Messengers of Truth
AM: Psalm 103 • Ezekiel 47:1-12 • Luke 1:1-4
PM: Psalm 67, 96 • Isaiah 52:7-10 • Acts 1:1-8
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”
Messengers are critical to any movement. Your communications director is essential! A movement is only as good as the messengers—those who share the word, who tell the story, who compel other could be followers. Today is the feast day of St. Luke. Luke is, of course, a gospeler and writer, a messenger, and an expert in the field of communications.
Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts are both addressed to a Theophilus, and Luke indicates a desire to share the truth with Theophilus. Our exploration of the gospels reveals that “truth” can we wide. For a messenger to share truth, does not always mean they share proven facts; it does mean being faithful. Especially when we think about religious truth or the gospel truth, being a faithful witness is more critical than knowing whether there were 4,250 people gathered or 5,000 people.
It is hard to know which parts of Luke’s gospel represent exact historical facts; there are plenty of things we can’t fact check. We do know that Luke was faithful in his sharing of the stories of Jesus as he heard them from the direct witnesses. Luke was faithful in the call to share Jesus and the apostles’ stories in print for others to receive through the years.
Truth is so much more than facts. Truth is the messenger announcing peace, real peace that is just and equitable. Truth is the messenger with good news for the whole of the world. Truth reminds us that we are saved, and loved, and forgiven. Truth announces, “God reigns.”
Our saints offer us models for Christian living. When I look at Luke, I wonder how I might be a messenger of truth. How might I share God’s truth today and in my whole life?
Written by Rev. Adelyn Tyler
In her daily living and in her teaching and preaching, Adelyn seeks to share God’s liberating, life-giving, justice-seeking, love-filled truth. She gets to partake in God’s truth as she works with outreach ministries of St. Paul’s and campus ministry at St. Martin’s.