Ben Hicks

From Ministry Matters – “What Changed after the Resurrection”?

“….We can pile on all the theological implications we want to the resurrection, but they don’t change the fact that even as Jesus was walking out of the empty tomb people in his own country were still dying, still suffering under the oppression of the Roman empire, still being taken advantage of by their neighbors, still suffering and causing others to suffer. It’s continued that way for some 2,000 years now as if nothing happened that holy morning.

“When you think about it that way or when you simply turn on the nightly news, it becomes hard not to ask if anything actually did change after the resurrection and, at least in my case, just as difficult to find the energy to get excited about Easter when the promises of Easter seem like they’re still going unfulfilled.

“But hope is not lost. As challenging as my academic predecessor’s question appears and indeed is, it’s not the question we should be asking.

“Because the Church doesn’t believe something changed after the resurrection. We believe something is changing.

“It’s a subtle difference, but a profoundly important one. As Christians, we are not naïve enough to believe that Jesus walked out of the tomb that first Easter morning and in an instant everything changed, all things were made new and suffering and death were no more. As Christians, we believe that when Jesus walked out of the tomb that first Easter morning everythingbegan to change, all things began to be made new and the reign of suffering and death was finally beginning to come to an end. But in believing thusly, we also profess that the kingdom of God is a present but not yet fully realized reality, and it won’t be fully realized until our Lord returns again.”

Richard Rohr’s sermon preached All Saint’s in Pasadena follows readings from Acts 5:27-32 and John 20:19-31 and pushes us to broaden our visions of the risen Christ as the passage above. “The Resurrection is not a one-time miracle but the revelation of how reality works: that nothing truly dies.” Here is the link.

May 4, Third Sunday of Easter,   John 21:1-19 

Jesus appears to the disciples as they fish on the Sea of Galilee.   Jesus stood on the shore and called out to the men in the boat asking if they had caught anything. The disciples replied that they had caught nothing. When their nets are filled to breaking, they know from this abundance that Jesus must be the one on the shore calling to them.   They share breakfast with Jesus on the beach, and then in one of the most poignant scenes in the Bible, Jesus returns to Peter the three chances he missed on the night Jesus was betrayed to profess his love and loyalty to Jesus.  In spite of Peter’s earlier failures, Jesus entrusts Peter with the task of caring for the sheep, the ones that Jesus has called into his flock.  

May 11, Fourth Sunday of Easter, John 10:22-30

This Sunday is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. 

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Those who hear his voice will follow him.  Once a person responds to the invitation, he or she belongs to God forever.  No one can snatch a follower of Jesus from God’s hand. 

May 18, Fifth Sunday of Easter , John 13:31-35

During the last supper that Jesus shared with the disciples,  he pointed toward his future glory after his death and resurrection when he would be reunited with his Father in heaven.  “Where I am going, you cannot come.” He also gave the disciples a command: to love one another. But the disciples didn’t have to figure out how to do this on their own. Jesus told them to love one another in the same way he had loved them.

May 25, Sixth Sunday of Easter, John 14:23-29

John 14:23-29 is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse.  Jesus’ answers Judas’s (not the one who betrayed him) question about how Jesus will manifest himself to the disciples but not to the world?  The question echoes the hope for an unmistakable external occurrence to convince the world. The disciples hoped for the coming of the Messiah to do this; the early Church counted on Jesus’ second coming. The passage is intended to give assurance to a young and persecuted community.

Jesus promised the disciples that after his return to God, the Holy Spirit would live within them and provide strength and courage. The Spirit would always be available to help them as a counselor and advocate. Through the Spirit, they would recall the words and teachings of Jesus and even come to understand these things in a way that they could not before. In addition, the disciples would receive the peace that passes all understanding. 

I.Theme –   Considering Jesus’ presence with us. 

 "Christ’s Appearance on Lake Tiberias" – Duccio di Buoninsegna 1308-11)

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

Old Testament – Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm – Psalm 30 
Epistle –Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel – John 21:1-19 

Today’s readings invite us to consider the meaning of Jesus’ presence with us. In the story from Acts, the apostles, empowered by the Spirit of Jesus, preach the gospel despite persecution. John, in his Revelation, describes how being in the presence of Jesus, the enthroned Lamb of God, moves all of creation to bless and praise. In today’s gospel story, Jesus, in another pos t resurrection appearance, provides an abundant catch of fish for his disciples.

In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen tells Alice that in her youth, she believed six impossible things every morning before breakfast and counsels Alice to believe in impossibilities as well. The Easter season is a season for mystics and “impossibility” thinkers. We are challenged to believe “more” rather than “less” about the world and its resources. Tempted to think small, we may discover that God is at work in our lives – in the causal events of life – to give us more than we can ask than imagine. Possibilities abound that appear to be “impossibilities” for unimaginative realists. Persecutor Paul encounters the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus; the Resurrected Christ cooks breakfast for the disciples and invites Peter to claim a global vocation; the author of Revelation envisages an enchanted and lively universe, in which all creation praises God; and Psalmist experiences ecstasy and joy amid the maelstrom of external challenges.

The call of the readings is to go out and act on them. There are people who are hungry—we must go and feed them, we can’t be only worried about our own needs. There are people who are mourning, who are sad—we must go and be with them, to help bear their burdens. We must remember that the picture is greater than ourselves. Messages of personal salvation only go so far, to help us feel good about ourselves. Remembering that God’s purpose as Creator is new life, we must do our part to help in all of creation to nurture that new life. "Feed my sheep", "Follow me’

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