The earthiness of Resurrection touch
Commentary
The reaction that first Sunday after Easter was worth remembering. So many people couldn't believe that the senior pastor was preaching. Most people assume it will be a "low Sunday" and that someone other than the senior pastor will be preaching. Several people were surprised to find out I wasn't on vacation and more surprised to find out I would be preaching. I have to be honest and tell you that the initial reasons for preaching weren't that profound. As a solo pastor for years, there were seldom other options. But now I was a senior pastor, my children were in school, and any spring vacation had already passed. So when the church staff shared in the planning for worship that Sunday after Easter, we scheduled another sermon from the senior pastor.
In truth, there should be no "low Sunday" this Sunday after Easter. Historically, the celebration of the Resurrection was a season in the church, not just a day. They called it "the Great Fifty Days of Easter." Easter Sunday should be viewed as the beginning of the resurrection celebration, not the end of Lent. Somehow, our well-worn church practices might reinforce a different idea. The crescendo in the liturgical life of the church ought to hit on Easter Sunday and be held until Pentecost. No, it is not a discussion about who offers the sermon. It is, however, an indictment of any sense that the church slows down after that initial celebration of the Resurrection.
The lectionary texts for the Second Sunday of Easter point to the church's experience of the Risen Christ just after the tomb has been found empty and Mary has heard her name called. In the familiar account about Thomas, the experience of the earliest Christians in community described in Acts, and the descriptions of the beloved community offered in First John, the church hears once again of the presence of the Risen Christ. That Easter morning acclamation of "He is risen!" is followed by the words of Thomas that affirm "My Lord and my God!" That Easter presence continues in the community's shared life and in the quality of the fellowship that bears the name of Christ. The Risen Lord invited the touch of Thomas there in his hand and his side. With Christ's promised presence, the community gives witness to that resurrection touch in the most down-to-earth ways.
The Sundays and weeks after Easter bring a whole lot of the ordinary back into the church's life. The crowds are gone. The trumpets are silent. The lilies have been distributed to shut-ins. By God's grace, however, the ordinary is still Eastertide. Amid the earthiness of everyday life come those Sundays after Easter, where our communities still yearn for that resurrection touch as we proclaim, "He is risen!" and as we gather to affirm that this Christ who calls us by name is "Our Lord and our God!"
Acts 4:32-35
Early in the book of Acts, Luke offers a specific description about life in the church in the aftermath of Pentecost. After that description of the first Pentecost and the Holy Spirit pouring out upon the community, Luke writes that "awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common ..." (2:43-44). The next such description of community's common life comes in the assigned text at the end of the fourth chapter. In between, the reader encounters Peter and John and their healing at the Beautiful Gate (3:1-10). Two of Peter's sermons then follow, one at Solomon's Portico (3:11-26) and one after the arrest of Peter and John (4:5-12). Both sermons proclaim Christ as the one God raised from the dead. The conflict with the authorities was also sparked because of this claim about the resurrection of the dead (4:2). Through it all, Peter and John were seeking to tell what they had seen and heard. In response to that proclamation and in the aftermath of Peter and John's release, the community of believers came together to pray and worship (4:23-31).
In response to that witness to the resurrection of Jesus offered by John and Peter, Luke then offers a second description of the church gathered together. As that initial glimpse of life can be understood in relation to Pentecost, so too can this snapshot Luke offers be grasped in light of the proclamation about the Risen Christ. For "with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all" (v. 33). Luke offers the details of shared resources and common ownership (v. 32). The neediest in the community are cared for as others pooled their resources for the sake of all (vv. 33-35). And as if to give evidence of one who shared, Luke names Joseph of Cyprus, called Barnabus by the disciples. He is named as a living example of the sharing that went on in the community of faith in response to the resurrection of Jesus and the proclamation of that gospel word.
The larger story of Ananias and Sapphira comes in chapter 5. More arrests and sermons are to follow as well. For now, however, here in chapter 4, Luke chooses to describe the very practical details of life. The sharing of goods and the care of the needy might not qualify as ordinary, but Luke highlights part of everyday life in that first community of faith called together and defined by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. On Pentecost, similar details seem to point to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Just these few chapters later, those details are offered in light of the early church's proclamation about the Resurrection.
1 John 1:1--2:2
The first chapter of 1 John contains image after image that may catch the preacher's eye. The author presents both a theology of the atonement and a call to life in community. Familiar, yet theologically loaded terms abound; such as light, word of life, testify, and fellowship. The abundance of information is all presented within the framework of the author's senses -- what can be touched, and seen, and heard. The letter of 1 John presumes the specifics of community in the lives of those who will receive it.
