“But you will receive strength when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and even the farthest corners of the Earth” (Acts 1.8).
Witness is one of those oft-repeated Christian words that gets dulled around its edges with use. We say it so often that it’s become commonplace—such a part of our vocabulary that we no longer really contemplate its meaning. And since the beginning of this month—All Saints Day—is all about the great cloud of witnesses around us, I want to spend time with this concept.
The use of the word witness here in Acts is in the legal sense. A witness is someone who testifies to the things of which they have first-hand knowledge. Like a person on the stand in court, the witness speaks to things they saw, heard, and experienced. And their word is taken as truth and fact.
The words recorded in the Book of Acts were spoken by Jesus to the Apostles who are the witnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They are the ones with first-hand experience of the Christ and, therefore, are the ones equipped to go forth into the world and tell about the One. They can speak to his words, his actions, and the reality that, though dead, Jesus lives.
But there’s a component here that is essential for a person to offer witness, and that’s in order to be one who offers witness, we must first be witnesses—those who pay attention to what is happening right before us, to the amazing and transformative work of Jesus in the world all around us.
One of the things I love about fairs and carnivals is the flair for the dramatic so prevalent in the advertising for…well, everything there but especially the side-shows. Large wooden boards declare that behind their door you can see the tallest human in the world. Be amazed, it declares, at the mysterious power of the Louisiana Witch Woman. And over and over again, on board after board, you’re encouraged not just to look or to see these people but to witness them.
Witnessing, thus, means more than just eyes, it’s a whole body experience. It’s a moment when all the distractions of the barkers and the screams from the nearby rides are suddenly silent for us as we are fully present feeling the warmth of the asphalt through our tennis shoes, hearing the breathing of those around us, smelling the dust of a thousand stops as we look and see this wonder of the world.
This tactile, sensory experience is something that creates a memory. And it is not any memory, but a strong and accessible memory that is a part of us. The story of the Giant or the world’s tiniest horse is now a part of our being, and we can speak to it from the core of who we are. We can witness.
The Apostles went forth, as we know, to tell of their experience, to witness. The memory of what they saw, felt, and heard had changed them. The act of witnessing transformed them, and out of that transformation they could speak as only those who had been present could.
Today, let us be witnesses to the world around us so that we might find ourselves transformed and able to give our own witness to the redemption happening in the world around us.
Risen One, let me along with the cloud of witnesses that surround me bear witness—body, mind, soul—to the redemption happening right in front of me.