Reflection on Acts 9:36-43 and John 10:22-30

 

Maybe it is because of the amount of funerals I have done lately, but this story of Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, has truly, and deeply penetrated my soul.  When Peter is summoned because Tabitha had died, the Bible mentions that in life Tabitha was “devoted to good works and acts of charity” (NRSVue, Acts 9:36).  And, that might sound a little like a cliché, like you would read in a newspaper obituary, but when you read about how those who are devastated by her loss come up to Peter, “weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas [or Tabitha] had made while she was with them,” I cannot help but allow my heart to be devastated with them (Acts 9:39).

I remember, how after my grandmother Helen had died (while I was just getting my footing in college), I arrived home from the funeral, ran sobbing into my room, and wrapped myself in the crocheted blanket that she had spent hours making just for me.  I wanted to be close to her once again.  I wanted to be wrapped in something that she had touched.  I wanted to be near something that she poured love into.

And, these people, who had been touched by Tabitha’s life, clutched tight the beautiful creations of fabric, sewed with threads of love.  They showed Peter so that he might understand.  They wanted Peter to understand just how important Tabitha was to so many people.  They wanted Peter to understand just how generous she was to clothe so many of them, especially the poor and lonely widows who could not afford such items.  They wanted Peter to understand that if anyone in the world deserved another go at life, it was Tabitha who not only loved and helped her own people, but also was known widely as Dorcas in Greek, because she helped and loved those outside the Hebrew people just as much.  In her fabric was sown love.

There is something so intimate about clothing that is tailored to fit you.  I can still remember getting that warm fuzzy feeling that I would get whenever my mother would run the cloth tape measure down my arm and hold fabric around me, holding me tight as she did so.  The one who sews for you, knows you.  They know your every inch, they know your every desire and need for that clothing, and you know them just as well in the process.  Tabitha truly knew those she cared about and for whom she made these tailored gifts.

Tabitha was the reflection of the one who made her every part and knew her by name.

Jesus taught: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).  Jesus knows us.  Jesus, the very breathe of life, the very word that spoke each part of us into existence, never forgets even a single inch of us.  “I know them,” Jesus says without even the slightest of hesitations. 

We know this.  For a long time God has been reminding us that we are fully known. In Jeremiah 1:5 we hear God say to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  God knows us.  Jesus never forgets us.

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). 

“And they follow me.”  Jesus knew Tabitha, she heard his voice, and she followed him.  She did not have to.  She did not have to create clothing and blankets for the lowly.  She could have followed the voice of the wealthy and sold all of those beautiful pieces to them.  She could have followed the voice of money and climbed economic ladders.  She could have become wealthy herself.  She could have left the lowly down where they were and risen to the top.  She could have listened to someone else.

But, it was Jesus’ voice that she heard.  It was Jesus who knew her best.  So, it was Jesus, who she followed.  “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). 

The Apostle Paul understood this so well.  He taught, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness” (2 Timothy 2:19).  When you are known by the Lord and you know the Lord, you cannot help but want to walk in the Lord’s ways.

Again in Galatians he says, “Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental principles?” (Galatians 4:9).  Being grasped by the one who loves you, being called by the one who not only knows your name, but truly knows you through and through, has an effect.  We simply want to be the same.  Like a little child wants to be like his or her mother or father, we simply want to be the same.  We want to follow.

And, Tabitha did.  Tabitha followed.  Christ led her to use her gift, the gift of sewing, and led her to create intimate bonds of love with people.  And, those bonds that were created were so strong that after her death, these people who had been touched by her could not imagine life without her.  That sort of love; that sort of life is worth preserving.

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand” Jesus promises (John 10:27).  Tabitha was not snatched out from Jesus’ hand.  Peter agreed that that sort of love; that sort of life was worth preserving.

“Peter put all of [the saints of that place and the widows] outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.  He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive” (Acts 9:40-41).

Jesus once declared, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one” (John 10:28-30).  And, it was true for Tabitha.  And it is true for you as well.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has called you by name and you have heard his voice.  It is a voice that promises guidance through dark valleys.  It is a voice that promises to lead to green pastures and still waters.  It is a voice that leads us to eternal life, where we will never perish, where death cannot ever snatch us away.  It is a voice that imprints these words on your hearts and heads, “I know you.  No one will snatch you out of my hand.”