With words of the first verse, the epistle begins with proclamation, "We declare to you what was from the beginning." Through the first paragraph, such language of proclamation is emphasized again and again. The community receives what the author has seen and heard and touched and now declares and testifies. The content is that "word of life" (v. 1). The word is both life and life eternal experienced in the shared fellowship of the community and fellowship both with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.
The content of the message is affirmed in verse 5ff. Once again, through hearing and proclaiming, the word tells of the light of God that illumines life in fellowship. While the affirmations of community come first, the author quickly moves toward the discussion of the cleansing of all sin through the blood of Jesus Christ (v. 8). The "if-then" clauses of verses 8-19 chart the course of confession, forgiveness, and new life in Christ.
In the first part of chapter 2, the author begins with an affectionate reference to the readers: "my little children." Such an intimate reference is followed by a vast theological statement related to the efficacy of the work of Christ as an atoning sacrifice not only for "our sins" but also for "the sins of the whole world." In such a very few words, 1 John takes readers from the intimacy of life in community to a proclamation of the expiation of the sins of the world. Jesus, described here as a righteous advocate before God the Father, provides the foundation both of our salvation by grace and our life in the community to which we have been called.
A statement of purpose (v. 4) reflects that content of both community and atonement. "We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." Manuscripts disagree as to whether it is "our joy" or "your joy." What is not questioned is that thought from the author about completed joy. The intent of this gospel proclamation, the word of life that can be heard and seen and touched, is to define the very end product of joy. Putting it all together leads to the conclusion that joy is experienced amid the forgiveness of sin shared in community while leaning into the promise of everlasting life in Christ.
John 20:19-31
I imagine that the church turns to Doubting Thomas every year in the weeks after Easter. The lectionary stops there every year in every cycle, and it may seem like a challenge for the preacher to breath any new life into the text. The first step toward freshness may come in looking beyond Thomas and at the very least, helping Thomas to lose the nickname. This Upper Room narrative in John that comes on that first Easter evening invites the church to gather around on the Second Sunday of Easter. It is the church's opportunity to gather around the Risen Christ.
Jesus miraculously appears in the room where the door is closed and locked. While offering peace to them in his words, Jesus shows them the visible signs of the less than peaceful final moments of his earthly life. Seeing those scars, the disciples rejoice and greet the Risen Lord. Here in these few verses, the reader comes upon John's version of Matthew's Great Commission and Luke's Pentecost all at once. Jesus sends them out and breathes on them the Holy Spirit right there in the Upper Room (vv. 21-22). With that commission and Spirit, Jesus also bestows on them the power and authority to forgive or to retain sins. In the doctrine of the church, the ability to forgive sins has often been referred to as "the power of the keys." There on Easter evening, John's Gospel portrays Jesus as forming the church in word and Spirit.
Thomas comes on the scene later only asking to see and hear and touch what the others have experienced in the form of the Risen Christ. Though he stands by his claim not to believe, Thomas is still with the community of disciples in the same room a week later. The Risen Christ comes again offering to Thomas that grace-filled touch known to the others. The touch of grace is matched by the Lord's grace-filled words, "Do not doubt, but believe" (v. 27). This Thomas that history so unfairly labels then blurts out the strongest of affirmations, "My Lord and my God!"
John moves toward a conclusion with Jesus offering one more beatitude. In the midst of this narrative that tells of believing and seeing and touching and hearing and receiving, Jesus offers the promise that pertains to the church in every time and place, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (v. 29). The final verses of chapter 20 provide something of the author's editorial comments. The Gospel finishes (with the exception of chapter 21) with a word about signs, belief, and life in his name. It affirms that this Gospel was intended to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
Application
On the Sunday after Easter the church gathers while the sound of the trumpets still echoes off the walls. The feel of the crowds has not yet gone away. However, the church comes together yet again to worship on what for many is a Sunday of low expectations. Easter Day inaugurates an Easter celebration that ought to carry the church for weeks at a time. Instead of allowing the liturgical calendar to slow down a bit between now and Pentecost, the church's witness to the Resurrection ought to affirm that historical practice that everything in the calendar flows into and out of the season of Eastertide.
Each one of the texts affirm the presence of Christ in the earthiness of the church's life. In the care of the needy and the sharing of resources to support the mission of the church, Christ is present (Acts). In the challenges of life together, our experience of community and forgiveness, Christ is present (1 John). And in the shared journeys of faith that swing from doubt to belief and back again, Christ is present (John).
Perhaps the life of faith is more like the Sunday after Easter. Most of us don't find ourselves on the mountaintop of resurrection proclamation week after week. On the contrary, we know more of those low Sundays where we struggle to love one another and hold on to our faith. Instead of celebrating our faith squeezed into overflowing pews, most of us look to offer our feeble praise in sanctuaries half full with sisters and brothers who promise to walk this faith journey with us. So maybe there is a reason that the lectionary invites Thomas to church every year the week after Easter.
