From the Pastor |
Acts 5: 27-32 & John 20: 19-31
Today’s gospel reading is a familiar story. After his resurrection, Jesus appears… 1st to Mary Magdalene and some women. Then to a couple of disciples along the road to Emmaus. Finally, that evening Jesus comes and appears to a group of his closest disciples… well 10 of them anyway. For some reason… we don’t know why, but Thomas was not with them and will now… forever… be referred to as “Doubting Thomas” even though… let’s face it… NONE of the 11 top disciples believed until they also had seen... But, I don’t want to talk about that today… not about Jesus’ appearance or wounds or Thomas’ doubts… Nope! Last week, I talked about how the Resurrection changed EVERYTHING…. How Easter marks that moment in time when God raised to new life the body of Jesus… marking the beginning of the new creation promised by the prophets… bringing to light the ministry of inclusion… by opening the door for women… for Gentiles and for the many people regarded by society as unworthy… sinners. I spoke about how the challenge for us is to embrace those changes that Resurrection brings. Today, I want us to consider how we do that. There is so much bad news in our world… I mean… Back then… the world was a dark place… full of bitterness, oppression and violence. The effects of anger and hatred were seen everywhere. Distrust, discord, disunity… all those “dis’s” were prevalent. Hatred and distrust of anyone who was different was common place. Wait a minute… I just described our world today, didn’t I? It seems that not much have changed in 2000 years. But something did change… the resurrection brought change… bringing wonderful Good News for all people… However… that Good News MUST be shared. The word must be spread… Who will do that? Well… After Jesus was crucified and laid in a tomb, the male disciples were in hiding. John tells us that “the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked” because they were afraid. The women had come early that day and told them the news… the Lord is Risen… but they did not believe… Luke tells us they thought it was “nonsense” even though Jesus himself had told them he would rise from the dead. Why? Because they had lost all hope when Jesus died on the cross. So they were afraid for their own lives and hiding behind locked doors when suddenly Jesus appears! “Peace be with you” he says. When they see it is really him… they rejoice!! Their hope is back! CHRIST IS ALIVE!!! Now John tells us that when Jesus appeared, he provided the disciples with more than just hope… he gave them a directive… a mission: “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” They were to continue Christ’s mission… they were being sent out just as Jesus was sent by God to serve, preach and share Christ’s identity with the world… making God and God’s great love known to the people… to make known the forgiveness offered. They were given the great and powerful gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and empower them to complete this mission… Or as Acts 1:8 puts it “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” You see, before they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples were hopeless… in hiding… weak and afraid. After appearing to them and showing he was not a ghost but flesh and blood… alive again… that all changed. The disciples themselves changed. The disciples saw Jesus and believed… they were given the Holy Spirit… the presence of God, of Christ himself inside of them… Then oh, how things changed. Fast forward to the reading from Acts which tells us that Peter and the other Apostles had been arrested by the Temple leaders and put in prison for healing and teaching in Jesus’ name. They miraculously escaped their cells but they do not run away… no! ... Instead, they simply returned to the Temple courts and continued to preach and teach about Jesus. They are no longer hiding, but are doing exactly what Jesus had done… openly teaching their message to all who would listen. As a result they are arrested yet again, and brought before the Sanhedrin…The chief priest says “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching...” I can almost see Peter shrug and give that “Yeah… so?” look as he says “We must obey God rather than human beings… we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” These men who had once cowered in fear, refused to keep silent… WE are told that after they are released “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:42)) The verbal threats and physical abuse only strengthened their resolve to teach and proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. They would not keep silent. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit and had been given a mission by their Lord. They WOULD NOT keep silent. They had seen what the religious leaders failed to recognize… God was at work in all that had been done. The Resurrection brought change… especially changing the people who had come to believe and accept the hope, faith and power the resurrection brings. The disciples, Peter, James, John and the rest were transformed from scared, weak, hopeless people… to bold, strong, hope-filled people who refused to be ruled by fear. Most of them willingly gave their lives for their faith as have countless others through the ages to this very day! What a CHANGE!! That is how it should be for us. Christ is alive… the flame of hope is burning around the world because of the Resurrection. When we accept the truth, the hope and the