Within the Christian tradition, there has been an emphasis on witnessing to God’s good news. Often, this good new was understood by Christians in terms of Jesus Christ, a Jewish prophet named Jesus who lived some 2000 years ago, embodied fully God’s Holy Spirit, died on a cross for the sins of humanity, and then was resurrected three days later on Easter morning to become the resurrected Christ and savior for all people. For those of us, like myself, who grew up in the Church, we were taught these tenets of the Christian faith, and so witnessing this Christian good news meant sharing these beliefs with people outside the Christian faith. For many people outside the Christian faith today, these beliefs make little sense to them, and thus they are not responsive to such witnessing. In recent years, through my work as spiritual director and psychospiritual therapist, I have come to a different understanding of what it means to witness to God’s good news. Instead of witnessing being the sharing of beliefs about God’s good news, it is the sharing of what we are witnessing and seeing, right now in the moment, as others, including myself, experience the manifestations of God’s spirit. Let me explain. For my last sermon at Mannheim Mennonite Church as their pastor, I reflected on the Bible story (Acts 1:6-14) that describes the last time the resurrected Jesus was with his male and female followers before he ascended into Heaven. In this text, Jesus instructs his followers, that after he is gone from their lives, they are to “remain in the city of Jerusalem until they receive the power of God’s holy spirit.” And so we read how these disciples waited as a community in prayer. As I noted in a previous blog (June, 2020), the real purpose of prayer is to nurture our ability to let go of control, to become truly open to God’s spirit ministering to us...through giving us insight, helping us make hard decisions, giving us the inspiration, strength, wisdom, grace, and power we need to follow through with these hard decisions. Jesus concludes his speech to his followers by saying, “When you have received the power of God’s Holy spirit, you will become my witnesses in the city of Jerusalem, in all the regions around Jerusalem, and eventually to the whole world.” When we begin to have experiences of God’s holy spirit, Jesus says we will become witnesses, witnesses of something new and different. These suggests to me that in receiving God’s holy spirit, we will see things differently than before when we were waiting for God’s spirit to come. This new way of seeing is what I described in my previous blog (Aug, 2020). When you read the famous story of Pentecost (Act 2: 1-18), the day the Holy Spirit came in profound ways to the early community of followers of Jesus, this is exactly what happened. We read that not only were their eyes opened, but their tongues were freed and people’s ears were unstuffed. Many people saw and heard the good news in ways that they could understand and truly believe in. It no longer sounded like nonsense. True, we read that some people rejected this experience, scoffed at the followers of Jesus, and claimed they were drunk and crazy. But many people, with their minds, eyes, and ears, now opened came to be followers of God’s Spirit. The day of Pentecost, when the God’s Spirit manifested in profound ways, is often seen within the Christian tradition as the day the Church was born. The Church didn’t exist before these profound spiritual experiences, only afterward. But I want you to notice something. Who was part of this Pentecost experience? There were followers of Jesus, but also many people who were not followers of Jesus. These Pentecost moments when God’s spirit emerges are shared mutual experiences between followers of God and those who are simply seeking, maybe even wondering if God is even real. In other words, the church was born when followers of God and non-followers of God had shared experiences of the Spirit. So, if this is the case, what does it mean to witness in this scenario? To witness certainly does not mean that we, as followers of Jesus, bring the good news to non-followers of Jesus. In fact, I have discovered that the very opposite is true. I find God’s good news arises as I interact with people who are struggling with their faith, whether it be in the Living Room group (a mental health support group) I facilitate, or in my spiritual discovery groups, or in my spiritual direction sessions, or in my Hospice visits with people living with a terminal illness, or with my students in supervision, or even with people in my past congregations. It is in that mutual experience of prayerfully waiting and contemplating and struggling with difficult life and faith questions with others that something mysterious and mystical often happens, when God’s holy spirit emerges in ways that are hard to describe, whether it be moments of insights or experiences of grace, compassion, strength or unexplainable inner peace. Within the Diamond Approach, Almaas talks about three levels of life that we, as humans, can develop. One is the physical dimension of life, how we interact with the physical world with our physical body, and our five senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. The second is the