Most likely you and I find ourselves somewhere between doubt and belief, yearning to touch and to be touched by the earthiness of resurrection life. The promise of these texts affirms that Christ will meet us there in the ordinary places of life. It is there, in the everydayness of our faith that we cling to the promised presence of Christ. Our affirmation for the Sunday after Easter may be more realistic as well. The resurrection shout may go up on Easter, "He is risen!" but most Sundays we look to cling to one another as we hold on to faith and life and give voice to those words of Thomas, "My Lord and my God."
An Alternative ApplicationActs 4:32-35. The text from the book of Acts reminds us that the church's proclamation about the Resurrection must go beyond words. The community of faith may be called together and identified by the Risen Christ and Christ proclaimed, but resurrection faith is lived out among the faithful in a way that can be seen. The Easter acclamation there in chapter 4 is less about that responsive word, "He is risen." Here the Easter acclamation is more about caring for those in need and sharing the gifts entrusted, all in the name of the Risen Christ.
Years ago I read an article about a church in a nearby county seat. Residents appeared before a town council meeting to express their concern that the church was attracting an unwanted element because of all the social services they were providing. One quote from a speaker at the hearing summed up the attitude: "You folks at the church are just doing too much!"
You don't hear that allegation leveled at the church every day. What a wonderful witness to resurrection hope and the presence of the Risen Christ within the community of faith. When it comes to serving the poor and reaching out to those in need, the church is just doing too much! That affirmation seems to reach much further than any traditional words embedded in the liturgy. For in the liturgy of every life, the church's strongest witness must be in that ministry offered in the name of the Risen Christ.
First Lesson Focus
Acts 4:32-35
This text is one of Luke's descriptions of the life of the very early Jerusalem church. In an encounter with the ruling elders of the Jews, these early Christians, led by Peter, have been admonished to cease their healing and preaching of the resurrection of Jesus. But they have turned aside all attempts to halt their ministry and have continued their active ministry, winning hundreds to the new faith through the work of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:1-31).
There is a tendency in our modern churches, as we read the New Testament, to idealize the life of the early Jerusalem church. We think that must have been a perfect congregation, and so the attempt of some is to try to get back to the life and pattern of the New Testament church and to shape our church life accordingly. Certainly passages like this from Luke feed that tendency. Here we find a description of a Christian congregation whose members are of one heart and soul, who give their testimony with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, who provide for the need of any wanting among them, who have all things in common, and who exhibit great grace among their number. Can there be a more perfect congregation than that?
We know, however, that one of Luke's theological bents is to idealize the Jerusalem church. In Luke's view, that church was made up of the 12 apostles, who were the final authorities. Paul was considered subordinate to them, and at the end of his three great missionary journeys, he returned each time to Jerusalem. If there was a dispute in the Jerusalem church, it was settled in the apostolic council (Acts 15) and overall, harmony ruled, although Luke himself tells us of the betrayal by Ananias in the story following our text. In addition, he tells of Paul's split with Barnabas and Mark, in 15:36-41. Nevertheless, the description we find in our text for the morning is a highly idealized portrait of a congregation that probably never was. We can, however, profit from a careful consideration of the text.
What was it that enabled that early Jerusalem congregation to live in such productive harmony? First of all, they were a small group. Our text is giving no warrant for the structuring of the life of a large social group. This is not a blueprint for a community organization much less for a government, and this is not a propaganda piece for a socialist or communist social order -- which, of course, comes as great relief to us average Americans. Most of us feel very guilty when we read a text like this, because we do not have all things in common, and we do not provide for everyone in our congregation or social circle who has need. We Americans are very generous when it comes to charitable work, and we do lots of good deeds. But basically we remain mostly concerned about our own self-interest, and our charity extends only to the point where it does not endanger or harm our own self-interest. So it is a relief when we hear that the book of Acts is not advocating that we all adopt a socialist or communist form of government. Those types of governments have failed miserably in the past decades, and history has shown that the form of democracy that we practice in the U.S. is about as good as we're going to get in this fallen world.
Second, certainly the little Jerusalem church was enabled to live in harmony because it shared a common cause. They were interested, above all else, in proclaiming the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and what that meant for their lives and the lives of all others. They had been given the commission by their Lord to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, and judging by the stories in Acts of the forms of opposition that they met, they let nothing deter them from that goal. Certainly such singleness of purpose should inform and motivate the life of every congregation today.
Our congregations often forget what we are supposed to be about in the world. Indeed, we enter into long and sometimes learned discussions about what the church is and what it is supposed to be, ending up with definitions that seem to have little relation to Jesus' instructions in the New Testament. Matthew tells us that Jesus' final words to his disciples before he ascended from them were, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Our church curricula and programs sometimes wander far from pursuing that primary goal.
