Important stories need to be told. In a sense, the sum total of what we are as human beings boils down to our stories: here is what happened to us. Stories are memory, stories are meaning, stories are the substance of our existence. Once a moment in time is past, it becomes story. The nation is currently abuzz about a couple of very interesting stories, both of which are appearing in movie form, both of which touch on topics of interest to pretty much all of us. The first story is a painful one, the story of what happened on September 11, 2001, on United Airlines flight 93. The second story is a fanciful one, the story of what happened between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and the story of the discovery of that fact by way of a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. United 93 and The Da Vinci Code both tell stories. The former attempts to be and I understand largely is an accurate retelling of a disastrous moment in our history. The latter purports to be based on a retelling of ancient history, but if the movie is anything like the book, it is a great story but wildly inaccurate when it comes to the things it says about Jesus and the early church.

It was the need to tell the story accurately, faithfully, and forcefully, that presented itself to the remaining original eleven disciples of Jesus in the days following Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Jesus had chosen twelve people to begin his ministry, and it seemed right to the eleven that their number should be restored to twelve, after Judas’ death. By the way, there is much discussion about Judas these days, too, and sometime in the near future we will spend some time talking both about Judas and about the Da Vinci book. But for now, we need to talk about the problem of the vacant position in the company of men whom Jesus had entrusted with the crucial task of sharing the good news with the rest of the world. Someone needed to join them in this great enterprise of telling about Jesus’ miracles, about his teachings, about his death and resurrection. Someone needed to continue telling the story about the Son of God who had come to set the world right again. And so, Luke records in his book about the acts of the first apostles, that Peter said, “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” Important stories need to be told. And they must be told by credible witnesses.

I’ve had some experience with witnessing, but not just of the kind that you might automatically assume. For one year, after graduating from college and before going on to seminary, I worked in the District Attorney’s office in Albuquerque, designing and then implementing a program that provided for the involuntary commitment and treatment of persons severely affected by alcoholism. Alcoholism is a terrible disease of body and spirit, and our hope was that we would be able to intervene in people’s lives in such a way that healing might be possible, but in the most extreme cases, it would require the force of law. As with any legal process involving involuntary commitment, we needed witnesses, people who would come forward to testify to the behavior of the subject individual. Much of my work came to be centered around meeting with family members and friends who would share heartbreaking stories about people they loved. Part of my job involved determining whether or not the cases would stand up in court, and then it involved shepherding those witnesses as they went through the grueling process of saying things that they did not want to say but that had to be said if there was to be any chance of successful intervention. Important stories need to be told, and they need to be told by credible witnesses.

You and I know about Jesus and his love because credible witnesses came forward to tell us about him. The names of the first ones we have recorded in the New Testament. The names of subsequent witnesses are largely lost to history. But each of us knows the names of the most recent witnesses, the people who have told us, in one way or another, about Jesus. Interestingly enough, two pivotal witnesses in my own life had the same name: Wayne. Wayne Clough was a friend in high school who late one night at a summer camp walked me through Paul’s letter to the Romans and shared with me what he thought about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Wayne Hardin was a youth group leader during those same high school years who then started teaching me what he knew from scripture and from his own life about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. There are many other witnesses important in my own spiritual history: my parents, my pastors, my colleagues, the members of the churches I have been privileged to serve. And you have your own list of witnesses. Can you name them in your mind right now? Of course you can.

The original disciples asked for God’s guidance in selecting a new witness to join them in the task of telling about Jesus, and then they got on with the business at hand. By and large, the people who follow Jesus are still doing the same thing. Some of our methods are very ancient, and some are very high-tech these days, but they all boil down to the same thing: telling the story. We witness about Christ when we teach our children, when share in Bible study, when invite others to worship with us, when we visit them in the hospital, when we have a deep conversation over a cup of coffee. We witness about Christ when we write a check for a mission on the other side of the world, or when we go to the other side of the world ourselves. We witness about Christ simply by being a church, physically present in our bodies and our structures and our fellowship. We witness about Christ as we share the sacraments he gave us. We witness about Christ by how we vote, how we spend, how we speak, how we conduct every aspect of our lives. The old bumper stickers used to say, “Honk if you love Jesus.” Sometimes, loving Jesus means you do not honk your horn. Both can be right, but both must come from the same source: the desire to witness to Jesus.

If you love Jesus you want to tell the story about Jesus. But we find that it’s not always an easy thing to do. To testify in a court of law is a very difficult thing indeed. But what about testifying to our friends and families about something so wonderful, so positive, so life-affirming and life-changing, as the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord? In some ways, we do tell about Jesus whether we want to or not. Our lives are a testament—for better or for worse—about Jesus. That is the unintentional side of being a witness. People draw conclusions about our faith and our Lord by what they see in our lives. But there is another side, an intentional side. Do we make it a point to tell other people about Jesus? Do we make it a point to shape our lives in ways that put in a good word for Christ? Do we make it a point to seek out people who don’t yet know about salvation through grace? Do we make it a point to give water to the spiritually thirsty and clothe the spiritually naked? Do we make it point to encourage each other to be credible witnesses to the greatest story that ever happened? If Jesus has not changed your life then you have nothing to tell, and you’re off the hook. But if Jesus is your Lord, your salvation, your life, then you have good news to share with other people.

The first Christians learned soon enough that the joyful job of telling the story of Jesus was not reserved for just a few specially chosen apostles. They learned that everyone who knows Jesus has that privilege. Back in the days when I worked for the D. A. I could marshal the force of law to make a person testify. It doesn’t work that way in the Kingdom of God. God uses the force of love to invite a person to testify. If you love Jesus you tell other people about him, in all that you say and do. Important stories need to be told, and you and I need to do the telling.

Amen.