Transformed into you

In thinking about Pentecost, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, I am aware that for many people this is a bit of a weird day. After all, we are not part of a Pentecostal church, generally we don’t raise our hands as we sing praises to God, we don’t speak in a special prayer language, and we rarely talk about the Spirit in our lives.

But here we are, the church decorated in red and many of you wearing red or orange. Even though we are not a Pentecostal church, we are a church that believes in the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the world.

The reading from Acts is dramatic. I wonder in our technological world if we recognise how amazing this was to be part of, or even to hear about.  We see things on video and film and we are used to all sorts of special effects. But this was no special effects extravaganza from a Hollywood director. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into people’s lives. An amazing, incredible, awe inspiring experience!

We have heard many passages about the disciples in the Gospels. How they left their jobs and communities to travel with Jesus;

how they took time with Jesus to learn from him;

how they understood – or didn't understand -  what Jesus did;

how they questioned some of his ideas.

We also have heard about the night Jesus was betrayed,

we have sensed the anxiety of the disciples as Jesus was brought to trial;

the fear when he was crucified,

the doubt and amazement of resurrection.

The joy and relief of seeing him again.

This morning we heard the passage from Acts that features each year on Pentecost Sunday.

The disciples and other followers of Jesus were together in a house, and the wind blew, and flames appeared to be on the head of each person.

For me, more important than the amazing way the Spirit came into the lives of the disciples – in wind and fire - was what happened next.

Just as after the resurrection, the faith of the disciples was renewed, so with the coming of the Spirit, the disciples have been transformed.

Not only did they praise God, but people from various parts of the known world heard the disciples speaking in a language they could understand.

It could be translated today as:

Filipinos, Chinese, Czech, and residents of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, France and Germany, Russia and Brazil, Egypt and Africa and South America, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Europeans and Arabs - in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power.

The movement of the Spirit in the lives of the disciples that day, was not only for the disciples, but for the world.

Just like the popcorn earlier this morning, and the lives of the disciples, our lives are also transformed by the Holy Spirit.

I wonder what that transformation looks like.

Paul, writing to the church in Rome:

All those who dance to the Spirit’s tune are God’s beloved children. We were not sold into slavery where we would grovel timidly in the dust, afraid to put a foot wrong. Rather we were adopted into a family full of love and joy. Like eager children crying, “Daddy! Mummy!” we come running to God, and with loving arms, God’s Spirit gathers us up, demonstrating clearly to whom we belong.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Just as the disciples moved from fear to faith after the resurrection, Paul is reminding the church in Rome that the spirit has not returned us to slavery, but we are children of the living God.

John records that Jesus told the disciples that the Spirit would come.

“When I'm gone, your new defence counsel — the Holy Spirit who the Father will send on my behalf — will take over, teaching you everything and keeping all I've said fresh in your minds. The gift I'm leaving with you is peace; my kind of peace, not the mere easing of hostilities that the rest of the world offers. So don’t go dropping your bundle or getting all fearful.”  ©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

It is easy for us to live in fear, to be enslaved by fear. The more we watch the news, the more we listen to popular commentators, the more we hear about fear:

Fear of young people

Fear of Muslims

Fear of people with lots of money

Fear of poor people

Fear of what will happen if this or that political party gets elected.

It seems that keeping people in a state of fear helps politicians and companies – when we fear a possible terrorist attack, we don’t ask about the erosion of civil liberties

When we fear a takeover by foreign companies we don’t look at the behaviour of local companies.

Fear is easy.

But remember what Paul wrote, we are not given a spirit of slavery and fear, rather “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.” [Romans 8 the Message]

The Spirit of God, flowing through us; sometimes in a surprising rush, and sometimes like a gentle breeze; confirms who we really are – children of God. Each one amazing and unique. Each one with something special and individual to bring to the community of faith and all of God’s wonderful creation.

This [a wooden whistle] looks like a stick, well it is a stick with a hole in one side, and part of one end blocked off. What might it be used for? I could burn it, or throw it for a dog to fetch – but is that its true role in life?

No, it is a whistle.

And just as it needs breath blowing through it to be what it was created to be, so we need the Holy Spirit blowing in our lives to be who we were created to be.  

We are transformed from fear to joy and confidence, to be who we are – children of God.

Where have you felt the transforming action of the Spirit in your life?  

expectations and freedom

Paul gets into trouble with the authorities in many places. This time Silas and Paul are put in prison for ‘disturbing the city’, that is for not acting like a Roman, even though Paul is a citizen of Rome.

