The Third Friday of Advent -- December 16, 2011

John 5:33 - 36

“You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me."


"Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."

I first saw those words almost two decades ago, finding them attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. The words seemed to fit Francis, he who was a Troubadour for the Lord, an engaging, charismatic doer of the Gospel. Francis ordered his life around the Sermon on the Mount. He was not known as a speaker or a teacher or a writer, but rather as one who embodied the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His influence was the fruit of a life that had been transformed by God from the inside-out.

In truth, the saying is apocryphal. As far as I can tell, you won't find it among the relatively meager collections of Francis' writings. Again, he was first of all a doer, not a writer.

But the truth of the saying is not diminished by its unknown origins. It says to us that "preaching" is not what we ordinarily think of when we hear the word. It is only secondarily a matter of speech. Preaching is mostly our living, the quality of our lives, the way the Gospel is enfleshed in our actions, the life of Jesus within each of us.

As one of my mentors says, we are each a "living experience" of Christ's life in the world.

So in the text for today, Jesus pointed out that John testified about the identity of Christ, the long-expected one. John's testimony was a "bright and shining light" that lit the world for many people. John testified about Jesus with his words.

Jesus' testimony, though, was weightier than John's (v. 36). What was Jesus' testimony? It was what he did . . . his actions, works, deeds . . . his healing, touching, engaging.

There was a holy witness, a testimony in how Jesus engaged life, how he valued people, how he treated those underneath the weight of society. Jesus testified about God by his very stance toward life.

It causes me to ponder about the time I've spent in my life in the formal act of "preaching", mostly using rhetoric from pulpits within the confines of church buildings . . . when perhaps I should have been building a pulpit in the world.