love of Christ… when we accept his very presence, the Holy Spirit inside of us… it is US who change. This is the change that the Resurrection brings… a change that begins inside and spreads outwards. As we are transformed in our hearts and minds… the effects of the transformation works outside into our very lives changing our thoughts and actions. We, too, should become strong, bold and hope-filled even in the face of suffering and fear… refusing to keep silent. For we too are called to continue all that Jesus began… to bear witness to the Resurrected Christ as Peter did… no matter what. After experiencing the presence of the Risen Lord, the disciples felt compelled to share all they had seen and experienced with everyone who would listen… The Resurrection changed their lives more than they could have ever imagined… empowering them to preach, teach and heal in Jesus name… giving them the courage to face whatever came for them… even death. The Resurrection SHOULD do the same for us… The Resurrection brought in… and continues to bring in a new age… where God’s people are sent out just as Jesus was sent… to share the Good News… to reveal the truth and love of God with all who will listen… bringing healing, justice, love and mercy. Even if we face opposition… ridicule… threats of harm… “We must obey God rather than Human Beings!” The Gospel of John reminds us that God’s love for this world was revealed when God sent Jesus into the world… Because of all that God has already done in Christ, we have been made a part of the new creation that is God’s Kingdom. And as citizens of God’s Kingdom, we are called to be faithful witnesses to all God has done… done in and through Christ… done in and through our lives. When our hearts are filled with Christ’s love and light, we become the living examples of his light and love in the world today. It is this change within each and every Disciple of Christ that can bring about real change in the world. So rejoice in the Resurrection… rejoice in the Lord… For Christ is Risen! Then… Go into the world and share the story… tell the Good News… be faithful witnesses. This is the calling of EVERY Disciple of Christ Jesus… so let us go “Day after day, in the churches and from house to house, let us never stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah” [paraphrased] Amen!
0 Comments
Acts 10: 34-43 & Luke 24: 1-12
One Easter Sunday, a preacher stood at the pulpit and held up a stack of papers. He told the congregation: “Good people… I hold in my hands three sermons: I have a $100 sermon that is 5 minutes long! I have a $50 sermon that is 15 minutes long! And I have a $20 sermon that that is 30 minutes long… Then he said: “The ushers will now take up the offering… and we will see which of these sermons I deliver this morning.” The bad news is that I only have one sermon! Because… to be honest… it is hard to preach on Easter. We are here because we know the story… somewhere along the line we have already heard the Good News… Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Everything about this morning testifies to that fact: the music, the scripture readings, the Easter Lilies… this is a very special day. Yes, the Lord is risen, he is risen indeed. Today… like every year on Easter Sunday… our focus turns to the empty tomb… to the Resurrection of Christ Jesus… but this morning, I really want us to consider what resurrection means for us… here… today. Easter is more than a day of remembrance… it is more that remembering the events that happened almost 2000 years ago… it is certainly more that parties, food and chocolate bunnies. The Resurrection of Jesus did more than bring 1 man back from the dead… it changed the lives of everyone who knew and followed Jesus… ultimately changing the way they saw and interacted with the world around them. The Resurrection changed EVERYTHING. All 4 Gospels share the Resurrection story, and all tell it differently… from different perspectives for different audiences… but they all have 3 three things in common: 1. It happened early Sunday morning. 2. Mary Magdalene was there… and 3. The tomb was empty and the women were told to share the news. Luke’s Gospel, which was written for a Gentile audience, focusses on the elevation and inclusion of women in Jesus’ story… from the very beginning with Elizabeth, Mary and Anna… various women throughout this Gospel are given prophetic roles and today is no different. The verses today include more women than the other gospels. In fact, Luke tells us that these women… Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them… were not simply messengers tasked with taking the news to the disciples… NO! These women were themselves Disciples of Christ. The “two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning” [vs. 4] reminded them of how Jesus told them all this would happen… and “they remembered his words.” [vs. 8] They were not simply groupies… They did not come along simply to cook the meals and do the dishes… Like the male disciples… They had followed Jesus from Galilee… They too had heard him preach the word of God… they too witnessed the miracles he performed… they too believed him to be the Messiah. They too… WERE DISCIPLES! The women’s role in the Resurrection story is a great moment of inclusion in the history of God’s people… another is from the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. These verses might seem strange for Easter Sunday, but the book of Acts is Luke’s sequel… the continuation of Luke’s story that