Easter 3: A Ghost?

 Welcome to Easter-tide or the Great 50 Days of Easter. We’re looking at some of the post-Resurrection meetings by Jesus and his followers. Last week we considered the interaction between Thomas and Jesus. Despite the very verbal doubts expressed by Thomas, Jesus comes and gives him the proof he needs. God shows up for us in just the way we need.

This week, the Gospel reading is from Luke (24:36b-48). This is Jesus first appearance to his disciples as told by Luke. Just before this, the travelers to Emmaus have returned to Jerusalem with the astounding claim that he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they are still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Despite the simple greeting, those gathered thought that they were seeing a ghost. Jesus shows them his wounded hands and feet and invites them to touch him. As further proof he asks for food. They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Jesus then goes on to remind the disciples of the scripture promises about Messiah. Luke says, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures…You are witnesses of these things. This was a real flesh and bone human who could eat and talk just like before his death.

What would it be like to be in a closed room and suddenly have Jesus there?

We want Jesus to come in a way that is understandable—not through closed doors or in the face of a neighbor. We want, as Julia McCray-Goldsmith notes, “…the Holy enshrouded in fabric un-rent…not my neighbor perspiring the aroma of Christ.” (found in Daily Prayer for All Seasons, 2014, pg. 104) But that’s not how God works. God is among us. That is the very truth that the Incarnation and Resurrection emphasize. No matter where we are on our journey and whether or not we feel close to God—God IS right there. God is, in fact, in our neighbor and me and you and the stranger and even the enemy.

Jesus is with us at every moment, not just the ‘good’ ones where we have our act together. How does it make you feel to recognize God is right there when you are angry or cruel and when you are loving and kind?

Frederick Buechner noted, “Jesus is apt to come into the very midst of life at its most real and inescapable. Not in a blaze of unearthly light, not in the midst of a sermon, not in the throes of some kind of religious daydream, but … at supper time or walking along a road. This is the element that all the stories about Christ’s return to life have in common... He never approached from on high, but always in the midst, in the midst of people, in the midst of real life and the questions that real life asks.” (originally published in The Magnificent Defeat.)

Life “at its most real” is not neat and orderly. Being “in the midst of life” means accepting all the messiness of life including unanswered and unanswerable questions about disasters and war and sickness. And, that’s where God is found—in those questions and in the tragedies and joys.

Can you embrace, and let yourself be embraced, by the God who is right there “in the midst of life,” eating fish with his friends?

Joanna Seibert has a good meditation on Buechner’s words, and Jesus presence. 

Easter 2: Thomas

 Happy Easter! Resurrection Sunday has come and gone. Chocolate bunnies are history and so are the colored eggs. What about the feeling of new life and resurrection in your own life? It can be hard to hold onto the joy of Easter Day. And for some, there really isn’t personal joy to be found. Life seems just as hard on Easter as any other day. Real joy (not happiness or an ecstatic experience) is still found in recognizing Jesus in the everyday, the mundane, and in the routine. It was true at the very beginning. After the Resurrection, some of the disciples went back to fishing, some left Jerusalem, others staying locked away in fear. Like us, these men and women didn’t know how to maintain a high level of excitement, even after learning Jesus was raised. They slipped back into the familiar—and that’s exactly where the Lord finds them, and us.

During these seven weeks of Easter, also known as the Great 50 Days, I’ll be looking at the post-Resurrection experience for several of the main characters in the drama 2000 years ago. For the first couple weeks, we get a glimpse of the confusion and tension among even his closest followers from the Sunday Gospel reading. This week, we hear about Thomas. Next Sunday, the Gospel tells of Jesus appearing to the disciples who wonder if they are seeing a ghost. On Easter 5, I’ll ponder the travelers on the Road to Emmaus. On May 5, I’ll look at Mary Magdalene’s experience and on the last Sunday of Easter we’ll see how Peter is reconciled after his denial of Jesus.

This Sunday, the Gospel is from John 20: 19-31. It’s the familiar story of Jesus coming to the disciples behind locked doors. Thomas isn’t present and insists, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas usually gets labeled as a ‘doubter’ because he wants proof of Jesus return to life. Put yourself in his sandals for a minute. The disciples heard from the women that the tomb was empty. The women insisted that it’s true and that they have seen Jesus alive. Well, that’s a lot to take in. A man crucified on Friday and alive on Sunday isn’t a normal occurrence. Perhaps the women were delusional. I wonder how many of us, if we were honest, wouldn’t like nice, concrete proof of the facts.

Think about how you might have felt to hear the women announce, “Jesus is alive,” without providing evidence of anything except an empty tomb. What emotions do you feel? What doubts do you secretly hold onto?

Then, as we hear in the Gospel, when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

How do you feel when Jesus is standing in the room with you? How do you explain to yourself where he came from?

