Dear Fellow Preachers:
There's little debate that Pope John Paul II was one of the giants of the global scene -- indeed, the overtly emotional response of millions at his passing was evidence of how deeply he touched many lives. But while John Paul was immensely popular, many anticipated that his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, would be a more polarizing figure, particularly given his track record as head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a role in which he was perceived as a reactionary "enforcer" on theological matters. But Benedict has confounded those expectations in the year since he became pontiff, proving to be a somewhat tolerant and conciliatory figure who has made a point of seeking common ground. This anniversary seems to be a good time to take stock of the church and its place in the world -- and in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member George Reed raises the larger question of the proper role of the church in modern society, basing his comments on Jesus' message of shalom in Luke 24:36b-48. Carlos Wilton expands on George's comments, and offers a possible sermon outline on the church's real presence in the world. As usual, this week's material also includes related illustrations, worship resources, and a children's sermon.
The "Real Presence" Of The Church
What is the real purpose of the church? What is the purpose of the congregation of which we are a part? In a society that has changed so radically, these questions are as important today as they were in those first days after Pentecost. At the first anniversary of Pope Benedict's tenure, we find a very different atmosphere than many anticipated. In Protestant churches we have everything from the latest United Church of Christ commercial announcing that God does not reject anyone to the group that is protesting at soldiers' funerals, saying that their deaths are God's judgment on America for tolerating homosexuality.
So what is the modern Christian and congregation to do? This week we will look at the Gospel Lesson where Jesus appears and shows he is "real," with an eye to asking how we can be "real" to the world as Christians. All four of the readings can be informative for our reflection this week.
 ANOTHER VIEW
by Carlos Wilton
Luke 24:36b-48
George, first let me take a moment of privilege and say how much I've appreciated your contributions to The Immediate Word. (To our subscribers: George has resigned as a TIW contributor, explaining that he is going to be moving on to some other projects.) First as a worship writer, then more recently as a regular contributor, you have provided us with much that is of value.
As I read Luke 24, I'm struck by the line, "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45). It's pretty much a reprise of what Luke has just said in the Emmaus Road story ("Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" -- v. 32).
Although they have become to many of us like smooth stones through constant retelling, Luke's accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances are baffling, even shocking. The disciples can only conclude, when first they see Jesus standing among them, that they are being haunted by a ghost (v. 37). Responding to their confusion and terror, Luke takes great pains to relate simple, physical details like their touching their Savior's wounds, and how he ate a piece of fish.
Truly, the resurrection is almost too much to take in. Jesus must first "open their minds" before the disciples can understand what they are seeing, and begin to relate this greatest of all miracles to prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures.
George, I like what you do with the idea of Real Presence, relating it to the role of the church in the world. When many of us hear that term we think rather narrowly of eucharistic theology, and particularly of the Medieval- and Reformation-era debates about transubstantiation. In fact, both Luther and Calvin have their own doctrines of Real Presence when it comes to the Lord's Supper -- it's just that their ideas happen to exclude transubstantiation. Theologians of every stripe, Roman Catholic and Protestant alike, would resonate positively to the idea that the church ought to aspire to be the healing, reconciling, real presence of Jesus Christ in the world.
I'm reminded, in this regard, of something Walter Brueggemann once wrote, reflecting on another miracle, Jesus' feeding of the 5,000:
When the disciples, charged with feeding the hungry crowd, found a child with five loaves and two fishes, Jesus TOOK, BLESSED, BROKE, and GAVE the bread. These are the four decisive verbs of our sacramental existence. Jesus conducted a Eucharist, a gratitude. He demonstrated that the world is filled with abundance and freighted with generosity. If bread is broken and shared, there is enough for all. Jesus is engaged in the subversive reordering of public reality. (Walter Brueggemann, "The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity," in The Christian Century, March 24-31, l999)
A sermon outline on the church's real presence in the world could follow Brueggemann's four points:
First, we must take the bread. We cannot give that which we have not first received. We cannot share the good news if we have not yet taken it into our own hearts.
Second, we bless the bread. In our own worship as the people of God, we offer praise and thanks for the good news.
Third, we break the bread. This takes a certain amount of courage -- not to mention faith. Admiring the warm, crusty, fragrant loaf, it can be hard for us to take it into our hands and tear it into little pieces. As we think of doing so, we may fear there is not enough bread to go around. Furthermore, as we imagine ourselves as the bread, we may fear what it means to be broken into pieces for the world. Yet that is our calling as disciples: to offer ourselves to be broken by the world, for the sake of the gospel.
