We are Witnesses

We have all seen the commercials:

Hi, I am Flip Flippen, a real life person-- definitely not an actor. Boy howdy, I am here to tell you Biggest and Cheapest brand salsa is the only salsa I ever buy. And I am from Texas.

Salsa is one thing. I can understand salsa inspiring serious devotion. But these types of ads are common in all industries. I have always wondered who exactly likes their insurance enough to do these “real person” commercials? I thought we all just chose the least offensive insurance; nobody loves filing claims after their stuff gets broken. And who is brand loyal to like Bayer Aspirin? Yo, all the chemical formulas are the same. Aspirin is aspirin.

Moreover, the testimonies seem so extreme. This vacuum saves me so many hours of work, I started a new business! This contact solution changed my life! I can see like new! Finally, with this credit card I have financial freedom! 

Watching these “real people” testimonies, I had long wondered, what, if any, product I would be willing to go on TV and shill for. What do I believe in enough? What is so excellent that I can stand up in front of God and everybody and say, “Y’all, this is it, this is the salsa. You have to get it.” I always came up blank; I just am not into consumerism.

That all changed about three years ago. I was at Dollar General and I needed shower cleaner. As a cheap Mennonite, I often use white vinegar for my cleaning, but my shower was soap scummy, and I was going to need some bigger guns. More-chemically chemicals. Despite various cleaning products and scrub brushes and fancy rags and elbow-grease, I never felt like I could get the shower really clean. So I was idly standing in the cleaning products aisle, my eyes slightly unfocused, despairing, when a  green and white bottle of Comet caught my eye.

 “My mama uses Comet,” I thought. I find just doing what my mom does to be a helpful schema for decision making. I looked closer. “Comet Bathroom” looked like a good option.  It was about two bucks, so I snagged it. 

That evening I sprayed down the shower, wandered off to parent, and when I came back soap scum sloughed off the surfaces like dead skin. It was gross and awesome at the same time. My shower was effortlessly cleaner than it had been since it was installed. I snapped a picture of the bottle and sent it to my friend. 

“You have to get this cleaner! It’s $2 at DG!” I messaged. A few days later, I saw her and her husband, and they raved about the cleaner. “I had always just thought our shower door was frosted glass!” he said. “It’s not!” 

I started telling everyone about Comet Bathroom cleaner. “You have to get the one with the citric acid,” I would say. “The citric acid is key.” I started buying extra bottles to give to my friends, my mom, my sister. I really believed in this cleaner. My mom now keeps a bottle in all of her bathrooms, her laundry room, and, sort-of mysteriously, her garage.

Friends, this is the product that I could get on TV and do an endorsement for. I testify; I witness.

We find ourselves in the liturgical season of Eastertide, those weeks following Easter leading to Pentecost where we focus on Jesus’ resurrection. This year, we are loosely following the suggested liturgical readings through Acts, but subbing a couple weeks, to focus on the unifying idea, “We are witnesses.”

We are witnesses. 

We are witnesses.

What a powerful phrase. It’s absolutely striking.

It’s a repeated refrain throughout the Book of Acts and to witness is certainly an important theme throughout the Greek and Hebrew scriptures.

Today’s story really takes up all of Acts 3-4, which I encourage you to read, but I want to focus on Peter’s address to the crowd. Read this considering what it means to be a witness.

Acts 3:11-20 New English Translation (NET Bible) 11 While the man was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway called Solomon’s Portico. 12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk by our own power or piety? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate after he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! 16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ name, his very name has made this man—whom you see and know—strong. The faith that is through Jesus[u] has given him this complete health in the presence of you all. 17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too. 18 But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets—that his Christ would suffer—he has fulfilled in this way. 19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 so that times of refreshing[aa] may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you—that is, Jesus.

“To this fact we are witnesses,” says Peter.

We are witnesses of this. NIV

Whereof we are witnesses. KJV

To this we are witnesses. NRSV

and we’re the witnesses. MSG

οὗ ἡμεῖς μάρτυρές ἐσμεν SBL

On witness. I want us to consider two aspects this week:

Seeing

Witness carries the idea of seeing, truly seeing so that one might understand.

