|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Acts 4:5–12
|
Psalm 23
|
I John 3:16–34
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John 10:11–18
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There are two phrases that jumped out at me in today’s lessons. The first, from the letter of first John is “God is greater than our hearts” and the second from the Gospel of John is “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold, and I must bring them also.”
When our hearts are heavy and seem to be on the verge of breaking or collapsing, it is helpful to remember that God has a heart larger than even the total of all of ours. When we are infected with jealousy, suspicion, resentment, anger, and disappointment, God is able to deal with that, too, and God’s grace will not fail under the load.
In the weeks following the resurrection, as their initial astonishment began to wear off, the disciples began to adjust to a new relationship with the risen Jesus. All the Gospels make it plain that Jesus did not return just the same as before, as if the events of Holy Week had never happened. Easter is not a denial of Good Friday. The account of Thomas examining Jesus’ wounds or of Mary being cautioned not to hold on to Jesus when he appeared to her, reflects the definite awkwardness of this period. The disciples had to struggle to understand the presence of the living, resurrected Jesus from a new perspective.
Undoubtedly some of you know the story of the Captain of a navy squadron that had been training off the coast in heavy weather for several days. Night fell, and visibility was poor when off the starboard bow of the flagship, the seaman on watch reported a light bearing down steadily on them. The captain immediately ordered a signal be sent to the other ship saying change course immediately twenty degrees. Back came the return message, advise you change course forty degrees immediately. This ruffled the captain a bit, so he sent back the message, I’m the commander of this exercise and this is the flagship, you change course. Back came the message, I’m a seaman second class, stationed on this lighthouse, you change course.
During the Easter Season, early Christians changed their course. They came to realize that God’s heart was large enough to welcome and accept people of non-Jewish background, indeed gentiles of every background. They learned that the horizons of the Gospel did not stop at the boundaries of the Roman Empire, and the vitality of the Gospel was not going to depend upon the peace of the Roman Empire to defend and protect it. Then, as now, God has other sheep, not of our fold, other sheep we have yet to discover.
After the first Easter there were plenty of stumbling blocks and traditions that had to be reexamined. It wasn’t a matter of either discarding the past, or only living in the present. The Gospel called for a transformed earth and people with a changed heart. The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper became widely practiced and better defined. The missionary thrust of Paul and others, planted believers in widely varied cultures. The true church has always been an evolutionary church. When it was realized that the return of Christ in Glory was not going to occur in the lifetime of most first generation Christians, the Gospels were written down and what Christians call the New Testament began to be formed.
The living, resurrected Jesus is always revealing how large God’s heart is, a heart ultimately beyond our immediate comprehension. The Holy Spirit is always revealing other sheep of God’s fold. The resurrected Jesus is always changing our course. To be sure, it wasn’t easy for Mary or Peter, or any of the first disciples. It never has been. Easter joy, doubt, faith, growth, struggle and change are all in some inexplicable, but certain way, bound up together.
And
I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
