May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Easter 4 - Good Shepherd Sunday
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 25, 1999
TEXT: John 10:1-10 - "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever eters by me will be saved, and will come in ango out and find pasture."
ISSUE: John's Gospel clearly names Jesus as The Good Shepherd. He is the Gate and/or Gate Keeper. Often there was one gate keeper who was knowledgeable of all the local shepherds of a community who opened the pens to them all as they brought their flocks in for safety. John would have the Christian community to clearly appreciate Jesus as The Good Shepherd, in the world of bandits and thieves. In the world today there are also bandits and thieves who perpetrate violence on innocent people and many bad shepherds who are truly bad managers. We must keep focused on Jesus as Lord, and clearly see only Jesus Christ as the the true shepherd for the world.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Throughout a significantly large part of the Christian Community around the world this Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is named Good Shepherd Sunday. Each year in the three year lectionary cycle we read a part of John's Gospel account which refers to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Surely this year on this Sunday after the terrible event of what happened at the Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, it is an appropriate reading, if not a needed reading to be heard by the world. The Lord portrayed as The Good Shepherd has been an important image in Judaism and Christianity especially in time of calamity, death, and trouble. Probably the most requested and used piece of Scripture selected for funerals is the reading of the 23rd Psalm wherein God is depicted as The Shepherd who leads his flock through the valley of the shadow of death to life giving waters and to greener pastures. As we read the passage from John's Gospel today which refers to Jesus as shepherd and gate keeper, and the Gate to the sheep pen as weill, I would like to give you, or refresh for you, where the background of Jesus as Good Shepherd comes from.
From the reading of the passage, we do get the idea that Jesus referred to himself as The Good Shepherd. That Jesus called himself and referred to himself as The Good Shepherd is not likely. Jesus going around announcing himself as The Good Shepherd, would have been seen as a grasping for an honor that was inappropriate. He would have been thought to have been stepping out of his place in the society, and would have been seen as quite presumptuous. It is much more likely that the title of Good Shepherd was a post-Easter title given to Jesus by the early Christian church and writers. Certainly Jesus had collected a significant following of people. He was undoubtedly sensitive to human need, and became known as a healer. He was also especially concerned for and with the oppressed, the last, the least, and the lost - the widows, children, lepers, sick, and those poor who had lost their properties and possessions. He was the champion and leader of the poor.
One of the first of the leaders in the Old Hebrew Scriptures to be a champion of the poor, and the oppressed was Moses. Moses who was infact a keeper of sheep, and who was called to lead his people out of slavery and bondage was known to be a good shepherd. Eventually, the shepherd boy son of Jesse, named David, became the King of a united Israel, and was seen as a good shepherd and leader of his people. While the kings and leaders that followed were often pretty poor leaders, they were seen as bad shepherds. In Ezekiel's writings (Chap. 34), the prophet refers to just how bad the kingly shepherds of Israel had become. They often used their people collecting exhorbiant taxes, and did not provide for their people. Their stupidity and negligence allowed the nation to be conquered by foreigners and the poor suffered significantly. Finally, Ezekiel declares that only God can be the shepherd of his people. God will come to his people and resuce them, and not let them b e mistreated. God will give them a king like David to be their one shepherd and he will take care of them. (Paraphrase Ezek. 34:22f) Out of this prophecy the early church saw Jesus as The Good Shepherd who was like God coming to heal and to raise up his people in profound love. Thus, Jesus becomes named The Good Shepherd. Jesus is the one who lives and dies for his people to reveal the injustices of the world. Jesus is the one who was and is the healer, the one who gave his people a profound appreciation for life that was fulfilled by love and forgiveness.
Jesus became the one who fed, like Moses had done in the wilderness, the teachings of love and fed them on that green pasture like hillside. Jesus was himself the one who went through the terrible valley and the shadow of death on the cross, but who was now leading them to fear no evil. Jesus was the one who gave new respect for all those who turned to him and who sought reunion with the forgiving and loving God. They found in him a love of life and a way to God.
In Jesus' time shepherds were not held in particularly good standing. They were a motly group of men who trespassed on other people's properties, were bawdy, did not stay at home with their wives and children. They were not held in high esteem. Yet Jesus profound caring for the poor and outcast seems to revive the image of the good shepherds of Israel, and once again takes a fallen image and restores and raises it. Jesus is declared The Good Shepherd.
What's more is that Jesus calls his disciples to be shepherds of the flock. This restoration of the meaning of Good Shepherd is conveyed when Peter, a disciple that had fled and denied Jesus at the crucifixion meets with Jesus after his resurrection, and Jesus demands of Peter that he too become a Good Shepherd. Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" on three separate occasions. Peter replies that indeed he does love Jesus. "Then feed my sheep; tend my sheep," Jesus commands. Jesus the Good Shepherd calls his people to be shepherds to one another and he leads them in the way of love and forgiveness and renewal of their being.
When John was writing his Gospel, the early fledgling church was confronted by people hostile to the Christian community. They were being tossed out of synagogues. There were people losing their faith. There were pagan influences from the Greek and Roman cultures. John insists on proclaiming that there of thieves and robbers scattering, challenging, frightening, the early Christian community. They must keep focused on the God of Love expressed in the leadership of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is the Gateway into the way of life that is precious and loving. He is the shepherd above all other shepherds. He is the gate keeper who lets in his flock of the least, the last, and the lost.
The world today surely in need of a good shepherd, The Good Shepherd. There are many shepherds, leaders in this world, but many of them like the thieves and bandits, like the poor leadership of Israel's kings in her history, need to be guarded against. Some of the renowned leaders in the world have left much to be desired. Surely Bill Clinton has been a disaster in giving to us, and the youth of this nation any good sense of moral leadership. Slobadan Milosvec has been a disaster for Yugoslovia in his perpetuation of hatred and ethnic cleansing. Look at the shepherd of Iraq, Sadham Hussein. Many sports figures and celebrities in recent years who could be such good role models for our youth have been disastrous examples of leadership when they resort to drugs and become involved in sexual scandals. Dr. Kevorkian's medical leadership is so very questionable. Even in the life of the church the leadership has often been so poor when we think of the leadership of such people as Jim Jones, Jim Baker, and Jimmy Swaggart, and the recent head of the Southern Baptist Church.
Isn't it amazing that even today there are people celebrating the birthday of Adolph Hitler! There are still people, young people, like those two young boys in Littleton, Colorado, whose image of a shepherd is Adolph Hitler. That leadership that has been a tragic leadership now for years. I've seen young people so enamored with Hitler and with racial prejudice, and it is so deadly, so sad, so evil.
We must be so careful as to who we think the Shepherds and leaders are in the world today. We have to be so careful as to whom we follow. If we are not really careful as to who we select as our good shepherd we may really get a bad one. We may really get a doozie!
We live in a world that is at war. We as a nation are drawn into the dreadful conflict in Yugoslavia, where we end up it seems even in this so called enlightened age dealing with issues of prejudice and hatred, ethnic cleansing. It is if we were still in the stone age, as we badger one another with deadly weapronry, as opposed to civilized mediation and negotiation.
Obviously there is a terrible war of hate and cruel violence going on in our own society. The events of this week dramatize it so terribly. And the under current of violence is not in some foreign town, and or distant American town. Here in Kingsville we've had recent shooting out of the the Post Office Windows, and bombing of a Postal box. We have people in our community flying the Confederate Flag. The violence surrounds us as a significant part of our culture. Many of our communities still have those subtle gatekeepers who want to keep others out for racial, economic, religious reasons. Many communities resist wanting the retarded, the dispossessed, the rehabilitation centers for people recovering from additions, or delinquency. We still have such a hard time seeing ourselves as brothers and sisters of one another, of being citizens in and of the family of God, and shepherds with Christ.
In all of the excitement and grief of this past week, we hear the demand for more security in our schools. We hear people calling for yet again stricter gun control laws. No doubt these things may well be needed. But we also need a Good Shepherd, a truly Good Shepherd for a flock gone badly astray. I think of the many things to which we often commit ourselves and our children. They are committed to good educations, gymnastics, horseback riding, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse. We adults commit ourselves to our work in a nation noted for its busyness and workaholism. Yet what of our devotion and regular commitment to our Good Shepherd, to the Gateway that leads to God, to love, to forgiveness, to compassion for and with one another. We neglect terribly the spiritual dimension that is needed in our own lives and in the lives of our children.
In last weeks Gospel reading from Luke, Luke made the point that God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ was alive and well and continuing to be with his people. And as Cleopas and the other disciples walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they eventually became enlightened to see the Shepherd of their Souls. It was as they studied Scripture, the story of the faith together, and as they broke bread together that their eyes were opened. The Good Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, was alive and with them. Is it not so with us. In the shear craziness, violence, and hostility of the world where is our salvation from it? Where is peace? Where is hope? Where is the love and the forgiveness we all so desperately need?
We have trouble getting, grasping it, holding on to it. Just as the disciples in John's gospel could not grasp the meaning of the parable. And Jesus tells it over again more explicitly. "I am the gate for the sheep . . . . I am the Gate." All the rest are thieves and bandits, who come only to steal and to kill and destroy. The violent ones are in our midst. But so is The Good Shepherd, the gateway to God's Kingdom. The Gate is Christ Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. For God's sake, why do we resist it so, and what don't we understand?
Sunday, April 25, 1999
Sunday, April 18, 1999
Easter 3 - Address to Congregation
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Easter 3 - Address to Congregation
(The Annual Congregational Meeting follows the Service)
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 18,1999
TEXT: Luke 24:13-35 - On the Road to Emmaus
"Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread."
ISSUE: Bewildered disciples leaving Jerusalem meet Jesus along the road, but they do not recognize him: "their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Jesus begins a period of instruction, and stays with them for supper. Suddenly they recognize him. Luke's passage stresses the importance of the Word and the Sacrament. For the church today to continue to be effective in its work in the world and among its own it must stay focused on the Word, the teaching ministry, and the Sacramental ministry expressed in worship. Our faithfulness is rooted in embracing Jesus Christ as Lord. Without keeping focused we become ineffective as the church, distracted and secularized. We must continue to study, pray, learn, and worship regularly to deal with the issues of the future.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AN ADDRESS TO THE CONGREGATION 1999
Today we are meeting for our Annual Congregational Meeting. It is our time for electing new members to the Parish Vestry. It is also that occasion for all of the members and interested persons to look together at the state of the parish, in terms of how we are doing as good stewards, and how we are doing as the disciples and missionaries of our Lord. I would also like to take this opportunity to talk with you about some of the issues facing the church as we greet the future.
This year will be one in which we will have to look at Stewardship in a way that we have not had to do before. We will be receiving two large bequests. We are still not completely aware of what the actual amounts of these gifts will be although we expect the Paul David White gift to be somewhere around $500,000. We will also receive the Florence Bergquist bequest which is estimated to be around $70,000. These gifts added to our present Endowment Fund would total nearly one million dollars value.
Needless to say, your Vestry and its officers will have some important decisions to make as to how these funds will best serve and promote our Lord's work in the years ahead. In all honesty, I feel a sense of apprehension about being in a position of having such responsibily as to be a partner in the stewardship of these funds. I am reminded of the Parable in Luke's Gospel (Luke 12:41f) of The Faithful & Unfaithful Servant. The faithful servant who is put in charge of the household is expected to do his duty and do it well. The servant who is negligent gets a good whipping according to the story. (Jesus' parables were really tough sometimes, and got people's attention.) The parable concludes (vs. 48): "Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given." We do have a wonderful but awesome responsibility before us. We will be able to attend to some of our own needs, as well as be benevolent. We will need to take time for prayerful discernment before making quick decisions that we could later regret. These generous gifts should first serve to remind us all to put the church in our own Wills. They should remind us all to be continuning good stewards of the abundance that God has given to each of us. For us to become negligent in our regular giving as a result of these bequests would not be in the best interest of our church, nor in the best interest of our own spiritual growth. It would not be good for us to become a parish reliant soley upon the dead. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he told his disciples, "Your heart will be where your riches are." All of us as members of this parish, as disciples of our Lord, as good stewards, need to do our part as God has given us the bounty we enjoy. If we choose to allow the church to become totally dependent upon endowment gifts from the past, we will cease to be a living church and an expression of the living body of Christ. We shall instead become curators of a dusty old museum dedicated to the past. God has indeed given us wonderful gifts and we must continue to build on them. May each of us continue to be good stewards so that we have our hearts, souls, and minds invested in what God is calling us to do, and continue to invest in the richness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Another issue before us this year is that of making St. John's Church welcoming and readily accessible to all people. Last year in my address to you I had mentioned that since we could put people into space and on the moon, it didn't seem that it should be impossible to put handicapped persons into St. John's Church. A committee formed shortly thereafter to begin looking at ways in which we could make St. John's readily accessible to people in wheel chairs and for people with difficulty negotiating stairs. Considerable time and energy, a lot of brainstorming, and consulting has gone into this project under the leadership of Debbie Starr. The Accessibility Committee will be presenting at the meeting today an architect's sketch and model of a feasible and possible way to construct an aesthetic ramp and porch that will make St. John's readily accessible to all people. It will be revealed today for the parish's perusal. I am most grateful for the really good and careful work that this committee has done. And I am hopeful that the project will continue to fruition though the support of the entire congregation morally and financially in the near future. A readily accessible church is a major step taken in being a truly welcoming church.
