Too Good To Be True?
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Dear Fellow Preacher,
The word gospel means "good news," but how good is it? Is there enough "good news" in the gospel we preach to make a difference in a world filled with the bad news of war, intransigent viruses, murder, and despair? And what of our disappointments born of the many times we have grasped at what seemed like good news only to find it was not as good as it seemed?
For the May 4 installment of The Immediate Word, guest writer Timothy Cargal, pastor of Northwood Presbyterian Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, draws from the lectionary gospel text, Luke 24, profound insights into the true character of the good news we seek. Timothy also helps us to find these same good news connections in the other lectionary readings for this week.
As always, team members offer insightful comments, there are relevant illustrations, rich worship resources, and a children's sermon. We also offer this week a new section we are calling "Putting the Sermon to Work."
Too Good to Be True?
by Timothy B. Cargal
Luke 24:36b-48; Acts 3:12-19
One of the most common emotions of these days is disappointment. The problem is not just one of so much bad news in our mass media - war and terrorism in the Middle East, the discovery of the body of a missing woman who had been murdered with her soon to be born child, new incidents of violence in our schools. No, our disappointment stems not just from the unmitigated evils in our world. Very often the positive news is linked with negative aspects. Progress is made, but far more still remains to be done. A victory is achieved, but the costs prove to be much higher than initially thought, or perhaps there are unforeseen negative consequences. Our disappointment emerges perhaps even more from a creeping cynicism that even the good news proves "too good to be true."
We have little difficulty, then, in relating to the reaction of Jesus' disciples when he appeared in resurrected glory among them: "in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering" (Luke 24:41). Like the crowds at the temple gate confronted by a man "walking and leaping and praising God" - someone they had passed by so many times before as a lame man dependent upon their alms - we too are both "astonished" and "wonder" what the catch might be (Acts 3). We have been conditioned to believe that such news is always "too good to be true."
But the Good News of the Easter gospel is also true. That is why Jesus goes to such great lengths to overcome the disciples' doubts. That is why Peter and John try to convince the crowds that they will see this man from now on as a testament to God's power rather than to the power of disease. That is why we need to proclaim to our congregations that, despite our usual experience with the world, the gospel is not "too good to be true."
Setting the Context for the Sermon
The news of the past few weeks has regularly mixed the good directly with the bad. Certainly this has been the case in the "war news" out of Iraq. The United States, the people of Iraq, and the world have gladly accepted the collapse of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, but we have become increasingly aware of the human and cultural costs incurred in achieving that result. However, relying too heavily on "war news" in this sermon would in fact undercut the point that our cynical disappointment is the normal state for many people. What are needed are examples at once more mundane in their broader settings than war and yet as prominent in the headlines as the reports from Iraq.
Scientists have announced the near-completion of the next phase in the human genome project, and heralded its promise for combating disease and disability. But the most prominent genetic news has been about the identification of the "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome" (SARS) virus, a disease that seems to be progressing toward international epidemic proportions. The good news for Americans is that so far there have been a limited number of cases and no deaths from SARS in the United States. Yet almost every day brings new revelations and concerns about the spread of the disease in rural parts of China, restrictions of activities in major urban areas like Beijing and Hong Kong, and the World Health Organization's warnings about travel not only to East Asia but to Toronto, Canada. We are left to wonder, is SARS waxing or waning?
The police chief of Washington, DC announced in the last week that the number of violent assaults in the first quarter of the year had decreased from the previous year, but that the number of murders was up by 27 percent. He explained this apparent incongruity by noting that while there have been fewer shootings, what shootings there have been tend to be much more violent. Instead of victims being shot once or twice, many receive as many as seven or eight gunshot wounds. The mortality rate is obviously much higher with such extensive injuries, and so the murder rate has risen right along with it. Similar statistics have been released showing the same pattern of fewer assaults overall but increased murders in Los Angeles and other cities. Although it appears that fewer people are committing violent crimes, those who do have even less regard for human life.
A new Palestinian cabinet promising hope for reviving the peace process is finally near approval. After weeks of posturing and striving for political advantage, Yasser Arafat consented to the cabinet slate offered by the new Palestinian premier, Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen). The key sticking point had been whether the officials responsible for internal security matters would have a make-up suggesting a crackdown on Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians. Once the cabinet is approved by the Palestinian parliament, it is hoped that the "road map to peace" will be released by the United States, Britain, Russia, and the European Union. Yet less than 24 hours after Arafat's announcement, there was a suicide bomb attack carried out by a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an offshoot of the Fatah organization of which both Arafat and Abbas are members.
No doubt there are other examples of more localized interest to the preacher's congregation. What are the paths toward progress in the community or even the congregation itself where one step forward seems to be met with two steps back?
Reflecting on the Lessons - Acts 3:12-19
Stripped of its context by the limits of the lectionary reading, this lesson requires an introduction that provides the occasion for Peter's sermon. Although they may not recall the circumstances from what is contained in his remarks, many parishioners who learned the song beginning "Silver and gold have I none" as a child in Sunday School will immediately recognize the story. Peter and John have passed "a man lame from birth" as they passed through the "Beautiful Gate" to the temple precincts. We can only imagine how many times before that they, like so many others, had passed the man by, perhaps without even a notice. But this time Peter commands "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" (who may himself have passed by him on earlier occasions) that the man is to "stand up and walk." Not only does the man fulfill the command, but he begins "leaping and praising God" as well.
It is hardly surprising that the crowds in the vicinity "were filled with wonder and amazement" and were "utterly astonished." From Peter's remarks ("as though by our own power or piety"), we can surmise that their surprise was in no small measure a reaction to who had provided the impetus to this miracle. How could it have been, of all people, these hardscrabble fishers from Galilee that were responsible for such a wonderful turn of events?
Peter defers the ultimate responsibility from himself and his companion to Christ. Yet while that may make the miracle more understandable for those of us who are Christians, Peter recognizes that it makes it no easier for the crowds to accept. After all, the people of Jerusalem had "rejected the Holy and Righteous One," and indeed been complicit in killing "the Author of life." Nevertheless, God had raised this Jesus from death and he was healing people by means of that same divine power.
Certainly that was good news for the formerly lame man, but what did it portend for those who had been complicit in Jesus' crucifixion? Peter's sermon is not about compounding guilt or instilling fear, but about proclaiming the gospel. If they will repent and turn to God, their sins will be "wiped out" as surely as the disease that had afflicted the man at the gate. Although that may have struck them as "too good to be true," Peter insists it is real.
Psalm 4
The movement in the emotional tone of this psalm traces the similar path to what is being suggested for this sermon. It begins with a plea for help from God in a time of distress, proceeds through a rebuttal to those who do not think that God can intervene on behalf of God's people, and ends on a note of confidence that the Lord is indeed with the psalmist.
The psalm opens (v. 1) with a plea for God to hear and respond to the psalmist's prayer. The description of past assistance from God as providing "room when I was in distress" suggests that trouble is experienced as being pressed in upon from all sides. The pressures of life have once again built up, and the psalmist is looking for renewed deliverance.
The central portion of the psalm (vv. 2-5) is an apostrophe directed to those who are the cause of distress in the psalmist's life. The charge is that they are bringing false accusations that bring shame on the psalmist's honor. In cultures where honor and shame are primary values that establish one's standing within the community, the consequences of such attacks are dire. Moreover, many in that culture believed that honor was itself a sign of God's favor, and shame an indication of God's displeasure. They would interpret the psalmist's shame as proof of God's judgment. But the psalmist, however, asserts the status of one of the Lord's "faithful" who will be heard by God, and suggests that those who are bringing these false allegations need to begin to offer "right sacrifices" (that is, align themselves properly with God's justice) rather than "vain words" of slander.
The psalmist next acknowledges that there are many others who feel the same sense of pressure and disappointment with life (vv. 6-7). They are likewise longing to "see some good," to feel "the light of your face shin[ing] on us, O Lord!" Those who have, like the psalmist, offered "right sacrifices" and placed their "trust in the Lord" have experienced "gladness" exceeding even the joy of a bumper harvest. The power of that image may be somewhat lost on those of us who live in a society of so much abundance, but would have held a powerful impact on people struggling to remain even at the level of subsistence.
The final verse suggests that God has indeed fulfilled the psalmist's prayer. No longer in "distress," the psalmist can both "lie down and sleep in peace" because God has provided safety and security. What had seemed "too good to be true" for both the adversaries and the many longing for God's goodness has become the psalmist's reality.
