Give thanks to the Lord

Remember back to the most influential teacher that you had in grade school.  

What was it that inspired you?

A group of trainees being interviewed after an intensive training program described the first hand testimonies of the trainers as inspiring.  They were motivated to learn by hearing real life stories of those providing the service they were learning – it was people testifying to the value of the material, of the knowledge being taught.

Teachers who know first hand the truth/value of the knowledge they are imparting to students inspire learning, and create excitement to learn more.

The lectionary readings this week all speak to the power of the witness in inspiring  the world to embrace God’s purpose and power.

In the old testament there was great risk to those who testified to hearing God’s voice, who passed on God’s words to the world.  They did so knowing that they would be rejected, persecuted, and could even be put to death. 

The risk during the new testament was no less the witness spread their experience of Christ in the full knowledge that death was a real possibility.

And yet hearing the voice of God was compelling, as was finding yourself healed or called by Jesus.  And thus word of God spread like wild fire through the voices of those who experienced God’s voice and Christ’s love first hand.

Where are our witnesses today?

Where are the first hand testimonies of God’s unconditional love, of personal experiences of inclusion, equality, hope, and participation in a faith community?

There are Pastors, Sunday school teachers, Priests, and missionaries who teach from the Bible and the doctrine of their particular denomination, they also teach from their own experiences.  Yet our church communities are getting smaller and smaller.  Clearly there is not enough to excite people into know more about the experiences we are having, in wanting to enter our churches.

Are we witnesses?

The dangers to us no longer include death, and it does come with the fear of rejection, humiliation, and public acknowledgement that you are a Christian, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how punitive, exclusive, and dogmatic your community knows Christian’s to be.

Daniel of the old testament was promised that as a witness to God’s voice he did not have to be afraid because as a witness he was beloved of God and was safe within that knowledge.

We are the life blood of God’s witness today.  We must testify to our personal experiences of God’s unconditional love and we do this through service to others.  

We are God’s witnesses, beloved of God and we should not be afraid to spread unconditional love into the world.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2018 twosnydergirls

Lectionary readings Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 

Mark 1:21-28