Fourth, we give the bread. This is how the church becomes the agent of Christ's real presence in the world. If we do not share our bread with a hungry world, then who will feed it?
All this we can do not on our own account, but only for the sake of Christ, and by his empowering us to do so. He must open our minds and our hearts so that we may receive this world-shaking news -- news that Brueggemann points out is nothing less than "a subversive reordering of public reality."
|
ILLUSTRATIONS
In his book Clowning in Rome (Image, 2000), Henri Nouwen identifies four clown-like elements in the spiritual life that might well be applied to the nature of the church as spiritual community. Those elements are solitude, celibacy, prayer, and contemplation:
Solitude: There is the foolish task of being alone. The church needs to not try to be present at all the events of society around it. It needs to experience what it is like being alone, as Jesus was at times alone.
Celibacy: There is the task of treasuring emptiness. We live in such a pragmatic, practical society that we want everything to have meaning and purpose. There are times when we need to treasure the emptiness that allows space for God to fill.
Prayer: There is the task of standing naked before God. Prayer does not provide God with new information, and often doesn't advance any agenda -- it is simply standing naked before the one who is the source of all life.
Contemplation: There are times when it is important for the church to simply see things for what they are. It is important for churches to take time to contemplate the world around them -- and God's call to them of their place in it.
***
Loren Mead speaks of trying to determine the membership of a church he served for a year in London:
There were about 7,000 people in the parish, and as parish pastor I was "related" to them, including those in the Catholic parish and the Methodist chapel. In that ecclesiastical system, that was the crowd I was officially supposed to baptize, marry, and bury. Of those, there were about 700 on the electoral pool, who had chosen to have their names put down as voters in the parish elections. There were about 80 I could count on if we had something organized to carry out. About 200-220 (some of whose names I never got) were the heart of every worship service. There were at least six spiritual giants I knew about. About 300 were involved in one or another subgroup, and about 1,500 came across the church door at least once a year.
Ever since that year I have looked on "number of members" as an important but problematic statistic. It does tell you something, and you get in trouble if you don't pay attention to it -- but its simplicity hides a lot.
-- Loren Mead, More Than Numbers (Alban Institute, 1993), p. v
***
In Christian community everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable. A community which allows unemployed members to exist within it will perish because of them. It will be well, therefore, if every member receives a definite task to perform for the community, that he may know in hours of doubt that he too is not useless and unusable. Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 94
***
The early church was conscious of itself as a faithful people surrounded by a hostile environment to which each member was called to witness to God's love in Christ. They were called to be evangelists, in the biblical sense of the word -- those who bear good news. Their task was to carry into a hostile world the good news of healing, love, and salvation.
-- Loren Mead, The Once and Future Church (Alban Institute, 1991), p. 10
***
In the new ecclesia the primary theologians have to be the laity because they are on the missionary frontier. They will need to be theologians for two reasons: First, because as our primary mission officers they will be engaging the world, making judgments, and seeking God's direction. Second, because it is on that frontier that God will be revealing God's nature, opening doors to the new theologies of tomorrow's world. The laity will be on the front lines of theology as well as mission.
-- Loren Mead, The Once and Future Church (Alban Institute, 1991), p. 56
***
I take odd comfort in knowing that long before our contemporary skepticism plenty of people dismissed the idea of the resurrection of the dead in general, and of Christ's resurrection in particular. Only with our modern hubris, what the British historian E.P. Thompson (1924-1993) referred to in another context as "the enormous condescension of posterity," could we congratulate ourselves that whereas illiterate peasants in 33 A.D. were so gullible that they did not understand that corpses do not rise from the dead, we today know better. The historical record shows that plenty of people disbelieved back then, including Jesus' own disciples. To me the doubt of Jesus' closest followers and the disbelief by many of their contemporaries read more like a "no spin zone" than a propaganda ploy, and lend an air of authenticity to the original Easter proclamation....
