We are in the midst of Eastertide. The Easter candle burns as a reminder of Christ’s Resurrection and ours, even as we gather for Morning Prayer. Today’s two lessons speak of Resurrection: Peter raising Tabitha from death and Jesus speaking of himself as Messiah and Good Shepherd, leading us to eternal resurrected life.
Yet Resurrection can be difficult for us. We are human beings with different personalities. We have different understandings and practices of leadership. We come from different levels of wealth and education. We have different views about worship. We come from different backgrounds. We are different ages and different genders.
Diversity, then, is a very strong mark of this Christian community and many other Christian communities. But how do we survive and even flourish with all this diversity with all its potential for conflict and division?
We return to Christ’s Resurrection. We are called to be Resurrection people and a Resurrection community. We remember that in John’s account of the Resurrection, the resurrected Christ imparts the Holy Spirit: the spirit of truth and unity. The Resurrected Christ unites those who were divided and sends them out in mission.
What might be some steps in our path to Resurrection?
First, we all need Resurrection; none of us has reached the point of perfect eternal life, no matter how many good deeds we have done, no matter how good our relationships, no matter how good our understanding of the Christian faith, the Bible or the reality of the world, no matter how much we have prayed or meditated. We all fail and are in need of the grace of God.
Therefore, there are always some separations amongst us. It is not our task to accentuate those separations but to work at bridging them, to work at reconciliation. Reconciliation is a mark of Resurrection. Reconciliation requires mutual respect, listening, patience, the recognition that we might be wrong and have to change. Therefore, Resurrection calls us to self-examination and change. It also calls us to strengthen our good qualities; and we all have good qualities. And, sadly, if we are failing in our talents, we are called to recognize that too.
Once the disciples experienced the resurrected Christ, they regained their trust – both their trust in Christ and their trust in one another. It takes some time for Thomas but eventually he comes to trust more than all. Trust is a mark of Resurrection.
Even in the early church, Christians had disagreements. They commended them to calm discussion, to reflection on the Apostolic Tradition and Scripture, to prayer and the Holy Spirit. At its General Synod this July, the Anglican Church of Canada will be engaging in this process as it reflects upon changing the marriage canon to provide for Canadian Anglican clergy to conduct same-sex marriages. Many (on whatever side) are convinced they are absolutely right and know the answer. But history suggests that beating the opposition over the head with our high moral ground is often not the best approach. Resurrection can take new and surprising shapes.
I hope the workshop next Sunday and Monday, described in the bulletin, will help us in these areas of trust, communication and conflict resolution.
When we have disagreements (and they are a part of Christian life), because it is the Resurrected Christ we are proclaiming and not we ourselves, we are called not to personalize disagreement. That is hard to do because we live in a psychological age where the issues can easily get lost in personalities. And we may be shocked by others’ behaviour. Or even lose control of our own.
Thus, another mark of Christian Resurrection is reserve and restraint. The Resurrected Christ does not push himself upon the disciples; he appears and disappears. He encourages and vanishes. He is in the process of imparting the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are called to display attractive Resurrection personalities: expressing love and concern to others, even if we do not like their personalities and are sure we see all their flaws. Indeed, even if we do not feel like doing it.
That Resurrection transformation prepares us for another mark of Resurrection, hospitality. Early Christians welcomed Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles into the emerging faith in the Resurrected Messiah, Jesus Christ. All were invited to listen and, once baptized, break bread and join together in fellowship meals. With the refugee cooking programme outlined in today’s bulletin, we have an opportunity to exercise hospitality to new Canadians and be a part of outreach and mission, another mark of Resurrection. And, of course, there is the hospitality of our coffee hour, Bible studies and other church events. But would we consider an open meal of hospitality, without cost, for the whole neighbourhood of Corktown and beyond? Are we prepared for radical hospitality?
Thus, Resurrection also leads to generosity. Resurrection love is generous: not just generous with time and talents but also with money. Generosity, including financial support for the church, is our response of constant thanksgiving for God’s gift of love in Jesus Christ, in His Presence, on the Cross and in the Resurrection, Ascension and Glorification. If we want to continue to be present here as a Resurrected Community on this corner of Hamilton, we need to be financially generous. Our new furnace fund launches next week and I hope you will be generous.
In this small reflection I have made, six characteristics of the Resurrection community have come out: reconciliation, trust, reserve and restraint, hospitality, outreach and generosity. If we work on these, in our personal lives, our institutional life, or relationships, I am sure that God will bless us with Resurrection as the Resurrected Christ blessed the disciples in his Resurrection appearances.
Six, however, is not a very biblical number so perhaps we might, with credit to St. Paul, add a seventh overarching one: love: the self-giving love of Jesus Christ that treats the other as better than oneself, the love that forgives, the love that diminishes oneself so that others may increase, the love that is patient and kind. For the Resurrection of Christ is the perfect Love of God acting in the world: to raise his Son and ourselves from sin and death to new life and ever-growing self-giving love. And all that leads to Resurrection joy that passes all understanding. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment