Village Shepherd

It's always interesting to ask children whether they have any idea of what they will do with their lives. Some are very sure and answer immediately, saying that they will become a nurse or a doctor or a teacher or whatever they have set their heart on. Others have absolutely no idea. And yet others seek fame and fortune by aspiring to become a pop star or a football star or an actor.

At this stage in childhood, the world is theirs and their life is a blank sheet waiting to be written upon. They can foresee no limitations or difficulties and the thought that they may not be capable of achieving their dreams simply doesn't arise. At this stage, anything can happen.

Later, as they grow up and learn that life isn't quite that simple, all sorts of problems and self-doubts and difficulties begin to intrude, so that by the time some of these children become teenagers, they may already have consigned their dreams to the dustbin.

But there are other times too when anything can happen, and these occasions happen throughout life. These are times of excitement and potential, like being short-listed for a job or the wedding day or the birth of a first child, or even an exciting dinner dance or a glamorous holiday or a chance meeting in the street. Even the inspiration produced by a good book or a film or a work of art can produce unexpected potential. Occasions like any of these can change the mood and the feeling and suddenly initiate another time when anything can happen.

And this is what happened to the disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus. The crucifixion of their leader caused an all-time low, the consigning of their dreams to the dustbin. This Jesus who had held out such hope and such promise was not only dead, but had been executed by the state as a criminal and had died under God's curse. No wonder they were huddled together, frightened and miserable. But then Jesus had appeared to them, alive in some different way which they were unable to explain and unable to properly understand.

The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus continued to occur for six weeks after his death and that period must have been a huge "anything can happen" time. The world had been turned upside down. One of the two certainties of life -- birth and death -- had been completely overthrown by the resurrection. Jesus had died but there was no doubt that he was very much alive and if that can happen, then anything can happen.

But despite all that, at this stage the disciples were still stuck in the old thought patterns. The first thing that occurred to them was that now, Jesus could overturn the Roman empire and restore self-rule to Israel. They assumed that he would become the political Messiah that the Jews had been expecting for generations. And a political leader unlimited by time or space would be an amazing force to be reckoned with.

Jesus quickly puts them straight. He tells them to forget all that, for that is not their mission. They will receive power, a power like nothing they've known before, but the purpose of the power will not be what they expected. The purpose of the power will not be political, for it won't be human power and will be quite unlike human power. This power will be made perfect in human weakness and human vulnerability, just as the power of Jesus shone from the cross, where he hung helpless. The purpose of the power will be to enable the disciples to witness to Jesus throughout the known world.

Clearly this was one of the most important messages that Jesus had ever had for his disciples, for after he had delivered the message to them he disappeared from their sight and his post-resurrection appearances ceased. The six weeks of physical appearances ended and Jesus was never seen again on earth in the same way. But after this, he was experienced in a new way by his disciples and began to be experienced by a much wider body of people.

As his disciples obeyed his last words and spread out across the known world, witnessing to Jesus and starting Christian churches, so the people to whom they witnessed began to experience Jesus for themselves and the power grew in them. And this has continued throughout history. As people today experience the risen Jesus, so his power is able to grow in them.

The power continues to be manifest through certain conditions. It requires a real experience of the deity, whether that experience is identified as Jesus or as God the Father or as Holy Spirit. It requires a genuine humility, because those who have human power tend to rely on that human power rather than on God. It requires the expectancy that something can and will happen. And it requires the willingness to allow anything to happen and to go with it, whatever the cost in terms of loss of status and ridicule and ostracism. Jesus warned that any who would gain their life must first lose it.

But when all these conditions are right within a true believer, then they experience the power of God, divine power. And then even today, anything can happen.