Some people believed the apostolic message, but others mocked and scoffed. The religious authorities were "greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead" (Acts 4:2). In addition to a burgeoning number of converts, their public witness provoked municipal violence and severe persecution that would last for three centuries. Steven was stoned to death (Acts 7), and a general persecution in Jerusalem scattered believers (Acts 8). King Herod arrested believers, executed James (the brother of John), and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:1-2). In Iconium "the people of the city were divided" at the message of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:4). In Lystra Paul was stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19), while in Philippi he was imprisoned for "throwing the city into an uproar" (Acts 16:20). Riots erupted in Thessalonica when detractors complained that the disciples had "caused trouble all over the world" (Acts 17:5-6). At Athens some believed Paul's preaching, but when others heard about the resurrection of the dead "they sneered" (Acts 17:32). Riots convulsed Ephesus when "many" adversaries opposed Paul's entourage (1 Corinthians 16:9) and "there arose a great disturbance about the Way" (Acts 19:23). In Jerusalem, of course, only Paul's appeal to his Roman citizenship prevented death by mob violence, but his arrest there sealed his eventual fate (Acts 21).... So there is hardly anything new about contemporary disbelief in the resurrection.
I believe the first believers partly because of their chronicle of disbelief -- their own and that of their detractors. To me it rings true. They knew from firsthand experience that you cannot compel belief in the resurrection.
-- Don Clendenin, "This Is What We Preach," Journey With Jesus for Sunday, April 16, 2006 (http://www.journeywithjesus.net/)
***
Seeing is believing, right?
Wrong. We all know, in this age of computer-generated special effects -- of Industrial Light and Magic, of WETA and Pixar, not to mention the "photoshopping" of someone else's head onto a still photograph of someone else's body -- how easy it is to fool the eye.
Jesus' disciples knew nothing of these technological wonders, but even they distrusted their own eyes when they saw Jesus standing among them. Mary Magdalene had to embrace him. Thomas had to touch his wounds. The whole company of them had to watch, wide-eyed, as he shared that humble meal of broiled fish they had themselves already tasted, before they would believe.
Was the resurrection of Jesus a special effect? No, not in the way we ordinarily use those words. The universal witness of the scriptures is that the resurrection was a real, historical event: a physical reality. Yet the resurrection of Jesus Christ has a "special effect" -- a unique and historically unrepeatable outcome. That outcome is the birth of the church, which -- in these days between the ascension and the parousia -- is, by the Holy Spirit, the Risen Christ's real presence in the world.
***
Let us put the resurrection to a proper scientific test. Let those who have hurt each other -- parents and children, husbands and wives, neighbors, friends, bosses and employees, heads of states -- kneel together and pray this prayer: "God, have mercy on us sinners! Forgive our pride. Forgive us for turning to the powers of death, which separate us, instead of to you, who would unite us in love. Forgive us for the hurts we have caused others, and for refusing to forgive those who have hurt us. Help us to see each other with compassion; take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh..."
Then, as good scientists, let us observe the results. The powers of death -- hate, acrimony, war, disagreement, and hurt -- would be defeated, and out of that death would be resurrected love, concord, trust, and hope.
That is the proof of the resurrection -- something happens, something that banishes death and its correlates and brings in hope and new life. That is the resurrection message we preach, and "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain..." (1 Corinthians 15:14)
-- Gordon Dalbey, "Does the Resurrection Happen?" in The Christian Century, April 3, 1985
***
As noted in "The World" section of our main article, in the April 18, 2006 edition of The Christian Century Jason Byassee offers a good look at Benedict XVI's first year as Pope. Byassee observes that the man once known as "the panzer cardinal" and "God's rottweiler" has proven to be more moderate than many observers expected. One of Benedict's first moves was to invite Hans Kung for a day of friendly conversation, reaching out to a longtime theological nemesis. And Benedict's appointment of a moderate, William Levada, to succeed him as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has angered many conservative Catholics.
Perhaps Benedict will demonstrate, as many have found before, that the office of pope (or any minister) can shape the person, not the other way around.
***
Many churches seem to be very focused in the twenty-first century on being driven by purpose, to become "biggie-sized" in terms of membership, to have greater and greater influence in politics, economics, social change. The mantra seems to be about achieving "extraordinary" success through marketing and the media.
Which makes for an interesting contrast with the Jesus we meet in John's Gospel. A bible student comes to him one evening with some questions that have popped into his mind. On a hot day, with a parched throat, he asks a woman for a drink of water. He talks with a man blind from birth. He goes to the home of Mary and Martha, who are grieving over the death of their brother Lazarus.
And there, in these ordinary moments, in these chance meetings, in these everyday encounters, God is present in Jesus Christ:
* challenging the wisdom of a learned man;
* inviting a woman to a new life;
* helping a man born blind to see;
* helping the grief-stricken sisters to realize that God is more powerful than death; that God's love calls forth life from the grave.
