. We are called to see the world as God’s Creation. We are called to know God’s presence with us, to live with God, receiving God’s love, compassion and guidance. And, when we learn to be witnesses to God’s Creation, to God’s presence with us, our lives are transformed and others witness God’s presence in us. During the 50 days of Easter, we read from the Book of Acts. Acts is a continuation of the Gospels, attributed to the author of the Gospel of Luke. Acts describes the activities of the apostles after Christ’s death and resurrection that led to the development of Christianity. Primary to the Book of Acts are the missionary activities of Peter and Paul, witnesses to Christ’s life and Christ’s return. Peter was among the disciples who followed Christ witnessing miracles and healings and learning from the parables. From our Gospel lesson last week, Peter was in the locked room the night of Christ’s disappearance from the tomb when Jesus appeared to the disciples. Saul, persecutor of the Jews, was on the road to Damascus when Jesus made his presence known. “Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around (Saul). He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do’” (Acts 9:3-6). Of course, Saul becomes Paul and spends the rest of his life spreading the Good News of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. The Book of Acts is all about witness. How are we witnesses to Christ’s presence with us? How are we witnesses to all God offers us in Creation?
On a somewhat light note, I am suddenly a follower of the show Britain’s Got Talent. This show is similar to America’s Got Talent – singers, dancers, comedians, magicians and other performers audition with the hope of winning a large cash prize and getting their big break in their talent field. A couple of weeks ago, a woman named Susan Boyle auditioned on this show. The last time I checked, the YouTube video of this audition had more than 40,000,000 hits. You really must see it, if you haven’t seen it, yet. When Susan walks on stage, she seems an unlikely star. She tells the audience her dream is to become a professional singer the likes of Elaine Page, an award-winning singer and actress in British Musical Theatre. Clearly, the audience and the judges are skeptical. And, then, she begins to sing. The judges are shocked, the audience erupts in applause…her voice is simply stunning. Susan tells the judges she is nearly 48 years old. She is hoping that this audition will be her big break. But, when you hear her voice, you have to wonder why she did not get her break a long time ago. We do know that she spent quite a few years taking care of her ageing mother who died in 2007. Her vocal coach recalls a conversation with Susan in which she expressed concern that she was too old now to audition. He encouraged her to audition, and now I can’t wait for the next stage of the competition.
What are we witnessing? We are witnessing perseverance. We are witnessing the gift of a beautiful voice, of years of vocal training, of the dedication of a vocal coach, of a dream come true. Basil William Maturin, Roman Catholic Chaplain at Oxford University and author of religious books, has this to say about perseverance: “(Perseverance) must live both in the present and future; it must look forward, but it must not for a moment forget the present. It knows indeed that many a promising virtue has been killed because the soul in which it was trying to grow could not look forward and wait and hope….Therefore perseverance needs the aid of two fellow-workers: it needs, as it were, eyes with which to look forward, and hands with which to toil. It must keep ever before it the ideal towards which it presses, and it must never cease to work towards that ideal. Perseverance is not a mere dogged plodding on toward an unseen end, it is full of inspiration and enthusiasm; in all its endeavours, therefore, it is assisted by the two fellow-workers, hope and patience” (The Westminster Collection of Christian Meditations, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998, p. 353-354)
We are witnessing perseverance. This community has witnessed courage. Rhoda Brown, a long-time member of this parish, died earlier this month. She was active in the parish over many years serving in the choir, the Altar Guild, the Churchyard Committee, and the Bell Choir. She devoted many hours to Lawrence Hall Youth Services, an Episcopal charity which educates and provides a home for at-risk youth in Illinois, as well as many other charities. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and in many ways a role model. However, Rhoda went through a difficult time in her life when she was not a pleasant person, when it was not easy to be her friend, or her neighbor, or her fellow parishioner. And, yet, Rhoda turned her life around before I arrived here. I knew her as a gracious woman with a beautiful smile. It takes great courage to turn from being a bitter person to being a gracious person. We are witnesses. Leslie D. Weatherhead, a British Christian theologian and well-known preacher has this to say about courage: “Jesus was in agony of fear in the garden and those hours come to us all. Courage is possessed by the person who estimates the fear-causing situation, but summons all his resources and meets it. Courage comes by doing courageous things when we want to run away, and let us remember that a little child going upstairs to bed in the dark, and imagining all sorts of bogeys and horrors, often shows as much courage as a soldier whose impulsive dash during some peak of mental excitement wins him a medal for bravery. So let us, fifty times a day if need be, set before us a picture of the real God, utterly loving, whatever we have done, infinitely strong, resourceful and purposeful, finding this way for us when that way is closed for whatever reason, who will not allow us to be lost and defeated if we trust him, and who is generous beyond all thoughts of generosity. Let us commit ourselves to him every morning, for the real God is to be trusted, and whatever happens to us – called, as it may be by others, failure, catastrophe or defeat – we shall know that eternal love still bears us on its bosom, and that we shall find our way home without regret” (The Westminster Collection of Christian Meditations, p. 305).
We are witnesses…to perseverance, to courage and to hope. We lost another long-time parishioner this month, Bobbi Fox. I am grateful I had the opportunity to get to know Bobbi through our Kerygma Bible Study. She was a lovely, thoughtful person. I had the opportunity to visit Bobbi on the Thursday of Holy Week. She seemed to be near death. On Good Friday, I was driving north on Green Bay Rd. on my way to work. I saw something so unusual - it almost seemed like a mirage. A fox was running down the railroad tracks in front of a train. I remember thinking the fox didn’t look particularly frightened, just simply running down the tracks. The train stopped at the Kenilworth station and I lost sight of the fox. I got to work and I was telling people about what I had seen. And, then, we received a phone call and learned that Bobbi Fox had died. I do not know for sure if this was a sign or mere coincidence, but I do know I am called to keep my heart open to the many gifts of this life. John S. Dunne, Professor of Theology at Notre Dame, has this to say about hope: “When hope does awaken, an entire life awakens along with it. One comes fully to life. It begins to seem indeed that one has never lived before. One awakens to a life that is eternal in prospect, a life that opens up before one all the way to death and beyond, a life that seems able to endure death and survive it. Wherever hope rises, life rises” (The Westminster Collection of Christian Meditations, p. 331).
We are witnesses to God’s Creation, to the miracle of birth, to the holiness of death, to the gift of relationship. We are witnesses to perseverance and courage and forgiveness and generosity and humor and joy and kindness and patience and hope and the many, many gifts of the Spirit. Open your heart to see the good, to know God’s love and compassion, to know God’s presence with us. Then, the gift of relationship will bear fruit and others will see God in you. Amen.
