Fr Mike's Message 4/18/21

The Gospel:  Luke 24:36b-48
Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Prayer:  Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application.  Amen

Message:  So, there is it that familiar phrase: "Peace be with you." This time it is Jesus and he is seeking to reassure and encourage the disciples. Jesus even goes as far as to say to them “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?"

Jesus then goes on to seek to prove that it is actually him. He offers his hands and his feet as evidence of who he is. Apparently, this did not satisfy them because our scripture this morning goes on to say: "While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

The disciples are obviously struggling to comprehend just who Jesus is. Jesus patiently seeks a variety of ways to assure them and tries to allow his presence to bring calm and peace into the situation.

He does not attempt to teach them or to impart to them the information he wants to pass on until he is sure that they are over their initial anxiety. Jesus understands that until they are calm they will not hear. Until they are at peace they will not understand. Until they have dealt with their anxiety they will not accept what he has to say. Until they have put aside their doubt they will not be able to do what he needs them to do.

Unless the disciples have had the opportunity to process their emotions and to reconcile themselves to the fact that this is Jesus they will not be able to move forward. What Jesus shares with the disciples in this encounter is important. In fact, it has been used throughout the centuries following this encounter to shape and influence the very fabric of the community which we have come to know as the church. The work that the disciples were called to, and which they passed on to their fellow believers, the community that they developed based on these words are evident in our world today."

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you - that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

Jesus confirms the prophecies from throughout the Old Testament which proclaimed the role and work of the Messiah. He then declares to them that he has done all that has been written in "the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms." That it has been fulfilled in him.

His death, and resurrection, are the fulfillment of all the expectations, the hopes, and all the dreams of the people of Israel. Not just that but it also fulfills all the hopes, expectations, and dreams of all humankind. He goes on to tell them that this miraculous event is to be proclaimed to the whole world - to all nations. He says this work is to begin in Jerusalem. But he expects that the word will be spread throughout the whole world. He says to the disciples that he expects them to be witnesses. So that raises the question: "what is the role of a witness?" Well, we all understand that a witness speaks to the "truth of what they know." A witness in our modern court system is called to speak about what they know. They are called on to proclaim, to anyone who will listen, what they know and what they believe.

So here we are hearing this Gospel this morning and we may well ask: "so what am I supposed to get out of this Scripture?" I do not claim to have the complete answer to that question but let me share some thoughts about what it might have to say to us.

First of all, I would suggest that we need to spend some time considering what emotions a story like this stirs up in us?

The disciples were dealing with their fear and their uncertainty. We may not have that same reaction. Quite possibly we may hear this story and be rather perplexed by the events, and the disciple's reactions. We may well think it odd or disconcerting that the disciples needed to be reassured and encouraged. Or we may find ourselves being rather "off-hand" about this story. This may well be what we put in the category of "one of those: hard to believe Bible stories about Jesus." We have to listen to them because they come up in the lectionary, but, honestly, we don't put much credit in them. We are dealing with a different set of emotions, from the disciples aren't we,  when we hear this story. The disciples were there, and if we accept the story that has been passed down, they were fearful and doubtful. We have our own doubts, but our doubts are around the credibility of the account. We are no sure it is even true. We are not sure we want to be seen as people who believe these kinds of stories. We are not sure we want our friends and our neighbors to know us as "those kind of people." Those who are a little gullible or a little naïve.

But we are faced with the same issue. Or perhaps Jesus is faced with the same issue. Before Jesus can get to the point of this story with us he has to deal with our doubts. He has to deal with what we are afraid of. He has to help us deal with our anxiety.

He has to confront us and ask the question, as he did with the disciples at the time "What are you afraid of?"

Remember what I said earlier: The disciples are obviously struggling to comprehend just who Jesus is. Jesus patiently seeks a variety of ways to assure them and tries to allow his presence to bring calm and peace into the situation.

He does not attempt to teach them or to impart to them the information he wants to pass on until he is sure that they are over their initial anxiety. Jesus understands that until they are calm they will not hear. Until they are at peace they will not understand. Until they have dealt with their anxiety they will not accept what he has to say. Until they have put aside their doubt they will not be able to do what he needs them to do.

Unless the disciples have had the opportunity to process their emotions and to reconcile themselves to the fact that this is Jesus they will not be able to move forward. Jesus understands that about us as well.

Jesus understands that until we are calm we will not hear. Until we are at peace we will not understand. Until we have dealt with our anxiety we will not accept what he has to say. Until we have put aside our doubt we will not be able to do what he needs us to do.

Unless we have had the opportunity to process our emotions and to reconcile ourselves to the fact that this is Jesus we will not be able to move forward. How can we be a witness until we know for ourselves what we know and what we believe? Remember what I said about a witness earlier: "A witness speaks to the "truth of what they know." A witness is called to speak about what they know. They are called on to proclaim, to anyone who will listen, what they know and what they believe.

As we move through this "Season of Easter" in 2021 can I encourage you to consider what you know and what you believe? Perhaps you may have to spend some time examining what you are afraid of? What is it that blocks you from being at peace, without anxiety, and confident to witness to what you know and believe?

Would we be willing to say to the Lord: "I want to know what the disciples knew, I want to believe what the disciples believed." Lord open my mind and help me put aside my doubts and my fears and to accept your word.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.