There was a woman in India headed toward the end of her life, and she was reflecting on that life.  She talked about how, after going to school and gaining a doctorate, and beginning to gain a name for herself in the political realm, she shocked her family when she chose to move to a remote, rural village and help the struggling people there.

She was asked, “You had the whole world ahead of you.  You could have done great things.  You could have been so strong of a leader in our nation.  Why did you choose something so unremarkable and weak?

She replied, “Compassion is not a weakness.  Going to where someone is down and helping to pull that someone up takes great strength; so much so that many people do not ever choose to do it.  But, walking with people in dark valleys and leading them to green pastures is what followers of the Lord do, because the Lord has done it for them.  That is true strength.  That is compassion.”

And today, Jesus declares to you, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). “No one will snatch you out of my hand.”

Reflection on for John 21:1-19

John 21:1-19

1 After [he appeared to his followers in Jerusalem,] Jesus showed himself again to the disciples

by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way.

2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee,

the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat,

but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.”

6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”

So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.

7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard

that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea.

8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish,

for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.

10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish,

a hundred fifty-three of them, and though there were so many, the net was not torn.

12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him,

“Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread

and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus

appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John,

do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John,

do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time,

“Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time,

“Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger,

you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old,

you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you

and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death

by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Reflection

“You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” (John 18:17). 

The question echoes around the charcoal fire.  All gathered at the fire, warming themselves, turned and looked at Peter.  They stared at the man who arrived at the same time Jesus arrived to be questioned.  They stared at the man who had cut off the ear of one of their relatives.  They stared at Peter, naming him as a disciple, and Peter looked them square in the eye and stated:  “I am not” (John 18:17).  Three times he denied being a disciple.

You might be forgiven for thinking that Peter actually denied “knowing” Jesus three times.  That is the way that things went down in the other gospels, but, in the gospel of John, Peter does not require forgiveness from Jesus for not believing in him, rather he requires forgiveness from himself for refusing to be seen as a disciple; for not seeking to be who God created him to be.  In the charcoal fire scene, Peter refuses to be a disciple.  And, I think that a lot of us can relate.

I was once pulled aside by someone at a community event who shamefully confessed

to me that they did not do the things that disciples usually do.  They did not go to worship.  They did not pray as others pray.  They did not talk about Jesus at all.  What they did go out and do is take a hike into the woods and enjoy nature.  “That is how I worship the Lord,” they said. 

Do not get me wrong, I too love heading into the forests of God’s creation and I too find great joy in seeing the flowers, waterfalls, and gorgeous views that God has made.  I want to be clear that there is nothing wrong with doing that.  It is a type of meditation that is good for the soul. 

But, please do not confuse that meditative practice with following Jesus.  No one is being touched with love as you meditate in the woods.  No one will crucify you, as they did Jesus, for taking a nice walk in the woods. 

However, they may crucify you for protecting people in an illegal homeless encampment out in the woods.  The later looks a little more like discipleship than the former.  Risking your life for the sake of people who have nothing, and have nowhere to go, looks a lot more like Jesus’ love on the cross than a simple stroll in the woods.

Loving others actually looks like something.  Discipleship is cross shaped.  Discipleship can look like putting your life on the line the same way that Jesus did for you on the cross. 

Given that, it is easy to deny our discipleship.  Golf rather than worship; sentiments of spirituality rather than fighting for the lowly; not disrupting the family gathering rather than sharing your faith with those you love; and labeling the poor as lazy rather than offering some bread to eat; all of these are examples in one way or another of staring people in the eye as you stand around the charcoal fire and stating “I am not one of his disciples.”

But, today’s scripture reading is not about those three denials of Peter.  Nor, is it about our failure to follow Jesus.  Today is about something much better.  Today is about the abundance that Jesus gives us even while we are in the middle of our denial. 

Today is about Jesus showing up, when it seems we have given up on following him and gone back to our old ways of life.  After Jesus’ death, Peter said, “I am going fishing.”  And the other disciples said, “We will go with you.”  The disciples had given up on following the ways of Jesus.  But, today is not about that.  Today is about how Jesus did not give up on them.  Today is about how Jesus filled their nets with fish anyway as we heard in John 21:6.  Today is about how Jesus comes to us and fills our net out of love anyway; even when we have given up on following him.  Today is about the abundance of grace God gives those disciples who may not have figured out how to follow Jesus the first or second or ninth times around.  I have been trying to follow Jesus well for about the thousandth time now.  I too fail regularly, but it does not matter because today is not about keeping track of our failures.  Today is about the new opportunity that God is providing you this very day to follow Jesus, just as Peter was given a new opportunity to follow him.