tells us of the days and years that followed the Resurrection and how the events of the 1st Easter Morning changed everything. The Easter message is one of inclusion and this is the realization Peter makes in today’s reading. The message that Jesus was the savior who had been raised from the dead was what the early church in Jerusalem shared with all who would listen. They lived out the good news that they proclaimed by extending God’s grace and acceptance to one another... they listened to the words of the Apostles and worshipped God and prayed often… After all, the story… Christ’s story has Jewish roots: Proclaimed by the prophets, Jesus came as the Messiah for the Chosen People of God. His central sphere of influence and activity was in Israel… primarily in Jerusalem and Galilee… However, thanks to a vision and message from God… Peter came to a new understanding that God was extending the offer of salvation to ALL people… to ALL of creation. God has opened Peter’s eyes to a new reality, and he accepts the invitation to visit Cornelius the Roman centurion… Cornelius was a successful Roman officer, and we are told that “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly…” [Acts 10:2] But Cornelius was a Gentile. All his life, Peter had been taught to avoid Gentiles, to have as little to do with them as possible for they were unclean… however, now the Lord was telling Peter go to Cornelius and his household and share the Good News of Jesus with them. For in the vision, God showed Peter that no longer should other people be considered impure or unclean So, Peter obeys… and it truly was an Easter sermon that Peter shares with all who were gathered there. . He begins by sharing his new revelation that “God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” [vs. 34b-35] Then the sermon begins… Peter shares the truth of Christ with all gathered at Cornelius’ house… stressing that he was a witness to all Jesus had done… he told of his death and glorious resurrection and declared that Jesus “… is Lord of all.” [vs. 37] and had been appointed by God “… as judge of the living and the dead.” [vs. 42b] and how “EVERYONE who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” [vs.43b] The evidence of this inclusivity is then seen as the Holy Spirit comes upon “ALL who heard this message… poured out EVEN on Gentiles.” [vs. 44b, 45b] Easter marks the moment in time when God raised to new life the body of Jesus… marking the beginning of the new creation promised by the prophets… bringing to light the ministry of inclusion… opening the door for women… Gentiles and the many people regarded by society as unworthy… sinners. Jesus IS Lord of ALL! This is the Good News of the Resurrection… the very essence of the Christian faith. Our world… yea… even us… has the tendency to divide and separate people into categories proclaiming who is in and who is out… we divide one another along lines of race, gender, age, nationality, politics, religion… and so much more… We make judgements about who is worthy and respectable… who is a disgrace… who is good and who is bad … who is a saint and who is a sinner… Resurrection is not simply about life after death… about going to heaven some day after we die… It is the doorway that has opened offering new life and inclusion for all people… especially those who were typically on the outside. You see… Jesus sought to break down the barriers that divide us… he became a friend of those considered unworthy. Love, Compassion, Respect and inclusion for all people is the legacy that Jesus has given to his church. There is so much bad news in the world today… but the resurrection brings wonderful Good News for all people… through Christ we have seen the sustaining power of God that brings life out of death… reconciliation out of conflict The Christian faith is all about love: God’s love for us, our love for God and for one another, and this is exactly what Peter preaches in Acts… Jesus came preaching peace, healing, loving, doing good. God raised Jesus from the dead and refused to allow the brutal, divisive, death-filled ways of the world win. Instead… through Christ’s death and resurrection, God lifts us up… offering new life centered in love. The Resurrection calls us to align our lives with God… letting go of selfishness, anger and greed and taking on love and generosity. The Resurrection shows us that life is about mercy and justice for all of creation… not brutality and oppression. The Resurrection calls us to live in the way of Jesus… the way of compassion, love and care… the way of help and healing, especially to the less fortunate and needy. The Resurrection changes everything… it change us and everything about us. The challenge, then, is to embrace the changes Christ’s Resurrection brings… living each day as those enlivened by God’s loving grace… in the face of the violence, oppression, injustice and death of our world… becoming Easter People who share the love and power of the resurrection with those around them… through service, welcome, generosity, compassion, unity, dignity and love. As long as the resurrection is only an event in our history that we remember once a year, it has no real value for us. But, when it becomes a reality that infiltrates our lives… our hearts and our very beings, it transforms us into the new creation Paul spoke of as our every thought, word, action, and attitude celebrates and releases God’s love and new life into our world. Christ is Risen… he is risen indeed… Alleluia! Amen. |
Yeon Shin
|