Easter 3C 2019
Fr. Dale Matson
As I reviewed our readings for this week, two themes emerged
for me. Certainly, the fact that Jesus was revealed to His disciples and to us
is a part of our opening Collect and our 2nd Lesson and Gospel
verses. He revealed Himself following His resurrection, which is crucial to our
belief in eternal life. How He choses to reveal Himself is another matter and
He reveals Himself in many ways.
Secondarily but no
less important is the obvious participation of the Trinity in the resurrection of Christ and the revelation of the
God.
Let me begin with this question. “Who raised Christ from the
dead? Luke records Peter stating in Acts (Chapter five verse 30). “The God of
our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead--whom you killed by hanging him on a
cross.” In this case, it is God the
Father who raised Christ from the dead.
However, we see that not only did God the Father raise
Christ from the dead, God the Holy Spirit
raised Christ from the dead. In Romans (8:11) we hear St. Paul state, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will
also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Here it is God the Holy Spirit who raised
Christ from the dead.
God our Heavenly Father is calling us to Himself through the
Person and Work of His Son our Savior Jesus Christ. God the Father made Christ
manifest and raised Him from the dead. When Peter confessed Jesus as the
Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus stated, “Blessed are you Simon because
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father in Heaven.” However, Christ has revealed God the
Father to us. In Matthew (11:27) Jesus stated, “All things have been committed
to me by my Father. No one knows the Son
except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Does this remind you of another verse from
the Gospel of John? I am the way the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the
Father except by Me (14:6)
I want to point out that there are many folks saying today
that there are lots of paths to God. There is only ONE path to God and that is
Jesus the Christ. Now, is there more than one path to Christ? That is a
different question. It could be through the witness of God the Holy Spirit. It
could be through the witness of Angles who announced to the Shepherds in the
field, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is
the Christ, the Lord”. An angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would
conceive and become the mother of Jesus, The Son of God. It could be through
Christ choosing to reveal Himself in Scripture, “I am the Way The Truth and The
Life.” It could be through the testimony of Christians.
It could be God the Father revealing Christ like He did with
Peter. Jesus asked Peter, “And who do you say that I am.” Peter stated. Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus stated, “Blessed art thou
Simon bar Jonah because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My
Father in Heaven.”
It could even be
Christ revealing Himself to us in the Eucharist through the breaking of bread. In
the latter example with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Christ’s identity
was hidden intentionally by God “But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him”
(Luke 24:16) only after they had broken bread together did they recognize
Jesus.
So, Jesus Christ reveals Himself and He reveals the Father.
God the Father reveals Jesus Christ and raised Him from the dead. Did Jesus
Christ raise Himself from the dead?
How about this? “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. “The
Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will
you raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His
body” (John 2:19-20). The Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses try and explain
this verse away because it clearly shows the deity of Christ. They will say He
was simply speaking in a metaphor and this should not be taken literally. OK,
how about these verses from John Chapter 10 (17-18a). “Therefore, My Father
loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it
from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” So, who
raised Christ from the dead? One God
acting as three Persons raised Christ from the dead.
Let me sum up for you what I have been saying. The Trinity,
that is, all three Persons of the Godhead raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
All three Persons of the Trinity reveal one another to those God is calling. To
deny the divinity of any member of the Trinity is to deny the Trinity. I
suppose this homily could also be preached on Trinity Sunday.
In our Gospel lesson today, Christ once again revealed
Himself to His disciples as they were out fishing. They were a tad slow getting
their mission going. It is important to remember from our readings from John’s Gospel
last week that Christ had already revealed himself to the disciples twice while
they were behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. But here they were again,
needing Christ to reveal himself to them.
Now, I want to
discuss the words of our opening Collect: “O God, whose blessed Son did
manifest himself to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open, we pray thee,
the eyes of our faith, that we may behold
Him in all His redeeming work; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever.” Amen.
I want to talk in particular about one Salvific (saving) act
that is not often discussed. Hear what the writer to the Hebrews has to say
about this. “Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in
their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power
of death, that is, the devil, 15and free
those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
(Hebrews 2:14-15). At the heart of all our anxieties, is the fear of death. For
some this fear of death is the fear of losing control. Why, knowing this do I
struggle with it so much? I know that I am in the last stage of life and like
Richard Baxter the Puritan preacher before me I say, “I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying
men.” My last words to Sharon in an email from clergy retreat were, “I am
currently at peace.” Why is peace only a state
for me and not a trait? Isn’t peace
one of the nine attributes of a Christian living according to the Spirit?
But if you remember our Gospel lesson from last week, Jesus
had to pass through a locked door when he appeared to the disciples the first
time. He also breathed on them. “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive
the Holy Spirit.’” And a week later, He had to pass through a door that was
locked once again. What were His disciples afraid of. They were afraid they
would die. Why were His disciples still afraid? They were not afraid after
being anointed by the Holy Spirit as in tongues of fire. In fact, they were
quite bold after Pentecost.
Here is a behavioral
fact. You cannot be filled with anxiety and be at peace at the same time.
Don’t so many of our Scripture passages tell us not to worry. But the door to
our hearts is locked because we too are afraid. Satan the liar, has convinced
us that to totally submit to Christ is to lose our freedom. Fortunately for us
Christ has shown that He can pass through locked doors. In our Easter readings
we heard this, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed
for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are
healed." (“Isaiah 53:5).
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of
God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and
self-control. (The King James Version uses “sound mind” in place of
self-control). In any case, the fear that is in us about death is not from God.
Sharon will say to me, “I don’t worry about those things.” And I say, “No, you
don’t but you worry about other things.” And isn’t that why we sometimes can’t
empathize with others? We don’t share the same fears.
St. Paul said in 2 Timothy “8 Therefore do not be ashamed of
the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering
for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy
calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace,
which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,10 and which now has
been manifested through the appearing of our
Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to
light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and
apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do.” (2 Timothy 1)
What I desperately want for myself and other brothers and
sisters is for us to be freed from our anxieties by possessing the peace that
passes all understanding. St. Paul stated, “7 And the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7). St. Paul
said that he had learned to be content. “Not that I am speaking of being in
need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”
(Philippians 4:11). Isn’t that what so many of us are looking for? We want to
be in Christ who is the Prince of Peace.
Loreena McKennitt had a wonderful song called “Full Circle”.
In her song she asks about peace.
“Stars were falling deep in the darkness
as prayers rose softly, petals at dawn
And as I listened, your voice seemed so clear
so calmly you were calling your god.
Somewhere the sun rose, o'er dunes in the desert
such was the stillness, I ne'er felt before
Was this the question, pulling, pulling, pulling you
in your heart, in your soul, did you find peace there?
Elsewhere a snowfall, the first in the winter
covered the ground as the bells filled the air
You in your robes sang, calling, calling, calling him
in your heart, in your soul, did you find peace there?
Over 35 years ago, I prayed in an adult Bible class to be
delivered from smoking. The following day I threw my cigarettes in the trash
and never smoked another cigarette.
Please pray with me in your hearts as I say the following
prayer. “I really don’t want to be filled with anxiety. I want a sense of
peace. I want Your peace, the peace that passes all understanding. Reveal
Yourself to me and reveal Yourself in me. Lord There is no lock on the door of
my heart because my heart is broken from worry. I am heartsick. I need Your
healing presence. Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But
only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Amen
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