We Are Witnesses
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR C
Acts 5:27-32
5:27 When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them,
5:28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us."
5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority.
5:30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.
5:31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
5:32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
Let’s turn to the book of Acts this second Easter Sunday. Let’s consider how we will live as the church in the new reality that Easter brings. This Sunday let’s make our commitment to be witnesses of the kingdom. And let’s do it with some color!
Easter is unsettling. That’s our thesis for this series. No, wait, that’s a given. That’s a foundational statement. The thesis is because Easter is unsettling for the world, we need to be witnesses to the Easter event. Witnesses in every sense of the word.
Peter declares in his defense, “We are witnesses.” They told him that he wasn’t supposed to teach in the name of the crucified one, and yet he did it.
So, what is the defense?
We are witnesses. He says we saw something, and we have to say something. We participated in something, and we have to talk about it.
More than that, he says we became something and there is nothing we can do but be proclaimers of this word. “We are witnesses” does not simply mean they are telling what they saw, but more what happened to them.
It also means they have now become something new, something more, and they have to live out that proclamation every day of their lives.
With every word, every encounter, every action, they are witnessing to that which defines their lives in a new and profound way.
One of the things I wanted to do today is celebrate ArtFields I mean it is the largest art festival in the south east United States, it is a 5 million plus economic impact of the town of lake city but more then any of that it is also a great time to be Witnesses. For I have come to understand art as a pure form of story telling that can be real in all our lives. Real in the work we do to further the kingdom of God. I’m thinking of the work of Dr. Darryl Stephens, book Bearing Witness in the Kin-dom: Living into the Church’s Moral Witness through Radical Discipleship (United Methodist Women, 2021). This was the text for the Spiritual Growth Study of Mission u sponsored by the United Methodist Women in the summer of 2021. A part of what that text was designed to do was to help us understand what it means to be a witness. And a part of what I hope you get today is show how to be a witness today and the rest of your life. Three points and you all can go and enjoy Artfields’s.
#1 paint your picture
In other words be your own artist Peter declares in his defense, “We are witnesses.” They told him that he wasn’t supposed to teach in the name of the crucified one, and yet he did it. So, what is the defense? We are witnesses.
You can almost picture Peter’s confusion as they challenge him on this point. In his mind, they are telling him to stop breathing, telling him to stop being Peter. He’s not angry; he’s not belligerent or defiant; he just is who he is. As if his simple statement explains it all: “We are witnesses.” This is who we are, your honor, we are witnesses. It is our life’s purpose, the meaning of our existence. It is what we do—what we will do despite the impediments that might be thrown in front of us.
I’ve been watching the art work come into town this year and over the years I’ve had the pleasure of talking to many of the artist that come through here with ArtFields and one of the things the winners have in common is they believe in their passion. They have a real sense of a passion to tell a story that is at the basis of who they are. There is a special something inside so strong that they have to try and share it with the world.
I think of one of the pieces that caught my attention this year by A Professor of Art Education at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC. Dr. Indira Bailey an artist, illustrator, and educator. Her entry is wonderful brilliant and powerful but what she said also sounded a lot like Peter she said My artwork gives voice to the unheard and imagery into an unseen world. I look for the story behind the image and how I can illustrate the meaning to provoke a powerful impact on the viewer without words or sounds. I build a relationship with the image by acknowledging their story and their worthiness to be created. I create various conversations with my artwork and myself, establishing a bond of trust that I will illustrate lived experiences. Often referencing people from the African diaspora, my work explores the intersectionality between race, gender, economic, and social status.
My current project (the piece that caught my eye that is on your bulletin this morning) is based on my travels to Ghana on a research grant where I interviewed Ghanaian women artists and their artistic practice. Daa Bai (Market Woman), is an oil painting of a Ghanaian woman selling her products to make a living on the streets of Ghana. I tell the story of this woman by documenting her lifestyle through painting. Daa Bai represents the soul of many Ghanaian women. Yes Dr Bailey is painting her own
picture but she is also being a witness.
# 2 wittinesses have to share the Power.
Thankfully there is more to Peter’s declaration than we’ve drawn attention to so far. Indeed, Peter says, “We are witnesses” as the whole of his defense against those who would defend the status quo. But there is more that he declares in that moment. Did you hear it? Did you see it? Do you know it even now?
What does he say? “We are witnesses . . . and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him” (5:32).
Well now, that just changes everything, doesn’t it?
If we focus on the first part of the declaration, we make it sound like it’s all up to us, that we have to make ourselves into the witnesses, into the disciples that we are trying to be, knowing that we are going to be lousy at it.
If we start with the second half of the declaration, then it isn’t up to us at all. It is not our work that makes us who we are, who we are called to be, who we can be; it is God’s action through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Call it a desire, or a passion, to be a witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to be a living pointer toward the kin-dom of God. There’s a both/and quality to this task we undertake, or this new identity we claim.
There is effort on our part, work to be done, a harvest to gather: “We are witnesses.” But there is also the support and strengthening, the equipping that comes from the Holy Spirit.
There is the divine presence that is with us always and is most often experienced in the community of faith that gives us the ability to continue the journey in all its ups and downs.
Declaring , with Peter, that “We are witnesses” may be an identity statement, but it is also an action statement. Dr. Darryl Stephens in Bearing Witness in the Kin-dom: Living into the Church’s Moral Witness through Radical Discipleship writes, “the moral witness of the church encompasses our participation as Christians in God’s response to suffering and injustice in light of what we believe about God and God’s intention to reconcile all creation” (p.3).
To be a witness is to step up to the plate and acknowledge that the kin-dom looks different from what we see around us today. And we want to be part of the effort that moves us closer to what God intends for human community to be. Stephens declares that this is not an optional task, but the responsibility of all who claim a place in the family. “Beginning with the sacrament of baptism,” he argues, we focus “upon what it means to follow Christ in a broken world and to join in God’s mission. Moral witness is a ministry of all of the baptized” (p.4).
#3 we must testify we have to have a testimony
“We are witnesses.” Simple?
Well, no, it isn’t at all simple. It is the opposite of simple, as Peter himself will discover as he continues to walk this path—as we are discovering as we seek to be made disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
There is nothing simple about it; or maybe better, there is nothing easy about it. It is simple, “We are witnesses,” but it is not easy, living every day representing the one you proclaim with your words, living a life of hospitality and invitation, living a life geared toward reconciliation and grace. No, it isn’t easy.
Witnessing is the art of being a living testimony
Another piece of art jumped out at me this year so far I can just barely say the name Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) this picture depicts the intense emotional response caused by the perception that you have disappointed others in your life and that, because of that disappointment, they have withdrawn their love, approval, or respect.
The same painful reaction can occur when you fail or fall short of your own goals and expectations.
RSD commonly occurs with ADHD, and causes extreme emotional pain that plagues both children and adults—even when no actual rejection has taken place.
The art work in arts Fields shows a palette and composition that shows the emotional terrain of someone experiencing and navigating RSD.
Having a child on the spectrum and understanding the powers of approval and love and rejection in the picture the artist taught me something about my world.
You see like Peter when you tell your authentic story when you testify to the goodness of God and how you got to know Jesus, when like the painter of RSD you let it all hangout the pain the tears, the joys, the anger, the happiness and all the emotions in between then others understand you better.
So in closing this morning Go out as a new you as a Easter witness of God, Paint you own picture, witness to the folks around town with the help of the Holy Spirit and last make you real testimony an example for others to grow and learn.
Leave Church today go get your art on go see at least one picture go see at least one piece of art but more importantly go and be a witness for all the People who have come to your city your home and say We are Witnesses!
