April 19, 2015
Wonder
- Luke 24:36-48
- Dr. Teri Thomas
April 19, 2015
Wonder- Easter 3B
Luke 24:36b-48
It is not unusual for witnesses to have differing versions of an experience.
So I guess it should come as no surprise that the four Gospel writers tell four very different accounts of what happened after the women found the empty tomb.
In Mark’s Gospel, nothing happens.
The tomb is empty. The end.
Matthew tells us that Jesus met the disciples in Galilee and commissioned them.
John recounts Jesus appearing to the disciples in a locked room, twice
and then helping the fisherman with their catch by the sea.
But this morning we are looking at the Gospel of Luke
In this version Jesus appears first to two followers on a road to Emmaus.
They do not know him until he breaks bread.
Then we have this morning’s account when he appears to the disciples in a room.
They don’t know him either.
Luke says- They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Jesus said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Then he shows his scars and eats some fish.
It’s an interesting thing in Luke:
Jesus’ resurrection appearances always involve him eating.
Apparently after 3 days in the tomb, he’s kinda hungry.
But come on,
Jesus just rose from the dead.
A man who was crucified is standing around chatting
and Luke wants to talk about food?
It begins to make sense when we realize the question which Luke was trying to address.
Luke wrote after the temple was destroyed
and after Jesus stopped making appearances in person.
The people were left with the question-
When we want to find God, where do we go?
If the temple is gone and Jesus of Nazareth is gone,
where can we center ourselves and our lives in the living presence of God?
Luke believed that God was present in the Risen Christ.
So he had to convince folks that Jesus was real.
He was addressing the heresies of the day
which claimed that everything earthly was evil
and God would never come as a human
because human flesh was evil.
God had to be spirit.
The goal of life is to get out of this evil world of humanity and earthly things
and get to the spiritual world of God.
But Luke said no way.
the physical, earthly, flesh and blood world is real and valuable.
Real and valuable enough
for God to inhabit in the person of Jesus.
So Luke puts the Risen Christ right back into the world
and reminds his followers that spirits don’t have scars.
And they don’t eat fish.
The risen Christ is not a ghost.
THIS is where God is active and alive.
THIS is where people can know God and where God lives with and empowers people.
Think about it.
When Jesus described the mystery of the sacred
he did not use images of angelic choirs,
pearly gates floating on clouds, or elaborate temples.
Jesus tells stories ofvineyard workers, fishing, family meals,
homemakers, household chores, seedsowing and neighborhood parties.
Jesus paints a very domestic andaccessible picture of where to find God bybringing sacred presence into ordinary life.
How do we find God in our ordinary?
A friend of mine, a Quaker named Brent Bill gave me a book he co-authored with artist Beth Booram. I’d like to read a portion of their introduction to give you an idea.
from Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonders of God, by J. Brent Bill and Beth A. Booram, IVP, 2012.
“During, work or school, you notice things: the tone of stress in someone’s response to a question, the sparkle in your friend’s eyes as she describes her new romance, the cool taste of water from a drinking fountain and the scent of a woman’s perfume in the hall. Life has so much depth and texture. You are alive to yourself and the world—curious and open to God’s subtle invitations to pray, to love, to be. With each sensory prompt, you are learning to respond the way Jesus leads you.
Dinnertime and evening hours brim with sensual greetings. You prepare a meal with your family. The sounds of chopping vegetables and sizzling meat remind you that food is a gift. Everything you see, hear, touch, smell and taste turns your meal into an occasion---not only for your stomach but also for your heart. Scrubbing greasy pots, rinsing soapy dishes and feeling the scald of hot water awaken you to the unending life cycle of soiling and cleansing, mess and order. Your thoughts turn to your own humbled soul, to Christ, to his restoring work.
As you lie down to sleep, you notice your cold feet under the blankets, the taste of toothpaste in your mouth, the smell of dinner lingering in the air, the quiet of the house and the streak of moonlight beaming through the window. You feel thoughtful, grateful and pensive. Your heart turns to God, and you express your feelings of smallness and inadequacy. You entrust yourself to sleep and to God who does not slumber or sleep. Another day lived, hopefully more fully present to God and yourself, alive to the beauty and suffering in life, to all its possibilities and cries for healing.”
My problem is that I tend to think about God
more than I try to experience God’s presence in my life.
So recently I started trying to think about God less
and to be with God more.
I have a bowl on rocks sitting on my patio table.
My grandson, Linus collects rocks.
So I sit there and pick up a rock and play with it.
I think of Linus and family and love and eventually God
as I thank God for those gifts.
The gift of being a special person in the life of a 5 year old.
There are many practices or exercises like that in this book to guide us.
All we have to do is take a few minutes in the midst of whatever we are doing
and ask God to show us evidence of the Divine.
In every aspect of the day—
waking, showering and dressing, eating,
commuting, talking with others, difficulties and challenges at work or school,
moments of pleasure and pain,
consolation and desolation,
playing with rocks,
returning home, the evening spent with friends or family, crawling into bed—
we can ask God,
“Show me where you are present, making the ordinary extraordinary.
Reveal yourself to me.”
Amen