Even though they are shackled and locked up, Paul and Silas are singing hymns and praying. I wonder what hymns you would sing when in prison after being flogged.

After the earthquake, seeing that the chains and doors were unlocked, the jailer ‘was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped’. And Paul says wait!

There is a lot going on in this passage.

Even though the reason given for Paul being in prison was because he was disturbing the city, the people who complained about Silas and Paul, were concerned because the slave girl was worth more with a spirit in her, and Paul had cast out the spirit.

Her ‘owners’ were concerned about the loss of trade, not the welfare of the girl and not the peace of the city.

We might think slavery is a thing of the past, but there are many people bought and sold in the world today. There are people who harvest chocolate and tea, people who make clothes, people trafficked for the sex trade. Some are kidnapped, but many are lured by false promises of good jobs, and parents often send a child with a kindly ‘uncle’ from their village, who has promised funds and a good education or a job for the child.

Exploitation, oppression and slavery still exist. If you want to know more about this look at a website of an organisation called STOP THE TRAFFIK. It suggests ways of reducing your involvement by looking at what you wear and what you drink. For example look for Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance or UTZ certified products.

The theme that has kept coming to me this week is that of expectations and burdens.

• The owners of the slave girl expected her to make money for them.
• The people expected Paul and Silas to act in certain ways
• The jailer is so concerned that he will be in trouble that he sets out to kill himself.

And I wondered what expectations people in our community feel burdened by.

• Dressing a certain way
• Owning a house
• Getting married
• Having children
• How our children will behave
• Having a car
• A certain level of education
• Not failing
• I am sure you can think of many other things

Here are a few examples from my life:

A few years out of school, and some people queried me when I started to study engineering – was I becoming a male?

At times I was asked when Ian and I were planning on having children, and I usually managed to deflect the conversation. I wasn’t sure how to say ‘we are doing our best!’ 

When we were leaving Dubbo to move to Sydney so I could start training to be a Minister, some people who were not associated with a church, questioned how I could be training for ministry, as women can’t be ministers.  

There is still an expectation on young people to get married and have children; and on a day like Mother’s Day, the expectation of family to do ‘something special’.

People have a mental image of what a woman is, or a man is, or what constitutes a family, or a successful life.

And for people who are outside that expectation, life can be very difficult. I can still remember comments about what some of the immigrant children had on their lunch; or comments about men who did hairdressing or ballet or infants teaching.

And unfortunately for some people the burden of being different, of living into the expectation of others leads to health problems, and at times suicide.

Fear,
the fear of failure,
the fear of losing face,
the fear of ridicule,
the fear of exclusion.
The fear of the jailer almost led to death. All too often these fears do lead to death. Physical death, or emotional or spiritual death. In 2009 2,132 deaths by suicide were recorded in Australia, at the same time there were 1417deaths from road accidents.  [http://www.livingisforeveryone.com.au/uploads/docs/LIFE-Fact%20sheet%203.pdf]

The fears, the burden of expectations can weigh heavily on us, and we hide our true selves in the hope of not being found out.

Where is the good news in all this?

The jailer asks: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Last week we heard about Lydia, a woman who heard about Jesus, invited Paul and Silas into her home, and her whole household was saved. Today we hear about another household. Again the household was baptised. Again the response is hospitality, welcoming Paul and Silas into the family home, feeding and washing their wounds.

How are we saved from the burdens people place on us?

What burdens do we place on other people?

This isn’t just a story from the early church, it is a story about today. We are in the long line of women and men who have heard the good news, and responded. Responded to God’s love and mercy with hospitality and generosity. And we are also people who tell of the good news. We are in the long line of witnesses to saving grace of Jesus Christ.

While expectations, burdens and fears can hold us back from being who God calls us to be; the freedom we have in Jesus Christ enables us to live in freedom.

What burdens or fears have you been freed from?

How have you responded to God’s grace?

New ife, Last words

In the reading from Acts we meet Lydia.
Lydia is a business woman,
the head of a household,
someone who has moved to Philippi,
and she is a worshipper of God.
We know only a little about Lydia.
Lydia was from Thyatira, in the Asian province of Lydia. Is Lydia her name? Or a reference to where she comes from? We don’t know for sure.
We do know that she sells purple cloth. Purple is an important colour, only the wealthy and nobles could wear purple. This means Lydia would know some of the important people in the area.