At the heart of being a living and vital church, true to good stewardship and being welcoming, is just how invested we all are in Jesus Christ as our Lord. In today's gospel reading, Luke tells of two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem after the crucifixion event. (Some think they are husband and wife.) They are going down the road to Emmaus. They are discussing the events of the past week, notably the crucifixion of Jesus. While they are going down the road, Jesus suddenly accompanies the two disciples. Their eyes are kept from recognizing him. He asks them what they are discussing, and they reply that he must be the last one to have heard how Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and work before God and all the people, was condemned to death and crucified. What's more there were reports by some women that he was alive. Some others went to check out the tomb and found it empty, but did not see him.
Jesus enters into the discussion with these two disciples and begins to talk about the scriptures and to make some revelations. Perhaps he told them of Moses in Deuteronomy (18:14f) declaring: "In the land you are about to occupy, people follow the advice of those who practice divination and look for omens, but the Lord your God does not allow you so do this. Instead, he will send you a prophet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him." Jesus like Moses did indeed hate the suffering of God's people at the hand of great injustice. Perhaps Jesus reminded these two disciples of Isaiah's (53) Suffering Servant Passages: "We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. . . . . But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. . . . .But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. . . . After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain." Jesus entered into the discussion. He was revealing the scriptures to them, and how God would not abandon his people. He reveals and gives hope to these hopeless and fleeing disciples.
As the sun sets, the two intrigued disciples invite this person who still remains a stranger to remain with them for supper. When he was at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and borke it, and gave it to them. Luke says, "Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight." But they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" Like all other resurrection or appearance stories these disciples quickly returned to tell others that the Lord is risen, and that they had experienced him.
What is at the heart of this scripture reading is the importance of two things in the life of the church: The Word and The Sacraments. To be alive with Christ is to be knowledgeable of the stories contained in the scriptures. To be alive with Christ we must participate in the Sacraments, feeding upon him in this spiritual way. Notice that our Liturgies, our Sunday Services, are basically in two parts. The first part is spent dealing with the Word, in scripture reading, sermon, and in prayer. The second part of the Liturgy is the participation in the receiving of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. The more we know the story and embrace the Scripture, the more we receive the Sacrament and take Christ into us the more alive and real Jesus Christ becomes. The meaning of his ministry - his longing for justice, his affection for the lost, the least, and the last, his profound sacrificial love become a significant part of our lives and our ministries joined with his. Through this formula of studying and knowing scripture, of prayer, and receiving the Sacrament, we are more able to share and communicate the living presence and its importance to us in our lives, and in the lives of others. The more we are invested in, and focused upon Jesus Christ, the more able we shall become in discerning how to use the gifts we are given. The more focused and invested we are in Jesus Christ as our Lord, the more compassionate, hospitable, welcoming, and genuinely sensitive and evangelisitic we shall become.
Our life together as a worshipping community consists of people knowledgeable of the scriptures, people who are full of prayer, people who participate regularly in the living presence of Christ in the Eucharistic Sacrament seeking to discern what Jesus Christ is calling us to be and to do. All of this is what is ultimately crucial and vital to the future of our parish and how we as a community carry on the message of God's love for his creation, and allow God to work through us and in us.
Two disciples left Jerusalem and were on their way to Emmaus. Jesus came and walked with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. They were something like last week's Thomas who could not believe or have faith. Yet, those who were blind, those who walked in darkness, the light of Christ prevailed and enlightened them all. Pray that thas same grace of God revealed in Christ Jesus will keep us enlightened and walking in the light that leads us along the way to his Kingdom.
SEASON: Easter 3 - Address to Congregation
(The Annual Congregational Meeting follows the Service)
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 18,1999
TEXT: Luke 24:13-35 - On the Road to Emmaus
"Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread."
ISSUE: Bewildered disciples leaving Jerusalem meet Jesus along the road, but they do not recognize him: "their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Jesus begins a period of instruction, and stays with them for supper. Suddenly they recognize him. Luke's passage stresses the importance of the Word and the Sacrament. For the church today to continue to be effective in its work in the world and among its own it must stay focused on the Word, the teaching ministry, and the Sacramental ministry expressed in worship. Our faithfulness is rooted in embracing Jesus Christ as Lord. Without keeping focused we become ineffective as the church, distracted and secularized. We must continue to study, pray, learn, and worship regularly to deal with the issues of the future.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AN ADDRESS TO THE CONGREGATION 1999
Today we are meeting for our Annual Congregational Meeting. It is our time for electing new members to the Parish Vestry. It is also that occasion for all of the members and interested persons to look together at the state of the parish, in terms of how we are doing as good stewards, and how we are doing as the disciples and missionaries of our Lord. I would also like to take this opportunity to talk with you about some of the issues facing the church as we greet the future.
This year will be one in which we will have to look at Stewardship in a way that we have not had to do before. We will be receiving two large bequests. We are still not completely aware of what the actual amounts of these gifts will be although we expect the Paul David White gift to be somewhere around $500,000. We will also receive the Florence Bergquist bequest which is estimated to be around $70,000. These gifts added to our present Endowment Fund would total nearly one million dollars value.
