If you’ve ever shopped online with any sort of length, you’ll likely have experienced a particular set of steps. You search for the general thing that you’re looking for. Then you begin to look around, and to find what specifically you are looking at, and eventually, you sort by price. Yet, the next step is often a crucial one- you find the reviews that tell you about that thing as well. How much people liked or disliked it. How much they used it, and what they found helpful or what they found that didn’t work. We like to read reviews quite constantly- and they are a great resource so often.
But imagine those reviews were written by people who had never used the thing. Or maybe they used it once and put it to the side. Perhaps they might have seen a picture online and only wrote what they thought of it from a passing glance. Would we be so quick to put any amount of trust in such reviews?
Most all of us would say that such reviews are worthless in almost every way- and we would be correct in saying so! Believe it or not, however, we are very frequently given opportunities to “review” our faith, or to bear witness to our faith. Do we do this effectively, or do we find ourselves largely living out life as if we are passing reviews on something we’ve never really used or engaged with before?
The first reading continues the passages that we are utilizing from the Acts of the Apostles, and we are told about the specific journeys that were being taken by Philip into the land of Samaria. Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, relates to us that he simply proclaims Christ to them. At the very outset- the crowds are intrigued by what they are hearing- but it isn’t just what Philip is saying, though, but also what he is doing. We are told that there are spirits that are being driven from people, and there are paralyzed and crippled people who are all being cured. This produces a singular result- there was great joy in that city. They saw what was happening, and instantly they are filled with joy! Yet, there is a continuation, that when Philip completes his missionary work, there is the need to send Peter and John to them, who went and prayed for them- and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. They are all baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus- and they are given the gift of Confirmation as well. The Holy Spirit was truly flowing about in abundance at that time.
There is a question I would like to propose here, though: we have been hearing about all of this success in the peoples at this time: how is that success actually happening? Why are they being given so many good results at this point in time?
The second reading continues the first letter of Peter, and his addresses continue to be powerful in their precision and their dynamics. He speaks: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” This is an imperative- he gives something to do. Yet, he doesn’t leave it in an unqualified way, but he rather starts to tell even how to do it- with all gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct may themselves be put to shame. Here is where a theme from last week comes in- it is better to suffer for doing good if that be the will of God, than for doing evil. Again, he uses a very familiar image- Christ Himself. It was Christ who suffers for sins once- and he is the righteous that was put to death for the sake of the unrighteous. He was put to death in the flesh, and brought to life in the spirit. What this means for us, we will come back to in a moment.
Finally, we arrive at the Gospel according to John. Jesus is again speaking to His disciples, “If you love me you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” This is a Spirit that Jesus says the world cannot accept, because “it neither sees nor knows him.” Yet, the difference is that Jesus says they do know Him. Jesus switches tone here in the middle, though, and utilizes this powerful line: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” The world will no longer see me- but you will. Jesus at this moment emphasizes something important- whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me- and will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” This is a truly comforting Gospel- as the disciples are being prepared for the moment of Ascension- which we celebrate next week as a Church- that moment when Christ does leave in preparation for the outpouring of His Spirit.
Yet, notice something here. Jesus speaks of the world twice. The world cannot accept the Spirit of Truth- it neither sees nor knows Him. And again “The world will no longer see me.” If we reflect on what is being said here, it is a separation of disciples from the world- it acknowledges the fact that there will be a sort of division between the way that the world perceives Christ, and the way that a disciple does. That is something important, because we realize Christ is telling of a very stark reality- that He will not necessarily be around in the same way, but that He will still be in the hearts of the faithful.
Back a few minutes ago, I asked a question, though- why were there so many good results at that moment in the Church? Philip in his ministry was working on speaking to a group of people that weren’t able to see Christ in the same way that he did. How was the Church still greeted by success?
The answer is an important commission- which is implicit in the Gospel. We are being called as members of the faithful to reveal Christ- and yet there are some underlying things that we need to consider when we are called to bear witness to Christ. But that requires us to have something first- do you have a working relationship with Christ- and with His Church? When the Gospel Highlights Jesus, it gives us two different things- the need to keep Christ’s commandments, as a sign of our love for Him. Christ cannot necessarily be one that commands love by itself though- and He doesn’t. He speaks to us- I will not leave you orphans. He asks us to love, not just in a one-sided way, but because He loves us so powerfully and intimately. This isn’t something of book knowledge- but of an experience of His love. You see, when we are to speak of Christ to others- we aren’t just speaking of holding up our favorite photo of Him. We should be bearing witness to the ways that we are giving witness to Christ’s encounter with us.
This springs into what we should do to forward and to defend our faith to others. We don’t do this in an aggressive or unapologetic way. We first and foremost need to educate ourselves in our faith. We need to know what we believe, and we should be able to speak of this in a very real and knowledgeable way. We should be able to convince others that we know the one that is the way, the truth, and the life. We should be able to be well educated in our ability to speak of Christ to others- and we should be able to convince others.
Yet, when we do that, we should also pay attention to the way that we speak of faith. We don’t make the faith appear as a sort of angry face to be encountered and to scare others into a relationship- but rather, notice how Peter encourages us to speak of the faith- and the reason for our hope. We are to do so with gentleness and reverence- and we are to keep our conscience clear the entire time. We are to speak- but to do it in all humility- and by our good conduct in Christ.
Then, that is the third point. We are to give defense of our faith, not just in the theology we know, or perhaps the ways that we have a very high degree of ability to speak of our faith in a deep or lofty way. It is in the way we conduct ourselves. The ways that we are living out our faith in a deeper way than just a surface level experience. We are living it out in our everyday lives. We should speak about something that is very real to us and something that is being lived out.
The reality of faith, brothers and sisters, is that it isn’t meant to be a passing observation. We shouldn’t just recite some quotes off the top of our head that sound good and them move on. Rather, what we should be willing to do is to give others witness of our deep and abiding relationship with Christ, so that we can not only give good review, but also bring others into union with the Church, and with our Lord and God. May we through our witness also bring great joy to our world, and show them the reality of Christ, and His presence in our midst, even in our daily lives.
