Second Sunday of Easter

April 12                       NOTES FOR REFLECTION             Second Sunday of Easter

Texts:  Acts 2:14a, 22-32; 1 John 1-2:2; John 20:19-31

Theme:  Throughout the Season of Easter our readings are all about experience, testimony and action, the three essential legs of Christian spirituality.  Thomas is a supreme role model for us, yet he has gone through history with the unfortunate sobriquet of "Doubting Thomas".  So what about "Honouring Thomas", or "Restoring Thomas", or even "Thomas the Role Model"?  Then, of course, we could test our short-term memories by going with "Je Suis Thomas" or – better – "Nous Sommes Thomas".

Introduction.  If there is any consolation for several weeks without Isaiah it is surely to be found in the series of readings from the Book of Acts which light our way through the Easter Season.  We start today with Peter at full roar, now emptied of all self-belief and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  He pulls no punches.  Platitudes have no place in the first Christian sermon.  John appears much more conciliatory and kindly, but the difference is only one of style.  The message is the same.  Only by accepting the truth about ourselves can we obtain forgiveness.  Thomas knows the truth when he encounters it: he makes no attempt to save face or to justify himself.  He surrenders completely to the risen Lord.

Background.  "Anamnesis" is not an easy word to spell, to pronounce, or to comprehend, which may explain why we so rarely come across it outside of technical works on liturgy.  Even then it is usually confined to commentary on the various parts of the Eucharistic texts, and there is still debate as to its exact meaning.  It is generally attached to the memorial of the Lord's death, resurrection and ascension, but what exactly does it mean to "remember" those things?  Is the Eucharistic liturgy a sort of potted history – "This day 2,000 years ago", type of thing?  Or is there something more to it, something much deeper than that?

Many of us will have attended services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  What were those services about?  Were they essentially history lessons: were we participating in some sort of re-enactments of past events, some sort of historical pageants; so that when they were over, we could go home and have a cup of tea and get back to our real life?  Or were those services an opportunity to participate in the actual "events" themselves?  Is "anamnesis" more about bringing the past, not to just to mind, but into the present?  I might "remember" that Peter denied even knowing Jesus, but what is the source of that memory?  A simple fact told to me, perhaps, or something I have read in the Bible?  Or is it rooted in something far deeper than that?  Is there a sense that I "remember" Peter's denial because I have been there when he did it – as I was last Thursday?

One of the staples for the newspapers at this time of the year is to print pictures of various groups carrying the cross, often from one church to another in a local area.  The ODT duly observed this ritual at the weekend, but sadly without any in-depth interviews with participants.  I studied the photographs carefully, and asked myself a simple question.  If the cross did not appear in the photograph would I have known, just by looking at the people themselves, what they were doing or where they were going?  I am sure I would not.  In the absence of the cross my guess would have been that they were members of a local walking club, or something of that nature.  There was not a tear in sight.  There were no downcast looks – nothing to suggest that they were on the way to Golgotha to witness the terrible death of a loved one.  Of course, the weather didn't help.  It should always be freezing cold, blowing a gale and pouring with rain on Good Friday.  But what was really missing, it seemed to me as I scanned those smiling faces, was any indication that the journey they were making was literally along the via dolorosa in the footsteps of the tortured victim.

Here, surely, we can learn a lot from Anzac Day commemorations.  It is not only the few remaining veterans with their personal memories of past horrors and lost mates who are to be found with tears in their eyes on these occasions.  More and more, it seems, people are able and willing to enter into the terrible events we are remembering when we gather on such occasions.  Strip away the awful cant, the carefully scripted narratives, and the flagrant re-writing of history that is so often the ugly wrapping of these occasions, and what we are often left with is a deep sense of collective compassion, and a willingness, perhaps even a desire, to enter into the terrible suffering of those we are remembering.  Very rarely do I hear at Anzac commemorations the sort of empty small talk that we are all too often subjected to when we gather at the cross.  Remembrance of the heart, rather than recollection by the mind, is what I understand by anamnesis.

And all this applies as much to the Lord's resurrection as it does to his crucifixion.  In 2003 I wrote what I called "A Devotion for Eastertide", entitled "Stations of the Resurrection".  As with the Stations of the Cross, there were 14 stations designed to enable us to enter into the resurrection in the same way that the traditional devotion provides "a way into" the crucifixion.  The Stations of the Resurrection starts (not surprisingly) at the empty tomb, and the first few feature the well-known resurrection appearances.  But the structure of the whole things is designed to lead from head to heart, from recollection to anamnesis.  Station 9 features "The Breaking of the Bread" on the journey to Emmaus.  Then station 10 is "On the Road to Damascus", where Paul meets the risen Christ.   And then things turn really personal.  Station 11 is entitled "We Meet the Risen Christ".   You get the idea.