One of the reasons that this and other early congregations bent every effort to take the gospel to the ends of the Mediterranean world was because they believed that they did not have a long time to fulfill their Lord's commands. They were sure that the Lord would return soon to bring in his kingdom and that, therefore, they needed to reach everyone that they possibly could with the saving Good News of the gospel before the second coming of Jesus and the last judgment. We now have lost that sense of urgency. Most do not believe that Jesus Christ is coming again soon, if they believe that he is coming at all, and that part of the Christian creed has been largely ignored. "From whence he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead" -- that is a phrase that is recited but rarely taken to heart. The truth is, of course, that our Lord will come again, that none of us knows the exact time, and that Jesus' words to "watch" and "be prepared" are as relevant now as they were in the time of Acts. But certainly the congregation of our text lived with that sense of mission and urgency.
Of course the main reason they could live in harmony, with such a sense of generosity and purpose, was because they were all the recipients of "great grace." According to Acts, human beings do not do great things or advance the gospel by their own power. The gospel spreads and prospers in this world by the activity of the Holy Spirit, and it is that powerful activity that motivates and guides the life of the early Jerusalem church. So to be a Christian congregation filled with great love, caring for one another's needs, testifying powerfully to the gospel, and carrying out our Lord's command to be his witnesses to all people, our church must constantly through prayer, through worship, through Bible study, and through the form of its actions open itself to the working of God's Spirit, knowing that it is only by walking in that Spirit that our church and any church can truly be the Body of Christ, his witnessing people on earth.
The Political Pulpit
Acts 4:32-35
The Sunday after Easter can be a "downer." This text is a good response, portraying a majestic vision of the unity of all people that Christ's resurrection has established, for God is revealed as having no partiality, as a God who loves all equally. (The First Lesson for Easter Sunday, Acts 4:32-35, expressly highlights this message, as we are reminded how the early Christians shared all things in common.) Breaking down barriers seems to be a theme most everyone with power today says they want. "Multiculturalism" and "globalization" are buzz-words in the bastions of high society (the universities, the media, big business, and politics). Globalization has a more direct impact on people's everyday lives, so I will save multiculturalism for a future column.
Essentially globalization is the termination of all trade barriers and import taxes, the creation of free trade. Given our nation's Republican pro-business ethos, globalization will seem to be just what the world needs. Its proponents contend that as we give businesses the chance to grow without government interference, the poorer nations of the world will be better enabled to share the fruits of Western business and technology. They will be better enabled to "grow" their economies like we have ours.
This standard way of evaluating the dynamics of globalization is a long way from reality, it seems. The various national economies do not start on a level playing field in the free market. The scales are heavily tipped in the direction of the wealthy and in the interests of mega-corporations rooted in wealthy nations.
A few examples of the disparities of globalization can help awaken the sense of justice among your parishioners. To the degree we succeed, perhaps we can begin to bring to public awareness what we are doing to poor nations. This is not what the Easter vision of the unity of all people is about.
We have all heard of the Third World sweatshops that have produced cheaper clothes and cars with an underpaid labor force. Kathie Lee Gifford's line of clothes comes to mind. By opening itself to trade in agricultural products, poor nations in the Southern Hemisphere have virtually abandoned their small farmers. In Mexico, as a result of the NAFTA trade agreement, they have been squeezed out of business by imported agricultural products from the U.S. that have been grown cheaply and massively with the help of government subsidies which the mega-farm lobbies won from Washington. The Mexican poor are getting poorer while rich Americans get richer.
Simple economics is sufficient to clarify how poorer nations are victimized by free trade, with no strings attached. The whole point of capitalism is for the business owner to make a profit. Thus if poorer nations are only importing or only hosting the factories and providing the labor, then the multinational businesses and their host nation (America in most cases) will receive more than they provide the already impoverished nation. Exploiting the impoverished is the outcome of globalization with its present rules.
Of course everywhere capitalism has gone, it has produced wealth and raised living standards. But those in impoverished nations who already possess some wealth, have education, or own the means of production are about the only ones who profit. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the main international agencies charged with managing international trade and aiding developing nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Find (IMF), pressure poor nations to tone down or limit the government safety-net so that increased revenues can be plowed back into business or excess wealth for consumers, rather than be utilized to grow the government and its programs. As a result, the standard of living in most Third World nations is down for the masses, since globalization became a compelling economic force in the 1980s. (Chile, which has defied this trend to smaller government by enlarging its social programs and as a result is enhancing its schools and providing low-income housing subsidies, is a notable exception. Between 1987 and 1998 it cut poverty in half.) Free trade, globalization without safeguards (including government intervention and safeguards to protect the poor), is not impartial enough for the God of Easter who loves all impartially.
