As Christians, we are, each and all, called to be witnesses of Christ Jesus to the world around us, to testify to our experience of God’s presence in our lives. Witnesses are important! It is the cloud of witnesses through the ages that have brought us the good news of God’s love, of Christ’s incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, redeeming, reconciling, sanctifying us and all creation. As Paul says elsewhere (Rom.10:14), “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?”

The psalmist today points to his experience of the Creator in God’s creation. He is not alone. Meister Eckhart said something to the effect that all creation is a book about God by God. God meets us where we are, as we are, and for some of us, it is in the magnificence, the intricacy, the interconnectedness of creation that we become aware of the awesome presence of God speaking to us. Artists, gardeners, poets are prime examples of those witnesses.

Sometimes we are called to witness God’s hand at work in the world up close and personal as was Elisha in our passage from the Hebrew scriptures. Other times it is our lot to observe from a distance, to stand with the company of prophets, to affirm the personal testimony from another perspective. That story also indicates that being a witness requires faithfulness and perseverance. We can’t stop at the first way station, nor the second. As long as God leads the way, it is up to us to journey on, trusting in God’s steadfast love to bring us where we need to be.

We may not literally see Jesus transfigured in dazzling glory as did Peter, James and John on the high mountain, but when we come to recognize the light of Christ streaming into the dark corners of our hearts, we feel compelled to share that light with others. We want others to know the joy of God’s love, to experience the transforming grace of God that we feel deep within. That’s when we join the prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, and all those witnesses who continue to testify to God’s mercy and grace.