"Staying Power"
Sermon Presented April 30, 2006
Luke 24:36-49
Here we are on the Third Sunday of Easter. The lilies are brown and have been discarded. There is no liturgical dance today, nor do we have two anthems. No matter how hard we might try, we can't reconstruct the same excitement and expectation that we experienced two weeks ago. We have turned our attention elsewhere - to the grief of the Peterson family, the new teachings that Lawrence is offering, a wedding here on May 13th and a new baby for Monica and Blake.
And yet, our gospel text this morning is another resurrection day appearance of Jesus to his disciples. How can we deal with the text honestly and not simply try to recreate Easter? How can we best experience resurrection joy on this day?
Today's text is similar to last Sunday's text from John. This may be Luke's take on the same story. It takes place on the evening of the resurrection - after the Road to Emmaus story, with the two disciples who met Jesus on that road having gone back to Jerusalem to rejoin the other disciples. Here is where the story picks up. Luke 24:36-49. (Read text.)
As with the resurrection appearance we looked at last Sunday, the appearance of the resurrected Lord alone isn't enough to provoke belief in the resurrection. More is needed! Here, Jesus appears suddenly, speaks the traditional greeting of peace, and scares them half to death. Then he shows them his hands and feet and eats a piece of fish, letting them know that the resurrected Lord is also the crucified Lord.
Before going further, I want to compare the resurrection stories of the gospel writers. Our texts the last two Sundays and today are each from a different gospel, and each gospel tells the story differently. Mark, who wrote the first gospel and our Easter text, has no resurrection appearance for Jesus if we accept that the original text ended with verse 8 of the 16th chapter. All we see here is the empty tomb. Matthew - probably written in the mid-80's - has only a brief appearance to the women and the eleven. The Gospel of Luke, which was written at the end of the first century, has the strongest reference to the physical characteristics of Jesus, and John's gospel, our text last Sunday, is the last one written and doesn't go as far as this one that Luke describes.
The gospels all agree that Jesus rose from the dead, but there is no agreed upon biblical position on Jesus' resurrected body. Because the positions differ, we don't know for sure what his body was like, but it did have different qualities than before.
What we can agree on is that after the resurrection, the disciples were changed and had new hope and direction. Their experience with the risen Christ caused them to believe that he had been raised, and that experience remains the foundation of our faith. Even though we didn't have the same experience, Jesus' presence is tangible for us at St. Ben's during the meal program, in hospital rooms when a person is dying, in grief-filled funeral homes and cemeteries, around the table when we take communion, and at dinnertime when the family gathers. Christ's Kingdom is made real in and through believers.
Because Jesus' first followers had doubts when they came face to face with the risen Lord, we are encouraged in the face of our periodic doubts. And just as the disciples moved forward with Christ's message of love, so should we. After Jesus helped the disciples understand the scriptures and where he fit into the biblical story, he instructed them to wait for empowerment by the Holy Spirit. Through understanding and empowerment, the disciples leave their place of security and move out into the world to face persecution.
The gospel writer says that even though they doubt, they are joyful. They want to believe. Sometimes we are in a job or marriage or relationship that is devoid of joy, and when that happens we put little energy or creativity into it. Even though the disciples don't understand what's happening, they have joy and great anticipation for the future.
Joy is a natural by-product of blessing and is God's gift to those who seek God's kingdom. Therefore, joy is what people should see when they look at us, because the news we are given and should be sharing is good news, not bad news! When we are able to forgive others and seek forgiveness ourselves (two messages Jesus said disciples are to proclaim), our lives are opened to an influx of joy. However, not all Christians have joy - and no one is happy all of the time! Joy goes deeper than happiness. You can experience joy and not be happy.
Last week I received a call from a friend in Kansas City seeking prayer for her friend, Joy! Joy has no joy. She is a minister's wife who has devoted her life to her family and her husband's ministry. Her husband lost his pastorate and has taken a position 200 miles away that is similar to our area ministers and will be expected to make regular visits to churches in a wide geographic area.
Now here's the rub. He is demanding that Joy travel with him to show her proper support for him, sell her piano as there is no room in the new apartment, give away their dog because they will be traveling and it's too expensive to board it, and give up her free ticket to visit their daughter in California when she has her baby because he wants her with him. Joy's minister husband has taken all of the joy out of her life, and I hope she doesn't equate his controlling behavior to the good news of Jesus. Isn't it awful what people do in the name of serving God?