Needless to say, your Vestry and its officers will have some important decisions to make as to how these funds will best serve and promote our Lord's work in the years ahead. In all honesty, I feel a sense of apprehension about being in a position of having such responsibily as to be a partner in the stewardship of these funds. I am reminded of the Parable in Luke's Gospel (Luke 12:41f) of The Faithful & Unfaithful Servant. The faithful servant who is put in charge of the household is expected to do his duty and do it well. The servant who is negligent gets a good whipping according to the story. (Jesus' parables were really tough sometimes, and got people's attention.) The parable concludes (vs. 48): "Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given." We do have a wonderful but awesome responsibility before us. We will be able to attend to some of our own needs, as well as be benevolent. We will need to take time for prayerful discernment before making quick decisions that we could later regret. These generous gifts should first serve to remind us all to put the church in our own Wills. They should remind us all to be continuning good stewards of the abundance that God has given to each of us. For us to become negligent in our regular giving as a result of these bequests would not be in the best interest of our church, nor in the best interest of our own spiritual growth. It would not be good for us to become a parish reliant soley upon the dead. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he told his disciples, "Your heart will be where your riches are." All of us as members of this parish, as disciples of our Lord, as good stewards, need to do our part as God has given us the bounty we enjoy. If we choose to allow the church to become totally dependent upon endowment gifts from the past, we will cease to be a living church and an expression of the living body of Christ. We shall instead become curators of a dusty old museum dedicated to the past. God has indeed given us wonderful gifts and we must continue to build on them. May each of us continue to be good stewards so that we have our hearts, souls, and minds invested in what God is calling us to do, and continue to invest in the richness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Another issue before us this year is that of making St. John's Church welcoming and readily accessible to all people. Last year in my address to you I had mentioned that since we could put people into space and on the moon, it didn't seem that it should be impossible to put handicapped persons into St. John's Church. A committee formed shortly thereafter to begin looking at ways in which we could make St. John's readily accessible to people in wheel chairs and for people with difficulty negotiating stairs. Considerable time and energy, a lot of brainstorming, and consulting has gone into this project under the leadership of Debbie Starr. The Accessibility Committee will be presenting at the meeting today an architect's sketch and model of a feasible and possible way to construct an aesthetic ramp and porch that will make St. John's readily accessible to all people. It will be revealed today for the parish's perusal. I am most grateful for the really good and careful work that this committee has done. And I am hopeful that the project will continue to fruition though the support of the entire congregation morally and financially in the near future. A readily accessible church is a major step taken in being a truly welcoming church.
At the heart of being a living and vital church, true to good stewardship and being welcoming, is just how invested we all are in Jesus Christ as our Lord. In today's gospel reading, Luke tells of two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem after the crucifixion event. (Some think they are husband and wife.) They are going down the road to Emmaus. They are discussing the events of the past week, notably the crucifixion of Jesus. While they are going down the road, Jesus suddenly accompanies the two disciples. Their eyes are kept from recognizing him. He asks them what they are discussing, and they reply that he must be the last one to have heard how Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and work before God and all the people, was condemned to death and crucified. What's more there were reports by some women that he was alive. Some others went to check out the tomb and found it empty, but did not see him.
Jesus enters into the discussion with these two disciples and begins to talk about the scriptures and to make some revelations. Perhaps he told them of Moses in Deuteronomy (18:14f) declaring: "In the land you are about to occupy, people follow the advice of those who practice divination and look for omens, but the Lord your God does not allow you so do this. Instead, he will send you a prophet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him." Jesus like Moses did indeed hate the suffering of God's people at the hand of great injustice. Perhaps Jesus reminded these two disciples of Isaiah's (53) Suffering Servant Passages: "We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. . . . . But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. . . . .But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. . . . After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain." Jesus entered into the discussion. He was revealing the scriptures to them, and how God would not abandon his people. He reveals and gives hope to these hopeless and fleeing disciples.
As the sun sets, the two intrigued disciples invite this person who still remains a stranger to remain with them for supper. When he was at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and borke it, and gave it to them. Luke says, "Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight." But they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" Like all other resurrection or appearance stories these disciples quickly returned to tell others that the Lord is risen, and that they had experienced him.
What is at the heart of this scripture reading is the importance of two things in the life of the church: The Word and The Sacraments. To be alive with Christ is to be knowledgeable of the stories contained in the scriptures. To be alive with Christ we must participate in the Sacraments, feeding upon him in this spiritual way. Notice that our Liturgies, our Sunday Services, are basically in two parts. The first part is spent dealing with the Word, in scripture reading, sermon, and in prayer. The second part of the Liturgy is the participation in the receiving of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. The more we know the story and embrace the Scripture, the more we receive the Sacrament and take Christ into us the more alive and real Jesus Christ becomes. The meaning of his ministry - his longing for justice, his affection for the lost, the least, and the last, his profound sacrificial love become a significant part of our lives and our ministries joined with his. Through this formula of studying and knowing scripture, of prayer, and receiving the Sacrament, we are more able to share and communicate the living presence and its importance to us in our lives, and in the lives of others. The more we are invested in, and focused upon Jesus Christ, the more able we shall become in discerning how to use the gifts we are given. The more focused and invested we are in Jesus Christ as our Lord, the more compassionate, hospitable, welcoming, and genuinely sensitive and evangelisitic we shall become.
Our life together as a worshipping community consists of people knowledgeable of the scriptures, people who are full of prayer, people who participate regularly in the living presence of Christ in the Eucharistic Sacrament seeking to discern what Jesus Christ is calling us to be and to do. All of this is what is ultimately crucial and vital to the future of our parish and how we as a community carry on the message of God's love for his creation, and allow God to work through us and in us.
Two disciples left Jerusalem and were on their way to Emmaus. Jesus came and walked with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. They were something like last week's Thomas who could not believe or have faith. Yet, those who were blind, those who walked in darkness, the light of Christ prevailed and enlightened them all. Pray that thas same grace of God revealed in Christ Jesus will keep us enlightened and walking in the light that leads us along the way to his Kingdom.
Sunday, April 11, 1999
Easter 2
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Easter 2
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 11, 1999
TEXT: John 20:19-31 - Jesus Appears to His Disciples and Thomas Is Resistant to Believe
'Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." . . . . . "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."'
ISSUE: Jesus appears to his disciples behind the locked doors, and they are commissioned to carry on his work. They receive a peace and an empowering Spirit of Jesus Christ to carry on. Thomas is typical of human resistance. He is reluctant and dismisses the insightfulness and empowerment. But Jesus as Lord is persistant and implores Thomas to believe. Doubt is is really unbelief. John's Gospel is calling upon the early church to be open to the experience of Jesus, believe in, trust in, have confidence in this ways and teaching, not in what's unbelievable. Honorable and blessed are those who have not seen but have deeper insight and faith in Jesus as Lord and our way of life. We are his living body in the world.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
John's Gospel tells us another story about Jesus' resurrection appearances. Remember that John's Gospel is written at a time when all of the eye witnesses of Jesus life and ministry are now gone. John is calling his community to believe, that is, to be faithful to the fact that Jesus lives. He continues as a real dynamic Spiritual presences, and Jesus is Lord.
In this story the a number of the disciples are locked in a room. People in these days did not lock doors. People who locked doors were thought to be up to something bad. But the locked the doors in this instance heighten the fact that the disciples are truly frightened that the Judean authorities, (or perhaps the Roman authorities) might be going to seek them out for punishment as disciples of Jesus. There is a feeling of terror. Yet, inspite of their fear, Jesus appears to them. Inspite of the fact that the doors are locked, Jesus appears. He becomes present to them and in their terror he offers them comfort, "Peace be with you." He shows them his woundedness, his suffering. The disciples rejoice at this meaningful appearance to them. Again the refrain, "Peace be with you." The unmistakeable living presence of the Lord appears to them. They experience the presence of the suffering servant who comes to them in their fear. A blessed peace overwhelms them.
