Acts 2: 1-12; John 20: 19-23
Growing up in a “Bapticostal” Appalachian church, I often experienced something most churches don’t do these days. No, it’s not snakes. Full stop. At the end of Sunday night services, we would leave about 10 minutes for people to testify. They could get up and say a little bit about what they were thankful for, how God had helped, or how God had shown up in their lives. Usually, it was the same people, unless someone had a special blessing. And we almost always heard the same praises—how God had helped, protected families, blessed, shown love. It was a wonderful moment of seeing God’s presence in the lives of others.
But sometimes Bea Reynolds would stand up to testify, and we never really knew where that was going to go. Sometimes she would holler “Well, PRAISE the name of the Lord!” in the middle of a sentence. And sometimes, she testified to some “unique” blessings of God. One such went like this… She told us that she couldn’t sleep at night, and she was there in the wee hours of the morning ready to take her sleep medication, but she really didn’t want to because it had a rough effect on her 80-year-old body. So, instead, she began to read her Bible. And I quote the next part exactly, “I read my Bible, and God let me sleep almost immediately. I tell you the Bible will put you to sleep faster than any pill will.” And now you know why we don’t do this here.
However, just as Peter and the disciples testified about Christ, his love and resurrection and grace, on the day of Pentecost, so must we tell of the goodness of God in our lives. Faith is not meant to be a secret. It is meant to be lived, celebrated, and a part of our testimonies. That is why I have collected your testimonies, and I want to share them with you today. It’s important to hear from each other how God is showing up in each other’s lives. Here is what you all have written.
had a very serious illness years ago. My three girls were very young. My husband was told to prepare for the worst. After 3 weeks in the hospital and fervent prayers by so many, including myself, God’s love healed me.
Homecoming—getting back to Macon and experiencing great joy, I get a foretaste of Heaven.
His love shows up for me daily whether I see it or not. I know God’s love is always and omnipresent. Something that comes to me is that he let me say goodbye to both of my parents before he took them home. What a comfort to me.
When has God not shown up? In the love of my parents and family. In friends. In struggles, most often when it’s hindsight that truly revelas that God did show up.
In my search for a mate, I spent several years kissing a lot of frogs! In my frustration I turned my search over to my Heavenly Father, saying, “These are the characteristics I wish to find in a mate. If I’m supposed to have this, please send him to me, since I am finding it very difficult to find him. If those characteristics are not appropriate, please show me what I need. IN a matter of days, I saw a young man who drew my attention, but I dismissed him as probably a military man who would be gone to serve in the conflict in no time. Three weeks later I encountered him again when I heard a voice saying to me as I was writing something, “Excuse me, I know this is the oldest line in the book, but haven’t I seen you before?” I looked up and saw the same young man. He asked me out and a year and a day later, we were married. He met all of the qualifications I had asked God to send me. Our marriage was filled with love, kindness, and fun. It lasted 48 years until the death of that young man separated us.
Waking up in the morning. During a devotion in the morning. Before breakfast. After breakfast. Driving to work I the morning. Before lunch. After lunch. During the afternoon. Before dinner. After dinner. Before retiring for the night. God shows up all the time.
God shows up in leading me back to church.
All through my life, in the best of times, the worst oftimes, I have felt God’s love.
I think the question for me is "Where has God NOT shown up?" The sun rises every day. I have food, clothing, shelter. I am reasonably healthy even though I see contemporaries of mine going on to their reward every day. Now retired, I reflect on a wonderful career in a profession where I was able to see God's hand at work in it. I celebrate a wonderful marriage and great kids. I have a family of faith where I worship with friends who are diverse and godly people. Our church welcomes everyone and we follow a Savior who showed us how to do that. Our Pastor is a friend to each and all of us. Our denomination stands up for justice and peace. We have continuing opportunities to participate in mission and outreach led by an active group of Christian women. In my view, God does not show up but rather is a constant presence that I only need to look around to see.
When I got a divorce, God’s love let me know that I can make it on my own with Him. God’s love has shown up for me when I joined First Christian, when I met the members, and most of all I thank God for this. God’s love has shown up when I met you.
And a final one shared theirs as a prayer, “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for you love in encouraging me, through our current sermon series, to show love, respect and kindness to all others, whether they are fellow Christians, friends, or even foes and enemies. We need to be like Jesus, and as a Christian professing to be a follower of Jesus, must be loving and caring to all others in all of our thoughts, words (written, spoken, or even shared through social media) and deeds. Otherwise, each and every time we fail to do so, we grieve the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, holy, precious name. Amen.
When the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, they began to speak in many tongues, languages, and with great power and conviction. In the Bible Study, the other night, we talked about how important and powerful it was for Paul to share his personal story and testimony of how Jesus showed up in his life and changed his cruel direction.
It is our stories of faith which testify to the power with which God shows up in our lives. We’ve heard today about healing, comfort, presence in starting over, finding happiness in life. Each of these stories is what draws people to faith because it takes the theoretical and makes it real. People today need a “why” when it comes to faith. The why is not a long, theological discourse. It’s the stories you tell of how your faith and your trust in God and following Jesus has made a difference in your life.
The life-breath of faith is the Word that God breathes in us to tell the good news and testify to the incredible goodness of God in our lives. Who in your life and within your orbit needs to hear your story of God’s goodness and grace? Just as the disciples received the Spirit to speak and preach the good news, so too does the Spirit work in our lives to speak in and through us into the modern world we live in. So may our words tell of the goodness and redeeming love of God, and may our lives echo the story in this world.