Let those who have eyes to see and ears to hear witness. 

As the world is on fire and I can do little to help except stay home, I have been contemplating what it means to bear witness by seeing, truly seeing. It is a holy task to witness one another's griefs. To hold the grief. To say, “I see you.” This is why we gather for funerals, why we send flowers and cards of condolence, why we build memorials to tragedies. To say something grievous happened here and we bear witness.

The need to be truly seen and have our selves deeply known is inherent to the human condition. This is part of what draws us to The Divine--our deep longing to be seen and known and to have our very own self reconciled to God and thus in our overall place in the cosmos.

This Eastertide, as tragedy unfolds around us, I wonder how much is my task to bear witness? “If, as a culture, we don’t bear witness to grief, the burden of loss is placed entirely on the bereaved. What is our role in bearing witness to the griefs of the world?

As the death toll continues to rise from COVID-19– and as cancer, heart attacks, strokes and other tragedies don’t care if there are more pressing issues– I keep thinking not just about those who have lost their lives, but all those left to grieve. Those who cannot celebrate the life of their loved ones in crowded churches; those who are living their nightmares without neighbors bringing casseroles or offering to take the kids to the park; and those without a pastor to pray with them, or a sister to hold their hand.

citation

Yet, also, how much is my task to walk away and care for myself, family, church, and neighbors?

However, it’s important to remember that we are not meant to slog through our days despondent over the darkness that has truly been a constant companion throughout human history. This is nothing new.

Y’all, I have to unplug from the news, or the darkness overtakes me, and I am sure I am not the only one. So I continue to seek balance in this time.

Being

So, also, witness carries the idea of action. We are not to passively take in information, but to let the experience change us. We are to bear witness in order to transform into being witnesses.

I ran across this article from 2016 called, “Fear No Evil: Christian Witness in a Time of Darkness” which talks about Christian response to the Plague.

In AD 165, and again in AD 251, terrifying epidemics descended upon the Roman Empire, killing between a quarter to a third of the population. Contemporary accounts describe widespread panic as family members abandoned their loved ones at the first sign of disease, sometimes tossing them into the roads even before they had died. As a result, many victims were left without food, water, and basic care that could have dramatically increased survival rates.

Stark concludes that it was the witness of faithful Christians at this time of crisis, together with demographic consequences of the plague, that played a decisive role in the phenomenal growth of early Christianity.

With the twin concepts of seeing and being in our minds, let’s again read through the text considering what it means to be a witness.

Continuing through Acts 3 and the beginning of 4 we see...

Central to Jesus’ Divine claim is his resurrection. Peter gives this claim authority by officially witnessing to it; which is given extra weight since he has just healed a guy.

To be witnesses we must have faith

To be witnesses we must repent

To be witnesses we must be made new

To be witnesses we must know Jesus

To be a witness has consequences.

Witnessing bears fruit.

Earlier, I shared about how much I love Comet Bathroom cleaner. I reflected on how many people commercial advertisements witness to the life changing nature of products, how those products give freedom, what work and money they save us, how they let us lead better lives. 

This is a heavy handed metaphor y’all; it doesn’t take much to draw the parallels. 

If we can witness to the life changing freedom of scrub-free shower cleaning, can we also witness to the risen Christ?

If we can whole-heartedly recommend our favorite restaurants, can we also bear witness to how Christ moves among the people of our church?

Some thoughts for reflection:

How do you witness by seeing? How do you witness by being?

Are you comfortable declaring witness to Christ? 

          Why or why not? 

          How or in what places and situation?

What does our comfortableness with this type of witnessing say about our understanding of salvation? What does it say about our personal spiritual walk?

Do you invite people to Mennonite Church of the Servant? Why or why not?

          If no, is it something about MCS or something about you? 

           If we don’t think people would want to be a part of our body, we need to examine whether or body is sick.