Testimony.

And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this is in his Son – 1 John 5:11

Human beings are storytellers. Most conversations we have with each other communicate events both current and in the past that we have experienced. Every year over a million new books are published in the United States alone. Hundreds of new scripted shows and movies premiere annually. Storytelling has been a part of our human experience since the first days we were able to communicate. It comes naturally to us. As Christians, we have a story to tell. We have been redeemed by the cross of Christ and claimed in the waters of baptism. Every one of us has a testimony to give about the eternal life that we have received through Jesus. 

Often though we fall into the trap of comparison. We hear someone’s story about receiving a miracle from God, on the brink of death and brought back, or about being deep in a lifestyle of addiction and sin and how Jesus found them, and by comparison our story feels somehow less than. What might we have to say about Jesus and his love for us to others if we have always been members of a worshipping community, the church, faithful, committed followers of Jesus Christ from the day we learned to walk and talk?

Perhaps we might, on a lesser day, find ourselves, thinking like the elder son in the story of the Prodigal Son in St. Luke’s gospel saying, “For all these years, I have been working like a slave for you and I have never disobeyed your command…but when this son of yours comes back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15.29-30) In these moments, I wonder if we aren’t missing something Jesus taught in many other parables like this one. 

God’s abundant grace and everlasting love have always been with us. The same love and grace have always been with those who have tried to wander far from the God who loves them, far from their heavenly home. This is our testimony. This our story of eternal life. 

Maybe we need more stories told about ordinary holiness and extraordinary grace. Perhaps we need to tell the stories about how we see God’s love in showing up when we go to work, raise a family, spend time with friends, and attend church. Perhaps instead of falling into the trap of comparison, we take a few moments and meditate on the father’s response to the elder son, “Son you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.” And in doing so, we might see the story that God has given us to tell. God’s love for us has remained with us through every moment of our sometimes boring, ordinary lives. This love has sustained us whether we realized it or not, whether we felt it or not. This love gifted from the Father and the Son, and poured out by the Holy Spirit, the trinity of love, abides in our hearts. And our hearts bear witness to this love in the world. This is our story to tell.