1 John 3:1-7
The news that is "too good to be true" in the epistle lesson is "that we should be called children of God." Indeed, it is such wonderfully good news that we are not even able yet to comprehend what it fully means. Only once Christ has been revealed and we are found to "be like him" in his resurrected state - only then will we begin to understand this Good News.
The response of those who have yet to experience the Father's love is of course the usual cynicism and skepticism. Those who shun God's love could not comprehend Christ, and they will not be able to comprehend the others who are God's children (v. 1b).
Frankly, it can also be a little hard for Christians to believe. Maybe that is because we know how far removed our actions can be from the standards of God's justice exhibited by Christ. Maybe some day it will be true of us as well. No, the elder insists, "we are God's children now." And when that truth genuinely takes hold of us then we seek to bring our conduct into line with his.
Luke 24:36b-48
One of the great lines in all of scripture is "in their joy they were disbelieving." If we could get to the point where all our disbelief was caused by joy, then the life of faith would be much easier. As it is, however, we can still strengthen our faith if we can get beyond that portion of our disbelief that does arise from the cynicism that it is just too good to be true.
Luke 24 recounts a variety of reasons why the disciples had a difficult time believing that Jesus had indeed been raised from the dead. The "eleven" do not believe the women's report of what they were told at the tomb because it "seemed to them an idle tale" (v. 11). Those who encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus did not believe because "their eyes were kept from recognizing him" (v. 16) until the moment that he "took bread, blessed, and broke it" (vv. 30-31). When Jesus appears to them in Jerusalem, at first they don't believe because they were "terrified," thinking that "they were seeing a ghost" (v. 37). So Jesus offers himself to their touch, and shows them the wounds from his crucifixion. Yet still "in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering" (v. 41).
But Jesus refuses to allow them to remain in their disbelief, even disbelief caused by joy. To prove the reality of the resurrection he eats fish while standing among them, and to assure its lasting effect "he opened their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45). The experience alone might later be doubted, but grounded in an understanding of the scriptures that makes it clear that God's plan had always included not only the suffering of the Passion but also the glory of the resurrection, then they would be empowered not only to believe for themselves but also be "witnesses of these things" (v. 48).
Developing the Sermon
There are many reasons why modern Christians may themselves have difficulty fully believing the promise of the gospel. Post-Enlightenment sophistication may cause us to doubt the idle tales of gullible ancients. Post-Christendom believers may yet be too scripturally illiterate to understand the depth of the scriptural and theological tradition, or to recognize the spiritual reality of the sacraments. Or perhaps they have simply adopted a psychologically defensive cynicism. The promises of the gospel are just "too good to be true" - at least for now. Maybe some day in God's eschatological future, when we like those first Easter disciples will see the resurrected Jesus "as he is," then we will be able to believe. But for now, even in our joy we are disbelieving and still wondering. It is all just too good to be true.
The goal of the sermon is to show that the promise of the gospel is true already, that it is reality now and not just in an as yet unrealized future. To accomplish this goal, the sermon can look at the reasons we have been culturally acclimated to doubt any good news. We doubt the gospel, the ultimate Good News, because we have defensive doubts about all good news. The promises of the world often fail to become reality. But the promises of the gospel are God's promises, not the world's.
Like the psalmist, we will need to remind our congregations about the times when they have had, as the hymn writer phrased it, "a foretaste of glory divine." These examples need to be as solid as the fish Jesus ate with his disciples. Anything too abstract, too alien to common experience, may just confirm that what is true for others may still be too good to be true for me. When have our eyes been opened to spiritual reality like the disciples in Emmaus? Carter Shelley and Wesley Runk offer useful examples to prod your thinking in this regard in their responses below.
Finally, following the example of Jesus, the sermon must avoid judging any disbelief. It is, after all, a summons to faith, which the scriptures tell us "is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). If at the end of the sermon we have done nothing more than root all remaining disbelief in "joy" and "wonder," then that is something.
Team Comments
Carter Shelley responds: Tim, you've done a terrific job linking the lectionary texts with the theme of "Too Good to Be True." I particularly like the application of Psalm 4, because the voice of the Psalmist there is plaintive enough to sound familiar to anyone who feels downtrodden and beleaguered and in desperate need of both hope and God.
As for the disciples' response to Jesus' appearance, I like the three ways you identify their inability to grasp what is before their very eyes. 1) Women weren't considered credible enough to serve as witnesses in court cases, why should the male disciples believe them? 2) The unnamed disciples traveling on the road to Emmaus don't expect to meet Jesus on their journey, so why would they recognize him? One has to wonder how often we miss Christ's real presence among us because we don't expect him and so don't recognize him either. 3) I love the way you blend the disciples' joy and disbelief. Just because they are pre-Freudian and -Jungian men (sic) doesn't mean they won't doubt their own eyes when the One they see before them is "too good to be true."
Reflecting a little on the furor Peter's healing of the crippled man may cause, I call to mind Only Begotten Daughter, a book by science fiction writer James Morrow in which God once more becomes incarnate, only this time as a woman. Julie, the only begotten daughter, has a deeply loving Jewish-American father, and is repeatedly warned by her Dad that she must not heal anyone or perform any miracles. Prior to her miraculous birth, the father took the time to read the New Testament and learn about Jesus' life and fate. The result is the father's insistence that his daughter never display her healing powers, no matter how much she longs in compassion to do so. The reason isn't hard to find. If "they" discover" she is performing miracles and claiming to be God's daughter, "they" will kill her. Such divinely given gifts are a blessing, but they are also a deep and awful responsibility. Peter and John understand not only that the gift does not originate with them, but also that it is a gift that must be used only in the name of and with the guidance of Christ their Lord.
In Psalm 4 the words of pain and humiliation are so vivid as to be experienced in the reading of them. In our contemporary setting, I am struck by how important it is for Americans to recognize that our victory in Iraq and our presence in Iraq are humiliating for the Iraqi people irregardless of whether they wanted Saddam Hussein toppled or not. In our naivete and enthusiasm, we forge ahead into other lands and cultures without sufficient knowledge and insight to recognize that our arrival is not an unmitigated asset to the people we meet. There is much that is of value and from which we could learn from the citizens of Iraq. There is much that we offer: sexualized television commercials, trivial game and reality shows, a large part of our apathetic population choosing to abstain from voting in our free elections, and the hardworking drive to earn more and possess more. We assume we have so much to offer. We fail to recognize that we have much to learn and that some of what we might learn from Iraq, Iran, and other Arabic countries would enhance our own sense of the importance of strong family ties and support, the importance of hospitality, the importance of a disciplined prayer life, and the importance of living life at a sane enough pace to relish it on a day-to-day basis.
I wonder if all folks in the pews this Sunday will automatically follow your statement about our living in a post-Enlightenment and post-Christian era. You may need to remind people that the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries was a time when rational thinking, objective thought, and scientific experimentation and categorization became central to the way humans understand our world. Moreover, some may not know what you mean by post-Christian, which I interpret to mean we can't assume we live in a Christian culture or that all modern, first world nations are Christian in culture and values. Rather, we live in a time in which there are multiple faith options and faith systems and a much broader view of ways to discover truth or God. In the post-Christian era there is an assumption that no one religion possesses all the answers, but people have the right to believe as they choose. Such a notion would have left Peter and John speechless, of course, not to mention causing John Calvin to light the fire of heresy for any who dared trek through Geneva expounding such a notion. Nevertheless, we are not first century Christians or 16th century Church Reformers. In the 21st century we live as Resident Aliens, a concept Dr. Will Willimon, dean of Duke Chapel, articulated in his book of the same title. Christians can no longer consider ourselves the norm of society. Rather, we need to see ourselves as residents living in a culture alien to our faith, a culture that needs the good news of our faith, a culture that may even be hostile to our faith. Thus, the post-Christian world isn't all that different from the world encountered by the apostles in Acts.
As for "too good to be true," I agree with you that few people really grasp Christianity and the message of sin named and forgiven that Jesus Christ ordains. For most of us, it may be a flitting insight, an emotional blip at a spiritual retreat, or at the birth of a child, or when someone we love is spared a grave illness. We glimpse Christ, glimpse Christ's good news, but we have a very hard time believing it day in and day out. The best analogy I can think of for the message Peter shares is that of falling in love. When one falls in love, one is excited, joyous, hopeful, and happy. When one falls in love, one is also baffled by what it is about one's self that could possibly be lovable to the one who loves. "If he only knew what a jerk I really am." "If she had any idea how cranky I am in the mornings," we think. Yet we discover a catalog of our vices and unlovable characteristics doesn't deter the one who loves us, because he or she loves all of us, loves us because we are who we are. God loves us that same way: clear-eyed, steadfast, and without demanding a personality overhaul.