Lydia was God worshipper, and with other people who worshipped the God of the Jews, she met by the river, outside the city gates, to worship, which is where Paul finds her along with others. She hears the story of Jesus, and she responds.
Lydia is baptised, offers accommodation to Paul and Silas. This isn't the end of Lydia’s story, we hear of her offering hospitality to the Paul and Silas again later in chapter 16.

Lydia is thought to be the first European convert. An unlikely choice, she is not of Jewish heritage, she is female and there is no mention of a husband.

Where do seekers gather today?
Where do we go to tell the stories of our faith?
Outside the boundaries of polite society?
There is a Baptist church in Woolloomooloo who offers assistance to marginalised women including street prostitutes. They are “about creating a safe space where women who are experiencing marginalisation or are in vulnerable situations, can access support and care.” [http://hopestreet.org.au/Women%27s+Services/p/3/]. Our own Uniting Church operates a harm minimisation program: the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre.
Both of these services are outside the mainstream of society, but offer grace and hope to people who are often in despair.

The passage we heard from John’s gospel this morning, is part of a long section of Jesus teaching and praying for his disciples. It comes after the foot washing at the last supper and before the betrayal in the garden. Chapters 14 to 17 cover many topics. Last week we heard the end of chapter 13, where Jesus tells the disciples he is going to be glorified, and that the disciples cannot go where he is going, so love one another.
In the next few chapters we hear:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” [14:1]
 “I am the way and the truth and the life.” [14:6]
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” [14:9]
“If you love me you will keep my commandments” [14:15]
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, to be with you forever” [14: 16]
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” [14:27]
“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” [14: 27]
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. [15:1]
Abide in me as I abide in you. [15:4]
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. [15: 8]
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [15:12]
It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. [16:7]

Jesus is preparing the disciples, as best he can, for his death. And that preparation includes how to keep on living the Jesus life, when Jesus isn't walking beside them.

Don’t be afraid.
Love one another.
Don’t be afraid.
Abide in me.
Love one another.
I am sending the spirit, the advocate, the helper.

If you have ever sat with someone who knows they are dying, last words can be important. Sometimes people will write a letter to a loved one, sometimes it is ‘I'm sorry’ or ‘I love you’.

Listen to some of the last words of Jesus again:

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” [14: 25-27]

These themes are repeated in these 4 chapters.

Don’t be afraid.
Love one another.
Don’t be afraid.
Abide in me.
Love one another.
I am sending the spirit, the advocate, the helper.
Peace I give to you.

Did the disciples understand? It seems not, but that isn’t unusual in the gospels. “First Peter (John 13:36), then Thomas (14:5), then Phillip (14:8), and then Judas (not Iscariot) (14:22) ask for clarification about what Jesus is telling them.” [Elizabeth Johnson working preacher]

Do we understand?

We aren’t sitting with freshly washed feet, listening to Jesus ramble on about loving each other, trusting in him, and the Holy Spirit that is to come – wondering what on earth he is talking about.
We are sitting here over 2000 years later, hearing a passage that will be familiar to many of us. And ye know that Jesus dies, and that Jesus was buried, and that three days later the tomb was empty.

We also know that the disciples didn’t know what to do, then there were sightings of Jesus, and the disciples putting the pieces together, and the growth of the early church, and questions about Jewishness and Christianity.   You know the story.

And among the first words of Jesus to the disciples after the resurrection: “Peace be with you.”  Three times in eight verses. Peace be with you. [John 20: 19, 21, 26]
Peace, Jesus’ peace, “is more than the absence of conflict. The peace that Jesus offers us is a profound and holistic sense of well-being.” [Elizabeth Johnson working preacher]


A quote I came across this week from St. John Paul II – “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

We are Easter people and hallelujah is our song.
The spirit flows in our life,
Don’t be afraid.
Love one another.
Peace I give to you.

I wonder what that looks like for us.

I wonder how the peace that we are offered by Jesus; is evident in our lives?

Come, Holy Spirit, renew our hearts

We have always done it this way!

I hear it in the church today, and Peter heard it over 2000 years ago. Peter went back to Jerusalem and was criticised for travelling with and eating with uncircumcised men.

This was a new thing in the early church, when many still saw themselves as Jews, and therefore the purity laws of Judaism were still important.

Peter didn't just ignore the purity laws.