The disciples then receive a commissioning. "As the Father has sent me, so I send you," says Jesus and he breathes on them, and continues, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
John is conveying to his community of early Christian believers that the Jesus is truly alive in some very real spiritual way, and they have a continuing partnership in that experience. They are called upon to remember the suffering, the woundedness of Jesus. That woundedness expressed his great love for the world. It expressed a great forgiveness. It expressed Jesus' uncompromising demand for justice for the poor and the oppressed. His presence expressed the continuing living demand spiritual presence of God to bring an end to the ungly way in which manipulation and domination exploited people. It expressed his desire to transform the world. If you wound Jesus and put Jesus on the cross, what do you get? You get an even more persistant revelation that God's love in Christ Jesus will prevail.
Those simple disciples are ordained, invited, commissioned, en gulf and enveloped into an ongoing meaningful, purposeful lives. They are to continue bearing witness to forgiveness, redemption, reconciling the world int he spirit of Christ. As God endwelt and commissioned Jesus, now He endwells the disciples and the living body of Christ persists in the world. John's Gospel calls his community to be open to the spiritual dynamic living ongoing presence of the living Lord in their lives. Don't beafraid, but breakout of the locked rooms, the entombments and bondages of life and of the world. Carry on the living presence of Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God, obviously the disciples, and the early community of John trusted in the way of Jesus. They allowed him to be the empowerment for their lives and they carried on the message of forgiveness, love, and the demand for justice often in the face of great opposition. They dared to continue to proclaim that the ways and teachings of Jesus. They continued themselves in the face of great hardship to proclaim that Jesus was Lord and not Caesar.
The other part of this story that John tells is about Thomas, and it's an important part. Thomas is accused of doubting. He was the doubting Thomas. Doubt here really means unfaithful. To believe is to be faithful. His comrads tell him that Jesus lives. They have seen him; they believe he lives; they have seen his woundedness. Thomas claims that he cannot believe; he cannot have faith, unless he too sees the mark of the nails and can touch them. Thomas, for John Gospel, is the typical type of person who has a difficult time believeing, understanding grasping what the story of the life and ministry of Jesus is all about. He's like a blindman who can't seem to be enlightened. For Thomas it takes time. And time passes, a week according to the story.
Then again Jesus appears to Thomas behind shut doors. To the astonished Thomas again comes the refrain: "Peace be with you." Then Jesus says to him "Put (or more accurately 'thrust') you hand into my side. Do not doubt (i.e. be unfaithful) but believe. We get from this event, I think, the idea that resistance and uncertainty, doubt, unfaithfulness, is experienced by many. From the earliest beginnings of the church that was a problem. But in Thomas' desiring to believe in time Jesus Christ comes to him, not to condemn his lack of faith, but to give him a reinforced faith that allows Thomas to make the ultimate commitment: My Lord, and my God. He doesn't just believe there was a Jesus that lived, died, and was miraculously resurrected, but that God is experienced in Jesus.
The essential concluding message of the Gospel of John, who is intent upon calling his community to belief, trust, confidence in Jesus as Lord is the beatitude that rings down through the ages: "Blessed (honorable) are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
As we reflect on this passage of Scripture it is likely that we see ourselves. There may well have been times in our lives when we were open to an innocent acceptance of the stories of the miracles, and the resurrection of Jesus. There are, of course, times when we have been reluctant to really believe or to see the stories as true. There have been times when we can appreciate the wonderful beauty of the story of the resurrection. There are perhaps other times when life has been difficult and hard, and God or Jesus Christ does not seem very present to us, or alive, or even relevant. All of us at times struggle with our faith and our belief systems. But John's Gospel account says that "These (signs or stories) are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in this name." It is important, I think, to understand that God does not expect us to believe that which we cannot find to be reasonable or acceptable. God would hardly expect us to believe things that are deemed to be ridiculous. It's hard to believe especially in our scientific age that Moses split the Sea of Reeds (or Red Sea) by raising his staff, or that Elijah went flying off into heaven in a flaming chariot, or that Jesus walked on water, and climbed out of a tomb after being dead three days. What we do is hear, read, and inwardly digest these stories, and eventually seek to understand what is the deeper meaning of these signs and stories. What are they intending to convey for all times about God and his relationship with his people?
In today's story, the disciples are not concerned with how Jesus was or was not resuscitated. The resurrection is not about resuscitation of corpses. It is about a wounded Jesus who died at the hands of an evil world and insenstive people. It is about hatred, and how God will suffer and raise up the ones who serve him, and gives great meaning and purpose to their lives. The living Jesus as Lord, the Messiah, the Christ is the expression of a profound love, forgiveness, and longing for justice. The Lord will bravely live, and suffer, and die to express that Godliness. Try as the forces of evil will do to suppress the love and the justice, it keeps rising again, and again, and again. It rose for Mary Magdalene, the least of all. It rose for the disciples who were close to Jesus and their very spirits were revived and renewed by the renewing living Spirit of Christ. Thomas who couldn't believe unless he could touch Jesus is given time for meditation and reflection. He is given an understanding and patient community. In time he himself is enlightened and it dawns upon him in his fear and closed dark being that the wounded Christ lives and seeks him out.
The great stories of the scripture have their varieties of meaning. They astound us sometimes with their miraculous and sometimes by their anti-cultural emphasis. Yet they often come down to the expression of God's profound love for his creation. They tell how God hates oppression and suppression of his people. They teach us to be forgiving, rather than filled with hatred and holding on to old feuds. They provide us with hope for transformation and renewal. They assure us of God's ways often expressed in Jesus. Sometimes like Thomas in our humanity, we resist, and cannot allow ourselves to be enlightened, or able to join forces with Jesus in forgiving the sin and alienation of the world and living in a very different and open way.
Remember the father who had a son who was very ill with an evil spirit that was sometimes throwing the boy into the fire and water. Jesus said to the father, "Do you have faith?"
"I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!"
May God help us all to grow into an ever deeping relationship with Jesus Christ, - that's what faith is - that we may be enlightened and walk in his ways to share in his risen and living body in the world.
SEASON: Easter 2
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 11, 1999
TEXT: John 20:19-31 - Jesus Appears to His Disciples and Thomas Is Resistant to Believe
'Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." . . . . . "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."'