There are a number of other insalubrious dynamics of globalization to which I shall return in subsequent columns.
The American church can be an important agent in bringing the abuses associated with globalization to public consciousness. Then perhaps American Christians could mount a movement that through investments, commercial boycotts, and the ballot could change the global economical agenda, to impartialize it a bit more in line with the way God operates.
In truth, there should be no "low Sunday" this Sunday after Easter. Historically, the celebration of the Resurrection was a season in the church, not just a day. They called it "the Great Fifty Days of Easter." Easter Sunday should be viewed as the beginning of the resurrection celebration, not the end of Lent. Somehow, our well-worn church practices might reinforce a different idea. The crescendo in the liturgical life of the church ought to hit on Easter Sunday and be held until Pentecost. No, it is not a discussion about who offers the sermon. It is, however, an indictment of any sense that the church slows down after that initial celebration of the Resurrection.
The lectionary texts for the Second Sunday of Easter point to the church's experience of the Risen Christ just after the tomb has been found empty and Mary has heard her name called. In the familiar account about Thomas, the experience of the earliest Christians in community described in Acts, and the descriptions of the beloved community offered in First John, the church hears once again of the presence of the Risen Christ. That Easter morning acclamation of "He is risen!" is followed by the words of Thomas that affirm "My Lord and my God!" That Easter presence continues in the community's shared life and in the quality of the fellowship that bears the name of Christ. The Risen Lord invited the touch of Thomas there in his hand and his side. With Christ's promised presence, the community gives witness to that resurrection touch in the most down-to-earth ways.
The Sundays and weeks after Easter bring a whole lot of the ordinary back into the church's life. The crowds are gone. The trumpets are silent. The lilies have been distributed to shut-ins. By God's grace, however, the ordinary is still Eastertide. Amid the earthiness of everyday life come those Sundays after Easter, where our communities still yearn for that resurrection touch as we proclaim, "He is risen!" and as we gather to affirm that this Christ who calls us by name is "Our Lord and our God!"
Acts 4:32-35
Early in the book of Acts, Luke offers a specific description about life in the church in the aftermath of Pentecost. After that description of the first Pentecost and the Holy Spirit pouring out upon the community, Luke writes that "awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common ..." (2:43-44). The next such description of community's common life comes in the assigned text at the end of the fourth chapter. In between, the reader encounters Peter and John and their healing at the Beautiful Gate (3:1-10). Two of Peter's sermons then follow, one at Solomon's Portico (3:11-26) and one after the arrest of Peter and John (4:5-12). Both sermons proclaim Christ as the one God raised from the dead. The conflict with the authorities was also sparked because of this claim about the resurrection of the dead (4:2). Through it all, Peter and John were seeking to tell what they had seen and heard. In response to that proclamation and in the aftermath of Peter and John's release, the community of believers came together to pray and worship (4:23-31).
In response to that witness to the resurrection of Jesus offered by John and Peter, Luke then offers a second description of the church gathered together. As that initial glimpse of life can be understood in relation to Pentecost, so too can this snapshot Luke offers be grasped in light of the proclamation about the Risen Christ. For "with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all" (v. 33). Luke offers the details of shared resources and common ownership (v. 32). The neediest in the community are cared for as others pooled their resources for the sake of all (vv. 33-35). And as if to give evidence of one who shared, Luke names Joseph of Cyprus, called Barnabus by the disciples. He is named as a living example of the sharing that went on in the community of faith in response to the resurrection of Jesus and the proclamation of that gospel word.
The larger story of Ananias and Sapphira comes in chapter 5. More arrests and sermons are to follow as well. For now, however, here in chapter 4, Luke chooses to describe the very practical details of life. The sharing of goods and the care of the needy might not qualify as ordinary, but Luke highlights part of everyday life in that first community of faith called together and defined by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. On Pentecost, similar details seem to point to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Just these few chapters later, those details are offered in light of the early church's proclamation about the Resurrection.
1 John 1:1--2:2
The first chapter of 1 John contains image after image that may catch the preacher's eye. The author presents both a theology of the atonement and a call to life in community. Familiar, yet theologically loaded terms abound; such as light, word of life, testify, and fellowship. The abundance of information is all presented within the framework of the author's senses -- what can be touched, and seen, and heard. The letter of 1 John presumes the specifics of community in the lives of those who will receive it.
With words of the first verse, the epistle begins with proclamation, "We declare to you what was from the beginning." Through the first paragraph, such language of proclamation is emphasized again and again. The community receives what the author has seen and heard and touched and now declares and testifies. The content is that "word of life" (v. 1). The word is both life and life eternal experienced in the shared fellowship of the community and fellowship both with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.
