Does Easter End Acts 1:1-11 Luke 24:44-53

Luke and Acts together tell the story of Jesus' followers becoming the church. The key moment when one act ends and another act is happens in Acts 1:1-11 Luke 24:44-53. The risen Jesus gathered together with his friends. He gave them instructions and then lifted up his hands to bless them. And as Jesus blessed them His Body was take up into Heaven. As Jesus rose the disciples looked up towards heaven most likely with their eyes and mouths wide open. And just then two men in white robes asked one of the funniest questions in the New Testament,

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken
up from you into heaven, come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:11 ESV

The next act in the drama starts as Jesus followers figure out what do next in Acts 1:12-28:31.
The story sure changes in focus from Easter to the beginning of the church but we should ponder: Does Easter end?
A few years ago the poet Herb Brokering answered this question in the hymn Alleluia! Jesus is Risen with these words "City of God, Easter forever, golden Jerusalem, Jesus the Lamb." Seamlessly Brokering connects Jesus rising with the promised New Jerusalem foretold at the end of Revelation.
If Brokering is right Easter doesn't end. It's only just begun and we will see it come to fullness in the day when Jesus the Lamb sits enthroned in the new city. Funny thing is that many churches, but by no means all are about to come to the end of the "Easter Season." To be faithful to scripture our entire church year from the seasons of Advent to the time after Pentecost must all be about Easter.
In my own case my religious and even biblical imagination is shaped by these human created seasons of the church year. Reading the story of Jesus rising every year and mixing in accounts of his post resurrection appearances can really shape our understanding of Jesus story. But the best news of all is that Easter has no end and that we can retell the story at any time of year.
Pax
John

with you forever John 14:15-21

Right before his death Jesus made a promise to his friends.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18 NIV

Jesus words mattered for his first followers and they matter for us today. If God wanted to hide from humanity no one on earth would ever find him.

The Good News is that God wants to be known to us. God wants not only to be known by us: God wants to be so close to us that we can love him. He wants to enter into communion with us and show his face to us. God has made a promise to come towards us. Listen to that promise in the Gospel today. It's a promise is good today and forever:

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— John

the only being in all the universe who can make a forever promise is God. I can make you a promise—but as much as I might want that to be a forever promise I don't on my own have that ability.

We humans have limits. Go Monday in the United States on Memorial Day to a cemetery and you'll see the flowers, wreaths and flags left in remembrance. One nation will remember those who have served. Families will remember those who have given of their lives for others. Humans can remember and give thanks knowing both the value and the fragility of human life. But God can meet us beyond death. God can promise and keep a promise to never leave us orphaned both on this earth and in the life to come. For that I give thanks.

Pax, John.

part of God's Household John 14:1-14

Jesus gave his friends a word of hope shortly before his death.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?¹

He promised them a place in the home of his Father. There's a human tendency to think of this promise in earthly, human terms of home and property. Some even imagine our place as a "mansion" inside of the Father's house (in the KJV translation). But Jesus is promising believers more than a physical place in the home of God the Father. Jesus gave his friends a promise that they would have a place in God's household. So consider Jesus promise, the home our Lord speaks of is not just a place to go, rather he is speaking of being at home as a part of God's household or family. Life in the Body of Christ on earth is a foretaste of something greater. Believers begin to experience the family of God in this life; but there's so much more to come. Luther wrote

...when we consider what is held in store for us and what prospects we face, then we should be joyous and rather pity the poor, wretched world. For what if the world now treads us underfoot and most grievously torments and plagues us? We cannot lose. Whatever we lose is merely the sack that hangs around our neck.²

Jesus is promising believers a place in His Father's House. The question for today is how to best live here on this earth in our time when believers know that God has planned a place within his own home for all who believe. Martin Luther wrote...

For once a Christian begins to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, through whom he is redeemed from death and brought into His dominion and inheritance, God completely permeates his heart. Now he is eager to help everyone acquire the same benefits. For his greatest delight is in this treasure, the knowledge of Christ. ³

May the hope of new life permeate the church. May all who belief in Christ be eager to share the Good News with others. AMEN

1The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version, ( Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Jn 14:1-2.

2Martin Luther, vol. 24, Luther's Works, Vol. 24 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 14-16, ( ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan et al.;, Luther's Works Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1961), Jn 14:5.

3Martin Luther, vol. 24, Luther's Works, Vol. 24 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 14-16, ( ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan et al.;, Luther's Works Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1961), Jn 14:15.