Maybe we are missing something as the church seeks to reach out to our world today. Maybe we are so "into" the extraordinary that we miss out on all those ordinary, everyday moments God presents to us to be the church, to be faithful, to be Christ's representatives here on earth.
So the next time you are in the store and chatting with a friend, look to see if Jesus is over in the next aisle, eavesdropping. When your child asks you for a snack upon returning home from school, be sure to listen carefully to see who is making the request. When a sibling calls at night in the middle of your favorite show, pay attention to their questions, not the commercials.
Pay attention to the ordinary, and the extraordinary presence of God will be revealed.
|
THE WORD
We begin this week with the lesson from Luke 24:36b-48. Here we have the risen Christ appearing to the disciples. The writer makes it clear that the disciples thought that they were seeing a ghost. They are frightened, and Jesus invites them to examine his body to see that it is flesh and bone and to examine the wounds from the crucifixion. He specifically tells them he is not a ghost. He then asks for something to eat, and consumes a piece of broiled fish before them. The entire pericope revolves around the "real" presence of Jesus. He is not a ghost, but he has indeed risen from the dead.
THE WORLD
Cardinal Josef Alois Ratzinger was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church just one year ago and took the name Pope Benedict XVI. Many observers have been surprised at the tone set by the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Dean of the College of Cardinals. It seems clear that ascending to the throne of Saint Peter and assuming responsibility for the entire Roman Catholic church has brought forward a different understanding of what is required of him than his previous positions demanded.
In the April 18, 2006, edition of The Christian Century, Jason Byasee provides a thoughtful reflection on the first year of Benedict's papacy ("Being Benedict: The Pope's First Year"). In his article, Byasee remarks on how many of the fears initially raised about Cardinal Ratizinger's theological rigidity, mostly by European and American observers, have proven to be unfounded. The new pope has adopted a relatively irenic tone, particularly in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est ("God is Love").
From a Protestant perspective, Byasee sums up the new pope's first year as follows:
Pope Benedict is a world-class theologian. His work is rooted in the worshiping life of the church. His appeals to scripture and Augustine should make contact with a Protestant audience. He has said that without Protestants, the Roman communion is impoverished, and that every baptized believer, Catholic or not, is within the communion of the church, even if some are temporarily outside of the church's unity. All these factors are reason for Protestants to look for fruitful conversations with this pope.
As a sort of parable, Byasee cites a story told by then-Cardinal Ratzinger in his book Truth and Tolerance. It seems that the first Benedict -- Saint Benedict of Nyssa, founder of the Benedictine Order -- had a mystical vision towards the end of his life. Looking out his window one night while saying his prayers, Ratzinger tells how he saw "something quite marvelous.... The whole world was held before his eyes, as if brought together in a single ray of sunshine." Ratzinger then goes on to cite Pope Gregory the Great, who -- commenting on Benedict's vision -- said, "If he... saw the whole world as one before him, then it was not that heaven and earth became narrower but the visionary's soul became so wide."
Byasee concludes: "We can hope for such widening of vision from this Benedict. A pope with theological views congenial to and partially shaped by Protestants would have been unimaginable a half-century ago. Perhaps he and all of us will be surprised by illumination through his papacy."
SHAPING THE SERMON
This wide variety of expressions of the faith by self-declared followers of Jesus in light of scripture raises the question: "How is the Church to be the real presence of Jesus in this time and place?" What does it mean for us to be the Body of Christ? How do we show wounded hands and feet and make it clear that the presence of the risen Lord is not just a shadowy vapor but a real, living presence?
The preacher will be relieved or disappointed to discover that I am not offering a definitive answer. I believe that each Christian/congregation/denomination must work out what it is that Jesus is calling them to be and become. I will suggest several connections with the other lections for the day.
In Acts 3:12-19, we have Peter preaching to those whom he identifies as the ones who gave consent to the crucifixion of Jesus. He addressed them as those who have "rejected the Holy and Righteous One" and who "killed the Author of life." Yet his response to them is to acknowledge that they really didn't know what they were doing and to offer them repentance and the forgiveness of their sins. What should be our stance towards those we perceive as the enemies of Christ?
The Psalter reading (Psalm 4) starts out with the psalmist acknowledging that God has given him room when he was in "distress." The Hebrew word is related to being "in a tight place." If God offers space to those who feel constricted, how are we to act toward those who struggle with the confines of the traditions and practices of the church who do not speak to their lives?
