Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

The season of Epiphany invites us into the work of beholding. The scripture passages we encounter in this season offer up countless moments of revelation, of manifestation, moments where we are invited to hold in view the contours of God being made known in our midst, especially through the life and ministry of Jesus.

And these moments of revelation elicit responses. When we are drawn into deeper awareness, fuller understanding, new discovery, it impacts us, it moves us, it calls us to be transformed by the encounter.

The season of epiphany shows us how the work of beholding is connected to the work of becoming.

When we read this scripture passage from the gospel of John in the context of the season of Epiphany, we are most often drawn to the testimony of John regarding Jesus as the “epiphany” in this passage.

From the very start of the gospel, John is identified as a “testifier to the light” and that testimony continues to unfold, first to those wanting answers about his ministry and then, it seems, to anyone who will listen.

Here we encounter John’s exuberant proclamation “Look, here is the lamb of God.” It seems like he can’t help but share his new understanding with others and does so by naming Jesus as God’s physical, embodied manifestation of grace, moving among us, close enough to see and touch. What greater epiphany could there be than beholding the tangible presence of God!

Personal testimony may be the church’s most effective way for growth and stewardship. Hearing personal stories about faith makes a difference. There is something special about a personal testimony. It Grows Out of our Personal Experiences With God.

John the Baptist gave his testimony concerning Jesus: "This is the Son of God" (vv. 32-34). His testimony spoke out of personal experience and his own relationship with Jesus. He spoke of firsthand, personal knowledge pointing beyond himself to the Messiah. John, quite a popular figure himself, was willing to decrease in order that Jesus might increase, even to the point of "losing" some of his own disciples.

When we have something we want to say, almost all of us are willing to give testimony. John's testimony about Jesus was so effective that two of his disciples chose to follow Jesus. One of the two was Andrew (v. 40).

Andrew, too, spoke out of personal experience, having spent the entire day with Jesus (v. 39).

The Bible says that the first thing Andrew did was to go and find his brother Simon and tell him saying “We have found the Messiah”

Although he was the first to win someone, it was the last time Andrew would be first. From then on he was always listed as "Simon Peter's brother, Andrew."

Another glowing characteristic of Andrew's testimony, as with John, was that he was willing to be second. He just wanted to bring others to Jesus ( John 6:8; 12:22). Of such is the kingdom of God, these quiet, unassuming, non headline-seeking persons.

Testimony Can Be Shared Right Where We Are now. Another characteristic of Andrew's testimony that we would do well to incorporate into our own was that he began where he was. He started at home. He went and found his brother. We don’t have to look for strangers to spread the good news. There is no need to knock on doors or stand on street corners.

Often the greatest test of our spirituality is in the home among those who know us best. There is a saying… "If you can be a Christian at home, you can be a Christian anywhere. But if you are not a Christian at home.... Well,,, then that's a bigger issue."

Think of the people Andrew has influenced through the life, witness, and writings of his famous brother, Simon Peter.

On Monday, we celebrate the vision, work and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We rightly celebrate and honor Dr. King as an exemplary transformational leader and guiding force in the Civil Rights Movement. In his own way, his speeches and sermons, his protest marches and direct actions, served as epiphanies during those contentious times: revelations of God’s love and justice made known in our midst, provoking new discoveries and understandings that made and continue to make so many come alive in new ways and to new possibilities.

You will hear many of his speeches and his personal testimony on the news in the next couple of days. They were powerful indeed.

One of these was his 1965 commencement address at Oberlin College, entitled “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution.” Dr. King says,

All I’m saying is simply this: that all mankind [sic.] is tied together; all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be – “

Dr King testified from his heart… from his personal experience with racism.

As with Jesus and the disciples, perhaps the greatest epiphany of the civil rights movement is the fact that we need each other, that not only are the struggles we face bound up with one another, the salvation we long for is also something we build together by sharing our personal experiences.

Pope St. Paul VI once said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

We all have within us a personal testimony about the difference Christ has made in our lives. When we tell that story,when we testify and witness to our friends and family, we will touch so many more hearts than just talking about the ideas of the Faith in an abstract way.

So I encourage you, Go and tell your story, spread the word, and proclaim to others the good news of Jesus Christ.

Amen.