Can I Get a Witness?

As some of you know, yesterday was Good Shepherd Sunday. Here at Christ Lutheran one of the things Pastor Dave talked about in his sermon was an analogy of the sheep pen and worship. We gather together in worship of God, like the sheep in their pen, and then we are sent out into the world as witnesses to the love that we experience on Sunday mornings, just as the sheep leave their pen each day. Out in the world there is much challenge, potential dangers, but we go knowing that the shepherd goes with us to watch over us. I liked the sermon. I liked the analogy.

This morning, I was reading a friends blog and was pointed to this video.



My friend, Kelly, then pointed something out that made a lot of sense. While it is good, it comes up a little short. With this imagery, have we created an us vs. them scenario? Are we not a part of the world and the world a part of us? What can we learn from the world? If God is already at work in the world, then we ought to be looking for signs of God's presence there already. As believers, as followers of Christ, we are invited to join in what God is already up to. It is not, at least to my understanding, up to us make God show up in the world. Certainly we help point people to where we witness God at work already, but it is not up to us to make God show up in the world.

At the same time, it is still good for us to gather in worship. It is good to give God thanks in worship. Sometimes we even find our time in worship to be a "recharge" to continue with our journey of ministry. It is good to go and to share what we have learned about God and to be ambassadors to the world. However, I just want to encourage you to look for where God is already at work as well. To remember that we can learn from that, we can learn from the world. A witness can go both ways.