In 1 John 3:1-7, we are reminded that we are the children of God, and that we are the children of God right now. We look forward to when we shall be completely like God and to "purify" ourselves in the meantime. What does it mean for Christians to purify themselves? Does it have to do with personal sins, corporate sins, or both?
There is more to be addressed in this discussion than will fit into one sermon. This could easily be the basis for an entire program of small groups meeting in homes and sharing the collective wisdom of the congregation around what they perceive to be the ways in which God is calling them to be the "real" presence of Jesus.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call To Worship
One: When fear and doubts stroll through our doors:
All: God stands beside us, whispering of peace.
One: When we toss and turn late at night:
All: God sits by our beds, singing lullabies of love.
One: When we stumble through the shadows of sin:
All: God illuminates the paths of goodness and joy.
Prayer Of The Day
When we are blinded by anger,
you pour out your love for all to see;
when we wonder what tomorrow will bring,
you call us to trust in you;
when sadness fills our lives,
you plant gladness in our hearts.
God of Easter:
touch us with your grace.
You show us your hands,
so we may reach out to mend the broken;
you show us your feet,
so we may walk with those the world passes by;
you show us your face,
so we may know what our sisters and brothers look like.
Risen Christ:
touch us with your compassion.
You open our eyes,
so we may see God's love;
you open our minds,
so we may welcome God's Word;
you open our lips,
so we may be God's witnesses.
Spirit of Hope:
touch us with your peace.
God in Community, Holy in One,
open us to your presence,
as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call To Reconciliation
If our actions mirrored our words,
if our hands were mentored by our hearts,
if we walked the talk -- we would be God's children.
But too often, it is our silence, our doubts, our fears which tell others who we truly are.
Let us confess to God how we have not been as faithful as we hope, as we pray, saying,
(Unison) Prayer Of Confession
God of empty tombs:
Peter speaks with power and clarity of his faith,
while we remain silent.
The psalmist talks about trusting you,
while our doubts overwhelm us.
Jesus is ready to come and grace us with peace,
but our fears keep our hearts shuttered and locked.
God of full hearts:
your love can change us from scared people to children of grace.
You can weed doubts from our hearts and plant seeds of joy in their place.
You can silence the panic of our souls with the peace Jesus offers to each of us.
Transform us into Easter people,
through the power of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance Of Pardon
One: What marvelous love, what wondrous grace, what abundant mercy God offers to us!
We really are God's people -- that's who we are!
All: We are God's children -- those whose lives have been changed
by the One who loves us and forgives us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The piece of fish
Object: a piece of broiled fish
Good morning, boys and girls. What do you think Jesus was really like after he was resurrected? (let them answer) Do you think he was taller than he was before he was crucified? (let them answer) Do you think maybe he was dressed a little better? (let them answer) One of the stories in the Bible talks about his disciples seeing Jesus after he was resurrected. It seemed to happen quite a few times, but they never seemed to get used to it. The disciples seemed to be just talking about what they heard or saw about Jesus, and there he would be. One moment he was not there and the next moment he was there. Sometimes they were locked in a room and he was not there. No one opened the door or undid the lock, but suddenly he was there. Another time they were standing outside listening to a report of a few of the disciples who had walked with him the night before, when all of a sudden he was there. Some people would even say they thought they had seen a ghost. Do you think you would know a ghost if you saw one? (let them answer) Can you touch a ghost? Can you see right through a ghost? (get several opinions) How do you think you would test someone to see if they were a ghost or a real person? (let them answer)
Those are pretty good ways. Jesus had this suggestion. He invited the disciples to touch him and to see if he had flesh and bones. He also suggested to them to look at his wounds that had been caused by the nails pounded into his hands and the spear pushed into side. They were thrilled to see Jesus. They didn't want him to go away. They wished that he would just stay with them, but they did act a lot like he was a ghost and Jesus knew it. He even talked about them thinking that he was a ghost.
Finally, Jesus knew how to change their minds. Do you know what he did? (let them answer) Jesus asked them if they had anything to eat. Now ghosts do not eat. You would be able to see the food float around inside of them. Ghosts don't eat. One of them took a piece of fish that had just been cooked on their grill and gave to Jesus. What do you think happened? (let them answer) That's right; he ate it. He ate the whole thing. One piece of fish, grilled by the disciples, and he ate the whole thing. He put it in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.
So the next time you wonder what Jesus looked like after he was resurrected, think of the piece of broiled fish he ate in front of the disciples. Then you will know he was no ghost but instead the resurrected Son of God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 30, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
|
