I want us to think about Easter being a gift. We were given two vegan Easter eggs in the week by the folk at Boroughbridge which was very kind. We’ve given up chocolate for Lent so we may enjoy these later very much. To receive a gift, especially when you are not expecting it is one of life’s blessings, because we are remembered and appreciated through the act of giving.
In our Gospel, we have a picture of the room where some of the disciples gather on the evening of the Sunday after the crucifixion.
How are those men feeling? They are there with the doors safely bolted. They are petrified. The doors are locked for fear of the Jews. They are frightened because there might now be a search party out there looking for them and they might end up dying the same way as Jesus. How is Peter feeling? He’s denied Jesus even though he said he wouldn’t. How are the others feeling? Is there much conversation? Probably not. When you’ve been through shock and trauma there is a numbness in your body, for a while you are paralysed. Thomas isn’t there, and he will have his say later. I suggest to you the men are weary, bewildered, and unable to take any more.Sometimes when life kicks you hard all you can do is hide away. You can’t face your fear. You are mentally exhausted. So you lock yourself away. At junior school, being a desperately shy child, I used to hide in a toilet. The other children were scary! I have no memory of how they got me out of there. It’s like cats whenever there’s a vet appointment or a holiday in the cattery. Even before there’s a cat carrier in sight, they hide so they aren’t got. The safety and security of the hideaway is a better option than the alternative.
Imagine you are one of those men. Your head hurts, your brain is frazzled. We’ve been through a long Holy Week some of us of services and reflections, but it’s been a piece of cake compared to what they’ve been through. Everything they’ve invested in this Jesus has been destroyed. So they sit there directionless. And then Jesus stands among them…
How do you feel now? Your mind must be playing tricks. It can’t be him, they know he’s in a tomb most definitely dead. Perhaps we’ve nodded off and are dreaming or hallucinating. And how if it is him has he got through those doors? And now imagine you are Peter. This is a bit scary. What’s he doing to do with me, he wonders.
Surely he will be angry, will accuse me of all sorts, want to avenge my broken promises.
What’s the first thing the risen Jesus gives to these poor souls? He gives them peace. “Peace be with you.“ He’s come through the doors in love, in mercy and with pardon. He shows them his hands and side where he was crucified to calm their doubts this isn’t some dream. Then he again gives them peace. The greatest gift for them in their state. They surely need peace.
The first gift of Easter then is peace. In our fear, Jesus comes. This is our faith, that he comes into the mess we find ourselves in, in our turmoil and our upset and when we’ve made a pigs ear of life or we feel there is no future. “Peace be with you.” Where do you need peace today and where does the world?
Then there’s a second Easter gift. Jesus in this room of heightened emotion doesn’t stop there. This lot have a job to do. Restoring relationship includes a new commission. They are to be his church. Flawed, unreliable, yes, but they are to be his church. Which is good news for us! There’s this lovely act. He breathes on them, and he says “receive the Holy Spirit.” We sometimes just remember the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost loudly to a huge crowd. But here, Jesus quietly gives confidence to those who think they have no use to him at all. It’s a gentle reassuring gift which enables them to believe in themselves again.
How does Easter come then?
Well, three images to think about.
Easter is a reality! And it comes when we’ve forgotten how to expect it. This morning around 6.30am, we drove up to Dallowgill to see the sun rise. The colours were extraordinary. The way of God is that there is always a new day, the sun rises to reveal new possibilities if only we will see them. I like the fact here in this story, Jesus stands among them.
Then it is the nature of God to break into unexpected places. Those demoralised disciples did not expect resurrection, despite it being promised to them. In their grief, they were blind to the possibility of new life. You don’t expect someone you know is dead to come through a door and even more without unbolting them!
I was putting the bin out the other day at the same time as Ann next door. We discussed the state of the world and then looked at the array of daffodils in her garden and in ours. She said “it just happens doesn’t it and it’s a good job it does.” Later that day Lis and I were in the back garden and noticed daffodils springing up in the middle of Fred’s compost heap. A sign that the divine is present even in the most awful and unhealthy of places.
And finally, Easter is something to do. Can’t we have a few days off? Jesus sends them. They are to go out of lockdown and into the world that they were frightened of, but they would now not be alone. The day of resurrection, earth tell it out abroad! As I think Pope John Paul II said “ We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.“
“Peace be with you” Jesus grants us peace and breathes the breath of life into us. On Easter evening, remember we have the courage, the strength, and the peace to walk in God’s love. Easter gives us gifts. Peace and life are Jesus gifts to us and to all people, especially those who are fearful, today and for all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment