This past Thursday was a special day – "the Ascension of Our Lord." All of the readings for today talk about Jesus' ascension in one form or another, but I'd like to focus on our first reading from Acts. Imagine that scene: It has been about six weeks since Jesus' resurrection, since that time that he came back to live among us. Things have more or less fallen into a routine once again. Until one day, when Jesus takes us out about a mile from Jerusalem to Mount Olivet. There we continue talking and asking questions, when all of the sudden, as Jesus is speaking to us, he begins to rise. His feet leave the ground and he begins to glide up. Up, up, up he goes into the air. We are amazed and astounded! We don't know what's happening. And so we just keep watching as he drifts higher and higher, until he disappears completely from our view.
We continue to stand there, staring. Our mouths are open. Our minds are racing. Oh no! What's happening? Is our Lord is gone for good? Who's going to lead us? Who's going to take care of us? What should I do now? Maybe I should go back to fishing. But maybe I should just wait here – after all, he said he'd return soon.So we just stand there, staring; for how long, we don't know, but you can bet it was a while. When suddenly, two guys dressed in white appear and ask us, "Why in the world are you folks standing around looking up toward heaven? Jesus, who has just ascended, will be coming back in the same way!" In other words, "Hey! Get your head out of the clouds. You guys heard what he said - 'you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' Come on, get the lead out!"
"You will be my witnesses."
The question the angels ask is a good one for us to consider today, because too often we Episcopalians seem to get stuck in a rut. Too often, it seems we have a vague understanding of what it means to be witnesses for Christ in the world, but we're stuck standing around looking up to heaven. We know that Jesus taught us to go out into the world, proclaiming the gospel and baptizing, but we've somehow we've come to believe that it's impolite to talk about our religious beliefs with other people. We've embraced his social teaching – living out our discipleship through all kinds of good works in the world, making the world a better place for all – but we're not quite willing to talk about the one in whose name we feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and visit the captives. We're very willing to believe that we are forgiven and live in eternal life, but we can't quite bring ourselves to invite a friend to come to church with us on Sunday.
Now a witness is someone who experiences something, and then tells someone else about it. You can't be a witness if you haven't experienced an event yourself. And you can't be a witness if you experience something and never tell anybody about it. So when Christ calls us his witnesses, he's saying that we are to proclaim his message of forgiveness and reconciliation with God to the entire world just as we have experienced it. Our mission, the mission of the entire church, is to bring all people into relationship with God and one another through Jesus Christ. And that requires that we do something we're not very comfortable doing – evangelism, telling people how their lives can be changed through Jesus Christ. Evangelism isn't just the responsibility of your priest, or of a committee of the vestry; Jesus says that evangelism is everybody's responsibility. Every single one of us is called to be an evangelist.
Now there are three important ways to be a witness. The first is how we live our lives; we need to live the Gospel. Every job contributes to the upbuilding of the kingdom, as long as we do it for the glory of God. Plumbers, teachers, parents, students, truck drivers, secretaries, housewives, salesmen, nurses, real estate brokers, bankers, lawyers. All professions are blessed by God and are be part of our witness of Christ in the world, as long as we remember our baptismal vows, treating all people with dignity and respect, as we do our work.
The second way to witness is by our action; we need to do the Gospel. That means by following the teachings of Jesus working for justice, mercy and compassion in the world. How? By getting involved in some form of outreach project. Our parish has one of the most amazing outreach programs anywhere – we do more outreach than churches twice our size. And every single member here should be involved with some kind of outreach ministry as part of your personal witness of Christ in the world. As Francis of Assisi once said, "proclaim the Gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary."
The third part of our witness is proclamation; we need to tell the Gospel, and this where we stumble most of the time. The sad fact of the matter is that we can live our lives in a most exemplary fashion, and we can do tremendous good works. But unless we tell people about Christ we still aren't witnessing. The entire point everything we do is to bring other people in to share our lives in Christ. And this is the hardest part of all, especially for Episcopalians. We're pretty good on vocation; we have outreach down pat. But when it comes to actually telling someone why we go to church, we'd rather eat worms. And it doesn't have to be that hard.
You don't have to stand on a street corner with a bible in your hand shouting to the people who pass by. You don't have to knock on a stranger's door on a Saturday morning passing out little magazines. We don't send our teenagers out on bicycles, dressed in black pants and white shirts. All you need to do is invite a friend to come to church. Make it a simple invitation to someone you enjoy being with. Invite someone to come to church and let them see what it is that feeds you and keeps you fed. Because fact of the matter is, if you ask why people attend the church they do, most will tell you that it's because they were invited to come by someone else.
These three things – living our lives honestly as a child of God, reaching out to those who are less fortunate than ourselves, and inviting people to come and see what the Lord is doing here – these are the important parts of our witness. All three are necessary; no one piece is sufficient without the other two. We cannot be a witness without living, doing, and proclaiming the Gospel.
I think that's what the angels were saying to the disciples as they stood gazing up into the sky: "What are you standing here for? You're burning daylight! Get on with your witnessing for Christ!"
Live the Gospel, work the Gospel, tell the Gospel.
Thanks be to God.
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