Thanks for your work on these texts, Tim. You've provided much rich material for preaching.
George Murphy responds: The "too good to be true" theme is an appropriate one in a time in which there has been a lot of disappointment and cynicism. For those who are more sophisticated (or think they are), any good news can be deconstructed or dismissed as special pleading by one interest or another. So a straightforward emphasis on the truth of the Easter message and its implications is needed.
At the same time, we ought to remember that there are a lot of gullible people, including gullible Christians, and perhaps a tendency among some not to realize how radical a claim that of the resurrection of Jesus is. In an important sense it isn't something that should be easy to believe, as if raising the dead required just some minor tweaking of the way the world normally works. As Bonhoeffer puts it, "The fact that Christ was dead did not mean the possibility of the resurrection, but its impossibility; it was the void itself, it was the nihi negativum. There is absolutely no transition or continuity between the dead and the resurrected Christ except the freedom of God which, in the beginning, created his work out of nothing."
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall/Temptation (Macmillan, 1959), p. 19.
A claim that some arbitrary person who had said or done nothing in particular and whose life had no significant historical connections had been raised from the dead should be greeted with skepticism. The claim that the God of Israel who created the universe out of nothing raised a man who was crucified because of his proclamation of the Kingdom of God is another matter. It is the total claim that has to be evaluated.
So while we don't want simply to encourage doubt, we want people to realize what a tremendous thing it is to believe the message that Jesus has been raised, and that it really demands a change in the whole way we see the world. We might recall, e.g., Billy Graham's statement in 1969 when President Nixon said that the week of the first moon landing was the most important week since the creation of the world. Graham dissented politely, calling attention to the week in which Jesus died and rose again.
And it is the fact that Jesus was raised which makes this good news. The gospel for this Sunday does picture Jesus proving to the disciples that he really is risen, but what makes this good news - and not merely strange and amazing news - is that it is Jesus who has been raised from the dead. The marks of the cross which he displays demonstrate that it is the one who was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" who is victorious over death. And that means that the kind of love and faithfulness which he showed throughout his life has been vindicated.
(It should be noted - though probably not in a sermon - that there is some question about the inclusion of Luke 24:40 in which Jesus shows his hands and his feet. But in view of the manuscript evidence it seems that the United Bible Societies Greek Text is much too cautious in attaching "a very high degree of doubt" to the verse.)
Timothy Cargal responds to George Murphy: Thanks to George for his comments. What I hoped to do was to show that the Good News ("gospel") of Easter is not just that "Christ is risen indeed," but that the power of God that raised Christ remains active in the world by the Spirit. That is why I put considerable emphasis on the psalm and briefly treated the epistle so that it would not seem that the miraculous claims of healing (Acts) and resurrection (Luke) are the only "good news." In some ways it is too easy for modern Christians to assert belief in the miraculous claims because we have pigeonholed them in the past (Christ is raised; the lame back then were healed); such claims don't weigh in on the nitty-gritty of modern life. It is there that I agree with George. But I hope it is apparent that the sermon is about more than just resurrection; if it is not apparent, then I know that it is too late at this point to fix it.
Regarding the parenthetical textual note George makes, I would advise against its inclusion. George is certainly correct that there is a longstanding debate about the textual authenticity of Luke 24:40. However, the reference to Jesus displaying his hands and his feet (and thus implicitly his wounds) is made already in v. 39, where there are no textual difficulties regarding their inclusion. Luke 24:39 is enough to support the references in the sermon, and so there is no point in muddying the waters with the intricacies of text criticism. (For the record, I would side with the UBS committee against George in seeing v. 40 as dubious - in part because of the redundancy it introduces with v. 39)
Putting the Sermon to Work
by Wesley Runk
One of the things that has always stuck with me was the way the apostles (in those days the followers or disciples) hung out together. They were a diverse group, but with their love for Jesus being the common thread they also came to care for each other. I am especially impressed about the fact that after Jesus was crucified they hid out together. I have never been a hunted man, but if I were I would look for a place where no one else would be. After seeing the resurrected Jesus they went back to their old haunts and shared conversation over a fish fry.
One of the things missing in many of our congregations is the lack of male gatherings and hangouts. Growing up in a church that had a men's club made me understand how special it was to hang out together. True, some of the time they played softball or cards, and occasionally assisted the women in the rummage sale. But for the most part they fixed things around the church and parsonage and assisted each other when it came time to paint the house or put up a new fence. They were always eager to welcome someone new and make them feel at home.
The women were also good at doing this, but in a different way. They had projects. They made quilts, cooked dinners, attended to the sick by bringing in dinners and taking care of one another's kids. They took turns assisting families with youngsters who had polio or who had sons and daughters serving in the military. I remember once when my mother was hospitalized for more than eight weeks, the women took turns providing the meals every day, washing the clothes and ironing them and coming in to clean the house. Through that time we came to know how much people really did care for us.
The "mega-churches" have found this out and provide all of the small group ministries, which represent caring for the community. They don't need a big brother-big sister program, for they are already immersed in it.
Our worship experience sometimes limits the idea of fellowship to the "passing of the peace." I heard someone remark the other day that some people didn't get it. During the passing of the peace they were actually talking about how much they missed seeing each other and setting up a time to get together. "Didn't they know this was a time to share the peace of Jesus with one another." Pardon me.
The quarantine being put in place in some areas due to the SARS scare reminded me of the work once done by the dean of Hamma School of Theology. In the 1930s Dean Flack was quarantined, as were most of the citizens of Springfield, Ohio. Since he could not get out he sat down with a phone book and called as many people as possible that lived within a geographical area. When the quarantine was over Dean Flack had organized a church in Springfield, Ohio. It lives on to this day.
Speaking of fellowship and relating it to our church's ministry, I remember a man, Ken was his name, who loved to get things done around the church. He was never very good at anything he volunteered for, but he would always be the first one to volunteer. One time while we were talking he told me how years ago he grew tired of things failing for lack of a volunteer. He decided at that point that he would accept the task and then go find the right person to do it. Often the person Ken asked told him that he would have volunteered but he did not want to be responsible for the whole project. Ken didn't mind the responsibility and he loved meeting new people. Sometimes his needs took him out of the congregation, and he would find someone with no church connections to do the job. Many of those people became associated with the congregation in time.
In one congregation the pastor asked each of his 12 councilpersons to put together a table of eight people prior to a program. It was their responsibility to select at least two people they did not know well as part of their table. The other four could be friends if they liked. The result was 96 people attending a soup and sandwich meal prior to an evening service. That, along with the number of people who did not come to eat, added up to their highest attendance ever for a series of Lenten worship experiences.
If you have access to a lake, large pond, or park by a river, plan a Galilean service this summer. Preach from a boat, have a fish fry (chicken works also), and encourage your members to bring a friend. Now is the time to plan it and think of as many responsibilities as you can think of people. Encourage other people to bring their boats and canoes and share the experience with friends and strangers alike. (Don't forget the life preservers.)
Related Illustrations
There's a story from the life of Francis of Assisi that's built on the line from this Sunday's Acts reading, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."
Francis was visiting the Vatican as the guest of the Pope. The pontiff was personally leading the humble friar through the Vatican treasury, pointing out with pride the many ornate artworks of gold and silver. "See," said the Pope, "no longer must the Church say, 'Silver and gold have I none!'"
To which Francis is said to have replied, "Yes, but can it still say, 'Stand up and walk'?"
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Robert Farrar Capon speaks of the "... unhappy truth that the world is full of fools who won't believe a good thing when they hear it ... we will sooner accept a God we will be fed to than one we will be fed by."
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We are in a war between dullness and astonishment. The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer Good News, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life-changing, it is life-enhancing. Jesus doesn't change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore, he changes them into nice people! If Christianity is simply about being nice, I'm not interested.
-- Robert Farrar Capon
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Hildegard of Bingen, 12th century mystic, counseled her spiritual directees to be "juicy people," folks who are so filled with wonder and curiosity, with lusty appetites and high spirits, that they embrace life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with a burly, grinning bear hug. To be juicy is to be: a fearlessly joyous optimist, a troublemaker tirelessly afflicting the comfortable, a passionate lover of good talk and tasty food, an anonymous prophet hovering over the cosmological riddle, a frequent violator of the ordinance against indecent exposure of the heart, and a guerrilla in the insurrection against Dream Molesters everywhere."
