Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, UCC

Sermon preached by Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel

April 11, 2010Acts 5:27-30
Tell it!    

       
The season of Easter lasts fifty days, seven Sundays, until we celebrate Pentecost on May 23.  The season of Lent invited us to a time of quiet repentance, introspection, and sacrifice.  What spiritual practices beckon us for Eastertide?  Luke wrote in the book of The Acts of the Apostles that during those fifty days the early church prayed in community for boldness of speech, for the inner strength needed to share the good news of resurrection.  They shared resources with one another, and leaned on one another.  The fifty days of Eastertide is a time of joy-sharing, hope-giving, singing, and story-telling.  

As a true introvert, I often think of the perfect point, exactly how to frame what I want to say, at precisely the moment that a conversation has moved on.   If I need to make an important decision, I need to sleep on it.  My brain's neurotransmitters can work on it while I dream, allowing my long term memory engage in my short term memory's dillemna.  If I am in conversation with someone and they ask what my schedule looks like for the coming week and I don't have my calendar, forget it.  All my focus is on that person, not on my schedule.  Words don't always come easily, but they flow more freely for me when the subject is my faith.  Having the confidence to use my voice to be a witness to the resurrection is not difficult for me, because I have a role and calling along with me.  But what if I didn't?  What if I had had some other calling?  Would I still have that confidence?  Would I still tell my story?  Bearing witness to the resurrection is an important part of Christian discipleship.  We do this by how we live our lives and the choices we make, but at some point we have to open our mouths and tell our stories.  

The high priest said to Peter and John.  "Didn't we give you strict orders not to teach in his name? Why are you saturating Jerusalem with your teaching?  Why are you blaming us for his death?  But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority.  The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
How did they get this boldness, this fearless confidence?  When we back up a chapter, we read that they asked for it.  The Christian community prayed for it for themselves and for one another.  Luke wrote, "While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God's Word with fearless confidence."  The Holy Spirit infuses us with the fearless confidence we need to tell our story, to share our faith, to speak with truth and openness.  All we need to do is ask.  
We all have so much to share.  We are all witnesses!  We all have a faith story.  Even if your story is about struggle, doubt, questions, and confusion, it is still your faith story.  It may have more power and be more helpful to someone else than a story of unwavering belief.  Think about who or what has influenced your faith.  A family member, teacher, a book, an experience?  How has your faith kept you going when life is difficult?  Have you had long periods of spiritual drought?  Have you witnessed a miracle?  Then, when it time to tell your story, take a deep breath, smile, and speak from your heart.  "Find your voice" has become a cliche, but we do need to have the confidence to claim who we are, the person we are becoming, and to present ourselves authentically to others.  We may be afraid to show we really are and what we believe and speak what is most important to us.  We may worry that people won't like us or that we don't have anything of value to say.  We may think that our story is boring, or not Christian enough, or too strange.  Oh, but if we tell the truth, if we are open to it, the Spirit can use us to transform lives.
When we are open to it, opportunities to tell our faith stories abound.  Imagine having dinner with another family in church and asking one another to share your journeys of faith . . . telling a grieving co-worker that she will be in your prayers, or reading the Bible on the ferry, or saying to a new friend -- we could meet Sunday, after I am home from church.  Can you imagine the conversation it might provoke?  To take it farther, imagine asking a co-worker if they would like to walk and pray with you, or inviting someone to read the Bible with you, or inviting that friend to church.

Peter and John and Mary Magdalene and many others were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are witnesses to the resurrection too, by faith.   When we witness hope, new life, and peace, we are witnesses to the resurrection. When trusting the love and power that is beyond ourselves, we are witnesses.

