So Easter is gone. I’ve eaten all the peanutbutter eggs, gorged myself on jellybeans and nibbled the ears off chocolate bunnies. The cat has eaten most of the Easter grass–a poor substitute, she says, for the real thing. What remains? Good News! The message of the empty tomb continues to resonate in the labyrinths of our souls, and the earth waits to see what God will do next… These weeks after Easter–Eastertide–are full of possibilities for engaging others in the highways & byways in experiences of justice, peace and renewed life. Lessons for the upcoming weekend remind those who straggle back after Easter that the Risen Lord is present in all things, and can be honored in the way we live.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles (3:12-19) should be introduced with the backstory, where Peter & John have healed the lame man at the Temple. This gives opportunity for Peter to address the stunned Jewish multitude: “And by faith in (Jesus’) 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.” As in the Gospels, healing is a vehicle for glorifying Jesus, not only in body but in the deep recesses of their hearts. Peter & John were surrounded because this healing was a departure from the everyday post-Passover cleanup. Perhaps they expected more healing–but what they got was an invitation to come closer to God through Christ.
We turn again to I John 3:1-7, which includes a wealth of study material. The readers of this letter are exhorted to adopt a radical response to the daily temptations to selfishness and hate. The “sin” which is expressed here goes beyond chewing gum in school or running with scissors; John’s aim is at those who deny of the Risen Christ by practice or speech. And there is a happy ending for those faithful to God’s precepts: “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.” Will that interrupt our scrabbling in the dust?
The Gospel returns us to the immediate gathering of the Disciples on Easter, this time according to Luke’s narrative (24:36-49). No specific mention of Thomas’ faith-journey, but the assurance that Jesus did have a bodily resurrection. His eating of the broiled fish was not a parlor trick, but a prescient reminder of his physicality (to confound later heresies of gnosticism, which claimed that Jesus was only a spirit). Did those early believers think that their Jesus travels ended with Good Friday? Again, their indecision and tendency to hide was interrupted in an astonishing way… The Risen Lord transformed this motley crew into a cohort of released prisoners, sending them as witnesses of redemption and forgiveness.
Saints through the ages have described the Christian stance as one which interrupted their complacent routine with its surprises. “Just when I thought things were boringly normal, here he comes again!” We’re reminded that Easter continues, even when the hard-boiled eggs have become egg salad. When you least expect it, the Risen Christ breaks in!
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
My encounters with readings designed for the upcoming weekend can be traced every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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