Our culture tells us that we will have joy when we move on to greener pastures; a better job, more attentive spouse, larger home, or greater prestige. A change may be needed, but we need to make sure that what is offered is right. Our reasons for change aren't always holy. Sometimes we want change so badly that we jump into the wrong situation. Ministers who say "God is leading me," almost always see the leading toward a larger congregation and a bigger salary.
I heard Anna Quindlen speak last Monday night. When she left the world of newspapers at the New York Times to become a full-time novelist, she was criticized by those who don't see writing novels as a creditable profession. However, she believed it was important to follow her heart, and by doing so, has found peace, joy and success. She is an inspiring woman!
After seeing the resurrected Jesus and receiving power from the Holy Spirit, the disciples supported one another and preached Jesus' message - beginning - in Jerusalem - at home. How can we be a congregation that not only supports one another, but also shares the love of Christ with others? How can an aging congregation - many hindered by arthritis, canes, poor eyesight and hearing difficulties make a difference in our community?
I knew last Sunday that today's congregation would be very small in numbers because 12 of those who were here last week would not be present today. Now for many congregations, that is a negligible number, but not for us! It's easy to become discouraged by small numbers. I'm no different! And yet, I somehow have a sense of expectancy that God is working in us to launch something new, and I want to be a part of bringing that hope to reality. If God is in it, I believe it will happen. My doubts are being replaced with a sense of joy, or maybe, if I'm honest, I'm like the disciples and have joy in spite of my doubts!
The resurrected Jesus greets the disciples with peace and then tells them to wait for the power. They (we) need both - peace and power! We can't be anxious and worried if we hope to accomplish anything. We can't act without the power of God if we hope to make a difference. Jesus offers us both peace and power, and with power comes direction! The mystery of resurrection life is God's own mystery and it's available to us.
Those who met the risen Lord the day of the resurrection went on to give testimony through their lives and their deaths. They shared the love of Christ with others - not just through words, but through acts of love. What was impossible individually was possible when they worked together. What we can't do alone, we can do with others.
In last week's Time magazine, I read a powerful article of a woman's rescue from North Korea. The story opened with Kim, who was five months pregnant and weak from hunger, lying on the cold concrete floor of a North Korean prison close to the Chinese border. She had escaped from North Korea to Northeast China, but was found and taken to this prison. When she refused to abort her fetus, the guards kicked her so hard that they killed the fetus and then roughly removed it from her.
Eight years later, Kim is now free and living in Bangkok. She escaped because of a network of Christians called Helping Hands Korea based in Seoul and headed by a South Korean layman and a Michigan pastor, Tim Peters. This organization is likened to the Underground Railroad here in the United States that helped slaves escape from their owners. These Christian disciples, working together, take great risks because of their love for God and for God's people. They could not do this alone!
On a recent Sunday morning, Peters stood in the pulpit of Youngnak Presbyterian Church, one of the oldest churches in Seoul. The congregation of 2000 joined together in a two-day prayer vigil for North Koreans. No wonder they have power! Peters' major concern is for younger people to take the place of the older activists. Where are the young soldiers to step into the place that older missionaries now fill? As he leaves the pulpit, 2000 voices sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Roundy needs young adults who are energized and empowered to share God's love in our community. God knows the needs are great! And even though we don't have 2000 prayer warriors, we can begin the process through prayer. And I don't mean a single prayer shot heavenward once in a while, but serious prayer - like the two day session of the South Koreans! God doesn't call us to regurgitate words that we have been taught in the past, but God calls us to give our lives in acts of love as evidence of the truth we have. Belief in the resurrected Lord can't be argued or explained into someone. That wasn't the way Jesus did things. He knew the truth had to be seen; had to be touched; had to be experienced in his own flesh and in the living and if necessary - in the dying witness of his followers.
We have faith because the risen Christ comes to us, reveals himself to us, shares his table with us, opens the scriptures to us, and we believe. Our faith isn't an achievement, it's a gift. It isn't a matter of resolving an intellectual dilemma; it is a matter of his loving us enough to reveal himself to us.
We have been given the gift and we are witnesses to that gift when we allow ourselves to be touched by people who are lost and afraid. We are witnesses when we live lives that speak our love for God and people. We are witnesses when we live in a way that defies any explanation other than that the presence of the risen Christ lives within us. Look, touch, believe! It isn't a ghost. It's the living God!