Peter had a vision,

A vision of food, at least some of it not kosher, and he tells God he can’t eat such animals.  And this happens not once, not twice, but three times. But each time the voice returns and reminds Peter that God made all of creation.  "What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' [Acts 11: 9b]

In the beginning the spirit blew over the waters, and the earth was created. And that God saw that it was good.  

And Peter asks: “… who was I that I could hinder God?" [Acts 11:17b]

This passage is full of references of God speaking to people, in visions, and through the Holy Spirit.

Peter saw the vision of the animals, the men came to Peter from Caesarea in response to a vision of an angel giving them a message. Peter travelled with them in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Talk of visions and voices, angels and dreams, responding to the movement of the Holy Spirit can seem a bit alien, even in the church. This is not language we use very often. But read through the book of Acts, and see how often people are moved by the Holy Spirit.

The theme of the Synod meeting was ‘Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts’. The worship, the reports and discussions were all around this theme.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts.

And the prayer we prayed earlier had three parts:

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew your Church

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew the Earth

What would it look like if the church was renewed by God?

How would you know?

What would change?

Would we still be saying:

We have always done it this way!

We have never done that before!

What do you mean change?

      Women elders! What next women Ministers?!

     

What would it look like if the church was renewed by God?

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew your Church

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew the Earth

How can we be part of the renewal of the earth, of God’s creation?

In what ways does our living harm creation?

What could we change that would mean less waste.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew your Church

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew the Earth

I wonder what it would look like if our hearts were renewed by God.

What would it look like if your heart was renewed by God?

Is that something you are willing to pray for?

[space]

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew your Church

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew the Earth

We pray for renewal, not by plastic surgery or a marketing campaign. We pray for the Holy Spirit to come, to remake us, to cleanse our hearts, to inspire the church, to heal the earth.

We heard earlier from Margaret/Ian about their experience of Synod. We did discuss some important issues, and you can read about them on the Insights website or in the next Insights magazine, but some of the things that stood out for me were:

·        The number of younger people, under 30 years old, who participate in the meeting.

·        The increasing ethnic diversity

·        The participation of members of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress

·        The moderator, Rev Myung Wha Park and Diane Torrens (UAICC NSW/ACT Regional Chairperson) sitting together throughout the meeting

·        The prayerfulness of the moderator

On Monday evening we were asked to name something inspiring from the session, and then on Tuesday morning we went around the room, naming something we would take away from the Synod meeting with us. One thing for me was the worship and bible study.  The other thing I took away from Synod was the way the meeting itself has changed since the first meeting I attended thirty years ago. You can read about that in the Grapevine.

It is inspiring to be around people

·         who can name the positive things about the Uniting Church,

·         people who look to the future with anticipation of what new thing God will do

·         people willing to be an answer to the prayer for renewal

I know change can be challenging.

But think about some of the major events of the past 30 years

•     1990 fall of the Berlin Wall

•     1994 end of apartheid in South Africa - Nelson Mandela became President of the Republic of South Africa after the first post-apartheid elections.

•     2008  Crowds around Australia watched broadcasts from the House of Representatives when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd led a parliamentary apology for the effect of past government policies on Indigenous people.

Amazing things can happen when we live for God’s world, for all of creation, for people everywhere.

From the closing worship at Synod:

Bec “There are some things we have learned together about what it means to live by the Spirit, and to be guided by the Spirit,”, “We have met at times with each other with vulnerability, at times with openness.”

“Because of this we have had conversations and we have had new beginnings, exciting ventures have emerged. We brought the mosaic along and thought we knew what it would look like at the end. Yesterday something was missing. Congress wanted to know, ‘Where is the hand?’ so we have added it in. We have changed it and added something knew.

Aunty Leena explained the significance of the hand and the importance of being open to live by the spirit in her language. 
“I belong to you, you belong to me we all belong to one another but most of all we belong to God almighty,” explained Aunty Leena

Bec continued “We share this sense of hopefulness of belonging to each other to belonging to God and that we are not alone. When we go back to our congregations and our churches may we hold the sense of hope and belonging, that we hold it for all creation and all things not just for us but the whole world,”

“God does not leave us. God does not leave God’s church, God keeps calling us to follow in the way of Christ Jesus.”

#SynodMeeting2016 #ComeHolySpirit #RenewOurHearts

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew our hearts.

