1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. John 20
21 "So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—
one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection."
26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias,
and he was added to the eleven apostles. Acts 1
The apostle Paul called himself an apostle because he had seen the risen Christ! As the Acts of the Apostles make clear, someone who has seen the risen Christ is an apostle of Jesus Christ like the original twelve! For Paul the gospel is death and resurrection. Throughout the epistles or letters he sent to local assemblies he founded or visited, Paul shared his testimony of meeting the living Christ along with more formal theology that grew from his experiences. Paul's words would resonate through the centuries, would lead to others knowing Christ, and in turn bearing their own testimonies in word and action to a world in pain, a world enmeshed in death, a world that desperately needs hope. More often than not (almost never!) we don't encounter the whole entire world, but rather one or two individuals who may be neighbors, random strangers, coworkers, or someone else God providentially has placed in your life, you in theirs.
In my tradition, when we gather to celebrate Eucharist, together we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.
Death. Resurrection. New Creation.
The broken bread and poured out wine testify to the presence of the risen Savior. The welcome table itself testifies to the presence of the Lord of life within the assembly.
Our actions announce the reign of life despite the reality of death, but we often need to tell the story of Jesus in our life. We frequently need to describe the transformation that happens when we meet the risen Christ and become easter people. Why did you notice me? Why were you kind to me? Why did you help at the toy drive? Why do you always attend the reach out-gather in dinner? They've seen it; now you explain it!
The world needs all of our apostolic (yes, we're all apostles, because we've witnessed death and resurrection) testimonies, yet more often we get to share it with one or two residents of this planet at a time—definitely not in ways that trend worldwide. When someone asks you to bear your testimony how do you begin?
First time I heard about the Acts
ReplyDeleteI really truly thought I should
consider it as, well, an ax,
the kind you use for chopping wood,
for Jesus was a carpenter,
and so, I thought, His homies too,
and I thereby did infer
that their work would have to do
with making tables, shelves, and chairs,
and spreading Gospel as they laboured
(maybe sometimes they built stairs
for those whom some wealth had favoured).
I was wrong, but hey, no damage,
and even now I like the image.
A really insightful way to look at it - that we're all apostles because we HAVE witnessed death and resurrection. Good post! Visiting from FMF#19
ReplyDelete