What is a witness to do? Get up and go!

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.... The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to the church through the stories of Saul and Ananias? "Get up and go." Get up and go, and wait for instruction. Get up and go greet your enemy as a brother. Get up and go, and make the blind see. Get up and go and make your witness in the life that you live together.
Responding to God's call requires a certain amount of vulnerability. To witness to the living Christ, we are called to behave in this life as if the promises of God are true and can be trusted. That is daunting. To reach out our hands as Ananias did for Saul, is to risk having them cuffed. To head out on the open road is to risk losing everything we leave behind. But the witness of scripture, and the witness of the saints among us, testify that in the balance the reward outweighs the risk, and that reward is life in the presence of Christ, today and always.