Is about how long it would take you to get from Cana to Capernaum today. With good traffic. Not too bad.

In the first century, it would be about a 7 hour walk. A bit faster if you were in a hurry and in decent shape. Even faster if you had some modern footwear. Even faster than that if you had a horse or a donkey.

Imagine for a moment that your child is dying in Capernaum, but you’re away on official business in Cana. Because your boss, to put it lightly, is not the kind of man you’d say “No” to. Your heart is breaking. The doctors have done all that they can do. The end is imminent. You can’t get home fast enough. Even 40 minutes feels like an eternity, let alone a few hours.

So you do the only thing you can think to do: Beg for a miracle.

I know it can be hard. There’s so much familiarity that you have a fixed image in your mind of who they are. There were so many times that you’ve seen them do ordinary things that it can be hard to recognize when they do something extraordinary. When you’ve watched someone grow up it can be easy to miss the man or woman they’ve become. Stories of their great accomplishments in some distant city may just sound like irrelevant and exaggerated tales.

Define “prophet” however you want. For my money you can almost insert anyone into that slot. Everyone has something to communicate about who God is, or what he is up to, or what he might have to say today. Whether they are conscious of it or not. We are all image bearers.

Or just forget the word “prophet” if that throws you or if you feel like nitpicking the definition. The truth is that everyone is easily overlooked by those who’ve known them for years on end.

Help them to hear for themselves. Spend less energy explaining them what they should believe and why they should believe it and why they should disbelieve all the other alternatives, and spend more energy simply trying to help them learn how to listen to the Divine.

And remember that the Divine speaks in so many varied and unpredictable ways. Don’t expect communication to come to someone else the same way that it came to you. That person you really wish would believe? The Divine is already speaking to them, and probably in a really unique way. In some special way that will catch their attention and reach the depths of their being. They may just need a little support in learning how to listen with spiritual ears.

Evangelism is little more than telling your story of encountering Jesus so that someone else might want him to show up in their life as well. Testimony that leads to invitation.

A testimony is not an argument. It’s not an objective explanation of the truth. It’s a subjective recounting of life as you experienced it. No spin. No hype. No strategy. No pitch. Just a story. Your story, flowing out of your own heart and memory.

Is putting you in position to reap the benefits of someone else’s hard work. Or, it might be setting someone else up to benefit from your labors.

None of our success is our own. There are others whose contributions made it all possible. Some of their names we know. Some of them will forever go unnoticed and unacknowledged. Every harvest that we reap is the fruit of seed that was sown by someone else, into soil tilled by someone else, and then watered and tended by someone else.

Are not the timetable of the Kingdom of God.

Farmers and gardeners plan their crops around the seasons of the year. Students and teachers order their year around semesters and Summer breaks. Many people change the decor in their homes in anticipation of the next major holiday.

In the Kingdom of God, every moment is ripe. Every present moment holds the possibility for reaping because every past moment held the possibility for sowing. Fruit may be ready for the picking right in front of you.

Is not like bland bread and water.

It’s like a juicy slice of watermelon on a hot summer day.

It’s like a cold glass of lemonade after you’ve been out mowing the grass and pulling weeds.

It’s like an aromatic bowl of soup on a cold winter night.

Is an essential part of life. Nothing goes on living without being sustained by appropriate fuel sources.

Our bodies cannot go on living without food. Our bodies cannot thrive or perform at their peak abilities without healthy food choices. Filling our bellies to stave off hunger pangs is good for at least temporarily relieving the discomfort. But not just any food choice will do. Some foods can actually kill us, whether immediately or over the long term.

What one has to learn is how to develop and sustain healthy eating habits. This doesn’t come naturally. One has to be taught how to make wise choices. Which is why we have professional nutritionists, for example.

Is the most compelling evangelistic tool at your disposal.

No argument. No clever sales pitch. No kitschy gift. No carefully crafted apologetic. No enthusiastic church service. No light and haze show. No inspiring message from the stage. No meme. No threat of eternal punishment.

As Christians, we’ve tried those and many other tactics over the centuries. They’re all a bit suspect to begin with, and in the end produce questionable results.

What people don’t say can be as instructive as what they do say.

Take for example what Jesus’ disciples don’t say out loud when they walk up on him talking to a Samaritan woman:

“What do you want?”

In their shock at seeing this woman talking with their rabbi—a big taboo—they don’t grill her with questions in an effort to drive her away. Read that question with the emphasis on you. The subtext of such a question says, “Who do you think you are, talking to him? Get!” They were thinking it, but they didn’t say it.

“Why are you talking with her?”

Neither did they address Jesus about why he was breaking multi levels of social norms by engaging in conversation with this woman. They could have easily shamed the woman while also coming across as insubordinate to their master. Read that question with the emphasis on her. What they mean is, “Why on earth would you waste your reputation on someone like her, Jesus?” They were thinking it, but they didn’t say it.

Here’s the math: Thinking – speaking = wisdom.

Let us be silent disciples. Let us not be religious people who serve as Jesus’ self-appointed bouncers. The next time we want to question who is allowed to come to Jesus, or who Jesus is allowed to welcome, let us think it but not say it.