WE ARE GOD’S CHILDREN NOW
I John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48
3rd Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024
Rev. Dr. Ritva H. Williams
Welcome to episode 3 of the Resurrection of Christ! This morning we heard about the events of the first Easter from Luke’s gospel. Kinda the same, but also different from what we have heard the last two Sundays from the gospels of Mark and John. No worries. Think about your own experience when you have a big family gathering. Would every family member experience the event exactly the same way? Would all tell identically the same story? No. Different voices, different perspectives on the same event are a good thing.
Let’s begin with a quick review of what we have heard from Mark and John.
Mark tells a story about Mary Magdalene and two other women discovering that Jesus’ tomb is empty. Angels on-site tell the women to share the news that Jesus is risen and gone ahead of them to Galilee, where they will see Jesus again. The women were terrified, runaway and tell nobody. Now we know that they share the good news, maybe not right away, but soon enough for Mark to write his gospel.
In John’s story, Mary Magdalene finds Jesus’ tomb empty, reports back to Peter and the Beloved Disciple. They come and confirmed the tomb is empty but go home confused and puzzled. Mary is left alone at the tomb, weeping, where the risen Christ whom she thinks is the gardener, finds us. Christ instructs her to go and share the good news of the resurrection. That same evening, as the disciples gather behind locked doors the risen Christ appears in their midst, breathes the Spirit into them, and sends them forth just as God sent him. Christ tells them that letting go of sins others commit against them will be liberate them, but holding onto sins others commit against them will mean they remain, clinging to them and controlling them.
Today, we focus on Luke’s story. Did you notice how it began with the words, “while they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them.” It’s kind of unnerving but also reassuring how Jesus seems to just drop into the middle of things. But, what were the disciples talking about? There is obviously a backstory.
Luke’s story of the resurrection begins with Mary Magdalene and the women disciples discovering Jesus’ tomb is empty. They receive the angel’s message, hurry back to the city and tell their male colleagues, who didn’t believe them. Peter, however, does go and check out the tomb, finds it empty and goes home amazed at what happened. Later that day, Luke tells us about two other disciples, Cleopas and his unnamed companion. As they return home to Emmaus, a stranger comes alongside them, engages them in conversation about current events as they walk along. They invite the stranger to join them for the evening meal. At the dinner table, the stranger takes the bread, breaks, and blesses it. And in that moment they realize the stranger is Jesus who instantly vanishes. Cleopas and partner run all the back to Jerusalem, where they find the rest of the disciples all excited about the Risen Christ’s appearance to Peter (which none of the gospels tell us about!).
As Cleopas and his partner share their story of how the Risen Christ was made known to them in the breaking of the bread, voila Jesus stands among them. The disciples think they are seeing a spirit. I know the NRSV we read says, “ghost” but Greek word here is pneuma — spirit — not phantasma — ghost. You might wonder what’s the difference between a spirit and a ghost, especially in light of the old Christian use of the term “Holy Ghost.” Pneuma — spirit is that mysterious something that gives a creature life, it is the essence of its being and source of its abilities. The Spirit is more like the operating system of a computer. Phantasma, ghost, is an illusion, a dream, a fantasy, a figment of one’s imagination — it wouldn’t be able to run your computer. The Risen Christ demonstrates that he is definitely not a ghost, and definitely not a disembodied Spirit either. An operating system, after all, can’t do its job is there is nothing to operate. The Risen Christ is flesh and blood and Spirit fully integrated.
Jesus declares that they are witnesses to resurrection reality and promises that they will soon be empowered by God’s Spirit to testify to all nations — to all peoples without exception. The content of their message is to be, “repentance into release of sins.”
Many of us from childhood on have been socialized into repentance and forgiveness as a two part ritual. I apologize saying, “I”m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” You say something like, “That’s okay. I forgive you.” And everything continues just like before until the next time.
Repentance isn’t just words. Repentance is turning around, changing not just your mind but your life —how you think and feel, speak and act. Remember “sin” is missing the mark — thinking, talking and acting in ways that are not true to our origins as persons created by God and in the image of God. Repentance means being reminded that we and all our neighbors, without exception, are all created in God’s image, worthy of dignity and respect from ourselves and from others. Repentance means letting go of a lot of negative and harmful stuff we’ve been told about ourselves and about the people around us. Repentance means unlearning and letting go of patriarchy, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, tribalism, prejudice, bigotry, egotism, and a whole host of other destructive ideas and practices. Repentance empowers us to let go of those things that have hurt us so they no longer control our lives, and lead us to harm ourselves or others. True repentance empowers us to rebuild our relationships with the kind of mutual respect and integrity that increases trust, and to set healthy boundaries to protect ourselves from anyone who refuses to see us as persons created in God’s image.
The resurrection is the revelation of the complete integration of the human (flesh and bones) with the divine (spirit) in the Risen Christ. What this means for each and everyone of us is beautifully expressed in the words of Elder John:
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are … Beloved, we are God’s children now: what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is (1 John 3:1-2).
This my friends is where we all begin, as beloved children of God. This is the truth to which we return every time we are pushed off the path, fall down, or lose our way — knowing that we are God’s beloved children already now, just as we are. The good news is that like Jesus, we will be resurrected, fully integrated as human and divine in all our diversity, complete with all our distinctive and peculiar marks, just as the Risen Christ shines forth with the scars of the crucifixion.
As we journey forward this week, receive this blessing written by Jan Richardson titled “Beginning with Beloved” (Cure for Sorrow, pp. 99-100).
Begin here:
Beloved.
Is there any other word needs saying, any other blessing could compare with this name, this knowing?
Beloved.
Comes like a mercy to the ear that has never heard it.
Comes like a river to the body that has never seen such grace.
Beloved.
Comes holy to the heart aching to be new. Comes healing to the soul wanting to begin again.
Beloved.
Keep saying it, and though it may seem strange at first,
watch how it becomes part of you, as if you never could have known yourself anything else,
as if you could ever have been other than this:
Beloved.