I can tell you how I was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ this past week.  On Monday through Wednesday I had a cold, and I relied on Jesus for strength.  On Tuesday I tucked Day in for his nap, and he prayed spontaneously with no prompting from me.  He thanked God for teacher Tina who gave him Easter candy that he could share with everyone.  He also said he was glad he was sorry for hitting Eva in the TV room.  He was praying using St. Ignatius' prayer of the Examen of Conscience -- of course he doesn't know to call it that, but it is what I have gently been inviting him to do.  Hearing his prayer was a sensing of the resurrection!  On Thursday I was getting over my cold and there was sunshine.  I sang This is the day that the Lord has made while driving Day to preschool.  I felt it in my soul, thankful to be feeling good, that the sun was shining, grateful to be alive.  I was a witness to the resurrection last night in the church backyard, at the  pizza party for families with young children. We had nine families here: 15 parents, 21 kids (including 2 snoozing babies).  Half-way through the evening we had to order more pizza.  It was so wonderful to connect with each other beyond coffee hour, which for parents with little kids can be a complete blur.  Yesterday many were meeting each other for the first time.  Earlier in the day many of us were witnesses to the resurrection as we honored the life of Don Beemer.  The stories that were told were so wonderful!  Family members and friends spoke with such love, respect, poignancy, and humor.  Let's share our stories whenever we can!  Let's talk about how we sense the Spirit moving in our lives.  Let's share our questions, our insights, our experiences! Let us, wherever we are, cultivate communities of trust in which every voice is heard.

I've watched the first few episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  He transformed the food in the public schools in England, and has a goal to do the same in the United States.  He is beginning in Huntington, West Virginia, because they have the highest death rate due to obesity in the U.S.  He is an evangelist for eating real food.  He tells the story of how eating fresh food instead of pre-packaged and fastfood can transform and lengthen lives.  But he doesn't plunge right in on a diatribe.  No, he connects one-on-one with each person, and asks to hear their story.  He truly listens and cares about their joys and struggles.  Then he tells his story, the one about the transforming power of real food.  He teaches people to cook for themselves, and encourages them to pass along the knowledge to others.  After a week of changing the meals in the elementary school in Huntington, he was able to get permission to cook in the high school.  For this endeavor, he asked for a team of volunteers from the students.  He met with each one individually, asking, "Tell me about what brought you here, why did you volunteer for this?"  He sought to know what they were hungering for, and they trusted him enough to tell him.

In the postmodern era, and especially here in the spiritual but not religious Pacific Northwest, we would do well to take a lesson from how Jamie Oliver approached those teens.  Asking one another: "Tell me what brought you to where you are today?"  We can ask "How have you survived the storms?  What gives you hope?"  We can say to one another:  "I'd like to tell you about what makes a real difference in my life . . ." and then tell it.  Tell it straight from your heart, no eloquence required, not even desired.  Just real, authentic, sincere, you.  We are all growing up all of the time to be who we truly are.  The Spirit nudging us all the way. 

When people truly listen to one another, when we live authentic, integrated lives, we are able to speak more clearly and openly.  When we listen to another person's story so attentively, we are able to pave the way for them to open up even more, so that they may discover insights about their journey that they never saw before.  Parker Palmer calls this, "Hearing each other into speech."

Confirmation students have the opportunity to formulate and speak their statement of faith.  What an incredible invitation.  To take the time to mull over and put to words the mystery of faith.  Imagine if we would all take something akin to a confirmation class many times throughout our lives. How might our faith grow and deepen by setting aside that much time to attend to what we believe and why?  What might happen if every year we each wrote down a statement of faith.  How might it change over time -- what might stay the same? 

I've had a lot of practice at telling my faith story.  I was immersed in a Christian culture in my childhood and youth, a culture that emphasized faith sharing.  In Seminary, upon meeting someone new, we often asked each other how we came to believe, what we believed, and how we sensed God working in our lives at that time.  It was normal conversation, never taboo or too much information.  Both of my internships gave me ample opportunity to speak of my faith.  The ordination process involved speaking about my faith and answering questions about what I believed to a roomful of people.  I gave testimony at my ordination and installation before this community.  I am invited to share my faith as part of my calling.  I am often invited to share it when I meet people.  But we do not all have those opportunities in the normal course of our days.  So how do we do it?  Pray for it, pray to see the opportunities where we might not have seen them before, and pray for fearless confidence.  Pray for the boldness to be who we are, to speak truly and trust that God will use it for good.  And then, breathing in the Spirit -- we tell it!