The diverse Gospel stories about the resurrection of Jesus have several common elements. These include the transformed appearance of Jesus, the amazement of the disciples and a call to carry on the mission of Jesus after he has gone (see for instance Luke 24:46-48, Acts 1:8). This call to mission was the impetus that started the church, as Jesus’ disciples – both women and men – shared his message and acted as witnesses to Jesus.
The call to witness has been handed on like a relay baton from generation to generation of Christians and involves both words and actions, both speaking the good news and living it out. In the Uniting Church we are generally much more comfortable with the second approach, namely showing the love of God in how we treat and interact with others. The challenge for us is to overcome our reticence and fears and learn how to share the good news of Jesus respectfully in words. However inconvenient, it is part of our call to be faithful disciples. Will we dare to take up this challenge?