The content of the message is affirmed in verse 5ff. Once again, through hearing and proclaiming, the word tells of the light of God that illumines life in fellowship. While the affirmations of community come first, the author quickly moves toward the discussion of the cleansing of all sin through the blood of Jesus Christ (v. 8). The "if-then" clauses of verses 8-19 chart the course of confession, forgiveness, and new life in Christ.
In the first part of chapter 2, the author begins with an affectionate reference to the readers: "my little children." Such an intimate reference is followed by a vast theological statement related to the efficacy of the work of Christ as an atoning sacrifice not only for "our sins" but also for "the sins of the whole world." In such a very few words, 1 John takes readers from the intimacy of life in community to a proclamation of the expiation of the sins of the world. Jesus, described here as a righteous advocate before God the Father, provides the foundation both of our salvation by grace and our life in the community to which we have been called.
A statement of purpose (v. 4) reflects that content of both community and atonement. "We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." Manuscripts disagree as to whether it is "our joy" or "your joy." What is not questioned is that thought from the author about completed joy. The intent of this gospel proclamation, the word of life that can be heard and seen and touched, is to define the very end product of joy. Putting it all together leads to the conclusion that joy is experienced amid the forgiveness of sin shared in community while leaning into the promise of everlasting life in Christ.
John 20:19-31
I imagine that the church turns to Doubting Thomas every year in the weeks after Easter. The lectionary stops there every year in every cycle, and it may seem like a challenge for the preacher to breath any new life into the text. The first step toward freshness may come in looking beyond Thomas and at the very least, helping Thomas to lose the nickname. This Upper Room narrative in John that comes on that first Easter evening invites the church to gather around on the Second Sunday of Easter. It is the church's opportunity to gather around the Risen Christ.
Jesus miraculously appears in the room where the door is closed and locked. While offering peace to them in his words, Jesus shows them the visible signs of the less than peaceful final moments of his earthly life. Seeing those scars, the disciples rejoice and greet the Risen Lord. Here in these few verses, the reader comes upon John's version of Matthew's Great Commission and Luke's Pentecost all at once. Jesus sends them out and breathes on them the Holy Spirit right there in the Upper Room (vv. 21-22). With that commission and Spirit, Jesus also bestows on them the power and authority to forgive or to retain sins. In the doctrine of the church, the ability to forgive sins has often been referred to as "the power of the keys." There on Easter evening, John's Gospel portrays Jesus as forming the church in word and Spirit.
Thomas comes on the scene later only asking to see and hear and touch what the others have experienced in the form of the Risen Christ. Though he stands by his claim not to believe, Thomas is still with the community of disciples in the same room a week later. The Risen Christ comes again offering to Thomas that grace-filled touch known to the others. The touch of grace is matched by the Lord's grace-filled words, "Do not doubt, but believe" (v. 27). This Thomas that history so unfairly labels then blurts out the strongest of affirmations, "My Lord and my God!"
John moves toward a conclusion with Jesus offering one more beatitude. In the midst of this narrative that tells of believing and seeing and touching and hearing and receiving, Jesus offers the promise that pertains to the church in every time and place, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (v. 29). The final verses of chapter 20 provide something of the author's editorial comments. The Gospel finishes (with the exception of chapter 21) with a word about signs, belief, and life in his name. It affirms that this Gospel was intended to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
Application
On the Sunday after Easter the church gathers while the sound of the trumpets still echoes off the walls. The feel of the crowds has not yet gone away. However, the church comes together yet again to worship on what for many is a Sunday of low expectations. Easter Day inaugurates an Easter celebration that ought to carry the church for weeks at a time. Instead of allowing the liturgical calendar to slow down a bit between now and Pentecost, the church's witness to the Resurrection ought to affirm that historical practice that everything in the calendar flows into and out of the season of Eastertide.
Each one of the texts affirm the presence of Christ in the earthiness of the church's life. In the care of the needy and the sharing of resources to support the mission of the church, Christ is present (Acts). In the challenges of life together, our experience of community and forgiveness, Christ is present (1 John). And in the shared journeys of faith that swing from doubt to belief and back again, Christ is present (John).
Perhaps the life of faith is more like the Sunday after Easter. Most of us don't find ourselves on the mountaintop of resurrection proclamation week after week. On the contrary, we know more of those low Sundays where we struggle to love one another and hold on to our faith. Instead of celebrating our faith squeezed into overflowing pews, most of us look to offer our feeble praise in sanctuaries half full with sisters and brothers who promise to walk this faith journey with us. So maybe there is a reason that the lectionary invites Thomas to church every year the week after Easter.
Most likely you and I find ourselves somewhere between doubt and belief, yearning to touch and to be touched by the earthiness of resurrection life. The promise of these texts affirms that Christ will meet us there in the ordinary places of life. It is there, in the everydayness of our faith that we cling to the promised presence of Christ. Our affirmation for the Sunday after Easter may be more realistic as well. The resurrection shout may go up on Easter, "He is risen!" but most Sundays we look to cling to one another as we hold on to faith and life and give voice to those words of Thomas, "My Lord and my God."