After the three refusals to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, Peter is given three opportunities to recommit to following Jesus. 

“Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’  A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’  He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:15-17).

Three times Peter is given the chance to declare his love of Jesus, and three times Peter is encouraged to be who God created him to be.  “Feed my lambs,” Jesus encourages (John 21:15).  “Tend my sheep” (John 21:16).  “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).

I have often been asked, “Why don’t people follow Jesus these days?” I do not think that the answer is all that complicated actually.  It seems that many people simply do not know how to follow Jesus, or were never told about the love of Jesus and his ways.  In the past, the church has been very good about telling people that they need to believe.  “Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”  But, the church has not necessarily been as good about telling people what trusting in the Lord actually looks like. 

It looks like feeding tender lambs.  It looks like caring for the lowly and giving holy attention to little ones. 

It also looks a lot like tending the sheep.  It looks a lot like guiding others in the ways of Jesus Christ. 

It also looks a lot like feeding sheep.  It looks a lot like offering an abundant meal of fish and an abundant meal of trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  In other words, it looks a lot like having a relationship with Jesus and having a relationship with those whom Jesus loves.

The twelve year old girl seemingly had no one.  When I saw her, she was in the children’s behavioral science unit in the hospital.  She was officially there for suicidal behavior and for cutting, but as she talked in the therapy group that I led at the time, the real reason she was there was because her parents had forgotten her. 

The girl actually came from a very wealthy family, just up the hill where all of the big houses were, and that was part of the problem.  The parents had all the money in the world to travel to exotic destinations together, and they did…a lot.  The twelve year old was left home alone…a lot.  She was literally alone, with no one to watch her or love her much of the time. 

Even that day, as she spoke to the others in the group, her parents were using her hospitalization as an opportunity to take a trip to Spain.  They called the hospital periodically to get an update on her progress, but that was it. 

She needed someone, anyone, to be there for her.  That group setting was the first time that I saw her, but it was not the last.

The next time that I saw her, she was at the mall.  Remember malls, those big places that people used to go to together to shop and have fun together?  Yeah, I saw her in one of those once thriving malls.  I saw her through the crowd in the food court.  She was smiling as she talked with someone.  Shopping bags were at her feet and a laugh was coming from her lips.  The bandages were no longer on her wrists. 

I walked up and waved a hello.  She smiled at me and introduced me to her “big sister.”  I remind you that the girl was an only child, so this was not her biological sister.  Actually, this was her sister through the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. 

Amazingly, I also recognized her Big Sister.  That teen (a senior in High School actually) was a follower of Jesus Christ, and she loved children.  She loved helping with the Sunday School and the church youth group, and here she was, out feeding one of her lambs.  She had taken the girl to church earlier in the day (allowing her to help teach Sunday School), and now they were celebrating by eating at the mall.  It was not a net full of fish, but it was a grace-filled feeding none-the-less for a girl who was once lost and alone but now had been found.  And, it was all because her Big Sister decided she wanted to be, not just a believer, but a disciple.

What I love about Peter’s story is that Jesus refuses to give up on the man.  Jesus continues to abundantly provide for the guy, even though he denied being a follower.  Jesus continues to work on the guy, showing him the empty tomb and his wounds.  Then Jesus encourages one last time to love and serve.  “Feed my lambs.”  “Tend my sheep.”  “Feed my sheep.”  And, Peter does. 

It gives me hope that the 1001st time around, I might get right this thing that we call following Jesus.  What a beautiful thing it is to be a follower of Christ.  What a beautiful thing it is to live in love.

Reflection on John 20:19-31

 

John 20:19-31

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. 

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. 

Reflection

Locking your doors is so very tempting. 

When you fear that someone is out to hurt you, you lock the doors to your house.

When someone you love hurts you deeply, you lock the doors to your heart.

Locking your doors is so very tempting.