A new name for "Thomas Sunday" John 20:19-31

I've sometimes called the First Sunday after Easter Thomas Sunday. We read the gospel story (John 20:19-31) that talks about his unbelief and belief in Jesus resurrection afterall.

I'd like to call it something else this year. Why?

Because Thomas isn't really the subject of the story: this story is all about the risen Jesus. Some years I read this story and think it's all about Thomas. Afterall Thomas is a guy I can relate to again and again. So maybe I'm making it all about Thomas so that it can really be all about me. Thomas is a guy I can see my own faith in or, in some years, my own lack of faith.

This year as I read the story in John 20:19-31 I see most clearly that Thomas isn't the subject of the story at all. Please don't get me wrong, Thomas isn't insignificant, but looking at the story this year it becomes clear that the risen Jesus, and what he is doing, is more important than what Thomas believes or doesn't believe.

Jesus made 2 appearances to his friends in a locked room. He came to His friends first on Easter evening when Thomas wasn't with them. He showed them by his presence that he was very much alive and he breathed on them saying recieve the Holy Spirit and the authority to pronounce forgiveness. That week Thomas heard the news that Jesus was risen from the other apostles, but he said he wouldn't believe until he saw Jesus and touched him for himself. Jesus came again and Thomas was there declaring Jesus to be his Lord.

Some years I call this Thomas Sunday, but this year I'm looking for a new name: Do you have any suggestions?

The night before he was betrayed. John 13:1-17, 31-35

The night before he was betrayed something big was happening in Jesus life. Jesus and his friends gathered for a last and final meal. He knew what was coming: betrayal. But He didn't run or seek to make a bargain to save His own skin. He joined with his friends for supper. His friends didn't know it was the last one. When He told his friends what was about to happen not a one of them understood him. They simply couldn't understand what he was saying or doing that night; not yet anyways.

Even before they ate Jesus started reversing the order of things for His friends. They looked up to him as teacher and leader. And Jesus said he was there to serve. They were ready, that night as Peter said, to follow him all the way to death if necessary. That night they believed in Jesus he was ready to be prophet, priest, and king. It might even be argued that even the one who betrayed him believed in him and thought he was helping the cause along by hand him over so that the world would finally see hims authority and power. Jesus came to reverse everything. Yes he came to be the greatest prophet who knew the heart of every person he spoke to. Yes he came to be the great high priest who would enter the temple once and for all offering himself as the final sacrifice. Yes he came to be Christ the king; but His kingdom is not of this earth. Jesus came to be prophet, priest, and king and suffering servant. And Jesus told them if they want to honor him they have to serve just like he was about to serve them.

The Gospel of John says Jesus took off his outer robe and gathered together a towel and a bowl.

Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:5-7 NRSV

Peter protested. Jesus insisted. Peter said then wash my face and hands too. No Jesus replied. Those parts don't need to be cleaned; only your feet. Jesus was reversing everything not denying his power and honor but setting it aside that we might glimpse the reality of his coming kingdom.

Its not about the tomb John 11:1-45

We're getting closer to death and to Easter both in our lives and in time this year as the days on the calendar tick by like clockwork. Easter is coming; but before God's full is revealed in the greatest day after we sink down into the worst days. Temptation, sin, isolation, disability, and death creep up on us in life. This year the scripture readings for Lent have lead us deeper into suffering. In this week's gospel we meet grief head on. Lazarus was dead. Martha and Mary wept along with their friends and neighbors. Even Jesus came and wept along side of them near the tomb. But lets not be stuck here at the tomb. Dan Wheeler says, “The tomb isn't the point of this story.” The tomb was there, but it wasn't the goal. The tomb in Lazarus' story, in Jesus' story, and the story of every Christian who believes in Jesus' resurrection is only a point along the way to the fullest revelation of God's glory.

In our Gospel lesson we hear this story of a deep grief in Jesus' life. Two sisters, in a family Jesus cared about mourned after their brother's death. Martha and Mary knew hope in their friend Jesus but they knew many reasons to weep in their brother's death. Jesus came and wept with them because their grief and his grief over Lazarus' death was so very real. We can be tempted to spiritualize Lazarus' story, and that's good to a point, if it helps us see Christ's power to overcome problems that seem to great for us here and now. But don't forget the end of this story and the point of the Gospel. Jesus came to overcome death and not just today's problems. Fred Craddock writes wisely,

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are not simply props for a spiritual story. They are real people trapped in death and grief, and Jesus brings comfort and life. Jesus was a real human being ministering among the suffering. But John wants us to understand that God’s blessing did not come solely to certain people who happened to be in that place at that time.¹

