Readings: 1 John 3: 1-3
Acts 3:12-19 Luke 24:36b-48
Let us pray: Holy God, in the words of scripture we have
heard your word for us – may we understand it in our hearts and live it in our
daily lives we pray. Amen.
I was sitting at
home on Tuesday night, I think it was, when there was the most enormous clap of
thunder right over head – or it felt like it at least. Maybe it had reverberated up from the valley,
I’m not sure, but it was unexpected - and terrifying. It took me a few minutes to be sure that it
wasn’t some massive explosion and then perversely I hung around in the
conservatory waiting for it to happen again – I wanted to see the lightening
that preceded such an incredible boom.
But it wasn’t to be.
I was reminded of
that when I read the Gospel reading from Luke where some of the disciples were
startled and terrified beyond belief at the unexpected appearance of the
crucified Jesus before them. And yet
they waited and stayed – wanting to be convinced – and so they were.
And the people at
the temple too from the reading in Acts - when the person who was, and always
had been, the incapacitated man seeking alms at the gate suddenly, after a few
words spoken, became the person leaping
and dancing for joy. They people around were literally gob smacked: as
scripture says ‘full of wonder and amazement’. But they too hung around –
listening to the words that helped them understand that, in the name of the
risen Jesus, incredible things could happen.
The consternation
surrounding Jesus’ appearance is understandable – they were fearful still of
the authorities coming for them, they had heard all these strange reports of
Jesus appearing to others (on the road to Emmaus and to Simon) and they think
this is a ghost. Jesus dramatically goes out of his way to reassure them of his
presence. First he shares the peace with them and then ‘while in their joy they
were disbelieving and still wondering’ Jesus both understands and challenges
their fears. He meets them where they
are and helps them put together a puzzle that they have almost solved but not
quite. They are reminded of familiar
words of scripture – the law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and the
prophecy that they all point to. They
begin to realise that death has not had the final word if the presence of Jesus
is with them. They start to make sense
in some way of the chaos of holy week, and they begin to look forward into the
future – to anticipate Pentecost and to make real the commission to witness to
all nations the new life that is found in Jesus Christ.
This is the moment
of transformation, is it not? The time
when the peace of Christ is made known to the world, when the fear no longer
keeps us hidden in a locked room, when we trust in the presence of God with us
and we stand strong for all that we believe in, for all that our faith demands
of us.
Let us relive that
process of transformation that the disciples meeting the risen Christ went
through again.
They were first of
all frightened and alarmed, then there was joy mixed with disbelief and
puzzlement and finally open and understanding hearts convicted through
scripture and through encounter with the living God.
I wonder how that
might connect with our understanding of what it might mean to be a person of
faith today. Whether we look at our own
personal journey of faith – or that of the church – I am sure we would all have
times of frightened and alarmed. Hiding
behind doors, hearing the words of hope but not quite connecting with
them. Wanting a bit of proof maybe,
hedging our bets, or just hunkering down because it was too scary out
there. Fearful of what might be asked of
us, preferring to stay with the sense of disappointment rather than be open to
impossibility. I think of the people in
our church community who find it more appealing to gripe at the failure of
their church than to stick their head outside the door to see what is going
on. I think of those whose fear excluded
others who think differently or even those who are just plain pessimistic about
the ‘Good News’ in their words and actions.
I do think too of those who have been badly hurt by life and are
frightened to venture out because they might take another battering.
Joy mixed with
puzzlement and disbelief. I can totally
relate to this - the number of times in my life when I have sensed an epiphany,
a moment of transformation yet my questioning, imaginative brain has offered a
myriad of plausible alternatives till I don’t know which way to go. In our churches is it the rigid teaching and
unassailable dogma that stifles our pure delight in the presence of Jesus in
our lives. The number of times I have
seen joy shut down by the need to be right!
Or do we prefer to stay in this place of a ‘bob each way’ – can see what
could be but don’t quite want to let go of the disbelief in case we should be
proved right!
And then there is
the place that I hope many of us might have some awareness of. Open and understanding hearts convicted
through scripture and encounter with the living God. And do not let that statement drag you back
into disbelief because there are some bits you haven’t worked out yet or
scripture that you are still puzzling over – so it should be. Open and understanding hearts does not mean
simply conforming to 2000 years of written doctrine – remember we are part of
the reformed and forever reforming church: so it means growing and questioning
and learning and forever open to the Spirit of God in our lives. It means accepting Christ living in this
world and his guidance in our lives.
Living within the family of the church it means listening and learning
from the wisdom and experiences of all who are seeking God in whichever way it
is presented. I am currently undergoing
a ‘Paul’ transformation engineered by the two avid fans – the two Johns are
desirous of expanding my appreciation of this most inspiring and provocative of
evangelists.
And…living as
Christians grounded in the teachings of Christ does require just that – a
foundation that we can convicted of and an openness to the ways in which the
transformation that the resurrected Jesus invites us into is expressed in our
faith living. About how we proclaim the
risen Christ, who lives forgiveness and grace and reconciliation in our
time.
And that might
take some different ways of doing things.
It might take some dancing. It
might ask joy of us. It might demand of
us a ridiculous optimism that love conquers death in ways we cannot
imagine. It might engender trust where
we would lean to distrust and it might, it just might lead to the transforming
of the world where our greeting to each other is ‘Peace be with you!’ Amen.
Margaret Garland
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