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew your Church

Come, Holy Spirit, Renew the Earth

I wonder what it would look like if our hearts were renewed by God.

What would it look like if your heart was renewed by God?

Grace and Call

this week I have split the readings up, with four reflections/ short sermons.

Reading John 21: 1-14 [going fishing]

Proclamation: Peter monologue from Dandelions and Thistles pp79, 80

Hymn/song TiS 217 Love divine, all loves excelling

Reading Acts 9: 1-9 [Saul]

Proclamation:

Saul was a Roman citizen, educated and a Pharisee.

The first time we meet Saul is in Acts chapter7, Saul is the young man who looks after people’s coats while Stephen was stoned.   Luke writes: “And Saul approved of their killing him” [Acts 8:1]

Then Saul went from house to house dragging men and women off to prison. Then the section we heard this morning.

Saul is travelling to find and imprison as many followers of the Way, that is Christians, as he can. Saul is so determined to wipe out this diversion from Judaism.

And then…

And then an interruption in his journey.

An interruption in his life.

And his life goal changes.

He is no longer a persecutor of those who follow the way of Jesus, but a proclaimer of the way of Jesus.

I wonder, has your life been interrupted.

Has illness or war or unemployment or relationship caused you to rethink life?

One thing we can learn from this story is that no-one is beyond God’s grace.

No matter what you or I have done,

No matter how terrible someone’s actions are,

No matter how despicable a person

We, and they, are not outside of God’s grace.

Not that grace is a free ride. While God forgives and recreates and transforms people, God also demands a change in us.

A change that shows grace

A change that shows love

A change that works for justice and peace for all.

With grace comes discipleship,

Are we willing to pay the price?

 [wp]

We will now here the next part of the story of Saul

Reading Acts 9: 10-20 [Ananias]

Proclamation:

Who wants to be Ananias?

Whenever we read this passage, usually both sections together, the focus is on the change in Saul. But I wonder how we would react if God asked us to go and seek out someone like Saul, someone who was looking to imprison Christians.

Ananias was obedient, sure he questioned God – do you really means for me to go to this fellow?

But he went.

Ananias had a vision, he questioned God, made sure he understood and then he acted.

As I said this passage is usually thought of as the conversion of Saul, but what about the story of the disciple Ananias, the brave, obedient disciple Ananias.

Ananias said to Saul: “Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me—Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

Ananias did not go to Saul because he deserved his help.

Ananias went to Saul because God asked him to. [REV MINDI http://rev-o-lution.org/]

And Saul was then able to see and was filled with the Holy Spirit.

And with that Saul also had a call, a commission, not only a conversion.  [Eric Barreto  https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2835]

After seeing a vision in 2000, I stopped being in some high profile church roles, and started a playgroup. Yes, a playgroup. I didn’t have children, and I had never been to playgroup, but I sensed God calling me to be part of helping to connect baptism families with the congregation; and I asked a few families what would be helpful, and playgroup was what came out of that. Not as big, or as well organised as the playgroup here, but it did connect people with church. And the mothers soon realised I had no idea what I was doing, and they ran it.

 When you have challenged to do something outside your comfort zone?

Hymn/song TiS 589 Jesus call us! O’er the tumult

Reading John 21: 15-19 [do you love me]

Proclamation:

Do you love me?

What if Jesus asked you that question?

Do you love me?

Jesus asks Peter, Jesus asks Peter three times.

There are a few theories about why this Jesus asks three times, and they are all linked in some way to the denials of Peter on the night Jesus was arrested.

The questions asked of Peter were:

“Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?”

He was asked that one twice

“Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?” and

“Didn't I see you with him in the garden?”

He answered no to all 3 questions.

In saying no, he denies Jesus, but he also denies himself. Peter is obviously interested in what is happening, he keeps hanging around to hear the latest news.

He denies his discipleship, he tries to write off the last 3 years of his life – not to himself, just to others. He is trying to wear a non-disciple mask.

And here, after breakfast on the beach, we have another call story.

Do you love me?

You know I do!

“Take care of my lambs.” 

Do you love me?

You know I do!

“Take care of my sheep.”

Do you love me?

You know I do!

“Take care of my sheep.”

Then the bit about Peter’s lack of independence as he ages, and the final words: Follow me!

This is a call to Peter, to follow, to be a pastor, to be the person God created him to be.

It isn’t only about forgiveness,

      or undoing the denials,

this is Jesus saying,

      live out your discipleship,

      be who you are in my grace and my love.

