3rd Sunday in Easter, April 19, 2015

Collect for the Day

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

Reflections: Through our Sunday liturgy and fellowship we encounter Christ. While we are reminded every Sunday, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the details of our everyday experience during the week. Here we pray to know the work of God outside the church walls not only in theory, but concretely in the whole of our lives, in the whole of creation. 

First Lesson: Acts 3:12-19

When Peter saw the astonishment of those who had seen the lame man healed, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

"And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out." 

Reflections: Do we really know how to determine what is good or bad? We choose and act, often after much anxiety and handwringing, sometimes to discover at a later time that we have made a grave mistake. It may take years for us to come to terms with the niggling feeling that we have made the wrong choice. Mistakes have consequences, and they can be difficult to live with. But God isn’t out to trip us up, or punish us for guessing wrong. Acknowledging our ignorance our outright bad choices probably won’t erase their painful consequences, but it might help us out of the mire of regret, so we can embrace the present moment and awaken to the opportunities it affords.  

Psalm 4 Cum invocarem 

Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause; *
you set me free when I am hard-pressed; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
"You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; * how long will you worship dumb idols and run after false gods?"
Know that the LORD does wonders for the faithful; * when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.
Tremble, then, and do not sin; * speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
Offer the appointed sacrifices * and put your trust in the LORD.
Many are saying, "Oh, that we might see better times!" * Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O LORD.
You have put gladness in my heart, * more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; * for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Reflections: We’re often so agenda-driven and results-oriented that we miss the presence of God waiting for us even right now at this moment. Happiness, we think, is conditional, dependent on outer circumstances. But happily, Christ’s peace—and the joy that flows from it—is not.  

 

Epistle: 1 John 3:1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 

Reflections: Ultimately there is one law, the law of love. But ironically, while our deepest yearning is for unconditional love, we don’t really seem to believe in it.

From a young age, we learn to compete for love; our culture confuses status with value. The reassurance we take from a healthy bank account, success, acclaim, or accomplishments ultimately proves thin. Popularity frequently masks for envy, a fact amply demonstrated every time a celebrity’s misfortune is plastered on the front of the People Magazine. How easily we feel lessened by the good luck or apparent superiority of others.

          But however fickle the world (and ourselves with it), God is constant; as God’s own children we are each infinitely precious. We are children of the same Father, born of the same Divine Love. And just perhaps the facets of the jewel in our hearts flash all the brighter because the light of all our sisters and brothers—indeed the whole creation—shines through us.  

Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48

Jesus himself stood among the disciples and their companions and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." 

Reflections: God does not demand blind obedience (nor does the Episcopal Church ask unthinking acquiescence to what it teaches). Faith does not come easy for all of us. Truly trusting God may come through intense struggle. But to struggle with God requires the rigor of honesty, the courage of doubt, and the risk of error. And we all know there is biblical precedent for struggling with God: Abraham’s negotiations with the three angelic visitors, Jacob’s wrestling with the angel, even Jesus’ prayers and bloody sweat.

So when Jesus stands among the disciples and offers them his peace, they really need it. They need it because of the trauma and loss they have just gone through. And they need it because his presence among them is quite simply uncanny. They have entered new territory; what they had been and what they had known no longer seem to apply. But Jesus seems undisturbed by their fear and confusion.

Christ is not threatened by our fear or confusion, either. We cannot see from the divine perspective, but God can. And the entirety of our individual stories—which we experience only incrementally, bit by excruciating bit—already rest completely in God.

2nd Sunday in Easter, April 12, 2015

Collect for the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflections: Is it not always our prayer to give living expression to the most sacred inspirations of our hearts? In the Paschal mystery we see the reconciliation of the most disparate aspects of our lives: sin and righteousness, violation and forgiveness, self and others, death and life. Our faith calls us to realize, to bring into concrete reality, what is simply beyond our capabilities: a way of being that belongs to God. This mind-blowing “way” is nevertheless extended to us in Christ. 

First Lesson: Acts 4:32-35

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Reflections: In light of the collect, we note here the remarkable reconciliation between self and other, a unity in the heart and mind, as well as in material. It is not so difficult to find oneself in emotional agreement, or unity of faith. The easiest sort of unity of heart and mind is against; we see it in Congress in the unwillingness to discuss or compromise (“my way or the highway”). But the worst manifestation is in the rapid multiplication of terrorist groups all over the world today.

The best examples of this sort of unity, of course, are found in those who seek justice, visit the sick or imprisoned, give to the poor, comfort the suffering. Given the natural human tendency to place oneself and one’s family above all others, instances such as these testify to the radical nature—and practical implications—of grace.

 

Psalm 133  Ecce, quam bonum! 

Oh, how good and pleasant it is, * when brethren live together in unity!
It is like fine oil upon the head * that runs down upon the beard,
Upon the beard of Aaron, * and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
It is like the dew of Hermon * that falls upon the hills of Zion.
For there the LORD has ordained the blessing: * life for evermore.  

Epistle: 1 John 1:1-2:2

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 

Reflections: I notice here how John associates fellowship with one another and fellowship with Christ. To have true fellowship with one another, we must walk in the light of truth, the light of Christ; we must be cleansed from sin.

In contrast, we tend to close down on ourselves in any number of ways: imagining that we are self-sufficient, denying that we sin, identifying with the face we present to the world.  All of these normal ways of being in the world are modes of self deception that cut us off from one another, and cut us off from our deepest truth, which is Christ. That is, they are sin.

But what may be the most astonishing message of this passage is that “our joy” is not complete until it is also extended to others. Joy is not private; it is expansive. 

Gospel: John 20:19-31

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

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. 

Reflections: Probably Thomas’ response to the testimony of the disciples doesn’t surprise you. If you’re like me, you’re delighted that Christ makes allowances for our mistrust, for our yearning for direct, personal experience.

          Nevertheless, we always find ourselves in a position where we don’t have that experience—and we have to trust what people tell us. But whose version of events? How do we know that their enthusiasm or their prior commitments and attitudes don’t color their witness? Throughout our lives, we find ourselves in situations where we have to make decisions based on what other people tell us. But I suspect that we can really be sure about what is true in very few of those situations. So to some extent, faith plays a large role in how we negotiate everyday life.

          But faith in Christ is of a different sort. The Greek verb “to faith” (which English tradition translates “believe”) means something closer to “trust,” or perhaps further, to “entrust” oneself.

We see both of these sorts of “faith” in Thomas’ story here. First, he is faced by the challenge of simply believing what the other disciples tell him. He knows the grief they all experienced at the crucifixion and death of Jesus; he also knows how desperately they want to erase the past, how much they want him to come back to them. Can he believe what they say? Could they be suffering from a mass hallucination? His caution is understandable.

          But then he sees Jesus; Jesus invites him to touch and verify his presence. But Thomas doesn’t need that. The truth of the testimony is immediately clear. And Thomas takes one step further: he entrusts himself to his risen Lord, to God.

          Easter isn’t really about belief in the Resurrection. We can argue about that forever. Easter is about the new life that is born of giving ourselves in trust to the one who called us into being, and who calls us into being each day, every minute of every hour.