I think if I wasn’t there, I would be like Thomas—a little skeptical and maybe a little hurt that the others had an experience of Jesus that I couldn’t relate to. Jesus doesn’t leave Thomas hanging, though. Jesus returns a week later, acknowledging his perfectly understandable confusion and doubt and anger and hurt. Just as before, the doors are shut. However, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” Jesus meets Thomas where he is in his faith journey. Thomas needs a concrete assurance, and Jesus provides it.

Has there been a time when you have needed proof that God IS? Has there been a time when God has showed up right where you are and with what you needed?

Thomas, confronted with the proof of both Jesus’ death and his Resurrection, can only proclaim, “My Lord and my God!” Even though he had doubts about the reports of Jesus’ resurrection, and wanted proof, Thomas is loved so much that Jesus comes specifically to answer his questions and relieve his doubts. This image by Thomas Devian graphically encapsulates that moment of love and acceptance and belief.

 

What is your response when God shows up in an irrefutable way?

The Sunday Gospel concludes with the statement, these [signs] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Does hearing of Jesus interaction with Thomas give you hope that God will show up in whatever situation you find yourself in? Does knowing that Jesus loved Thomas so much that he showed up just for him help you know God’s love more?

Easter 2024

 

The Lord is Risen! 

Palm Sunday

 We are almost at the end of Lent. We’ve traveled through the 40 days and through the promises of the Baptismal Covenant found in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. We’ve considered how the baptismal promises call us to live.

Just before the person or infant is baptized, the water is blessed. In the prayer, the holiness of water is recounted. Participants are reminded that we are ‘buried with Christ’ in the waters of baptism to be ‘reborn by the Holy Spirit.'

Often at the Easter Vigil, we hear lessons recounting all the saving acts of God through the ages. This Baptismal prayer gives a brief recounting of those same actions.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.
Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise.
In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism.
In it we are buried with Christ in his death.
By it we share in his resurrection.
Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son,
we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit,
that those who here are cleansed from sin and born again
may continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.

To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be all honor and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.

From Creation to the rescue of the people of Israel from Egyptian slaver, to the ultimate salvation through Jesus Christ birth, death, and resurrection, we are reminded that we are part of a holy fellowship—the Beloved Community of the Family of God.

Because we are part of that family, we can live as the Palm Sunday Epistle (Philippians 2:5-11) counsels. We are urged to let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” We are to serve, not for our glory, but to point to God.

In the first part of the Gospel, we hear of the ‘Woman with an Alabaster Jar’ who anointed Jesus. (Mark 14:3-9) When the disciples are appalled, Jesus responds, She has performed a good service for me…She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Without thought for herself or her reputation or for any consequences, this woman poured costly perfume on Jesus. Her action of self-giving was acknowledged and blessed by Jesus. In the same way, our small acts of love are seen and blessed by God.

At the end of the Baptism service the newly baptized are anointed as well with the oil of chrism—the same oil used when a person is ordained. We are each anointed and ordained as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. As we enter Holy Week, consider the idea that you are part of the priesthood of all believers, and God’s special possession!

What precious treasure of yourself can you offer this Holy Week and Easter?

Lent 5: Justice and Peace and Dignity

 In Lent we are looking at the many ways the Baptismal Covenant calls us to serve Christ in each other. Fellowship, prayer, repentance, evangelism, and service are all ways to show and share the love of God. Jesus told his disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

The final question in the Baptismal Covenant asks, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” Striving is a word that we don’t hear much now. In fact, it often has the negative connotation of causing fights. The root of the word is from the French estriver and estri, meaning to quarrel. However, it also means endeavor or try really hard.

We are called to work for justice and peace. Sometimes that can seem like an overwhelming task. There seems to be so much injustice and violence in the world. Certainly, we are confronted by it daily in the news and social media. We know about the least little disturbing event in the farthest corner of the world almost immediately. Probably there aren’t more awful things happening than years and centuries ago, we just know about all of them. And we are bombarded by the various ‘spins’ that politicians and social media impose in an attempt to influence our minds. We have to be careful what we believe and who we follow.

When we are rooted in the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, we have a roadmap for Who to trust and how to respond and act. O Zion Haste (#539 in the Episcopal Hymnal) gathers much of the Baptismal Covenant into beautiful word. As the hymn suggests, when we are engaged in our mission of sharing the story of peace, redemption, release, and love we are in fact our “mission high fulfilling.” 

O [Christians], haste, your mission high fulfilling,
to tell to all the world that God is light,
that he who made all nations is not willing
one soul should perish, lost in shades of night.

The hymn ends with the stanza that calls us to Proclaim to ev'ry people, tongue, and nation/ that God, in whom they live and move, is love;/ tell how he stooped to save his lost creation/ and died on earth that they might live above. The refrain tells us how to do this proclaiming Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace,/ tidings of Jesus, redemption and release. We are to tell the Good News of God’s hope and love even, and especially, in the face of injustice, war, and dehumanization.

You can hear the words on YouTube, along with some lovely images:

The Christian church has not always done a good job of proclaiming glad tidings without driving rough-shod over those we are sharing the Good News with. Much evil has been done in the name of religion and continues to be done. We can repent that history and strive (that word again) to do better in our lives and work.