…….

As I look back over my life, and as I listen to the stories of pain and guilt and shame, sometimes it seems like we just want to go back to whatever life was like when it seemed most normal. We want to go fishing, we want to go back to the time we had our favourite teacher, or Minister, or that first flush of love. We want to go back to a time when life seemed simple and orderly.

But we can’t.

Discipleship can be difficult, and sometimes denying it seems like the easy path.

We can’t go back to our old ways, life has changed – relationship with Jesus changes us.

Our new identity is found in Jesus.

“It is almost as if by deciding to follow Jesus, we return to our true selves, beloved of God. Our lives imitate Christ’s life, our joys Christ’s joy, our heartaches Christ’s heartache. “[Robert Hoch  https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2809]

This morning we have thought about the disciples trying to go back to their old life

We thought about the call of Saul

The call and obedience of Ananias

The call of Peter

Where is God challenging you?

·    to obedience

·    to transformed living

·    to respond to a call

Where is God challenging you?

Peace and Spirit

Last Sunday we heard the resurrection account from the Gospel of Luke, the women going to anoint the body, the stone rolled away, the men in shining clothes telling the women he is risen. Then the story of the Cleopas and friend walking towards Emmaus, and how they recognised Jesus in the breaking of bread.

This week we hear from the Gospel of John. John has a conversation between Mary and Jesus on the Sunday morning. When Jesus calls Mary by name, she recognises him.

This passage we heard this morning, starts that evening. The evening of the first resurrection Sunday, the disciples inside, the doors locked, because they feared what might happen to them.

This passage is usually thought of as being about ‘doubting Thomas’, which I think is somewhat unfair. The other disciples had seen the risen crucified Jesus. Thomas hadn't. I wonder why Thomas wasn't with the disciples on the evening of the first resurrection day.

And there is nothing wrong with having questions about God and faith and life. I mean none of us has all the answers about why some people are born into poverty, why some people live with pain, why God created mosquitoes … and I am sure there are many other questions.

But this passage is about much more than seeing, believing or questioning.

When Jesus appeared to them, he said to them, "Peace be with you."

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

"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."

And a week later: Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

The disciples, obviously scared, not sure what to do next, and Jesus comes and says: ‘Peace be with you”

Not

• Why don’t you understand what I told you, or
• here is a blueprint for running a church or
• this is the doctrinal statement you have to sign to be part of the church or
• here is the definitive list groups to have in each congregation.

Jesus said:Peace be with you.Receive the Holy Spirit.

John records Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit onto the disciples on the evening of resurrection day. We have heard of breath being blown into people before, in the story of creation back in Genesis 2.  God breathed life into the clay he had moulded and people became living beings.  Now we have Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit into the disciples, and they are reborn, re-created, and commissioned to go and share the good news.

Now they are together in the same room a week later, so not really sure if anything else happened that week.

John and Luke have differing versions of the gifting of the Holy Spirit. For John it is here on the evening of resurrection day; for Luke, the author of Acts, the coming of the Holy Spirit is after the ascension of Jesus, which is a few chapters before the section we heard this morning.   

Either way, the difference in these people is amazing. Even though they knew Jesus was alive, resurrected, even though they had seen him with their own eyes, they were in a closed room.

A few months later, they are teaching, healing, being arrested, and speaking as witnesses to the resurrection.

In the book of Acts we read about the early church. Just before the passage we heard read this morning, Peter and the apostles were put in prison because they were teaching and healing. During the night the prison doors were opened and the apostles went to the temple and started teaching again.

Again the apostles are brought before the Council: Didn't we tell you to stop teaching about Jesus?

And Peter replied: "We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."

I wonder what happened that moved the group from being disciples behind closed doors, to apostles teaching and healing, and being arrested.

Some of you may remember seeing images of Christians from various denominations praying in the offices of members of Parliament with a group called ‘Love Makes a Way’. Some are Ministers within the Uniting Church. They have been arrested, and in some cases charged, but they continue to pray for politicians, and asylum seekers. They know that at some point in time they may be put in prison, but for them it is a price they are prepared to pay.

The apostles were imprisoned, flogged and killed for proclaiming the resurrection, for healing in the name of Jesus.

Christians in Australia have been arrested over the years for:

• standing with indigenous people;
• blocking access to CSG exploration on farms;
• as well as prayer sit-ins in Government offices

• and in the USA in 2014, Christians were arrested for offering food to homeless people in violation of a heavy limits on the  location of feeding places.