-- Rich Heffern, Daybreak Within: Living in a Sacred World (Forest of Peace, 1998).
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Eugene Peterson tells of witnessing the birth of his granddaughter, the first time he had ever been permitted into a delivery room (fathers in the delivery room had not been the practice when his own children had been born):
I have climbed mountain peaks that gave me views of glaciated mountains in wave after wave of ranges, but none of those breathtaking vistas was comparable to seeing that baby enter the world; I have heard the most delicate and exquisite birdsong and some of the best musicians in the world, but no sounds rivaled the cry of that baby.
I was a latecomer to this experience that is common to most fathers today and common to the human race as a whole. Does anyone ever get used to this? I was captured by the wonder of life, the miracle of life, the mystery of life, the glory of life.
The day after the birth I was in the grocery store getting some vegetables and grains for the family. There were several mothers shopping up and down the aisles with young children in tow - many of them were snarling and snapping at the over-lively, curiosity-filled, energy-splattering kids. I wanted to grab the mothers, embrace them, "Do you realize what you have done? You have given birth to a child, a child - this miracle, this wonder, this glory? You're a Madonna! Why aren't you in awe and on your knees with the magi, with the shepherds?" Luckily I restrained myself; "Madonna" probably would not have had the same meaning for them as it had for me.
-- Eugene Peterson, "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: I. The Play of Creation," in Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought, June/July 2000, pp. 7-8.
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If a dead man is raised to life, all men spring up in astonishment. Yet every day one that had no being is born, and no man wonders, though it is plain to all, without doubt, that it is a greater thing for that to be created which was without being than for that which had being to be restored. Because the dry rod of Aaron budded, all men were in astonishment; every day a tree is produced from the dry earth ... and no man wonders ...
Five thousand men were filled with five loaves; every day the grains of seed that are sown are multiplied in a fullness of ears, and no man wonders. All wondered to see water once turned into wine. Every day the earth's moisture, being drawn into the root of the vine, is turned by the grape into wine, and no man wonders. Full of wonder then are all the things which men never think to wonder at, because they are by habit become dull to the consideration of them.
-- Pope Gregory I (St. Gregory the Great), Moralia.
Worship Resources
by Chuck Cammarata
CALL TO WORSHIP (Monologue)
A man came to office the other day. He sat down and said to me, "I hear you speak of 'The Good News' all the time. Tell me, what is this news?" I told him of the God who created us beautiful and gave us paradise; of the freedom we use to rebel against God; of the consequences of sin; of the glorious sacrifice God made in sending Jesus to die for us; of the news that our sins are wiped away and new life is given us; and that it is all a free gift.
He sat in silence a moment, thinking, and then said to me, "No, I don't buy it. It's too good to be true."
Come, let us celebrate the too-good-to-be-true news that forgiveness has been given, sin is overcome, and everlasting life is ours. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LEADER: Why is it that the good news doesn't knock us to our knees in gratitude?
PEOPLE: WHY ARE WE NOT DANCING?
LEADER: Why do we seem so blasé about it?
PEOPLE: WHERE ARE THE HALLELUJAHS?
LEADER: The tambourines and drums?
PEOPLE: WHY AREN'T THE BELLS PEALING?
LEADER: Is it because we don't think of ourselves as sinners?
PEOPLE: DO WE HAVE A BIT OF THE PHARISEE IN US?
LEADER: Are we the older son who couldn't understand the party his father threw when
the prodigal son returned home?
PEOPLE: O FATHER, FORGIVE US FOR FORGETTING
LEADER: That each of us is guilty before you.
PEOPLE: EACH OF US IS DESERVING OF CONDEMNATION,
LEADER: Of exile from Your kingdom,
PEOPLE: OF DEATH.
LEADER: And then,
PEOPLE: WHEN OUR HEARTS HAVE BEEN BROKEN BECAUSE OF OUR SIN,
LEADER: When we have come to our senses,
PEOPLE: THEN, REMIND US OF THE LOVE
LEADER: That forgives,
PEOPLE: AND FORGETS,
LEADER: And gives new life.
PEOPLE: PRAISE GOD FOR THE LOVE OF LOVES.
LEADER: AMEN.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
The words are old - millennia old. The stories have been told countless times. We've heard it all before, but still, Lord, they are the words of life. Light them up for us this morning, enliven them, that they might guide our clouded minds and feed our hungry hearts. We ask it in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
God of grace and mercy, meet us in our disappointments and grant us peace in our uncertainties. Help us when we look too much for the world and its resources to meet our needs, and too little from your rich storehouse of goodness. Help us when we linger too long over our failures and too short over your forgiveness. Grant that we might learn to see the power of good news at work in our world, even as the nightly news seeks to contradict it. Bless us with the hope that comes from knowing you and dwelling in your presence. Amen.
INTRODUCTION TO THE OFFERING
Congratulations! You have won!! Really! All who are in Christ are winners. You are made new. New life is yours. Eternal, abundant, marvelous life. New hearts have been implanted in you. Your minds are being renewed. The great adventure has begun! So - let us - in Christ - respond accordingly.
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Gracious God - no amount of offering is enough to say thank you for the gift you have given. We cannot begin to repay, but we ask that you take these offerings now and make of them what you will. And we ask that you give us hearts that are ever more aware of the priceless gift you have given, that we may become men and women who live with a deep sense of the gift we have received. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Depart now in the peace of the Lord which heals us, the grace of God which encourages us, the hope of the Spirit that enlivens us, and the warmth of this fellowship that reminds us that we live and breathe by the goodness of God's love. Amen.
HYMNS AND SONGS
"Lord of the Dance"
"Amazing Grace"
"Rock of Ages"
Children's Sermon
by Wesley Runk
Luke 24:36b-48
Text: While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" (v. 41)
Object: a box of cereal, a bowl, and a pitcher of milk
Good morning, boys and girls. I would like to begin this morning by asking you a very big question: "What one thing would make you the happiest person in the world?" (let them answer) Think about it for a moment. Ask yourself the question: "What would make me the happiest person in the world?"
While you are thinking about that question, I want to tell you a story about Jesus and his disciples. One day, after Jesus had been resurrected, the disciples were getting ready to have breakfast on the beach. Have you ever been to the beach for breakfast? (let them answer) They had started a fire with some driftwood they had found. They also had some really fresh fish, which had been recently caught in the Sea of Galilee. Have you ever eaten fish for breakfast? (let them answer) Not many of us eat fish for breakfast, but then none of us are fishermen.
The group of disciples were having a conversation about their experiences with the resurrected Jesus. It was different than before. Jesus wasn't a part of the group every day, 24 hours a day. Instead, Jesus would show up while they were walking down the road or while they were in a room that was locked from the inside. One moment he was not there and the next moment he was. One day they said they had walked with him for several hours and they did not know it was him until they stopped to eat, and while they were eating they recognized Jesus. Right then, in the midst of this conversation, they looked up and a person said to them, "Peace be with you." They couldn't believe it. They were shocked and very afraid. Some of them thought they had seen a ghost.
Jesus was aware that he had frightened his disciples, and he said to them in a very quiet voice that they should relax and be calm. "It is me," Jesus said. "Why don't you believe it is I after seeing me several times since my resurrection? Take another look again at my hands and feet." He still had the marks that the nails and spear had made in his body when he was crucified. He also told them that ghosts don't have flesh and bones.
Do any of you have ghosts around your house? (let them answer) Ghosts don't have skin and bones. Then Jesus really proved it to them that he was real. He asked one of them for something to eat. The disciple closest to the fire reached over and took a piece of fish from the grill and handed it to Jesus. While everyone watched he ate it. I can tell you they were one excited group of people. Now everyone believed. It was their Jesus. He did die and he was buried in a tomb, but he was alive. He not only looked like Jesus - he also ate like Jesus.
Do you remember that I asked you at the beginning of the sermon what would make you the happiest person on earth? You were going to think about it. Do you think you would be about the happiest person on earth if you were sitting at your table some morning, eating your breakfast of cereal, and when you looked up there was Jesus sitting in a chair across from you? (let them answer) I think I would be so happy I would not know what to do. I hope I could keep my mouth shut so that I could let him talk. I would have so many questions and my heart would be pumping so fast I would not know what to do.
Maybe it will happen to one of us some day. If it does happen I promise you we will be like the disciples. We will be filled with joy and our hearts will beat so fast that we will not have a word to say, except, "Thank you, Jesus, for coming to my house and sharing your life with me." Amen.
