16 May 2006

More from "Gravity and Grace" by Joseph Sittler.

We have no access to Jesus. We have access only to the witnesses of the community that he called into existence by his presence, his person, his power. That is not disputable; that is a fact. I stand in a faith relationship exactly where they stood. They had to believe in him - just as I do. They were no better off than I am, nor I than St. Peter, St. John, St. Thomas. John said, "We hve beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (John 1:14). There is no proof of these things. The Christian community arose because its members believed Emmanuel; and they are the ones who reported to us directly.

We have a firm foundation. At the same time, that foundation is built by the witnesses of ordinary people who trusted their lives to the promises of God in Christ, Jesus. This is a witness with some fluidity due to the fact that each witness sees through their own eyes of faith and then must use their own abilities to transmit that story to others. In reading this brief piece, I wondered about the witness of the Church today. Are those around us today encountering the presence of Jesus through our communication - our lives - our witness. Each Sunday as I serve as the presiding minister I greet the people with words from St. Paul that we call the Apostolic Greeting: The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." I find that to be a powerful greeting. I also find that we who gather for worship have been brought into a community that offers this kind of a greeting of welcome and grace and love to all people. That is how we faithfully follow along the way of those who came before us. We are invited to bring our lives into the historical line of faithful people whose love and grace and welcome become that which was offered to the world by Jesus. Is that how we are perceived today? If not, what has become our witness and how do we move back into step with such faithfulness? Jesus is "with us" and we are invited to be the followers of Jesus...no matter how alien it may be to be a witness to such love.

Connection: We have to trust in Jesus just as any of the saints who have gone before us. We must also remember that such trust has as much transformative power today as back. That is something to contemplate in and about today's life together.

The glory of the witness of your Beloved, Jesus, is still a light that shines for us. Lord of All Faithfulness, we pray that this day will be another day in which we find in your light a way to walk through all that we will encounter and we will do so with a simply and yet, profound, faith. Amen.