April 14, 2024
The Third Sunday of Easter
April 14, 2024
The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; I John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48
From this morning’s Collect, “Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold (Jesus) in all his redeeming work…” I speak to you in the Name of God our Creator, risen Redeemer, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the amazing things about our Revised Common Lectionary is how often the day’s sacred texts apply to our circumstances in this given moment in time. Today is no exception.
See, for the past few days, your Vestry has gathered on retreat for a time of discernment, a time of exploration, a time of listening to one another and listening to what it is that Holy Spirit is saying to us as a parish as we enter this time of transition. And one of the common themes that emerged from our discussions together was the desire that we not lose sight of who we are as people of God and who we are called to be to one another and the greater community. Our thoughts centered on our identity as followers of the risen Jesus Christ today and the continuous transforming impact of Christ living and breathing within us and through us right now.
Have you noticed that throughout the gospels whenever the post-resurrection Jesus appeared to his followers, they did not recognize him? Whether encountering Jesus on the road to Emmaus, or appearing to them in an upper room, the immediate response of everyone present was fear: is he a ghost, a vision, is he even human?
See there was something very different about the resurrected Christ. Clearly, he had been changed through the resurrection. In rising from the dead, he had not only redeemed the world and made all things new, he, himself, had become something new. “And yet, the gospels tell us, while Jesus does appear to be different – so much so that his closest friends couldn’t recognize him – he was and is still Jesus of Nazareth”. He is the same Messiah, our same brother and companion. He was and is the same … only different.
Our Collect this morning prays that the eyes of our faith would be so open that we behold, we recognize, Jesus’ redemptive work around and in us at all times. I find those words almost romantic, “O to see with eyes of faith.” And yet, while we do need to be cognizant of Jesus’ ongoing redemptive work in our hearts and minds, that redemptive work that continues to challenge our priorities and values, there is an even deeper message here.
See, if we, who claim the name of Christ as our own, are still the same old physical persons to our neighbors, our families, our friends, one another, and our communities, what difference do they notice in us? And if they do see something different, does it say to them, “Peace be with you” like Jesus said in our gospel reading, or make them afraid?
Pretty much everyone in Jerusalem knew the Apostle Peter, the fisherman. They knew him as occasionally brash, quick to speak, and slow to think. And most people knew that he had run away when Jesus was on trial and even denied knowing him even though he promised to love and stay with Jesus forever. And yet, in this morning’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles we see a different man standing before the crowd. Peter, the one-time disgraced coward, now stands up with boldness to proclaim the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The redemptive power of forgiveness, of honest-to-God, true forgiveness, was so transforming for Peter, it changed his whole demeanor to the very core of his being. Yes, he was the same old guy and yet he was different. So much so, that through his witness to the redemptive power of Christ, as we will read in chapters three and four, the eyes of those who did not believe were suddenly opened to the grace and redemption of the Gospel and the number of followers of Jesus exploded into the thousands. Peter was the same … … but different.
John, in his first letter to the Church, says that part of being children of God means taking responsibility to be like Christ in all things. John reminds us that the world doesn’t always recognize our Lord’s followers because it never recognized Jesus in the first place. So, John says, we shouldn’t be surprised when people can’t understand why we choose to live the way we live. Don’t be surprised when people question how we can love our enemies; how we can welcome a stranger – especially those strangers; how we can forgive someone who has wronged us so deeply; how we can feed someone who always seems to be hungry? John suggests those are good questions because this is not our own doing, but rather, simply how God’s children choose to live. It is about the power of redemption at work within us. These acts of kindness and compassion are simply how we choose to follow Christ and embody Christ in this community and the world. Yet, while the world may not recognize Christ at work within us, John says they are, nevertheless, still watching how we live. And that, (how we live), is why we appear different while still being the same persons. Such a change in how we think about and speak about others, how we uphold and embrace the dignity of every human being as created in the image of God, is proof of the on-going redemptive power of Christ at work within you and within me. And that transformative redemptive power leads us to care for the homeless, the needy, the injured and destitute. It is what makes us different. So much so that our very lives to say to each other and our neighbors, “Peace be with you … Be not afraid” … and “Welcome Home!”
Our lessons this morning affirm that the redemptive power of Christ can and should change God’s people to their core. We might not always be able to recognize Jesus at work in and around us. The truth is we are our own worst critics when it comes to reflecting upon our life example as Christians. Nevertheless, the gospels assure us that we can always encounter the risen Lord Jesus when we worship together, when we pray together, and like those travelers to Emmaus discovered, when we break bread together. The fascinating thing about breaking that bread is that in its breaking, we find and affirm our unity. In many ways, this broken bread symbolizes our own broken lives – our worries – our stresses - our broken dreams – our shortfalls, and in that breaking and then sharing, we are made whole again and united together in and with him who says, “Peace be with you… Be … not… afraid.” Such is the redemptive power of the Eucharist. In fact, it is the redemptive power of all seven sacraments. They each say, “Be not afraid … Peace be with you” and, friends, our lives and our life choices should always say the same.
The good news of the Gospel of the risen Lord Jesus Christ is that we can always find redemption if we choose to seek it. And redemption always transforms us when and if we invite it and allow it to change our hearts and minds so that we do become like Christ to one another and our neighbor. See, our faith is always a choice, a choice that offers peace, grace, mercy, forgiveness and love to those who will truly embrace it. That is our on-going redemption, and it is the gift of God to us in the resurrected Christ.
May God help us to embrace that redemption in every aspect of our lives so that while we may, indeed, be the same persons journeying together through a time of transition, we are, nonetheless, a different people who make all the difference in this community. By God’s grace, may the eyes of our faith be open to what it is that God is calling us to be right now so that we behold and continue to behold (Jesus) in all his redeeming work within you and within me today and always. Amen.