Preacher: Gordon Jeff
Readings:
Colossians 3, 1-4
John 20, 1-18
Let’s plunge straight in and start from the incontrovertible
fact that after Easter Day those first disciples – those first disciples
changed from being defeated and terrified, hiding away from the authorities, running
away in the Garden of Gethsemane, keeping well away from the crucifixion, Peter
denying his Master … those frightened men and women were changed into bold
witnesses, unafraid of arrest, punishment and even death for proclaiming their
faith. Something had happened.
This astounding transformation is something which all those
cultured despisers of religion, of which there are many these days, something
which those cultured despisers of religion choose to ignore – if indeed they
are aware of it, as most are total ignoramuses about the faith anyhow. Something had happened.
What exactly it was that happened on that first
Easter Day we shall never in this life know for certain – even the earliest
accounts differ – and Christians today hold widely differing ideas of just what
did happen - but the change in the disciples cannot be denied. Something had happened.
Now, the Christian path is often called ‘The Way’, and the way
that Jesus lived his life meant that far from that life ending on the Cross, his
way of life was indestructible.
Indeed, what Easter day is saying is that the best is yet to come,
beyond what we call death.
The Jews were ambivalent about death and what lay
beyond. The priestly caste of the
Sadducees did not believe in any life beyond death. The Pharisees did, but the evidence of the Old Testament and the
Psalms suggests a shadowy sort of half-life, hardly to be looked forward
to. E.g. Psalm 88, ‘I lie among the
dead … whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your Power’, or again,
‘Will you work wonders for the dead, or will the shades rise up again to praise
you?’ Easter Day tells us something
far more positive.
Those cultured despisers of religion, again, like to claim
that because Christians look forward to a fullness of life beyond this one, it
leads to not caring about this world.
But nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus himself lived a life of service and caring and loving,
which led to the fullness of life beyond.
And you and I, too, are here to play our part in helping God’s kingdom
to come on earth as it is in heaven.
But in the Resurrection, however we understand that
mysterious event, the disciples realised that the best was yet to come. And it was that realisation that the best
was yet to come which gave them the courage to stand up and go out to change
the world, just as they themselves had been changed.
I think that some Christians, particularly those who have
been brought up as such, and who have never lost their faith, tend to grow and
mature steadily and gradually in the faith.
But in many who come to the faith from outside or later on in life, we
can see a very real change, sometimes so pronounced that it almost seems like a
move from death to life.
And this, I believe, we must see as a gift from God. Christians have always proclaimed that
Easter itself was the work of God. But
you and I do have our part to play in making it easier for God to live
that new, risen life in us and through us – or, as it is sometimes expressed,
you and I need to claim that gift of new life. And I believe our part in receiving or claiming that gift of God
has three main strands – you will
probably want to add others:
Firstly, in claiming or receiving that gift which is
potentially already there, there is the hard, often humdrum, life of service to
others, that loss of selfishness in trying to create a better world. But, as I go on saying, each act of
unselfishness leads to a growth in us of that new, fuller, risen life –
with each act of unselfishness and service we become more fully alive
people. And recent research in the
area of positive psychology has proved this to be true – unselfish people are happier
people.
Then, if we are to follow the Way reasonably accurately, we
need to be ‘taking in’, as it were.
Obviously this is where our prayer and reading and study come in. But I think there’s more to it. And that’s what I call ‘awareness’. It’s easy to live our lives on automatic
pilot, enclosed in our everyday activities.
But the more we can cultivate a simple awareness of what is around us, a
greater sensitivity to what surrounds us, the greater will be our realisation
of the reality of a God who can be manifested anywhere, in anyone, in
any thing, in any situation, if only we keep our eyes and ears
open.
And then thirdly, in our part in taking hold of God’s gift
of resurrection life, there is the sadly neglected practice of simple
contemplation. By this I mean that
most of the time our minds are spinning around so madly that God can hardly get
a look in. As one writer recently
expressed it, when we try to be silent there is an ‘inner chaos going on in our
heads, like some wild cocktail party of which we find ourselves the embarrassed
host’ (repeat)
If we could allow ourselves even a few minutes every day
just to try to quieten our minds by concentrating on our breathing, and perhaps
repeating a single word or phrase whenever we started getting involved again in
hosting that wild cocktail party, perhaps God could get a bit of a look-in, and
establish a little more of that resurrection life in us.
So, to round off, I tried to start from the one
incontrovertible fact that something happened on the first Easter Day,
traditionally expressed as ‘God raised Christ from the dead’, which totally
transformed those first disciples.
And then we’ve tried to explore just a little how you and I
might make a claim on that new life, how we might help God to work that
transformation in us as well. And I’ve
suggested, 1. the life of self-giving service, study and prayer, 2. a greater awareness of all that surrounds
us from moment to moment. As many
masters of prayer express it, God is not out there as a sort of special Being
in Outer Space. Rather, we live in
God. Think on that. The Jesus of John’s gospel says ‘Dwell
in my love’ and again, ‘Dwell in me as I in you’. We live in God.
And then 3. making a gift of time to God when we try to
clear our minds of that ceaseless, remorseless activity. The Psalms again (46), ‘Be still and know
that I am God’. (repeat).
And the more that in the stillness we come to know God, the
more we shall receive the gift of sharing in that resurrection life which knows
no ending and, in a famous image from C S Lewis, that resurrection life is like
a book which never ends, and in which each chapter is even better than the
last.
Or like a mountain where you never reach the summit, but
where the views become more and more breathtaking every time you stop and look
back.
Thanks be to God.