The Immediate Word, May 4, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 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., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
The word gospel means "good news," but how good is it? Is there enough "good news" in the gospel we preach to make a difference in a world filled with the bad news of war, intransigent viruses, murder, and despair? And what of our disappointments born of the many times we have grasped at what seemed like good news only to find it was not as good as it seemed?
For the May 4 installment of The Immediate Word, guest writer Timothy Cargal, pastor of Northwood Presbyterian Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, draws from the lectionary gospel text, Luke 24, profound insights into the true character of the good news we seek. Timothy also helps us to find these same good news connections in the other lectionary readings for this week.
As always, team members offer insightful comments, there are relevant illustrations, rich worship resources, and a children's sermon. We also offer this week a new section we are calling "Putting the Sermon to Work."
Too Good to Be True?
by Timothy B. Cargal
Luke 24:36b-48; Acts 3:12-19
One of the most common emotions of these days is disappointment. The problem is not just one of so much bad news in our mass media - war and terrorism in the Middle East, the discovery of the body of a missing woman who had been murdered with her soon to be born child, new incidents of violence in our schools. No, our disappointment stems not just from the unmitigated evils in our world. Very often the positive news is linked with negative aspects. Progress is made, but far more still remains to be done. A victory is achieved, but the costs prove to be much higher than initially thought, or perhaps there are unforeseen negative consequences. Our disappointment emerges perhaps even more from a creeping cynicism that even the good news proves "too good to be true."
We have little difficulty, then, in relating to the reaction of Jesus' disciples when he appeared in resurrected glory among them: "in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering" (Luke 24:41). Like the crowds at the temple gate confronted by a man "walking and leaping and praising God" - someone they had passed by so many times before as a lame man dependent upon their alms - we too are both "astonished" and "wonder" what the catch might be (Acts 3). We have been conditioned to believe that such news is always "too good to be true."
But the Good News of the Easter gospel is also true. That is why Jesus goes to such great lengths to overcome the disciples' doubts. That is why Peter and John try to convince the crowds that they will see this man from now on as a testament to God's power rather than to the power of disease. That is why we need to proclaim to our congregations that, despite our usual experience with the world, the gospel is not "too good to be true."
Setting the Context for the Sermon
The news of the past few weeks has regularly mixed the good directly with the bad. Certainly this has been the case in the "war news" out of Iraq. The United States, the people of Iraq, and the world have gladly accepted the collapse of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, but we have become increasingly aware of the human and cultural costs incurred in achieving that result. However, relying too heavily on "war news" in this sermon would in fact undercut the point that our cynical disappointment is the normal state for many people. What are needed are examples at once more mundane in their broader settings than war and yet as prominent in the headlines as the reports from Iraq.
Scientists have announced the near-completion of the next phase in the human genome project, and heralded its promise for combating disease and disability. But the most prominent genetic news has been about the identification of the "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome" (SARS) virus, a disease that seems to be progressing toward international epidemic proportions. The good news for Americans is that so far there have been a limited number of cases and no deaths from SARS in the United States. Yet almost every day brings new revelations and concerns about the spread of the disease in rural parts of China, restrictions of activities in major urban areas like Beijing and Hong Kong, and the World Health Organization's warnings about travel not only to East Asia but to Toronto, Canada. We are left to wonder, is SARS waxing or waning?
The police chief of Washington, DC announced in the last week that the number of violent assaults in the first quarter of the year had decreased from the previous year, but that the number of murders was up by 27 percent. He explained this apparent incongruity by noting that while there have been fewer shootings, what shootings there have been tend to be much more violent. Instead of victims being shot once or twice, many receive as many as seven or eight gunshot wounds. The mortality rate is obviously much higher with such extensive injuries, and so the murder rate has risen right along with it. Similar statistics have been released showing the same pattern of fewer assaults overall but increased murders in Los Angeles and other cities. Although it appears that fewer people are committing violent crimes, those who do have even less regard for human life.
A new Palestinian cabinet promising hope for reviving the peace process is finally near approval. After weeks of posturing and striving for political advantage, Yasser Arafat consented to the cabinet slate offered by the new Palestinian premier, Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen). The key sticking point had been whether the officials responsible for internal security matters would have a make-up suggesting a crackdown on Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians. Once the cabinet is approved by the Palestinian parliament, it is hoped that the "road map to peace" will be released by the United States, Britain, Russia, and the European Union. Yet less than 24 hours after Arafat's announcement, there was a suicide bomb attack carried out by a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an offshoot of the Fatah organization of which both Arafat and Abbas are members.
No doubt there are other examples of more localized interest to the preacher's congregation. What are the paths toward progress in the community or even the congregation itself where one step forward seems to be met with two steps back?
Reflecting on the Lessons - Acts 3:12-19
Stripped of its context by the limits of the lectionary reading, this lesson requires an introduction that provides the occasion for Peter's sermon. Although they may not recall the circumstances from what is contained in his remarks, many parishioners who learned the song beginning "Silver and gold have I none" as a child in Sunday School will immediately recognize the story. Peter and John have passed "a man lame from birth" as they passed through the "Beautiful Gate" to the temple precincts. We can only imagine how many times before that they, like so many others, had passed the man by, perhaps without even a notice. But this time Peter commands "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" (who may himself have passed by him on earlier occasions) that the man is to "stand up and walk." Not only does the man fulfill the command, but he begins "leaping and praising God" as well.
It is hardly surprising that the crowds in the vicinity "were filled with wonder and amazement" and were "utterly astonished." From Peter's remarks ("as though by our own power or piety"), we can surmise that their surprise was in no small measure a reaction to who had provided the impetus to this miracle. How could it have been, of all people, these hardscrabble fishers from Galilee that were responsible for such a wonderful turn of events?
Peter defers the ultimate responsibility from himself and his companion to Christ. Yet while that may make the miracle more understandable for those of us who are Christians, Peter recognizes that it makes it no easier for the crowds to accept. After all, the people of Jerusalem had "rejected the Holy and Righteous One," and indeed been complicit in killing "the Author of life." Nevertheless, God had raised this Jesus from death and he was healing people by means of that same divine power.
Certainly that was good news for the formerly lame man, but what did it portend for those who had been complicit in Jesus' crucifixion? Peter's sermon is not about compounding guilt or instilling fear, but about proclaiming the gospel. If they will repent and turn to God, their sins will be "wiped out" as surely as the disease that had afflicted the man at the gate. Although that may have struck them as "too good to be true," Peter insists it is real.
Psalm 4
The movement in the emotional tone of this psalm traces the similar path to what is being suggested for this sermon. It begins with a plea for help from God in a time of distress, proceeds through a rebuttal to those who do not think that God can intervene on behalf of God's people, and ends on a note of confidence that the Lord is indeed with the psalmist.
The psalm opens (v. 1) with a plea for God to hear and respond to the psalmist's prayer. The description of past assistance from God as providing "room when I was in distress" suggests that trouble is experienced as being pressed in upon from all sides. The pressures of life have once again built up, and the psalmist is looking for renewed deliverance.
The central portion of the psalm (vv. 2-5) is an apostrophe directed to those who are the cause of distress in the psalmist's life. The charge is that they are bringing false accusations that bring shame on the psalmist's honor. In cultures where honor and shame are primary values that establish one's standing within the community, the consequences of such attacks are dire. Moreover, many in that culture believed that honor was itself a sign of God's favor, and shame an indication of God's displeasure. They would interpret the psalmist's shame as proof of God's judgment. But the psalmist, however, asserts the status of one of the Lord's "faithful" who will be heard by God, and suggests that those who are bringing these false allegations need to begin to offer "right sacrifices" (that is, align themselves properly with God's justice) rather than "vain words" of slander.
The psalmist next acknowledges that there are many others who feel the same sense of pressure and disappointment with life (vv. 6-7). They are likewise longing to "see some good," to feel "the light of your face shin[ing] on us, O Lord!" Those who have, like the psalmist, offered "right sacrifices" and placed their "trust in the Lord" have experienced "gladness" exceeding even the joy of a bumper harvest. The power of that image may be somewhat lost on those of us who live in a society of so much abundance, but would have held a powerful impact on people struggling to remain even at the level of subsistence.
The final verse suggests that God has indeed fulfilled the psalmist's prayer. No longer in "distress," the psalmist can both "lie down and sleep in peace" because God has provided safety and security. What had seemed "too good to be true" for both the adversaries and the many longing for God's goodness has become the psalmist's reality.
