In the Gospel reading tonight for the Eucharist with healing prayers, Jesus tells his follows that they are witnesses to "all these things." (Luke 24:44-48) Those things were the events that changed lives because of all that God had done and was doing to connect with people and give them freedom and fullness of life.
We who follow Jesus today are also witnesses to the power of God in lives and in our communities. Those who attend St. Paul's on-the-Hill are witnesses to our work in feeding the hungry, the way we respect and nurture our children, the way we care for our older and sick members, the welcome that we offer to all, the joy that we share...the list goes on. We are witnesses to these ways that the power of God is active among us.
By sharing who we are as a Christian community, we are able to open up the faith to those who have no idea what we are about or what God is about. So many have negative ideas about church and even about God because of a lack of information about churches like ours, or too much information about churches that are not so welcoming. Do people know that we are about the work of God in the world, the work that we pray communicates the grace of God to all?
Share what you know about God and Christian community in ways that people can understand...people who are not yet in the church. Use words and images that relate to the world we live in today. Tell your story of life with God - not what you think someone else would say or what the priest would say - but what you know to be true about the grace of God, known through the church and in other ways.
We are witnesses. May we be inspired by God to share what we know in ways that will connect with people who do not yet know who we really are as followers of Jesus, who do not yet know God's great love for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment