How can you believe?

Proclamation of the Word

One question I have been asked is: how can you believe in Jesus?

A member of the church was dying, I’ll call her Meg. Meg was strong in faith and a great believer in prayer.  Her son rang one day to talk with me about her situation. He had grown up believing, but had struggled, and found himself unable to believe. As we talked, he asked why/how did I believe? How was it possible?

I have been asked that question a few times, mainly when people find out that I have studied science and engineering; and that I grew up in a family that was not part of a church.

Each of us will answer that question differently, but for me, it is about experience, experiences that speak to me of love and hope and healing. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some doubts along the way, sometimes when I wondered if God actually knew me and cared about what happened to me. but experiences strong enough for me to keep believing even when it seems futile.

……

On our gospel reading today we heard of two people walking the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a distance about the same as from here to West Gosford. Imagine what it would have been like for them;

they had been with Jesus, though not as part of the Twelve,
they had witnessed the crucifixion
they were fearful,
sad
confused.

That very morning some women went and found the tomb empty, some angels told the women to remind the disciples of what Jesus had told them, and to meet him in Galilee.

I imagine them walking to Emmaus slowly, burdened by dashed hopes, then running back quickly back to Jerusalem to tell the others of their encounter.

Some days it is a struggle

to get out of bed

to keep on going when we feel like it doesn’t make any difference

to keep praying and working for peace when war and violence seem to increase

some days it is a struggle to believe

Part of being in a church is we help each other believe;

not by insisting on a set of doctrines,

but by meeting together to pray and sing

and listen to the stories of our faith.

To remember the way God worked in the lives of people throughout the Old and New testaments, and the way God works in our own lives.

We show God’s care in our caring,

we show God’s generosity in our sharing

Where do you see/hear/sense the risen Christ?

When walking

gardening

singing

in the breaking of the bread

in the laughter of children

where do you see the risen Christ?

Who do you tell?

The two people walking on the road did not recognise that the stranger was Jesus.

I wonder why?

What stops us recognising the risen Christ?

The two people walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, were walking westwards, into the sun, maybe that is why they did not recognise him immediately, or was it their confusion and grief?

What about us, what stops us recognising the risen Christ?

Is it that we are looking the wrong way?

or too busy with our own thoughts
or looking at our self?

What stops us recognising the risen Christ?
in people we meet
and in the world around us? 

…

There are a number of different resurrection sightings of Jesus recorded in the Gospels.

 In Matthew’s gospel, the women at the tomb are greeted with “Do not be afraid”

In John, Jesus tells the disciples, and then Thomas: “Peace be with you”

Here in Luke two people walking together, trying to make sense of the past week.

How often do we find time to try and make sense of what is going on in our lives?

How often do we seek out a partner for reflection and prayer?

Someone to help us think about how we live as a follower of Jesus in a world where violence is the first option in conflict?

Someone to help us think about how we live as a follower of Jesus when we live in a community where some people have to choose between food and medicine?

Someone to help us think about how we live as a follower of Jesus when so many voices shout for our attention?

Maybe it would be easier to not be afraid, and to live in the peace of Christ, if we talked and reflected together with one or two other people, people we trusted who challenged and comforted us as we try and make sense of life.

Life is a struggle some days, we move around in a fog of despair and disappointment, fear, anger or resentment.

We are burdened by grief and shame and anxiety

Life can be messy and confusing.

This story reminds me that Jesus is with me, even when I don’t recognise his presence.

This story also challenges me to look for signs of the risen Christ in the people I meet and the world around me.  

What helps you believe? 

Don't be afraid, go and tell

The angel said: don’t be afraid.

The newspaper article is about the Mother of All Bombs the USA dropped on Afghanistan, and how Russia has the Father of all Bombs, which is even bigger, and on the news last night there was a story about North Korea and weapons.

The angel said: don’t be afraid.

It seems that so much of our time and expertise goes into killing and maiming and destroying people and buildings and the earth. Just like Pax Romano – the peace of the Roman Empire. Do what you are told, don’t make a fuss and no-one gets hurt. Except we all are hurt by the constraint and the fear that such a regime imposes.

The women who went to the tomb early on Sunday morning, were not expecting anything to have changed. The dead body of Jesus had been wrapped in a cloth and placed in a tomb, and sealed tight.

Then Matthew writes of an earthquake;

and the stone is rolled away;

and an angel says to them: don’t be afraid.

I don’t know about you, but if the person who I thought was God had just been executed, and then then the second earth tremor in 3 days and then an angel speaking to me, well I think I might be terrified.

As people who believe in the life changing power of resurrection, in whatever way we understand that, it can be tempting to end the story here. We have been through Lent, and Holy Week, and read or listened to the long chapters of betrayal, arrest, mistreatment, and crucifixion, and finally we get the happy ending to the story. Jesus is alive. The end.

But the resurrection is not the end of the story.

The story of God’s love did not start with the birth of Jesus and did not finish with the death, or even resurrection of Jesus.