1 John 3:1-7
The news that is "too good to be true" in the epistle lesson is "that we should be called children of God." Indeed, it is such wonderfully good news that we are not even able yet to comprehend what it fully means. Only once Christ has been revealed and we are found to "be like him" in his resurrected state - only then will we begin to understand this Good News.
The response of those who have yet to experience the Father's love is of course the usual cynicism and skepticism. Those who shun God's love could not comprehend Christ, and they will not be able to comprehend the others who are God's children (v. 1b).
Frankly, it can also be a little hard for Christians to believe. Maybe that is because we know how far removed our actions can be from the standards of God's justice exhibited by Christ. Maybe some day it will be true of us as well. No, the elder insists, "we are God's children now." And when that truth genuinely takes hold of us then we seek to bring our conduct into line with his.
Luke 24:36b-48
One of the great lines in all of scripture is "in their joy they were disbelieving." If we could get to the point where all our disbelief was caused by joy, then the life of faith would be much easier. As it is, however, we can still strengthen our faith if we can get beyond that portion of our disbelief that does arise from the cynicism that it is just too good to be true.
Luke 24 recounts a variety of reasons why the disciples had a difficult time believing that Jesus had indeed been raised from the dead. The "eleven" do not believe the women's report of what they were told at the tomb because it "seemed to them an idle tale" (v. 11). Those who encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus did not believe because "their eyes were kept from recognizing him" (v. 16) until the moment that he "took bread, blessed, and broke it" (vv. 30-31). When Jesus appears to them in Jerusalem, at first they don't believe because they were "terrified," thinking that "they were seeing a ghost" (v. 37). So Jesus offers himself to their touch, and shows them the wounds from his crucifixion. Yet still "in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering" (v. 41).
But Jesus refuses to allow them to remain in their disbelief, even disbelief caused by joy. To prove the reality of the resurrection he eats fish while standing among them, and to assure its lasting effect "he opened their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45). The experience alone might later be doubted, but grounded in an understanding of the scriptures that makes it clear that God's plan had always included not only the suffering of the Passion but also the glory of the resurrection, then they would be empowered not only to believe for themselves but also be "witnesses of these things" (v. 48).
Developing the Sermon
There are many reasons why modern Christians may themselves have difficulty fully believing the promise of the gospel. Post-Enlightenment sophistication may cause us to doubt the idle tales of gullible ancients. Post-Christendom believers may yet be too scripturally illiterate to understand the depth of the scriptural and theological tradition, or to recognize the spiritual reality of the sacraments. Or perhaps they have simply adopted a psychologically defensive cynicism. The promises of the gospel are just "too good to be true" - at least for now. Maybe some day in God's eschatological future, when we like those first Easter disciples will see the resurrected Jesus "as he is," then we will be able to believe. But for now, even in our joy we are disbelieving and still wondering. It is all just too good to be true.
The goal of the sermon is to show that the promise of the gospel is true already, that it is reality now and not just in an as yet unrealized future. To accomplish this goal, the sermon can look at the reasons we have been culturally acclimated to doubt any good news. We doubt the gospel, the ultimate Good News, because we have defensive doubts about all good news. The promises of the world often fail to become reality. But the promises of the gospel are God's promises, not the world's.
Like the psalmist, we will need to remind our congregations about the times when they have had, as the hymn writer phrased it, "a foretaste of glory divine." These examples need to be as solid as the fish Jesus ate with his disciples. Anything too abstract, too alien to common experience, may just confirm that what is true for others may still be too good to be true for me. When have our eyes been opened to spiritual reality like the disciples in Emmaus? Carter Shelley and Wesley Runk offer useful examples to prod your thinking in this regard in their responses below.
Finally, following the example of Jesus, the sermon must avoid judging any disbelief. It is, after all, a summons to faith, which the scriptures tell us "is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). If at the end of the sermon we have done nothing more than root all remaining disbelief in "joy" and "wonder," then that is something.
Team Comments
Carter Shelley responds: Tim, you've done a terrific job linking the lectionary texts with the theme of "Too Good to Be True." I particularly like the application of Psalm 4, because the voice of the Psalmist there is plaintive enough to sound familiar to anyone who feels downtrodden and beleaguered and in desperate need of both hope and God.
As for the disciples' response to Jesus' appearance, I like the three ways you identify their inability to grasp what is before their very eyes. 1) Women weren't considered credible enough to serve as witnesses in court cases, why should the male disciples believe them? 2) The unnamed disciples traveling on the road to Emmaus don't expect to meet Jesus on their journey, so why would they recognize him? One has to wonder how often we miss Christ's real presence among us because we don't expect him and so don't recognize him either. 3) I love the way you blend the disciples' joy and disbelief. Just because they are pre-Freudian and -Jungian men (sic) doesn't mean they won't doubt their own eyes when the One they see before them is "too good to be true."
Reflecting a little on the furor Peter's healing of the crippled man may cause, I call to mind Only Begotten Daughter, a book by science fiction writer James Morrow in which God once more becomes incarnate, only this time as a woman. Julie, the only begotten daughter, has a deeply loving Jewish-American father, and is repeatedly warned by her Dad that she must not heal anyone or perform any miracles. Prior to her miraculous birth, the father took the time to read the New Testament and learn about Jesus' life and fate. The result is the father's insistence that his daughter never display her healing powers, no matter how much she longs in compassion to do so. The reason isn't hard to find. If "they" discover" she is performing miracles and claiming to be God's daughter, "they" will kill her. Such divinely given gifts are a blessing, but they are also a deep and awful responsibility. Peter and John understand not only that the gift does not originate with them, but also that it is a gift that must be used only in the name of and with the guidance of Christ their Lord.
In Psalm 4 the words of pain and humiliation are so vivid as to be experienced in the reading of them. In our contemporary setting, I am struck by how important it is for Americans to recognize that our victory in Iraq and our presence in Iraq are humiliating for the Iraqi people irregardless of whether they wanted Saddam Hussein toppled or not. In our naivete and enthusiasm, we forge ahead into other lands and cultures without sufficient knowledge and insight to recognize that our arrival is not an unmitigated asset to the people we meet. There is much that is of value and from which we could learn from the citizens of Iraq. There is much that we offer: sexualized television commercials, trivial game and reality shows, a large part of our apathetic population choosing to abstain from voting in our free elections, and the hardworking drive to earn more and possess more. We assume we have so much to offer. We fail to recognize that we have much to learn and that some of what we might learn from Iraq, Iran, and other Arabic countries would enhance our own sense of the importance of strong family ties and support, the importance of hospitality, the importance of a disciplined prayer life, and the importance of living life at a sane enough pace to relish it on a day-to-day basis.
I wonder if all folks in the pews this Sunday will automatically follow your statement about our living in a post-Enlightenment and post-Christian era. You may need to remind people that the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries was a time when rational thinking, objective thought, and scientific experimentation and categorization became central to the way humans understand our world. Moreover, some may not know what you mean by post-Christian, which I interpret to mean we can't assume we live in a Christian culture or that all modern, first world nations are Christian in culture and values. Rather, we live in a time in which there are multiple faith options and faith systems and a much broader view of ways to discover truth or God. In the post-Christian era there is an assumption that no one religion possesses all the answers, but people have the right to believe as they choose. Such a notion would have left Peter and John speechless, of course, not to mention causing John Calvin to light the fire of heresy for any who dared trek through Geneva expounding such a notion. Nevertheless, we are not first century Christians or 16th century Church Reformers. In the 21st century we live as Resident Aliens, a concept Dr. Will Willimon, dean of Duke Chapel, articulated in his book of the same title. Christians can no longer consider ourselves the norm of society. Rather, we need to see ourselves as residents living in a culture alien to our faith, a culture that needs the good news of our faith, a culture that may even be hostile to our faith. Thus, the post-Christian world isn't all that different from the world encountered by the apostles in Acts.
As for "too good to be true," I agree with you that few people really grasp Christianity and the message of sin named and forgiven that Jesus Christ ordains. For most of us, it may be a flitting insight, an emotional blip at a spiritual retreat, or at the birth of a child, or when someone we love is spared a grave illness. We glimpse Christ, glimpse Christ's good news, but we have a very hard time believing it day in and day out. The best analogy I can think of for the message Peter shares is that of falling in love. When one falls in love, one is excited, joyous, hopeful, and happy. When one falls in love, one is also baffled by what it is about one's self that could possibly be lovable to the one who loves. "If he only knew what a jerk I really am." "If she had any idea how cranky I am in the mornings," we think. Yet we discover a catalog of our vices and unlovable characteristics doesn't deter the one who loves us, because he or she loves all of us, loves us because we are who we are. God loves us that same way: clear-eyed, steadfast, and without demanding a personality overhaul.