emotional and mental dimension of life where we learn to be aware of our feelings and thoughts, the feelings and thoughts of others, and how to work with and negotiate this aspect of life. As we contemplate these feelings and thoughts, we often notice that many aspects of these mental and emotional dynamics are structured and shaped by ego structures, identities, attachments, compulsions, beliefs, etc. based on our history and lack much freedom, spaciousness, and openness. This is the dimension that most psychotherapists work at. However, there are also experiences that are emergent, that arise when areas of our soul are open, spacious, and free of historical conditions. These essential experiences, Almaas claims, arise from the essential dimension of life, the True Nature of Being/Life, what Christians would call the workings of God’s Holy Spirit. This is the dimension that many psychospiritual therapists and spiritual directors seek to minister in. These sacred moments I described above are not just emotional and mental experiences. There is something more happening in them, something that suggests they are coming from a deeper place within our soul, the essential realms of Life. What is interesting is that often both I and whoever I am with when these sacred experience know it. It is a shared mutual sacred experience for many of those involved. When that happens, how does witnessing happen? It certainly is not me bringing good news to the person or people I am with for it is a mutual experience...just like the first Pentecost experience. One can say that God is the source of this good news. I find my role of witness is highlighting the sacredness of the experience so it is not lost. Sometimes, insights come to me during these sacred times and I share them, but I find that insights can just as easily come from others in the setting, even those who are struggling with their faith or believing in God. And when that happens, my role as witness is to validate and affirm how God’s spirit has spoken through these other people. That is how I have come to understand the role of witness within God’s Kingdom. This is exactly what happened at the Pentecost experience recorded in Acts 2. Did you notice what happened after everyone found themselves speaking or hearing or understanding in their own foreign tongues? Yes, people were amazed. Yes, there were some people who scoffed, and rejected the whole experience as nonsense, expressions of being drunk or on drugs. But something else happened.
A realization came to the disciple Peter. His eyes, mind, and heart became opened and he noticed something he had not noticed before. He quickly stood up and said something similar to this, “Judeans, and everyone who have been part of this experience. Know this! We are not drunk. After all, it is only 9 o’clock in the morning. Rather, what has just happened is referred to in the Jewish scripture, ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on all people. (Not just followers of Jesus but all people.) Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams. Upon all of my servants, upon all who are willing to let go and trust me, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy and speak my words.’” Peter was a witness to everyone present to the wonderful workings of God’s spirit that day. As you prayerfully play with these ideas I share in this blog, I encourage you to become a similar type of witness...where you become a witness to the workings of God’s holy spirit in the present moment. For us to become this type of witness, it means that we have to learn how to wait with others and contemplate the dynamics of God’s spirit so that God can open our eyes, hearts, minds, and souls in new ways. In doing so, we will be in a position to more accurately discern and see the many ways that God’s spirit manifests in our midst. That is the good news that people today in our world need to hear and want to hear. They don’t want to hear how God worked in the world 2000 years ago through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While this is an important part of history for Christians, people today are not able to see the relevance. It is not good news to them. They want to hear how God’s Spirit or the Spirit of the Christ is at work in the world and their life today. Now that is relevant good news. Questions to Ponder: 1. What does it mean for you to witness to God’s good news in today’s world? How has your understanding of being God’s witness changed over the years? Do you feel comfortable being a witness of God’s good news? Why or why not? 2. Almaas talks about three dimensions of life: physical, psychological (mental, emotional), and essential. While clearly essential experiences have mental and emotional aspects to them, they come from a deeper level in our soul. How would you describe these sacred experiences as being different from other psychological experiences in your life? How are they good news to you or others in your presence? 3. When have you found yourself having a sacred experience with other people? What happened? How did witnessing to God’s good news happen in this context? Were you the witness? Was someone else the witness? How was the good news shared?
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