In the Gospel this Sunday (John 12:20-33) we hear of some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” These Gentile (non-Jews) want to know more about Jesus, just like much of our hurting world does. Jesus responds that the disciples must lose their life in order to live fully dedicated lives. He says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Too often we don’t want to lose our life—to give up control of the result—in our work for and in God’s Beloved Community. We forget we are seeds being planted and may never see the fruit. The seed is changed and dies so that a new crop can sprout. It’s human to want to make the outcome the one we want, even in our work for justice and peace. However, not everyone has the same definition of justice or even of peace. My way may not be the best way to accomplish a birth of justice or peace. I may think I am respecting someone’s dignity, but due to cultural differences, I may accidentally be insulting them. All we do must be done in and for Love, nor for recognition or gain.

As Philip does in the Gospel, all we need to do is introduce people to the true loving God who, as we heard last week “so loved the world” that Jesus became incarnate and lived a human life. Next week is Palm Sunday, then Holy Week, when we hear of the triumph and tragedy of Jesus’ final days on earth. He kept love as the hallmark. We would do well to do the same.

Where am I being asked to die to control so that something new might be able to sprout?

How might I live so that God’s love is seen in my life as an invitation to see Jesus?

Lent 4: Serve Christ in All

Jesus told his disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

As we continue looking at the Baptismal Covenant in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer as a way through Lent, we are asked a difficult question. “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” How we respond is the way the world knows that we are followers of the One who said “love one another.”

It is a hard question and a difficult command to live into. The good news is that Jesus has paved the way. The Gospel this week states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

God—Creator of all that is, LOVED the world—each and every bit and person, so much that God became Human! God became Incarnate (in-flesh) so that the world might be [reconciled to God] through him. That’s both shocking and wonderful. How can the Originator of star dust and microbes and leviathans and humans DESIRE relationship so much that Creator becomes Creature? Hundred of pages of theology has been written about the hows and whys. But at the core is God so loved the world!

The fish in the sea is loved. The star in the sky is loved. The tiniest microbe is loved. I am loved. You are loved. The stranger on the corner is loved. The bomber is loved.

The Baptismal Covenant says we are to ‘seek Christ in all persons.’ Each of us loved by God. It should be easy to find Christ in and Love everyone. However, the truth is not everyone presents as lovable. It’s easy to love a baby or a sweet grandmother. It’s not so easy to love the grumpy clerk or the person that disagrees with your core beliefs. It’s even more difficult to love a school shooter or abuser.

As we saw last week, ‘love’ is not the soft, fuzzy valentine heart feeling. It is action that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (I Cor. 13:7) We chose to love, even when it is nearly impossible to do so. We make the choice to say, ‘you are God’s beloved, even if you are not a nice person.’ We chose to allow others their opinions and beliefs even if we cannot understand their point of view.

It's a personal struggle, for me, to love and accept and see each other as God’s equally loved child. (Often it’s hard to see myself as loved or lovable, too.) That’s why the reminder in the Baptismal Covenant is so important. “Seeking and serving Christ in All and loving neighbor as self”—not easy, but vital to creating God’s Beloved Community where all creation is accepted and valued and not harmed in any way. And that may require some giving up of ‘my way.’ It will require conscious effort.

In what way can I seek Christ in someone I may disagree with?

When can I choose love over division?

Lent 3: Proclaim Good News

 This Lent we are looking at the Baptismal Covenant in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer to see how we can more fully live as Followers of Christ and the love of God. We’ve seen that fellowship is helpful and that we often need to repent and change our life’s direction. Jesus told his disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

The third question asked of everyone present at a baptism is: “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?” Some would insist that means we have to go around waving John 3:16 banners or forcing everyone to believe in exactly the way we do. It’s far to easy to think that proclaiming the Good News means ‘my faith is the only right one and if you don’t believe like me, you are wrong and maybe even damned.’

What if we expanded our understanding of the Good News to be more inclusive and loving? Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is fond of saying, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.”

Love is complex, as 1 Corinthians 13 notes, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal…Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor. 13:1-7)

The desire to proclaim Good News in grand ways is very human. We want to be noticed and affirmed. However, St. Paul’s letter reminds us that love is both simpler and harder than signs and wonders. He says, now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13)

Proclaiming the Good News in Love is complex. Sometimes, proclaiming the Good News involves standing up to authority, or standing with the disenfranchised. The Gospel this week tells of Jesus casting out the merchants in the Temple. Angrily, he stormed, take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace! (John 2:16)

More often, sharing “by word and example” is found in encouragement or helpfulness or compassion. Maybe it’s sharing an uplifting image or quote on social media or joining in a celebration. It could be a smile or hug or note for someone who is sad or hurting or lonely. Perhaps it’s recognizing the unsung accomplishments of a neighbor.

What first comes to mind when you hear “Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ”?

How might you share the Good News of God’s love this week?

Who needs to hear of God’s love?