Thanks for your work on these texts, Tim. You've provided much rich material for preaching.
George Murphy responds: The "too good to be true" theme is an appropriate one in a time in which there has been a lot of disappointment and cynicism. For those who are more sophisticated (or think they are), any good news can be deconstructed or dismissed as special pleading by one interest or another. So a straightforward emphasis on the truth of the Easter message and its implications is needed.
At the same time, we ought to remember that there are a lot of gullible people, including gullible Christians, and perhaps a tendency among some not to realize how radical a claim that of the resurrection of Jesus is. In an important sense it isn't something that should be easy to believe, as if raising the dead required just some minor tweaking of the way the world normally works. As Bonhoeffer puts it, "The fact that Christ was dead did not mean the possibility of the resurrection, but its impossibility; it was the void itself, it was the nihi negativum. There is absolutely no transition or continuity between the dead and the resurrected Christ except the freedom of God which, in the beginning, created his work out of nothing."
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall/Temptation (Macmillan, 1959), p. 19.
A claim that some arbitrary person who had said or done nothing in particular and whose life had no significant historical connections had been raised from the dead should be greeted with skepticism. The claim that the God of Israel who created the universe out of nothing raised a man who was crucified because of his proclamation of the Kingdom of God is another matter. It is the total claim that has to be evaluated.
So while we don't want simply to encourage doubt, we want people to realize what a tremendous thing it is to believe the message that Jesus has been raised, and that it really demands a change in the whole way we see the world. We might recall, e.g., Billy Graham's statement in 1969 when President Nixon said that the week of the first moon landing was the most important week since the creation of the world. Graham dissented politely, calling attention to the week in which Jesus died and rose again.
And it is the fact that Jesus was raised which makes this good news. The gospel for this Sunday does picture Jesus proving to the disciples that he really is risen, but what makes this good news - and not merely strange and amazing news - is that it is Jesus who has been raised from the dead. The marks of the cross which he displays demonstrate that it is the one who was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" who is victorious over death. And that means that the kind of love and faithfulness which he showed throughout his life has been vindicated.
(It should be noted - though probably not in a sermon - that there is some question about the inclusion of Luke 24:40 in which Jesus shows his hands and his feet. But in view of the manuscript evidence it seems that the United Bible Societies Greek Text is much too cautious in attaching "a very high degree of doubt" to the verse.)
Timothy Cargal responds to George Murphy: Thanks to George for his comments. What I hoped to do was to show that the Good News ("gospel") of Easter is not just that "Christ is risen indeed," but that the power of God that raised Christ remains active in the world by the Spirit. That is why I put considerable emphasis on the psalm and briefly treated the epistle so that it would not seem that the miraculous claims of healing (Acts) and resurrection (Luke) are the only "good news." In some ways it is too easy for modern Christians to assert belief in the miraculous claims because we have pigeonholed them in the past (Christ is raised; the lame back then were healed); such claims don't weigh in on the nitty-gritty of modern life. It is there that I agree with George. But I hope it is apparent that the sermon is about more than just resurrection; if it is not apparent, then I know that it is too late at this point to fix it.
Regarding the parenthetical textual note George makes, I would advise against its inclusion. George is certainly correct that there is a longstanding debate about the textual authenticity of Luke 24:40. However, the reference to Jesus displaying his hands and his feet (and thus implicitly his wounds) is made already in v. 39, where there are no textual difficulties regarding their inclusion. Luke 24:39 is enough to support the references in the sermon, and so there is no point in muddying the waters with the intricacies of text criticism. (For the record, I would side with the UBS committee against George in seeing v. 40 as dubious - in part because of the redundancy it introduces with v. 39)
Putting the Sermon to Work
by Wesley Runk
One of the things that has always stuck with me was the way the apostles (in those days the followers or disciples) hung out together. They were a diverse group, but with their love for Jesus being the common thread they also came to care for each other. I am especially impressed about the fact that after Jesus was crucified they hid out together. I have never been a hunted man, but if I were I would look for a place where no one else would be. After seeing the resurrected Jesus they went back to their old haunts and shared conversation over a fish fry.
One of the things missing in many of our congregations is the lack of male gatherings and hangouts. Growing up in a church that had a men's club made me understand how special it was to hang out together. True, some of the time they played softball or cards, and occasionally assisted the women in the rummage sale. But for the most part they fixed things around the church and parsonage and assisted each other when it came time to paint the house or put up a new fence. They were always eager to welcome someone new and make them feel at home.
The women were also good at doing this, but in a different way. They had projects. They made quilts, cooked dinners, attended to the sick by bringing in dinners and taking care of one another's kids. They took turns assisting families with youngsters who had polio or who had sons and daughters serving in the military. I remember once when my mother was hospitalized for more than eight weeks, the women took turns providing the meals every day, washing the clothes and ironing them and coming in to clean the house. Through that time we came to know how much people really did care for us.
The "mega-churches" have found this out and provide all of the small group ministries, which represent caring for the community. They don't need a big brother-big sister program, for they are already immersed in it.
Our worship experience sometimes limits the idea of fellowship to the "passing of the peace." I heard someone remark the other day that some people didn't get it. During the passing of the peace they were actually talking about how much they missed seeing each other and setting up a time to get together. "Didn't they know this was a time to share the peace of Jesus with one another." Pardon me.
The quarantine being put in place in some areas due to the SARS scare reminded me of the work once done by the dean of Hamma School of Theology. In the 1930s Dean Flack was quarantined, as were most of the citizens of Springfield, Ohio. Since he could not get out he sat down with a phone book and called as many people as possible that lived within a geographical area. When the quarantine was over Dean Flack had organized a church in Springfield, Ohio. It lives on to this day.
Speaking of fellowship and relating it to our church's ministry, I remember a man, Ken was his name, who loved to get things done around the church. He was never very good at anything he volunteered for, but he would always be the first one to volunteer. One time while we were talking he told me how years ago he grew tired of things failing for lack of a volunteer. He decided at that point that he would accept the task and then go find the right person to do it. Often the person Ken asked told him that he would have volunteered but he did not want to be responsible for the whole project. Ken didn't mind the responsibility and he loved meeting new people. Sometimes his needs took him out of the congregation, and he would find someone with no church connections to do the job. Many of those people became associated with the congregation in time.
In one congregation the pastor asked each of his 12 councilpersons to put together a table of eight people prior to a program. It was their responsibility to select at least two people they did not know well as part of their table. The other four could be friends if they liked. The result was 96 people attending a soup and sandwich meal prior to an evening service. That, along with the number of people who did not come to eat, added up to their highest attendance ever for a series of Lenten worship experiences.
If you have access to a lake, large pond, or park by a river, plan a Galilean service this summer. Preach from a boat, have a fish fry (chicken works also), and encourage your members to bring a friend. Now is the time to plan it and think of as many responsibilities as you can think of people. Encourage other people to bring their boats and canoes and share the experience with friends and strangers alike. (Don't forget the life preservers.)
Related Illustrations
There's a story from the life of Francis of Assisi that's built on the line from this Sunday's Acts reading, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."
Francis was visiting the Vatican as the guest of the Pope. The pontiff was personally leading the humble friar through the Vatican treasury, pointing out with pride the many ornate artworks of gold and silver. "See," said the Pope, "no longer must the Church say, 'Silver and gold have I none!'"
To which Francis is said to have replied, "Yes, but can it still say, 'Stand up and walk'?"
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Robert Farrar Capon speaks of the "... unhappy truth that the world is full of fools who won't believe a good thing when they hear it ... we will sooner accept a God we will be fed to than one we will be fed by."
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We are in a war between dullness and astonishment. The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer Good News, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life-changing, it is life-enhancing. Jesus doesn't change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore, he changes them into nice people! If Christianity is simply about being nice, I'm not interested.
-- Robert Farrar Capon
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Hildegard of Bingen, 12th century mystic, counseled her spiritual directees to be "juicy people," folks who are so filled with wonder and curiosity, with lusty appetites and high spirits, that they embrace life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with a burly, grinning bear hug. To be juicy is to be: a fearlessly joyous optimist, a troublemaker tirelessly afflicting the comfortable, a passionate lover of good talk and tasty food, an anonymous prophet hovering over the cosmological riddle, a frequent violator of the ordinance against indecent exposure of the heart, and a guerrilla in the insurrection against Dream Molesters everywhere."