I do have to admit that when the children were younger and the level of crazy in the house was much, much higher, I was tempted many times to close the door to our bedroom and lock it.  Like the Hebrew people hiding behind their doors with the lamb’s blood smeared across to protect them from the angel of death, I too sought safety from insanity and death.  Behind the door I would be safe from the arguing, and the complaining, and the unending need to have me open a jar and fix everyone a snack.  Before you call child protective services, I never locked the door and never neglected the children.  But, I do admit that I had a habit of staring at the lock, dreaming of the peace and security to my sanity that the locked door would provide.

That reminds me of a joke: “What do you call a door that won’t open?  Well, you don’t call it a jar, that’s for sure.”

Wait, here’s another: “My hands were full the other day and a clown unlocked my door for me.  I thought, ‘What a nice jester.’”

Hold on, just one more: “I’ve been told that if you ever get locked out of your house, talk to your lock on your door calmly because communication is key.”

Ok, I admit that those were terrible jokes, and that they were a complete waste of your time. But, I am trying to keep the mood light, because the fear that causes us to lock our doors is anything but light. 

Such fear is heavy.  Such fear weighs you down and makes it so that you cannot even move. 

The disciples knew.  The Bible says that “the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19).  They feared that those who killed their teacher would hunt them down as well.  They feared for their lives.  They locked their doors for protection from whatever lurked outside.  They needed to keep their doors locked.

Have you?  Have you ever locked your doors, not out of a general sense of safety, but out of complete fear?  Have you ever holed up in your home or your room merely to keep yourself sane and safe?  If you have, I know a song that can speak to your soul.

“Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’” (John 20:19-20).

The problem with fear is that it causes your vision to become too narrow.  Your vision becomes like a tunnel though which you can only see the threat.  Those who have suffered abuse can only see their abuser, hiding around every corner.  Those who have suffered horrendous trauma can only see the horrors that have taken place, replaying in their minds like a horror movie again and again all day long.  Those who fear death itself can only see risk and danger everywhere they go. 

Fear causes our vision to become too narrow, and what we need when our vision is narrow is for the risen Jesus to step right in front of our eyes and show us that we need not keep ourselves locked away out of fear.  After-all, for Jesus the grave was only a brief hotel stay.  Death was only a slight holding of the breath for our Savior.  Jesus steps through our locked doors and loudly declares, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

And, his gift of peace is enough.  It is enough to open our eyes wider, so that we can see something other than our fears.  His peace is enough for us to consider leaving through the door once again.  His peace provides enough courage to actually hear and follow his command, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:20).

That is such good news from the Lord, and we could just stop right there if it were not for the other door that gets locked.  Remember when I said that:  “When you fear that someone is out to hurt you, you lock the doors to your house,” but “When someone you love hurts you deeply, you lock the doors to your heart.”

I think the second locked door is where Thomas found himself.  Thomas had no problem leaving the house.  He had no fear of the world or what the world would do to him.  He was not joking when he said, “Let us also go [with Jesus], that we may die with him” (John 11:16).  Thomas had no fear of what was outside the doors.  His fear lay elsewhere.

It is the same fear that I hear from those who have deeply loved someone, and that someone takes that love and stuffs it into a dumpster.  It is the same fear of the one who deeply invests themselves in someone else’s life and interests, losing themselves in that life and those interests, and then that one in whom they are deeply invested is suddenly gone.  It is the fear of being stabbed in the heart again.  “I will never put down my guard again,” they say in words that appear to be strength, but in reality are words of fear.  It is this fear that causes someone to lock their hearts and not allow anyone in. 

It is this fear that we hear when Thomas is excitedly told that Jesus is alive and Thomas shoots back, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Has your heart ever become locked?  If it has, I know a song that can speak to your soul.

Jesus walked through the doors a second time, just for Thomas!  Jesus entered beyond the lock of his heart and gave Thomas the peace of heart that he desperately needed; the peace that only Jesus could give, a peace that is able to unlock cold and closed hearts.

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas shouted to the room as his heart unlocked (John 20:28).  Jesus responded, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29).

And those words are for you.  “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29).  Jesus wants nothing more than to step through your locked doors.  Jesus wants nothing more than to free you and lead you out from anything that keeps you locked away from the world, to free you and lead you out from anything that keep you locked away from your neighbors, and to free you and lead you out from anything that keeps you locked away from love.