ISSUE: Jesus appears to his disciples behind the locked doors, and they are commissioned to carry on his work. They receive a peace and an empowering Spirit of Jesus Christ to carry on. Thomas is typical of human resistance. He is reluctant and dismisses the insightfulness and empowerment. But Jesus as Lord is persistant and implores Thomas to believe. Doubt is is really unbelief. John's Gospel is calling upon the early church to be open to the experience of Jesus, believe in, trust in, have confidence in this ways and teaching, not in what's unbelievable. Honorable and blessed are those who have not seen but have deeper insight and faith in Jesus as Lord and our way of life. We are his living body in the world.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
John's Gospel tells us another story about Jesus' resurrection appearances. Remember that John's Gospel is written at a time when all of the eye witnesses of Jesus life and ministry are now gone. John is calling his community to believe, that is, to be faithful to the fact that Jesus lives. He continues as a real dynamic Spiritual presences, and Jesus is Lord.
In this story the a number of the disciples are locked in a room. People in these days did not lock doors. People who locked doors were thought to be up to something bad. But the locked the doors in this instance heighten the fact that the disciples are truly frightened that the Judean authorities, (or perhaps the Roman authorities) might be going to seek them out for punishment as disciples of Jesus. There is a feeling of terror. Yet, inspite of their fear, Jesus appears to them. Inspite of the fact that the doors are locked, Jesus appears. He becomes present to them and in their terror he offers them comfort, "Peace be with you." He shows them his woundedness, his suffering. The disciples rejoice at this meaningful appearance to them. Again the refrain, "Peace be with you." The unmistakeable living presence of the Lord appears to them. They experience the presence of the suffering servant who comes to them in their fear. A blessed peace overwhelms them.
The disciples then receive a commissioning. "As the Father has sent me, so I send you," says Jesus and he breathes on them, and continues, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
John is conveying to his community of early Christian believers that the Jesus is truly alive in some very real spiritual way, and they have a continuing partnership in that experience. They are called upon to remember the suffering, the woundedness of Jesus. That woundedness expressed his great love for the world. It expressed a great forgiveness. It expressed Jesus' uncompromising demand for justice for the poor and the oppressed. His presence expressed the continuing living demand spiritual presence of God to bring an end to the ungly way in which manipulation and domination exploited people. It expressed his desire to transform the world. If you wound Jesus and put Jesus on the cross, what do you get? You get an even more persistant revelation that God's love in Christ Jesus will prevail.
Those simple disciples are ordained, invited, commissioned, en gulf and enveloped into an ongoing meaningful, purposeful lives. They are to continue bearing witness to forgiveness, redemption, reconciling the world int he spirit of Christ. As God endwelt and commissioned Jesus, now He endwells the disciples and the living body of Christ persists in the world. John's Gospel calls his community to be open to the spiritual dynamic living ongoing presence of the living Lord in their lives. Don't beafraid, but breakout of the locked rooms, the entombments and bondages of life and of the world. Carry on the living presence of Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God, obviously the disciples, and the early community of John trusted in the way of Jesus. They allowed him to be the empowerment for their lives and they carried on the message of forgiveness, love, and the demand for justice often in the face of great opposition. They dared to continue to proclaim that the ways and teachings of Jesus. They continued themselves in the face of great hardship to proclaim that Jesus was Lord and not Caesar.
The other part of this story that John tells is about Thomas, and it's an important part. Thomas is accused of doubting. He was the doubting Thomas. Doubt here really means unfaithful. To believe is to be faithful. His comrads tell him that Jesus lives. They have seen him; they believe he lives; they have seen his woundedness. Thomas claims that he cannot believe; he cannot have faith, unless he too sees the mark of the nails and can touch them. Thomas, for John Gospel, is the typical type of person who has a difficult time believeing, understanding grasping what the story of the life and ministry of Jesus is all about. He's like a blindman who can't seem to be enlightened. For Thomas it takes time. And time passes, a week according to the story.
Then again Jesus appears to Thomas behind shut doors. To the astonished Thomas again comes the refrain: "Peace be with you." Then Jesus says to him "Put (or more accurately 'thrust') you hand into my side. Do not doubt (i.e. be unfaithful) but believe. We get from this event, I think, the idea that resistance and uncertainty, doubt, unfaithfulness, is experienced by many. From the earliest beginnings of the church that was a problem. But in Thomas' desiring to believe in time Jesus Christ comes to him, not to condemn his lack of faith, but to give him a reinforced faith that allows Thomas to make the ultimate commitment: My Lord, and my God. He doesn't just believe there was a Jesus that lived, died, and was miraculously resurrected, but that God is experienced in Jesus.
The essential concluding message of the Gospel of John, who is intent upon calling his community to belief, trust, confidence in Jesus as Lord is the beatitude that rings down through the ages: "Blessed (honorable) are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
As we reflect on this passage of Scripture it is likely that we see ourselves. There may well have been times in our lives when we were open to an innocent acceptance of the stories of the miracles, and the resurrection of Jesus. There are, of course, times when we have been reluctant to really believe or to see the stories as true. There have been times when we can appreciate the wonderful beauty of the story of the resurrection. There are perhaps other times when life has been difficult and hard, and God or Jesus Christ does not seem very present to us, or alive, or even relevant. All of us at times struggle with our faith and our belief systems. But John's Gospel account says that "These (signs or stories) are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in this name." It is important, I think, to understand that God does not expect us to believe that which we cannot find to be reasonable or acceptable. God would hardly expect us to believe things that are deemed to be ridiculous. It's hard to believe especially in our scientific age that Moses split the Sea of Reeds (or Red Sea) by raising his staff, or that Elijah went flying off into heaven in a flaming chariot, or that Jesus walked on water, and climbed out of a tomb after being dead three days. What we do is hear, read, and inwardly digest these stories, and eventually seek to understand what is the deeper meaning of these signs and stories. What are they intending to convey for all times about God and his relationship with his people?
In today's story, the disciples are not concerned with how Jesus was or was not resuscitated. The resurrection is not about resuscitation of corpses. It is about a wounded Jesus who died at the hands of an evil world and insenstive people. It is about hatred, and how God will suffer and raise up the ones who serve him, and gives great meaning and purpose to their lives. The living Jesus as Lord, the Messiah, the Christ is the expression of a profound love, forgiveness, and longing for justice. The Lord will bravely live, and suffer, and die to express that Godliness. Try as the forces of evil will do to suppress the love and the justice, it keeps rising again, and again, and again. It rose for Mary Magdalene, the least of all. It rose for the disciples who were close to Jesus and their very spirits were revived and renewed by the renewing living Spirit of Christ. Thomas who couldn't believe unless he could touch Jesus is given time for meditation and reflection. He is given an understanding and patient community. In time he himself is enlightened and it dawns upon him in his fear and closed dark being that the wounded Christ lives and seeks him out.