So the challenge in the coming weeks is to enter at an ever deeper level into the experience of the resurrection, to become "eye witnesses" able to testify firsthand that Jesus IS risen from death.  Of all the Easter Day services that I have been involved in over the years the one that stands out in my memory was in 1997.  I started the sermon with a few very learned comments on the readings and explained how they illustrated the orthodox teaching of the church, etc.  Then I stopped and said something like, "Which is all well and good.  But actually, as any lawyer will tell you, nothing beats an eye-witness account; so I am now going to hand you over to [N], who knows that Jesus Christ is alive today because she has met him in person."  My star witness then gave a brief account of meeting Christ, before returning to her seat.  It is not my natural modesty that leads me to say that no one who was there that day remembers a word of my sermon – I certainly don't.  But what I do remember very clearly is the response of the congregation.  One moment they were quiet, perhaps even somnolent, as they tried to give every appearance of listening to their Vicar preach: then as I called my star witness to the stand they came alive.  Easter broke out all around!

Acts 2:14a, 22-31.  We are used to the idea of Paul being transformed from arch persecutor to chief apostle; but is that any more astonishing than the transformation of Peter from recidivist denier to fearless proclaimer?  But notice how he is still clearly the same person – he is still very "Peterish" in his approach, isn't he?  He has been through the refiner's fire of Pentecost, but he is no more refined in manner and temperament than he was before.  Centuries before the invention of social media he has no regard for 'likes" and "followers".  He gets straight to the point if not to the jugular.  He eschews "I" and "we" statements.  Look at the number of times the word "you" appears in this passage.  "Attested to you"; "among you"; "as you yourselves know"; "handed over to you"; and, of course, "you crucified and killed".  The spotlight only falls on Peter and the others at the end of this passage – "of that all of us are witnesses".

Taking It Personally.

• Put yourself in the crowd.  Hear Peter's charges against you, see his jabbing finger pointing at you.  How do you feel?  What response do you want to make?  Are you cut to the quick or indignant at his cheek?
• Now put yourself in Peter's group.  Is he really speaking for you?  Are you a witness of the fact that God has raised Jesus from the dead?
• Looking back over Holy Week how much were you able to enter into the Lord's Passion?  How much did you feel the joy of resurrection on Easter morn?  Are you now radiating the joy of Easter to others?

 

1 John 1:1-2:2.  Again, we notice the writer's personal insistence that all he is writing is based on his own experience – "we declare to you what we have seen and heard".  He moves then to the "message" – this is no private spirituality for the benefit of the few chosen souls open to experiences of this kind.  The message directs attention first to God, and God's true nature.  God is pure light – there is no darkness in him.  Only in that light, may we walk in true holiness.  Now the focus is on us, and we must face up to the truth of our nature.  We are sinners in need of forgiveness: any failure to recognise that is complete illusion.  But here comes the good news: we have only to acknowledge our need for forgiveness and we are forgiven.  Thanks be to Christ who has done all that is required for the forgiveness, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world.

 

 

Taking It Personally.

 

• A good day for a spiritual stock-take.  Looking back over the last two weeks, have you been constantly walking in the light?
• Ask the Spirit to bring to your mind anything that you need to confess to God.
• Notice the emphasis on fellowship in this passage.  Pray for your local faith community.  Do you enjoy good fellowship with all other members of that fellowship, or is some healing, forgiveness or reconciliation required?  What can you do to assist in any such way?  Will you do it?  When?

 

John 20:19-31.  There are really two stories rather than one in this passage, each with a dramatic dynamic of its own.  Rowan Williams, commenting on the first story, says that Jesus' appearance to his disciples is the supreme demonstration of forgiveness and love in the whole of Scripture.  He comes to the very people who have denied him, abandoned him, and doubted him – and gives them his peace.  We are assured that they "rejoiced when they saw the Lord", but was it really that simple?  And what about the commission he gave them?  However much they truly rejoiced in his forgiveness of them, were they keen to go into the world – the world that they were hiding from behind closed doors – and start dispensing forgiveness to all and sundry?  The second story is all about Thomas.  Where was he on that first night?  Had he already given up?  His attitude towards his fellow disciples certainly suggests that.  He can't believe what they are telling him – perhaps at one level he doesn't want to believe them.  It's over – let it go.  It's time to move on.  And yet... there must have been something in what they said – or in the way they said it –that got through to him.  Perhaps it was enough to give it one more try.  Perhaps he had in mind to challenge them – okay guys, now we're all here, so where's Jesus?  But then here was Jesus – wounds and all.  What more was there to say, but "My Lord and my God"?

 

Taking It Personally.

 

• A great passage for praying with the imagination.  Put yourself into the first scene.  Be aware of the "atmosphere", the shock, the fear, the disillusionment, perhaps even the sense of having been duped.
• Notice the effect when Jesus appears among them.  Were they embarrassed, ashamed of their own actions when the crunch came?  How are you feeling?  Are Jesus' wounds obvious?  How do you feel as he draws attention to them?
• Now turn your attention to the second scene.  Are you aware of any difference in the atmosphere?  Is there now an air of expectancy?  Is everyone looking at Thomas?  Are they looking forward to being proved right?  What do you feel towards Thomas at this point?  What words do you offer him?