The time for locked doors is over and the time for life in the Spirit of Jesus Christ has come.  Be free from locked rooms and locked hearts.  Be free to live in the life-changing, life-giving, and forgiving Spirit of the resurrected Jesus Christ!

And, that leads me to think about a famous painting, and a particular someone’s reflection upon that painting.  The painting is the famous one of Jesus knocking on the door, waiting for an answer.  The image comes from Revelation 3:20, in which we hear the Lord saying, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.”

During the conclave that would elect Pope Francis, before he was elected, he gave a homily to all in the room as they prayed and deliberated for a new pope.  During the homily the soon to be pope noted that the traditional and pious interpretation of that painting and of the Revelation reading behind it, is that Jesus is knocking to be admitted, to come into our hearts, to enter our lives. However, the main problem with the people to whom this scripture was first written was that they were rich and were locking themselves away comfortably behind closed doors. 

The soon to be pope suggested that maybe, rather than knocking to come in, Jesus is knocking for us to come out, and to join him in the world outside?  It was this homily that caused the others in the room to think that he might just be the pope the church needed.  It is this same message of freedom that still frees us today to step out of our locked doors and be the loving people of God that Jesus has always wanted us to be.  Jesus is insistently knocking on our doors and asking us to come out into the world.  More than just knocking, Jesus actually steps through our locked doors and saves us from those locked doors.  And, it is that good news that keeps us singing.

 

Reflection on Luke 24:1-12

 

Luke 24:1-12

¹ On the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ⁵ The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. ⁶ Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” ⁸ Then they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Reflection

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen” (Luke 24:5).

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

It is a good question.  After-all, the women who visit the tomb are not the only ones who are standing, staring in the wrong place.  They are not the only ones looking for their savior in cold, empty, lifeless places.

It makes me think of the man who could be found, standing along the roadside nearly every day.  If you were traveling, you would not even question why he was there.  He would just appear to be on his way to get the mail.  But, if you traveled the stretch regularly, you would notice that he was there nearly every day, and you would also notice that there was no mailbox, nor even a house nearby.  One concerned citizen, on their daily commute to work, had noticed the man repeatedly and eventually called the state police to check the guy out.  Was he stalking someone?  Had he lost his mind?  Was he trespassing? 

The police officer spoke with the man and discovered that the very spot where they were standing was the spot that his wife had perished in an automobile accident three years earlier.  He was transfixed by the spot.  He was caught, unable to move from the scene of her death.  He was standing in a tomb, searching for something; searching for answers; searching for some sort of peace; searching for his wife; searching for his life.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

In a similar way, the woman found herself standing in the middle of her office, staring at the endless tasks on her desk.  The tasks were sucking her dry.  The tasks gave no love (as if they could), nor did they even provide a sense of accomplishment anymore.  In fact, the harder she tried to feel a small sense of pride over all that she had done, more tasks were always piled before her.  Her office was an empty tomb that gave no life, though she tried again and again to squeeze some life out of it.  She searched for some meaning out of the endless tasks. 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

The women had lost the one who had given them a sense of purpose, and a sense of vitality and life.  Jesus was vital and alive one day, celebrated by the people, and gone the next day, hated by the people, and nailed to a cross.  And now, here these female disciples were, staring in the tomb, the empty tomb, seeking life and purpose and meaning right where there was just an empty cold, stone slab upon which a dead body should have been lying.  Where had the body gone?  What should they do?  What about all of the spices they were going to put with the body?  Where was Jesus?

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen” (Luke 24:5).

The women are sent two messengers, by God, to tell them to stop looking for life in this dead space.  Stop looking for life in cold tombs.  Stop looking for life where the dead lay.  Stop looking for life in cold, dark places where nothing can grow and no sense of purpose can be found. 

I think those two messengers are sent to us as well.  They stand in our tombs; they stand in our places of struggle and hopelessness and they say, “Stop looking for life in dead places.” 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen” (Luke 24:5).

“He is not here,” they tell the woman (Luke 24:5).  They need to look elsewhere for Jesus.  They need to look elsewhere for the life that only Jesus provides.  They need to search somewhere else in order to find their sense of purpose.  They need to run elsewhere to find their savior once again. 

“’Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest” (Luke 24:6-9).