The great stories of the scripture have their varieties of meaning. They astound us sometimes with their miraculous and sometimes by their anti-cultural emphasis. Yet they often come down to the expression of God's profound love for his creation. They tell how God hates oppression and suppression of his people. They teach us to be forgiving, rather than filled with hatred and holding on to old feuds. They provide us with hope for transformation and renewal. They assure us of God's ways often expressed in Jesus. Sometimes like Thomas in our humanity, we resist, and cannot allow ourselves to be enlightened, or able to join forces with Jesus in forgiving the sin and alienation of the world and living in a very different and open way.
Remember the father who had a son who was very ill with an evil spirit that was sometimes throwing the boy into the fire and water. Jesus said to the father, "Do you have faith?"
"I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!"
May God help us all to grow into an ever deeping relationship with Jesus Christ, - that's what faith is - that we may be enlightened and walk in his ways to share in his risen and living body in the world.
Sunday, April 4, 1999
EASTER
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: EASTER
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 4, 1999
TEXT: John 20:1-18 - The Resurrection of Jesus
Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). . . . . . . Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord."
ISSUE: "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." Mary Magdalene who is a woman, and the women once possessed with seven demons, who might be considered least among the disciples is the first according to John' Gospel account to see the resurrected Jesus. She announces that she has seen "the Lord" alive. It is a daring announcement for it declares that Jesus is n ot only alive, but that he is the Lord and not Caesar and the powers of this world. Jesus is truly victorious over the world; and God is saying "Yes" to the least, the last, the lost, and the lonely of the world, and "No" to the dominating powers of the world. The resurrecction is God's profound grace in action.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There was once an old Native American (Indian) storyteller. And it was reported that each time he would gather his people and children around him to tell ancestral and religious stories he would begin by saying: "I am not sure quite how it happend; I only know that it is true." Today we reflect on the Christianity's greatest feast, the greatest and climactic story. Since we have a variety of stories surround the resurrection of Jesus we might also say: "We don't know quite how it happened, but we just know that it is true: Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord.
John's Gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning when the sun was just beginning to rise. She found that the stone had been rolled away, and that the tomb was empty. She runs to tell Peter and the beloved disciple, of whose identity we cannot be certain. At least for Mary and Peter, this empty tomb and the missing body of Jesus is very disturbing. In this time a body was supposed to decay in tomb for about a year, the decaying body was a symbol of the sins painfully rotting away. At the end of the year the bones were gathered in some case and put into a box called an ossuary. At the end of time, at the last day, it was hoped that the bones would be re-enfleshed for resurrection. You get something of a picture of this from Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones. Thus, for Mary and Peter it is important to them to have a body to prepare for resurrection in the distant future. Mary is therefore particularly distraught.
She remains at the tomb and has an apparition (a vision, an experience) of two angels. Expressing her great distress to the angels over the missing body, Jesus appears next to her whom she thinks is the gardener. Thinking him to be the gardener she continues to express her distress about the missing body. But Jesus calls her by name: Mary! A great awareness dawns on Mary, and she becomes totally aware and enlightened that it is in fact Jesus, and she responds: Rabbouni!, meaning exalted teacher! Jesus discourages her grasping him or holding onto him, indicating that this is a truly and very spiritual thing that has happend. She goes to tell the disciples saying: "I have seen the Lord."
What does all of this mean, what is it's relevance? What is John's Gospel intending to convey to his early Christian community? We know that Jesus was crucified, and really died on the cross. He was crucified by the powers of the time. Pilate, a puppet governor of Caesar, and the Temple authorities, were dreadfully threatened by Jesus. He threatened the power structures because of his great affection for and following by an oppressed majority of the poor, the last, least, the lost, and the lonely. He had become perceived as a rebellious prophet. They ordered his death.
The meaning of the resurrection of Jesus declares and announces that God in Jesus Christ possesses is the greater power. Jesus is Lord not Caesar, or Pilate, or the temple authorities. They no longer need the Temple. The powers of the world can only give death, humiliation, and destruction. But God in Christ Jesus gives life and victory through his love and his reaching out to the poor, the least, the last, and the lost.
Mary Magdalene plays a very important part in the various resurrection accounts. In John's Gospel she is the very first to see the Risen Christ. Keep in mind that Mary was a woman and in this culture woman had no political status. They were often hidden. What's more, Mary Magdalene was once reportedly possessed by seven demons. She was considered to be totally abandoned and lost soul. Yet she becomes the first to be aware that Jesus Christ, and all that he stands for lives, is alive, and is Lord of live. The last becomes first, as Jesus had repeated said. Mary who has had a close relationship with Jesus is not humiliated, or last, or least. She becomes a worthy citizen in the Kingdom of God and Christ. She becomes a noble disciple. She is a recipient of the enormous grace and forgiveness of God. She is called truly to be his own.
Another important aspect of this story is the immediacy of the resurrection. Mary comes planning to prepare Jesus' body for some distance resurrection and she will attend to the corpse as was appropriate. But the resurrection is an immediate reality. It is not about corpses and bones. It is not about some distant future. Jesus lives now, and his appearance to her invites her into that understanding. She is called to live with him now, in the very present. Now is the time to be transformed and changed, and to participate in the Kingdom of God. Mary becomes an immediate disciple of the Goodnews. Though to the world it may seem that all hope is lost. The reality for her is that now Christ lives and is raised, and at the same time her own status through her relationship with him is raised as well. Mary begins in the darkness. She is frightened and fearful, and yet her hopes are transformed through the appearance of Christ, and she goes to tell, to announce to proclaim her new understanding that the Lord lives. The Spirit of Jesus Christ has become an ongoing living reality for her. He is Lord of her life and her saving grace. The powers of the world are often destructive, but Christ is Lord, and through him she is given hope, meaning and purpose in the present.
It is very interesting to me that this story and this faith that Jesus is alive, and that Jesus is Lord is still with us today. Out of this small band of people, the last, the least, the lost, comes the assurance of hope and resurrection. Inspite of all the powers of the world and along with all of its corruption through history, the story of Jesus Christ continues to break in and through history. The spirit of Christ's love, of God's forgiveness, the prevailing Spirit of Jesus who sought justice for his people, friends and disciples still lives. He is still Prince of Peace and Lord of lords. The faithful cannot help but feel that it is love and forgiveness that lifts us up, that gives our lives real meaning, not how much we have, or possess, or the power we can weild. The message of the Gospel that is so full of great reversals still prevails. Inspite of a cruel and vicious politicand cross, Jesus still lives. Love, sacrificial love as Christ taught, for one another is still the only thing that makes sense if we are to live in peace. The prayers of God's simple people, the quite meditations, the study of Scripture all contribute to the wonder of God and his continuing presence with us. So many people of faith have been simply people, sinners true, but people who find great hope and comfort in the Gospel of Christ. Like Mary, the least, who found in Jesus her transformation and hope, we still pass on the faith to others.