An Alternative ApplicationActs 4:32-35. The text from the book of Acts reminds us that the church's proclamation about the Resurrection must go beyond words. The community of faith may be called together and identified by the Risen Christ and Christ proclaimed, but resurrection faith is lived out among the faithful in a way that can be seen. The Easter acclamation there in chapter 4 is less about that responsive word, "He is risen." Here the Easter acclamation is more about caring for those in need and sharing the gifts entrusted, all in the name of the Risen Christ.
Years ago I read an article about a church in a nearby county seat. Residents appeared before a town council meeting to express their concern that the church was attracting an unwanted element because of all the social services they were providing. One quote from a speaker at the hearing summed up the attitude: "You folks at the church are just doing too much!"
You don't hear that allegation leveled at the church every day. What a wonderful witness to resurrection hope and the presence of the Risen Christ within the community of faith. When it comes to serving the poor and reaching out to those in need, the church is just doing too much! That affirmation seems to reach much further than any traditional words embedded in the liturgy. For in the liturgy of every life, the church's strongest witness must be in that ministry offered in the name of the Risen Christ.
First Lesson Focus
Acts 4:32-35
This text is one of Luke's descriptions of the life of the very early Jerusalem church. In an encounter with the ruling elders of the Jews, these early Christians, led by Peter, have been admonished to cease their healing and preaching of the resurrection of Jesus. But they have turned aside all attempts to halt their ministry and have continued their active ministry, winning hundreds to the new faith through the work of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:1-31).
There is a tendency in our modern churches, as we read the New Testament, to idealize the life of the early Jerusalem church. We think that must have been a perfect congregation, and so the attempt of some is to try to get back to the life and pattern of the New Testament church and to shape our church life accordingly. Certainly passages like this from Luke feed that tendency. Here we find a description of a Christian congregation whose members are of one heart and soul, who give their testimony with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, who provide for the need of any wanting among them, who have all things in common, and who exhibit great grace among their number. Can there be a more perfect congregation than that?
We know, however, that one of Luke's theological bents is to idealize the Jerusalem church. In Luke's view, that church was made up of the 12 apostles, who were the final authorities. Paul was considered subordinate to them, and at the end of his three great missionary journeys, he returned each time to Jerusalem. If there was a dispute in the Jerusalem church, it was settled in the apostolic council (Acts 15) and overall, harmony ruled, although Luke himself tells us of the betrayal by Ananias in the story following our text. In addition, he tells of Paul's split with Barnabas and Mark, in 15:36-41. Nevertheless, the description we find in our text for the morning is a highly idealized portrait of a congregation that probably never was. We can, however, profit from a careful consideration of the text.
What was it that enabled that early Jerusalem congregation to live in such productive harmony? First of all, they were a small group. Our text is giving no warrant for the structuring of the life of a large social group. This is not a blueprint for a community organization much less for a government, and this is not a propaganda piece for a socialist or communist social order -- which, of course, comes as great relief to us average Americans. Most of us feel very guilty when we read a text like this, because we do not have all things in common, and we do not provide for everyone in our congregation or social circle who has need. We Americans are very generous when it comes to charitable work, and we do lots of good deeds. But basically we remain mostly concerned about our own self-interest, and our charity extends only to the point where it does not endanger or harm our own self-interest. So it is a relief when we hear that the book of Acts is not advocating that we all adopt a socialist or communist form of government. Those types of governments have failed miserably in the past decades, and history has shown that the form of democracy that we practice in the U.S. is about as good as we're going to get in this fallen world.
Second, certainly the little Jerusalem church was enabled to live in harmony because it shared a common cause. They were interested, above all else, in proclaiming the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and what that meant for their lives and the lives of all others. They had been given the commission by their Lord to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, and judging by the stories in Acts of the forms of opposition that they met, they let nothing deter them from that goal. Certainly such singleness of purpose should inform and motivate the life of every congregation today.
Our congregations often forget what we are supposed to be about in the world. Indeed, we enter into long and sometimes learned discussions about what the church is and what it is supposed to be, ending up with definitions that seem to have little relation to Jesus' instructions in the New Testament. Matthew tells us that Jesus' final words to his disciples before he ascended from them were, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Our church curricula and programs sometimes wander far from pursuing that primary goal.