They stopped searching in the tomb to find Jesus.  They stopped making their lives about cold, lifeless tombs.  Instead, they ran off, remembering that he promised that he would rise! 

Things were new now.  Now, they needed to search for him alive.  Now they had to share the story and invite others to search for him as well.  After-all, searching for where Jesus is alive and at work in the world is what followers of Jesus have been trained to do! 

We look around and search to find where the life and love of Jesus is present in the world, and then we join Jesus when we see it.  That is what living the resurrection life is all about!  And, would it not be great if we could all be a part of Jesus’ great big task of finding God’ love and then sharing God’s love and promise of new life to the entire world?  Would not that be wonderful if we are all on board in this ministry of new life, risen life, for the sake of loving the world?

But, the Bible says that when they shared the good news with the Apostles and the other gathered there, the Apostles, “did not believe them,” thinking that their story of resurrection after three days, “seemed to them an idle tale” (Luke 24:11). 

And, that, I think, is the most believable part of the whole story.  Is it not true that there is always someone present who will bring a stop to the excitement?  When celebrating a birthday, they are the ones, in their yoga pants and fitted jacket who look at the cake and say, “Cake has too much fat and sugar.  Why do we celebrate being unhealthy?”  Or, when the women give each other high fives because they got the old clunker’s engine to start again, there is always the guy nearby who pipes up, “Your husbands taught you well.  Try taking less than an hour to do it though next time.”  And then he just walks away.

More than just killing the women’s excitement though, the apostles simply do not believe the women’s story in the first place.  “Women and their stories!” they say.  They do not believe.  Probably more to the point, they will not believe.  They are fine living in their cold tombs of despair, sadness, and self-pity. 

Do you think I am being a little harsh on the eleven Apostles? 

After-all, the women’s words are truly unbelievable.  People do not come back to life.  On top of that, fear is hard to overcome.  Purpose is not easily figured out or obtained.  And, moving beyond grief is like climbing a mountain without ropes. 

I imagine the apostle’s thoughts, “Jesus is dead and these women just need to accept it.”  After-all, remaining in cold tombs is sometimes easier than exploring what is mysteriously beyond the door.  At least we know what the tomb is like.  It is small and cold and lifeless, but at least it is understandable.  It does not give life, but it is familiar.”

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Sometimes, people need to see for themselves.  Sometimes people need to experience the truth for themselves.  It does not matter how many times you tell your child that the medical procedure will not hurt, they will not believe you until they discover for themselves that it does not hurt. 

Sometime people need to experience the truth for themselves.  It does not matter how many times the Christian tells the confused and wandering friend that they can find life, and meaning, and purpose in Jesus Christ.  It all just sounds like an idle tail.  It all sounds like cheap, fairy magic.  They will not understand what new life in Jesus Christ is all about until they experience Jesus for themselves.  Sometimes people have to experience the truth themselves.

That is what happened to Peter anyway, “Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened” (Luke 24:12).

Here is the thing with Peter.  At least, he went and checked it out for himself. 

I do not know his motivations for doing so.  Did he go to the tomb in order to prove the women wrong?  Did he go because he wanted to believe, but just could not bring himself to believe?  Did he go because he was awash in guilt from denying Jesus and could not bear to be accused of denying him once again?  Did he just need to go on a run and clear his conscience?  I do not know the answers to any of that.  The Bible does not tell us.  Maybe, his running to the tomb was a mix of all of them.  Whatever it was, it is absolutely the truth that he would never find himself standing there, amazed at the sight of the empty tomb of Jesus, until he went saw it for himself.

And, sometimes I think that is the best that we can do to help our friends and family when they are stuck looking for the living among the dead.  Sometimes, the best thing that we can do to help them is to point them in the right direction and tell them to go look for themselves.  “Experience it for yourself.”  “Judge for yourself.”  “Come with me, and see for yourself.”  Maybe, just maybe, they will experience the living God and “be amazed at what had happened” (Luke 24:12).

Maybe, they just need someone like you, filled with the risen life of Jesus Christ, to make them look into the tomb, point out that it is empty, and then point them in the direction of the one who is not empty: Jesus Christ our Lord.  After-all, he is risen, he is full of life, he is full of purpose, he is full of love, and he is waiting for all of us to run and see, and catch up.