Collect
Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord: give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
or
Risen Christ, you filled your disciples with boldness and fresh hope: strengthen us to proclaim your risen life and fill us with your peace, to the glory of God the Father.
Post Communion
Living God, your Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in all his redeeming work; who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Readings
First lesson – Acts 3.12–19
When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped
Psalm 4
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; ♦
you set me at liberty when I was in trouble;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you nobles dishonour my glory; ♦
how long will you love vain things and seek after falsehood?
3 But know that the Lord has shown me his marvellous kindness; ♦
when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not; ♦
commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness ♦
and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many that say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ ♦
Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us.
7 You have put gladness in my heart, ♦
more than when their corn and wine and oil increase.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, ♦
for it is you Lord, only, who make me dwell in safety.
Epistle – 1 John 3.1–7
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Gospel – Luke 24.36b–48
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
Sermon on Easter 3
Last week we heard the story of Thomas, and today we heard that Jesus said to the disciples, “‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’” I would like to say that we should take courage from these rather accusing questions Jesus asked his anxious disciples. This narrative goes on, “In their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering.” For this reason I say, Be bold – we can still have the joy of a deep faith even if we wonder about a lot of the story. I say we need to “de-mystify” our faith, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church and its language. We need to be express ourselves plainly, with joy even if we are anxious.
It is quite clear that much of what we say in this sacred building has nothing to do with what happens outside these rather beautiful four walls. How many of us converse with people about the Christ risen in our lives? Who talks about the God of the resurrection as Peter did in our reading from Acts this morning? Who would dare to discuss the coming of the Holy Spirit openly in Dursley’s market-place?
The Trinity and all the complicated theology it entails does not impact on our daily lives, does it? In the history of the Church we can read stories of ordinary people trying to come to grips with this topic – that bakers would discuss the very complicated theology of the filioque with their customers as they handed over their loaves of bread. [Who besides me has ever heard of the filioque controversy?] Ordinary people are said to be passionately involved in the deepest mysteries of the faith. Today, however, who is interested in the procession of the Holy Spirit from God the Father and the Son (filioque)? Who cares?
What interests us most today? What is the common topic of conversation amongst people when we meet them on the street – apart from the weather? What do we talk about in the shops? It certainly is not matters ecclesiastically theological, is it? Most of the time we hear about how stressed people are, how they cannot cope with the pressures of present-day life, that they cannot come to grips with the enormity of the universe, that everything is just too far beyond their ken. Faith has to start there – where people’s cares are, where their language reveals themselves. Our church language often covers up our concerns and deflects us from the heart of the matter when it comes to our very own selves and cares, as talking about the weather does. Do we often – no, I should say do we
ever
– open up our hearts to one another to express our terrors and our fundamental doubts? How often do we even do this with our life’s partner?
Jesus “said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’” If we are to be like Jesus in our lives, why don’t we ask this question of our friends and neighbours? Why don’t we speak of anxious doubt with our loved ones?
Rather, we think – “Isn’t it all too complicated? Isn’t it easier to talk about the weather?” In fact, when we tell another how stressed we are, doesn’t that kill any conversation dead? Do we ever try to press on about the fears and doubts which assail another person? It is much too easy to let them stew in their own stress alone with an anodyne, “Oh, I am sorry to hear that,” and move on to a less dangerous or revealing topic of conversation. Or are dangerous and revealing the same thing? We are reluctant to leap ahead of the other in our dialogue with them to help free them from their terror.
Perhaps we must ask, whether people make those statements in order to distance themselves, to keep you away from them. They place their stress in the way as a barrier to friendship and care. So we oblige them and take another course in our conversation and life with them.
How can we free people up from doubt and fear? Don’t we feel that freedom ourselves? Hasn’t our faith been our reply to the call of conscience which we heard when we stood on the abyss at the edge of our terror? Didn’t Jesus come to us – whatever the guise in which he cloaked himself – and speak our name so that we could be ourselves? Like with Mary in the garden, didn’t Jesus talk with each one of us so that we could be freed from that fear of loss and that confusion of doubt? Can’t we do that for our friends and neighbours – or even a stranger in our midst? Can’t we speak their names as a call to the love of one another? Can’t we finally fulfill the only precept Christ gave his disciples – that we love one another?
This sort of activity is a very different behaviour from that associated with the church, isn’t it? The behaviour of churches does not foster this unconditional love normally, does it? We have pictures of the Church through images of Victorian clergy who move in the upper reaches of society, like those depicted in Trollope’s Barchester, don’t we? Or is it the Vicar of Dibley who is the picture of the church you have? These images of the leaders of the churches in the land need to be revised – they need to be stripped down to the pastoral care of love and from there we need to allow the churches – which is to say, you and me – to spread this gospel of freedom throughout the land, in each parish love should flourish and every person be confident in their own lives. This is the “de-mystifying” I want to pursue.
The freeing up of people for life in all its fullness should be our goal. So what does open up people today? Is it conversations about miracles? Does talk about theological matters create that freedom? What about talk of black holes or the Higgs Boson Particle? What would help you to understand that call of Jesus clearly, when you truly hear your conscience speaking? What settles you into confidence away from fear and doubt?
This radical reinterpretation has happened from the very beginning of the Church. We have the gospels – each of which has a different character, I would say in itself an indication of the struggle with the wonder and doubt of every disciple. And Paul took a very different way of speaking of the Christ-event in his life, didn’t he? The history of the Church shows how so many different approaches have been taken in the project of freeing others for that freedom to experience life in all its fullness, the life of unfettered love for neighbour and God.
When we pursue love, life becomes ever so much richer, don’t you agree? We become ourselves – we have heard our name clearly, though we may not know its source. Maybe this is why Jesus asks his disciples, “‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’” Perhaps they were trying to figure out the source of that still small voice. So we should be bold and ask those difficult questions of ourselves and our neighbours. That is just what love does for us, isn’t it? It is the question Jesus asks all of us disciples. – Let us experience life in all its fullness with joy in spite of the fear and doubt in our hearts.
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