Testimony.
When you hear that, what do you think of? Does it make you uncomfortable? Do you find yourself feeling uneasy? Is it something with which you are not very familiar?
I recently read an article for class called "Testimony" written by Bishop Thomas Hoyt Jr., the current bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) church. I found the article stirring in me a familiar feeling that felt unfamiliar due to the topic.
Growing up in a white, relatively conservative church within a progressive denomination, the word "testimony" didn't get thrown around a lot. To me it always felt like one of those super-revival-y words that I equated with super conservative churches... of both African American and White cultures. But, as I read on about it, I found that it can be and is a really valuable Spiritual practice.
"The practice of testimony is one that people sorely need, particularly in a society where many voices sound yet where public speech that is
honest and
empowering is rare." (emphasis added)
As someone who has been working to find her voice, I can't raise this up enough. People have stories of God's love and presence in their life that were and continue to be transformative. These stories need to be shared. Testimony is almost necessary to communit(y)/(ies). We hear of it in courtrooms and personal relationships and churches. It brings people together by recognizing someone's experience as Truth. "In testimony, a believer describes what God has done in her life, in words both biblical and personal..." In order to fully understand the scope of testimony, we need a little history lesson.
History
Testimony has always been around, but it seems to have taken hold in African American churches "derived from their experience of marginality in the American context... Even though the civil rights movement brought relative justice and ended the universal system of apartheid, the black masses are still caught in a web of selective apartheid." This existence gave way to a variety of expressions: fear, love, hope, joy, sorrow, guilt, struggle. In African American churches you can experience testimony through preaching, teaching, singing, praying, and shouting. On fire with Spirit, people verbally acknowledge the presence of God in their life. It is a way in which "words of freedom are spoken and heard."
The African American community has much in common with that of the Ancient Israelites from the Old Testament. Their slavery in Egypt and exile in the wilderness is similar to that of African American enslavement and a continual seeking of justice. "Such testimony comes to life within the context of a story larger than the witness's own personal experience-- but this biblical story can also embrace and transform that experience."
Preaching
Preaching, as Hoyt says, is a shared practice. It is not just about the giver (preacher) and receiver (congregation). It is a communal practice that requires response. Preaching as testimony means the preacher speaks Truth to injustice. We hear these kinds of sermons all the time, but how often do we act on them? When Truth is preached, oftentimes it is hard to hear because we (I use that term generically, but mean typically White/privileged people) don't want to admit that we are contributing to the injustice in some way. The preacher's task is to dig deep within Scripture and society and speak the Truth in love to those listening. "As Paul knew,
this does not always mean that the preacher will pronounce what the community most wants to hear. The testimony of preaching is a prophetic testimony, one that makes compelling claims on both preachers and hearers." (emphasis added) We must, as people of faith, act on the word preached for the sake of the Gospel.
Singing
"If you would know the real life and history of a nation or people, study the testimony it makes in its songs." When words fail me, I pull up my iTunes and search for a song that hits me deep in my gut and puts words to feelings. Songs (and lyrics) speak volumes for people's state of being. "The songs that African American people have sung in history... have all helped them make sense of their lives in this country." Many times they would sing songs that gave them hope of a better future (in Heaven and on Earth) because when enslavement was their life, that's all they *could* hope for.
Living
Being a living testimony is another way to embody the love of God for people. Philosopher Paul Ricoeur says that testimony applies to "words, works, actions, and to lives which attest to an intention, an inspiration, and idea at the heart of experience and history which nonetheless transcends experience and history." Actions speak. Loudly. We are called, as people of faith, to be(ar) witness to God's presence in the world. We are a people of Truth and reconciliation, faith and justice, bringing hope and life in the midst of death and despair while recognizing that it is God who has brought us this far.
....
So, as a member of the United Church of Christ, a progressive denomination, I want to reclaim testimony as a spiritual practice by speaking Truth to power in thought, word, song, and deed. And on this day, this 10th anniversary of 9/11, I ask you: What testimony do you have to speak or sing today? What are you being called to do in the midst of war and injustice? What words have you been given to speak up and out?
As it says in Isaiah 58... we are called to be "repairers of the breach"... and exactly what breach are we repairing by staying posted up in Iraq and Afghanistan? What breach are we repairing by staying fearful of our Muslim brothers and sisters? What breach are we repairing by living in doubt and despair?
Peace be with you [and all nations] as we mourn the loss of hundreds and hope for a world where reconciliation is possible.
______
[All quotes taken from
Practicing our Faith: A Way of Life for A Searching People, edited by Dorothy C. Bass. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997. Chapter 7 "Testimony" Thomas Hoyt Jr.]