One of the reasons that this and other early congregations bent every effort to take the gospel to the ends of the Mediterranean world was because they believed that they did not have a long time to fulfill their Lord's commands. They were sure that the Lord would return soon to bring in his kingdom and that, therefore, they needed to reach everyone that they possibly could with the saving Good News of the gospel before the second coming of Jesus and the last judgment. We now have lost that sense of urgency. Most do not believe that Jesus Christ is coming again soon, if they believe that he is coming at all, and that part of the Christian creed has been largely ignored. "From whence he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead" -- that is a phrase that is recited but rarely taken to heart. The truth is, of course, that our Lord will come again, that none of us knows the exact time, and that Jesus' words to "watch" and "be prepared" are as relevant now as they were in the time of Acts. But certainly the congregation of our text lived with that sense of mission and urgency.
Of course the main reason they could live in harmony, with such a sense of generosity and purpose, was because they were all the recipients of "great grace." According to Acts, human beings do not do great things or advance the gospel by their own power. The gospel spreads and prospers in this world by the activity of the Holy Spirit, and it is that powerful activity that motivates and guides the life of the early Jerusalem church. So to be a Christian congregation filled with great love, caring for one another's needs, testifying powerfully to the gospel, and carrying out our Lord's command to be his witnesses to all people, our church must constantly through prayer, through worship, through Bible study, and through the form of its actions open itself to the working of God's Spirit, knowing that it is only by walking in that Spirit that our church and any church can truly be the Body of Christ, his witnessing people on earth.
The Political Pulpit
Acts 4:32-35
The Sunday after Easter can be a "downer." This text is a good response, portraying a majestic vision of the unity of all people that Christ's resurrection has established, for God is revealed as having no partiality, as a God who loves all equally. (The First Lesson for Easter Sunday, Acts 4:32-35, expressly highlights this message, as we are reminded how the early Christians shared all things in common.) Breaking down barriers seems to be a theme most everyone with power today says they want. "Multiculturalism" and "globalization" are buzz-words in the bastions of high society (the universities, the media, big business, and politics). Globalization has a more direct impact on people's everyday lives, so I will save multiculturalism for a future column.
Essentially globalization is the termination of all trade barriers and import taxes, the creation of free trade. Given our nation's Republican pro-business ethos, globalization will seem to be just what the world needs. Its proponents contend that as we give businesses the chance to grow without government interference, the poorer nations of the world will be better enabled to share the fruits of Western business and technology. They will be better enabled to "grow" their economies like we have ours.
This standard way of evaluating the dynamics of globalization is a long way from reality, it seems. The various national economies do not start on a level playing field in the free market. The scales are heavily tipped in the direction of the wealthy and in the interests of mega-corporations rooted in wealthy nations.
A few examples of the disparities of globalization can help awaken the sense of justice among your parishioners. To the degree we succeed, perhaps we can begin to bring to public awareness what we are doing to poor nations. This is not what the Easter vision of the unity of all people is about.
We have all heard of the Third World sweatshops that have produced cheaper clothes and cars with an underpaid labor force. Kathie Lee Gifford's line of clothes comes to mind. By opening itself to trade in agricultural products, poor nations in the Southern Hemisphere have virtually abandoned their small farmers. In Mexico, as a result of the NAFTA trade agreement, they have been squeezed out of business by imported agricultural products from the U.S. that have been grown cheaply and massively with the help of government subsidies which the mega-farm lobbies won from Washington. The Mexican poor are getting poorer while rich Americans get richer.
Simple economics is sufficient to clarify how poorer nations are victimized by free trade, with no strings attached. The whole point of capitalism is for the business owner to make a profit. Thus if poorer nations are only importing or only hosting the factories and providing the labor, then the multinational businesses and their host nation (America in most cases) will receive more than they provide the already impoverished nation. Exploiting the impoverished is the outcome of globalization with its present rules.
Of course everywhere capitalism has gone, it has produced wealth and raised living standards. But those in impoverished nations who already possess some wealth, have education, or own the means of production are about the only ones who profit. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the main international agencies charged with managing international trade and aiding developing nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Find (IMF), pressure poor nations to tone down or limit the government safety-net so that increased revenues can be plowed back into business or excess wealth for consumers, rather than be utilized to grow the government and its programs. As a result, the standard of living in most Third World nations is down for the masses, since globalization became a compelling economic force in the 1980s. (Chile, which has defied this trend to smaller government by enlarging its social programs and as a result is enhancing its schools and providing low-income housing subsidies, is a notable exception. Between 1987 and 1998 it cut poverty in half.) Free trade, globalization without safeguards (including government intervention and safeguards to protect the poor), is not impartial enough for the God of Easter who loves all impartially.
There are a number of other insalubrious dynamics of globalization to which I shall return in subsequent columns.
The American church can be an important agent in bringing the abuses associated with globalization to public consciousness. Then perhaps American Christians could mount a movement that through investments, commercial boycotts, and the ballot could change the global economical agenda, to impartialize it a bit more in line with the way God operates.