As you read keep your eyes on the way the story ends. New life in Christ triumphs over death. Death and suffering are real parts of the Christian experience as much as they are parts of the human experience. The difference is that Christians suffer and grieve in hope. Martin Luther wrote of the people gathered around Lazarus' sisters,

...they were earthly, so that they were unable to refrain from weeping and the people had come to them to console them because of the death of their brother, as the evangelist describes so skilfully. From this we learn that they were all in unbelief and sin. And then we see how kindly the Lord deals with them, praying and weeping with them, and all this at the behest of his Father. This is the true guidebook, from which we learn the will of the eternal Father.²

Perhaps we have forgotten the humanity of the people we think are holy and always saintly. Perhaps we feel fear in telling God the truth as we There are so many unanswered questions about the people in this story and how their place in this story is connected to other stories in the gospels. There are so many rabbit trails to follow along the way–

What kind of family was this? Where were the parents? How old was Lazarus?

Are these the same Martha and Mary who squabbled and fought once when Jesus came to visit?

What about Mary who had anointed Jesus feet with oil and wiped them with her hair--Why do so many speak her terrible reputation?

These and other rabbit trails might yield some information about Jesus, his friends and their humanity. Perhaps we need to see who we, and all who follow Christ really are. Martin Luther explains,

That’s why I should like sermons about the saints to be more moderate in the sense that we would also tell how they fell, in accord with the gospel, not the books of rhetoric. For there can be no doubt that they too tripped and stumbled over great humps. They were of one flesh with us, one faith, one baptism, one blood. But we have now set them so high above us that we must despair of imitating them.³

The message here is Christ who has power over death not that we need to be just like the most perfect saint. We follow in the footsteps not only of Jesus as we walk past the graves of this world. We walk in the footsteps of sinners who God has made saints through the gift of faith.

1 Fred Cradock A Twofold Death and Resurrection (Jn. 11:25-26) Christian Century, March 21-28, p. 299 hosted online at www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=710

2 Martin Luther, vol. 51, Luther's Works, Vol. 51 : Sermons I, ( ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan et al.;, Luther's Works Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1959), Vol. 51, Page 48. 3 Ibid. Page 48-49.

Seeing the Light John 9:1-42

At every baptism we retell some of Jesus words about light as we hand the sponsors of the newly baptized a candle.  “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Heavenly Father.” or “Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have the light of life.”

Jesus healed a man blind since birth.  He told the man, “ I am the light of the world.” Everyone around him knew who the man born was and what disabilities he had. The moment he could see things started changing both for him and other people around him. Many, even Jesus disciples, thought this man's blindness was a punishment. Jesus' friends asked,

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2 NRSV

We look at the world as it is through human lenses. We look for justice and injustice when we see sickness and disease, ability and disability. We look for a sin and we ask out loud sometimes in the face of great tragedy, “Why God?” or “Who sinned?” Jesus friends were asking and Jesus answered them in a way they didn't expect.

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” John 9:3 NRSV

God's work and glory are revealed in redemption even in situations we consider hopeless. We have ideas about how the world works; and God has plans and ways all His own involving a cross, grave, and resurrection.  The promise of new life begins here with redemption in this world and continues in the hope that all who died with faith in Jesus Christ will rise. We might say that we believe in justice. But when we meet Jesus we are meeting a redeeming God who died for us and our world. He is the one who died and rose claiming the power to redeem both here and now and in the life to come.  The kingdom of God started as Jesus healed the broken and brought light and truth into human darkness.  It will continue through the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus is working on a kingdom. He's building a kingdom out of flesh and blood redeemed people. It's a kingdom that's already here but isn't ours to control. God's building one soul at a time.  We keep hoping for the day when we dwell in it completely.  Pat Keifert wrote of God’s kingdom saying, “It is at hand, as close as the air we breathe the moment before in enters our bodies. In fact it is so close that it governs us, but it is not fully in hand.”¹  The kingdom of God was at hand when Jesus spat in the dust, put the mud on the eyes of the man who couldn't see.  The kingdom of God was at hand when he washed the mud from his eyes and saw for the first time in his life. 

People around Jesus wanted to control the power of God revealed in the person of Jesus.  They wanted Jesus to follow the law as they understood it; but God’s not ours to control.  The Redeemer comes to shine in our lives revealing all our shame and showing us who we are now in the light of Christ. 

Pax, John

1Patrick Keifert with Patricia Taylor Ellison, Talking about our Faith (Church Innovations, St Paul, MN 1997) Page 10