It is hard for us to say how this happens, how it persists, how people continue to be touched. All we can say at times is that we know that it is true. Jesus Christ lives, and he is Lord.
SEASON: EASTER
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: April 4, 1999
TEXT: John 20:1-18 - The Resurrection of Jesus
Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). . . . . . . Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord."
ISSUE: "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." Mary Magdalene who is a woman, and the women once possessed with seven demons, who might be considered least among the disciples is the first according to John' Gospel account to see the resurrected Jesus. She announces that she has seen "the Lord" alive. It is a daring announcement for it declares that Jesus is n ot only alive, but that he is the Lord and not Caesar and the powers of this world. Jesus is truly victorious over the world; and God is saying "Yes" to the least, the last, the lost, and the lonely of the world, and "No" to the dominating powers of the world. The resurrecction is God's profound grace in action.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There was once an old Native American (Indian) storyteller. And it was reported that each time he would gather his people and children around him to tell ancestral and religious stories he would begin by saying: "I am not sure quite how it happend; I only know that it is true." Today we reflect on the Christianity's greatest feast, the greatest and climactic story. Since we have a variety of stories surround the resurrection of Jesus we might also say: "We don't know quite how it happened, but we just know that it is true: Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord.
John's Gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning when the sun was just beginning to rise. She found that the stone had been rolled away, and that the tomb was empty. She runs to tell Peter and the beloved disciple, of whose identity we cannot be certain. At least for Mary and Peter, this empty tomb and the missing body of Jesus is very disturbing. In this time a body was supposed to decay in tomb for about a year, the decaying body was a symbol of the sins painfully rotting away. At the end of the year the bones were gathered in some case and put into a box called an ossuary. At the end of time, at the last day, it was hoped that the bones would be re-enfleshed for resurrection. You get something of a picture of this from Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones. Thus, for Mary and Peter it is important to them to have a body to prepare for resurrection in the distant future. Mary is therefore particularly distraught.
She remains at the tomb and has an apparition (a vision, an experience) of two angels. Expressing her great distress to the angels over the missing body, Jesus appears next to her whom she thinks is the gardener. Thinking him to be the gardener she continues to express her distress about the missing body. But Jesus calls her by name: Mary! A great awareness dawns on Mary, and she becomes totally aware and enlightened that it is in fact Jesus, and she responds: Rabbouni!, meaning exalted teacher! Jesus discourages her grasping him or holding onto him, indicating that this is a truly and very spiritual thing that has happend. She goes to tell the disciples saying: "I have seen the Lord."
What does all of this mean, what is it's relevance? What is John's Gospel intending to convey to his early Christian community? We know that Jesus was crucified, and really died on the cross. He was crucified by the powers of the time. Pilate, a puppet governor of Caesar, and the Temple authorities, were dreadfully threatened by Jesus. He threatened the power structures because of his great affection for and following by an oppressed majority of the poor, the last, least, the lost, and the lonely. He had become perceived as a rebellious prophet. They ordered his death.
The meaning of the resurrection of Jesus declares and announces that God in Jesus Christ possesses is the greater power. Jesus is Lord not Caesar, or Pilate, or the temple authorities. They no longer need the Temple. The powers of the world can only give death, humiliation, and destruction. But God in Christ Jesus gives life and victory through his love and his reaching out to the poor, the least, the last, and the lost.
Mary Magdalene plays a very important part in the various resurrection accounts. In John's Gospel she is the very first to see the Risen Christ. Keep in mind that Mary was a woman and in this culture woman had no political status. They were often hidden. What's more, Mary Magdalene was once reportedly possessed by seven demons. She was considered to be totally abandoned and lost soul. Yet she becomes the first to be aware that Jesus Christ, and all that he stands for lives, is alive, and is Lord of live. The last becomes first, as Jesus had repeated said. Mary who has had a close relationship with Jesus is not humiliated, or last, or least. She becomes a worthy citizen in the Kingdom of God and Christ. She becomes a noble disciple. She is a recipient of the enormous grace and forgiveness of God. She is called truly to be his own.
Another important aspect of this story is the immediacy of the resurrection. Mary comes planning to prepare Jesus' body for some distance resurrection and she will attend to the corpse as was appropriate. But the resurrection is an immediate reality. It is not about corpses and bones. It is not about some distant future. Jesus lives now, and his appearance to her invites her into that understanding. She is called to live with him now, in the very present. Now is the time to be transformed and changed, and to participate in the Kingdom of God. Mary becomes an immediate disciple of the Goodnews. Though to the world it may seem that all hope is lost. The reality for her is that now Christ lives and is raised, and at the same time her own status through her relationship with him is raised as well. Mary begins in the darkness. She is frightened and fearful, and yet her hopes are transformed through the appearance of Christ, and she goes to tell, to announce to proclaim her new understanding that the Lord lives. The Spirit of Jesus Christ has become an ongoing living reality for her. He is Lord of her life and her saving grace. The powers of the world are often destructive, but Christ is Lord, and through him she is given hope, meaning and purpose in the present.
It is very interesting to me that this story and this faith that Jesus is alive, and that Jesus is Lord is still with us today. Out of this small band of people, the last, the least, the lost, comes the assurance of hope and resurrection. Inspite of all the powers of the world and along with all of its corruption through history, the story of Jesus Christ continues to break in and through history. The spirit of Christ's love, of God's forgiveness, the prevailing Spirit of Jesus who sought justice for his people, friends and disciples still lives. He is still Prince of Peace and Lord of lords. The faithful cannot help but feel that it is love and forgiveness that lifts us up, that gives our lives real meaning, not how much we have, or possess, or the power we can weild. The message of the Gospel that is so full of great reversals still prevails. Inspite of a cruel and vicious politicand cross, Jesus still lives. Love, sacrificial love as Christ taught, for one another is still the only thing that makes sense if we are to live in peace. The prayers of God's simple people, the quite meditations, the study of Scripture all contribute to the wonder of God and his continuing presence with us. So many people of faith have been simply people, sinners true, but people who find great hope and comfort in the Gospel of Christ. Like Mary, the least, who found in Jesus her transformation and hope, we still pass on the faith to others.
It is hard for us to say how this happens, how it persists, how people continue to be touched. All we can say at times is that we know that it is true. Jesus Christ lives, and he is Lord.
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