You are witnesses of these things.

Luke 24:48

One of my favorite books as a child was the Dr. Seuss classic: And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.  The story follows little Marco in his daily walk to and from school.  Having been instructed by his father to "keep his eyelids up" in order to see and experience the world around him, Marco is disappointed to see only a simple horse and wagon.  As he walks, Marco begins to embellish his story in order to make it more worthy of an after-school report.  The horse grows to a zebra ... to a reindeer ... to an elephant.  The wagon becomes a chariot. Eventually the entire vision transforms into a spectacular parade.  Marco runs home to share his tale, but when he reaches his father and is asked to report what he has witnessed, he confesses sorrowfully that all he has seen is a "horse and wagon on Mulberry Street."

You are witnesses of these things.

The Easter Season is nearly complete and soon we will hear these words of Jesus, spoken just before his ascension.   According to the 24th chapter of Luke, Jesus calls his disciples to be "witnesses" of his life, death, resurrection, and mission.  He will also eventually send them to carry on that mission, but first he calls them to be witnesses.  The concept of witness here includes the action of proclaiming the story.  Before the disciples can proclaim it, however, they will need in some way to observe it ... to see it not only with their eyes, but with their hearts and souls and whole selves.

Sometimes I speak with people considering seminary who feel driven toward a mission or ministry that overwhelms them.  Often this impulse arises from the very real brokenness that they have witnessed - the hungry going without bread, the sick without compassion, the poor without hope.  To be sure, the community of faith that witnesses these signs of brokenness is called to action.  To be sure, the life, death, resurrection, and mission of Jesus has something to say about the matter.  I wonder, though, if we sometimes forget that our vocation is but one part of the larger vocation of the whole church. 

In his book, The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer writes:

"There is much that I ought to be doing by some abstract moral calculus.  But is it my vocation?  Am I gifted and called to do it?  Is this particular ought a place of intersection between my inner self and the outer world, or is it someone else's image of how my life should look?"

Like Marco, who doesn't regard the small horse and wagon as good enough, big enough, impressive enough, we run the risk of seeing our own gifts and passions and energies as small things that cannot possibly be "enough" for the needs of the world.  And yet, the ascension verse in Luke's gospel is simple, profound ... and declarative: you are witnesses.  May we all "keep our eyelids up" to behold the world around us.  May we bear witness not only to what God is doing through us, but to what God is doing within us. 

Pastor Shari Ayers 

Director of Admissions

Trinity Lutheran Seminary

Columbus, Ohio