Last fall during our stewardship campaign, a couple of people here at BPC shared their thoughts about what their faith means to them… what BPC means to them. These stories gave us all an opportunity to think through our own’ experience of faith’ in Jesus, and the faith family we participate in here at BPC. Okay, so maybe many of you were thinking, ‘thank goodness she didn’t ask me to do that!’ Well, there’s time… I still might! J Stories of faith, also called ‘experiences of Jesus,’ are important to each of us as disciples. Whether we like to share them publicly or not, we all have these stories. These stories form and transform us; but they also form and transform others as we share the importance of Jesus in our lives. In some way, shape, or form, we have all encountered the Divine Presence that leads us to faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Recently an article I read raised a question that so struck me I added it to my screen saver on my computer. Now after my laptop has been idle for a while the question pops up and poses the question to me again and again. The question is centered on what Jesus really means… to me… to you… to us. I share this question with you today so you, too, can ponder the question and more importantly the answers which are vital to our spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world. (Sorry, I don't remember the article or I would post it. If you also read that article, please add a comment with the source.)
“What's my experience of Jesus that my neighbor can't live without?”
Have you ever thought about it that way before? I cannot say that I have, but it has been in mind ever since. What is my experience of Jesus? What is so very important about my relationship with Jesus that my neighbor simply can’t live without? I’ll admit the question led me to think about the things that formed my calling into ministry as a vocation. But this question is not about ministry as a vocational job—it is about our vocation as disciples, followers, believers of Christ. It is question for all of us.
My ‘experience of Jesus’ began as a child. Learning the stories, singing the songs, absorbing the depth and breadth of God’s love, all while wondering about the stories of violence and death and mystery—just how was God working in them. As a young adult, I came to understand that church was not a place for perfect people (as some of my friends thought). Church was really about a people who knew their own brokenness and found God’s grace pouring over them a welcomed relief to the trials and tribulations of the world.
But my most personal ‘experience of Jesus’ was in the throes of our daughter’s illness soon after her birth. It was heart wrenching and painful to have no control as we watched her fight for life and then live with brain damage from which she would never recover. I remember one afternoon in particular when I was holding her in my arms once again in tears thinking of all the joys in life that she would never experience. And in that moment, the Holy Spirit touched my soul and a wave of compassion and calm and hope that somehow I would survive washed over me. God was in that moment. Jesus was cradling me, just as I was cradling Amy… and I knew that no matter what happened I would not be alone in my pain. Jesus was weeping right along with me. Ultimately after 12 years Amy was relieved of her suffering and entered into the fullness of God’s love… and I was filled with tears of joy for her new life.
So here is my ‘experience of Jesus,’ my Good News that my neighbor can’t live without: Jesus comes to us in our deep and painful need. Jesus weeps with us, holding us when we cannot hold ourselves. Jesus fills us with a holy assurance that no matter what, no matter where, no matter why… we are loved! And it is God’s love that will truly and deeply heal us in a way that allows us to go on, to once again experience joy, to cry when we need to cry, and to celebrate the precious moments of life that we have.
To know the depth and breadth of your own story is to know your ‘experience of Jesus’ that each and every neighbor you have cannot live without.
What is your experience of Jesus?
What is the Good News that your neighbor cannot live without?”
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