-- Rich Heffern, Daybreak Within: Living in a Sacred World (Forest of Peace, 1998).
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Eugene Peterson tells of witnessing the birth of his granddaughter, the first time he had ever been permitted into a delivery room (fathers in the delivery room had not been the practice when his own children had been born):
I have climbed mountain peaks that gave me views of glaciated mountains in wave after wave of ranges, but none of those breathtaking vistas was comparable to seeing that baby enter the world; I have heard the most delicate and exquisite birdsong and some of the best musicians in the world, but no sounds rivaled the cry of that baby.
I was a latecomer to this experience that is common to most fathers today and common to the human race as a whole. Does anyone ever get used to this? I was captured by the wonder of life, the miracle of life, the mystery of life, the glory of life.
The day after the birth I was in the grocery store getting some vegetables and grains for the family. There were several mothers shopping up and down the aisles with young children in tow - many of them were snarling and snapping at the over-lively, curiosity-filled, energy-splattering kids. I wanted to grab the mothers, embrace them, "Do you realize what you have done? You have given birth to a child, a child - this miracle, this wonder, this glory? You're a Madonna! Why aren't you in awe and on your knees with the magi, with the shepherds?" Luckily I restrained myself; "Madonna" probably would not have had the same meaning for them as it had for me.
-- Eugene Peterson, "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: I. The Play of Creation," in Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought, June/July 2000, pp. 7-8.
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If a dead man is raised to life, all men spring up in astonishment. Yet every day one that had no being is born, and no man wonders, though it is plain to all, without doubt, that it is a greater thing for that to be created which was without being than for that which had being to be restored. Because the dry rod of Aaron budded, all men were in astonishment; every day a tree is produced from the dry earth ... and no man wonders ...
Five thousand men were filled with five loaves; every day the grains of seed that are sown are multiplied in a fullness of ears, and no man wonders. All wondered to see water once turned into wine. Every day the earth's moisture, being drawn into the root of the vine, is turned by the grape into wine, and no man wonders. Full of wonder then are all the things which men never think to wonder at, because they are by habit become dull to the consideration of them.
-- Pope Gregory I (St. Gregory the Great), Moralia.
Worship Resources
by Chuck Cammarata
CALL TO WORSHIP (Monologue)
A man came to office the other day. He sat down and said to me, "I hear you speak of 'The Good News' all the time. Tell me, what is this news?" I told him of the God who created us beautiful and gave us paradise; of the freedom we use to rebel against God; of the consequences of sin; of the glorious sacrifice God made in sending Jesus to die for us; of the news that our sins are wiped away and new life is given us; and that it is all a free gift.
He sat in silence a moment, thinking, and then said to me, "No, I don't buy it. It's too good to be true."
Come, let us celebrate the too-good-to-be-true news that forgiveness has been given, sin is overcome, and everlasting life is ours. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LEADER: Why is it that the good news doesn't knock us to our knees in gratitude?
PEOPLE: WHY ARE WE NOT DANCING?
LEADER: Why do we seem so blasé about it?
PEOPLE: WHERE ARE THE HALLELUJAHS?
LEADER: The tambourines and drums?
PEOPLE: WHY AREN'T THE BELLS PEALING?
LEADER: Is it because we don't think of ourselves as sinners?
PEOPLE: DO WE HAVE A BIT OF THE PHARISEE IN US?
LEADER: Are we the older son who couldn't understand the party his father threw when
the prodigal son returned home?
PEOPLE: O FATHER, FORGIVE US FOR FORGETTING
LEADER: That each of us is guilty before you.
PEOPLE: EACH OF US IS DESERVING OF CONDEMNATION,
LEADER: Of exile from Your kingdom,
PEOPLE: OF DEATH.
LEADER: And then,
PEOPLE: WHEN OUR HEARTS HAVE BEEN BROKEN BECAUSE OF OUR SIN,
LEADER: When we have come to our senses,
PEOPLE: THEN, REMIND US OF THE LOVE
LEADER: That forgives,
PEOPLE: AND FORGETS,
LEADER: And gives new life.
PEOPLE: PRAISE GOD FOR THE LOVE OF LOVES.
LEADER: AMEN.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
The words are old - millennia old. The stories have been told countless times. We've heard it all before, but still, Lord, they are the words of life. Light them up for us this morning, enliven them, that they might guide our clouded minds and feed our hungry hearts. We ask it in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
God of grace and mercy, meet us in our disappointments and grant us peace in our uncertainties. Help us when we look too much for the world and its resources to meet our needs, and too little from your rich storehouse of goodness. Help us when we linger too long over our failures and too short over your forgiveness. Grant that we might learn to see the power of good news at work in our world, even as the nightly news seeks to contradict it. Bless us with the hope that comes from knowing you and dwelling in your presence. Amen.
INTRODUCTION TO THE OFFERING
Congratulations! You have won!! Really! All who are in Christ are winners. You are made new. New life is yours. Eternal, abundant, marvelous life. New hearts have been implanted in you. Your minds are being renewed. The great adventure has begun! So - let us - in Christ - respond accordingly.
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Gracious God - no amount of offering is enough to say thank you for the gift you have given. We cannot begin to repay, but we ask that you take these offerings now and make of them what you will. And we ask that you give us hearts that are ever more aware of the priceless gift you have given, that we may become men and women who live with a deep sense of the gift we have received. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Depart now in the peace of the Lord which heals us, the grace of God which encourages us, the hope of the Spirit that enlivens us, and the warmth of this fellowship that reminds us that we live and breathe by the goodness of God's love. Amen.
HYMNS AND SONGS
"Lord of the Dance"
"Amazing Grace"
"Rock of Ages"
Children's Sermon
by Wesley Runk
Luke 24:36b-48
Text: While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" (v. 41)
Object: a box of cereal, a bowl, and a pitcher of milk
Good morning, boys and girls. I would like to begin this morning by asking you a very big question: "What one thing would make you the happiest person in the world?" (let them answer) Think about it for a moment. Ask yourself the question: "What would make me the happiest person in the world?"
While you are thinking about that question, I want to tell you a story about Jesus and his disciples. One day, after Jesus had been resurrected, the disciples were getting ready to have breakfast on the beach. Have you ever been to the beach for breakfast? (let them answer) They had started a fire with some driftwood they had found. They also had some really fresh fish, which had been recently caught in the Sea of Galilee. Have you ever eaten fish for breakfast? (let them answer) Not many of us eat fish for breakfast, but then none of us are fishermen.
The group of disciples were having a conversation about their experiences with the resurrected Jesus. It was different than before. Jesus wasn't a part of the group every day, 24 hours a day. Instead, Jesus would show up while they were walking down the road or while they were in a room that was locked from the inside. One moment he was not there and the next moment he was. One day they said they had walked with him for several hours and they did not know it was him until they stopped to eat, and while they were eating they recognized Jesus. Right then, in the midst of this conversation, they looked up and a person said to them, "Peace be with you." They couldn't believe it. They were shocked and very afraid. Some of them thought they had seen a ghost.
Jesus was aware that he had frightened his disciples, and he said to them in a very quiet voice that they should relax and be calm. "It is me," Jesus said. "Why don't you believe it is I after seeing me several times since my resurrection? Take another look again at my hands and feet." He still had the marks that the nails and spear had made in his body when he was crucified. He also told them that ghosts don't have flesh and bones.
Do any of you have ghosts around your house? (let them answer) Ghosts don't have skin and bones. Then Jesus really proved it to them that he was real. He asked one of them for something to eat. The disciple closest to the fire reached over and took a piece of fish from the grill and handed it to Jesus. While everyone watched he ate it. I can tell you they were one excited group of people. Now everyone believed. It was their Jesus. He did die and he was buried in a tomb, but he was alive. He not only looked like Jesus - he also ate like Jesus.
Do you remember that I asked you at the beginning of the sermon what would make you the happiest person on earth? You were going to think about it. Do you think you would be about the happiest person on earth if you were sitting at your table some morning, eating your breakfast of cereal, and when you looked up there was Jesus sitting in a chair across from you? (let them answer) I think I would be so happy I would not know what to do. I hope I could keep my mouth shut so that I could let him talk. I would have so many questions and my heart would be pumping so fast I would not know what to do.
Maybe it will happen to one of us some day. If it does happen I promise you we will be like the disciples. We will be filled with joy and our hearts will beat so fast that we will not have a word to say, except, "Thank you, Jesus, for coming to my house and sharing your life with me." Amen.
The Immediate Word, May 4, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 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., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