I wonder what we might be arrested for.

• Demanding affordable housing in new building developments
• Marching for penalty rates for weekend and shift workers
• Advocating for the rights of asylum seekers to be treated as humans.
• Standing with farmers to protect their property from mining
• ????????

A quote from Clarence Jordan, [20th century]
"The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead
is not the empty tomb,
but the full hearts of his transformed disciples.
The crowning evidence that he lives
is not a vacant grave,
but a spirit-filled fellowship.
Not a rolled-away stone,
but a carried-away church."

In what ways is your life proof that Jesus is alive?
A life transformed?
Spirit-filled church?

Jesus said:
Peace be with you.
Receive the Holy Spirit.

Let us take some time to reflect.

Resurrection people

The women went to the tomb in the early morning, to anoint the body.

The two walking to Emmaus were sad and confused about what had occurred.

With much of what we see and hear and read,

death, confusion, despair are common emotions.

The news this past week has included the attack on Brussels, coverage of the US election and some local politics thrown in, and on Thursday a young mother jumped off a cliff at Maroubra with her 2 year old son.

Then there are deaths on our roads.

Workplace deaths and injuries

Assaults

Domestic violence

And the list goes on

In this community, people are concerned about illegal drugs, streets being flooded, and public transport. There is isolation in this community – older people, and also parents looking after young children while their partner commutes long distances.

Many of us know someone living with a mental illness or chronic pain or family dysfunction.

The pain and confusion and despair of Good Friday and Easter Saturday often seem easier to relate to, than the amazement and shock of Sunday morning.

We watch the news in horror as we see the destruction and killing in Brussels, and this is just one of at least 9 terrorist attacks this month. The most recent, as I write, was in a soccer stadium in Iraq on Friday. Another 29 people died.

We may know the rules for the current system, broken as it is; but if the dead don’t stay dead, what can you count on? [Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher]

We are people of the resurrection.

Rev Dr Andrew Dutney, past president of the Uniting Church writes: (here is) one of my favourite sentences from the Basis of Union, the foundation document of the church [I belong to].: “The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

“The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

In Jesus, God was doing a new thing.

Jesus showed a new way of living, not exchanging one army with another.

Jesus didn’t fight fire with fire, he didn’t retaliate.

As people of God, how can we respond to the threat of terrorism in our world?

As people who profess the risen crucified one, how can we respond to the violence in our families and community?

As the body of Christ, how can we respond to pain and violence and fear?

It is easy to see evil in the world, and in our lives,

but where do we see resurrection?

Where do we see evil being downtrodden,

where do we see grace flourishing,

where do we see love and forgiveness

take the place of fear and retribution?

Being people of resurrection:

-      insists that the ways of love will win over the ways of hate.

-      confirms that the truth of kindness can be heard over the din of ruthless, callous, and vindictive rhetoric.

-      gives witness to the fact that there is another way of being in the world –

o   a way of being that is shaped by resurrection,

o   that embodies anything and everything that is life-giving,

o   a way of being that is so counter-cultural,

o   so demonstrative of mercy,

o   so exemplary of the truth of Easter

o   that others will listen to you, watch you, wonder about you and say, “Wait a minute. Did I just see the Lord?” [Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher]

Where do we live resurrection?

Where do we encounter resurrection?

It can be difficult to go against the crowd,
to refuse to label all Muslims as terrorists,
to stand with people who are unemployed
to call for social security to be at a liveable level.
It can be difficult to go against the crowd,
especially when that means going against our own self-interest, our own fears, our own wealth creation.

Jesus didn’t hold back love, grace or forgiveness from anyone, even at the cost of his life.

Here are some examples of resurrection life:

A person reads to an illiterate co-worker each lunchtime

A dry-cleaner does free dry-cleaning for unemployed people so they can have a clean outfit for a job interview

The people who offered to ride, and walk, with Muslim people after the Sydney siege.

People who give their time and energy to helping disadvantaged people.

In parts of NSW, Uniting Church people help young people get their licence by volunteers taking them for their 120 practice hours needed before they can go for their driving test.

Our reading ended today with this verse: “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,

‘Peace be with you.’ “

Where do we see resurrection?

Where do we see the risen crucified One?

The empty tomb,
the word,
the breaking of bread?

Where do we see love and forgiveness and grace?

In what ways do you share the peace of Jesus?