I wonder what it means to not be afraid, when we live in a world where it is easy to see the pain of Good Friday; tragedies of suicide; terrorism; famine; child abuse; violence in the home; ….

How might resurrection speak to the pain and fear that infects our lives?

The story of God’s love for the world and each one of us continues as long as we tell the story and live the story.

Last Sunday I spoke about how Jesus came to change the game, to bring in a new way of being, a new kingdom.
Jesus didn’t come to beat the Romans with military might.

Jesus didn’t come to beat the religious leaders in spirituality contest.

Jesu came to show a different way of living.

One without fear

One without oppression

Without violence

Without hate and poverty.

A letter to the editor this week suggested that instead of weapons, the US could drop bombs of food and books and medicine. This reminded me of a story:

“Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon.
A happiness weapon.
A beauty bomb.
And every time a crisis developed,
we would launch one.
It would explode high in the air -
explode softly - and send thousands, millions,
of little parachutes into the air.
Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas.
And we wouldn't go cheap, either -
not little boxes of eight.
Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in.
With silver and gold and copper,
magenta and peach and lime,
amber and umber and all the rest.
And people would smile
and get a little funny look on their faces
and cover the world with imagination.” [i]

What if instead of seeing how has the biggest bomb that can destroy more people, we didn’t retaliate, we bombed with love and hope and beauty and food?

What if instead of seeing who is the fastest or the brightest or the one with the most toys, we encouraged each other to live out the life God has given us, to use what we have for the good of the Kingdom of God?

The story of the life and death and resurrection continues to be told today. Because the women at the tomb went and told the disciples. And after Jesus appeared to the disciples, they wrote of their experiences.

Peter spoke: We are witnesses of everything that he did in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. …  And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.”

Both the angel and Jesus tell the women: don’t be afraid, and then ‘to go and tell’.

Don’t be afraid, go and tell.

What story do you have to tell?

What story do you have to tell of new life,
of light after darkness,
of peace in the midst of pain,
of joy in the midst of fear.

What story do you have to tell?

Tell that story and

Tell the story of Jesus –

The story of compassion,

of grace,

of inclusion,

of acceptance,

of healing,

of liberation.

Tell it in words and actions

Tell it with your time and your money,

with your voice and your hands,

tell the story of love with your life.

Don’t be afraid, go and tell

---

[i] All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten Robert Fulghum, p52/196

Which Parade, Which Kingdom?

Have you ever been in a parade? 

• On Friday evening the children who are at school had been in Easter hat parades during the week. 

• I can remember as a teenager being in a community parade in Maitland. 

• Some of you will have been in Anzac Day marches.

The reading we heard this morning is one many of you will be familiar with: Jesus rides onto Jerusalem on a donkey. But this wasn’t the only parade in town. 

Israel was a country under occupation, part of the Roman Empire. 

People under occupation know the rules. 

• Don’t make a fuss

• Don’t create a scene

• Obey orders

• Pay homage to the Roman leaders

• Basically - don’t upset the Romans.

• And that means if there is a Roman parade, cheer!

Around the time of Passover there were lots of visitors in Jerusalem. Passover celebrated the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Passover was the founding narrative for the nation of Israel. While it was a religious festival, in Israel, religion and nationhood were closely tied together, and the Roman leaders knew that. Any festival was a potential time for an uprising of the locals. 

So, like any occupying force, from time to time there was need for a show of force, and Passover was a good time to do that.

Imagine, coming in the main gate of Jerusalem would be Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of the area with cavalry and soldiers in imperial uniforms. Governors at this time lived most of the year on the coast, but when there were festivals in Jerusalem, then the Governor and extra troops would come to Jerusalem to ‘keep the peace’. That means crush any opposition that might happen. [See Borg and Crossan The Last Week] 

Think China, or even Sydney during the Olympics or the G8 meeting. These large events attract protesters, and it means that the powers that be will put in extra police or troops to keep the order.  The Roman Empire is sometimes called Pax Ramona, but it was peace built on oppressing anyone who disagreed, killing people who spoke out against you and people living in fear.

Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey is subversive and mocking, but it isn’t a threat to a military power like the Romans.  It could have gone unnoticed by the authorities.

But Jesus knows he is being watched. It isn’t only the Roman authorities he needs to be wary of, but the religious authorities as well. The Romans knew that religion was one thing that people would fight for, so they would co-opt the local leadership on the grounds that as long as the religious leaders kept the local people obedient, they could continue in the positions, and people could continue with their worship. As long as it didn’t interfere with Roman rule.  

Jesus isn’t taking on the Romans at their own game, Jesus came to change the game.  To change the game from oppression and power and fear, to freedom and grace and love. 

Jesus came to change the way things were done, not to overpower the Romans, or anyone else. And he knew where that might lead. 

Usually on Palm Sunday we only hear about the entry into Jerusalem, but Matthew has both the entry into Jerusalem and the incident in the temple occurring on the same day. Jesus cleared out the animals, overturned the tables of the money changers and healed the sick. 

The Temple was one of the main economic activities in Jerusalem. It made sense when travelling to buy the animals for sacrifice at the Temple, rather than carrying them for many days.  It wasn’t the selling of sacrificial animals, or even the money changing that was the problem; the problem was that this had taken over as the main activity of the Temple. 

Again, Jesus isn’t trying to beat the Temple Authorities in some game of who is the most powerful or the most pious; Jesus is changing, transforming, the Temple back to the role of healing and praising God.

 I wonder what would happen if Jesus came down Ocean Beach Road this morning,

• holding up traffic,

• speaking about church as a place for healing,

• telling everyone they were welcome 

• in the kingdom of love and justice.

I wonder what would happen if Jesus came to worship, 

• would we look at him sideways, 

• wondering who is this upstart praying with people,

• offering healing and hope?

would we question the amount he puts in the offering plate? 

would we wonder about his ‘political’ views?

Would we be embarrassed? 

Would we advise Jesus to keep a low profile, not to upset the world of big business and to steer clear of politics

Would we advise Jesus to stick to saving us in the afterlife, but not to change anything in this life? 

Here we have two processions and two kingdoms, 

• One kingdom is a kingdom of fear, power, oppression and death. The other kingdom of peace, freedom, healing and life.

• One Kingdom reliant on state power to keep people under control

• The other reliant on the Holy Spirit to enliven people. 

• One Kingdom where the Temple is a place of economic activity

• The other where the Temple is a place of healing and wholeness. 

• Jesus came to bring about a new order, a new kingdom. 

Which parade are we going to cheer on?

---

[i] This idea is from Ian Cowie and his poem “ Welcome to the city” in Eggs and Ashes

Ready for Resurrection?

Our readings this morning both end with new life,
with resurrection,
with hope for a future.

But the readings don’t start out in such a hopeful place.

In the Gospel reading, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary is very ill, but Jesus doesn’t come and heal him.
Lazarus dies, and is buried.

Finally, Jesus arrives 4 days after Lazarus has been buried….
The tomb is opened.
Jesus calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb
Then asks those assembled to help free Lazarus from the burial cloths.

A few verses later in the John reading, we see the outcome of the raising of Lazarus, it was the final straw for the religious leaders, and they started to plan the arrest of Jesus.

Do you feel like you are bound and in a tomb?
What will it take for you to be free?

In the reading from Ezekiel, the people of Israel are in exile in Babylon, and the news from home is about the destruction of temple and cities.

Would they ever return home?

And if they did what would be waiting for them?

The image of the dry bones, that is bones that have long had all their life bleached out of them. Dry bones are not like the bones we get in our steak. Bones left exposed to the elements, wind and rain and sun, bones get very dry and hard.

The bones are a metaphor for the life of the people of Israel:

-      they have no future – their land is in ruins and they are in exile

-      they are living in a land where people worship other gods, and the reality of everyday life means there is a ‘blurring between the pure and the impure.’ [i], and dead bodies, and therefore bones are impure.

Over the past 4 weeks we have heard stories of the impact of Jesus on the lives of people:

What if we talk about the experience of a conversation with Jesus
 that then transforms you from a woman rejected,
to a witness of God’s love
as a resurrection event.

What if we talk about the experience of Jesus putting mud on your eyes
so that you might see you are a sheep of Jesus’ fold
as a resurrection event.

What if we talk about the experience of hearing your name being called
to come out from the darkness of your tomb
as a resurrection event.[ii]

What if we talk about our own experience of transformation
of receiving God’s grace
of being welcomed by Jesus
as a resurrection event.

One of the articles I read this week, put it like this: If you have not been resurrected, well, it’s awfully hard to believe that it’s true.^[iii]

…

Shortly we will hear a song based on the Psalm for the day, Psalm 130 – out of the depths I cry to you O God.

Where are we living in despair:
as a nation,
as a congregation and
as individuals?

Do we cry to God for help or do we sit and complain:
about unemployment
violence
poverty
war
hunger

Where are ‘the depths’ for you?

Are you willing to ask God for resurrection?
are you willing to have your life changed?

Just as the breath of God enlivened the dry bones,
the breath of God, the Holy Spirit,
can bring new life to the world,
and the church
and each one of us.

Because God’s activity will change us,
it will comfort some and threaten others.
Even the promise of new life,
comes only as good news
to those who recognizes
that the old life is not enough.
The promise of new life,
threatens or upsets
those who don’t want to change. ^[iv]

As we listen to this song, I encourage you to consider where your life needs renewing.

---

[i] Karen Georgia Thompson in U.C.C. SAMUEL for 2^nd April 2017

[ii] Karoline Lewis in Working Preacher, for 2nd April 2017

[iii] Karoline Lewis in Working Preacher, for 2^nd April 2017

[iv] David Lose, In the Meantime