He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures

 

Reflection Easter Day 4^th April 2021

 

Like you, a couple of weeks ago, I sat down to complete my Census return. It was all straightforward. However, there was one part that was a bit tricky for me and that was the bit that dealt with employment. You see Methodist ministers aren’t employees. As far as the taxman is concerned, we are “office holders”. But the census didn’t allow for this. Therefore, as far as the census was concerned, I am an employee of the Methodist Church.

That’s no big deal. But once I’d ticked the box for “employee” other questions popped up. “What is your job title?” Minister of Religion / Methodist Minister. But then there was another question “What does your job entail?”

Where to start? After all there is no job description. In the end I put something like “Proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples” It sounds a bit pompous now I think about it. But this is the important bit of my “job” – even if at times there seems to be too much other stuff to deal with.

I think on Easter Day it is important to get the priorities right. And if I’d been completing the census today, I might have been tempted to try and paraphrase Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 to explain what my “job” entails:

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 1 Cor 15: 1 – 2 NIV

We know the Resurrection stories well. And the first followers of Jesus would have known them well too. In some instances, they would have heard the stories first hand, for Paul reminds the church in Corinth that Jesus appeared to Cephas (that is Peter) and then to the twelve 1 Cor 15:5 And then Paul says Jesus

appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me 1 Cor 15:6 - 8

For Paul, the story of Jesus’ resurrection is the very foundation of our faith

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures 1 Cor 15:3 - 4

As I’m sure you’ve heard before, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written - we think – to address some issues that were arising in the young church in Corinth. Often about fundamentals of faith. The resurrection has always been hard for people to swallow, even people of great faith. In this first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul has much to say about the resurrection, because apparently it was a problem for members of the early church. There were already those who were refuting the resurrection of Jesus. Paul reminds them that without the resurrection, there is no Christian faith. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are at the centre of it all.

As I’ve already mentioned the proof that Paul gives for the resurrection is that the risen Christ appeared to the disciples, and to hundreds of other people, including Paul. That continues to be the strongest proclamation we can make regarding the resurrection.

People claiming to be "the Messiah" weren't all that uncommon in Jesus' day. There were others who had devoted followers like Jesus did. He was just one among many. Just like Jesus, they routinely died at the hands of Romans. But when they died, their movements died with them. The Jesus movement was unique because it didn't die when he did. Instead, within days of his crucifixion, the movement had been transformed. Within weeks it was proclaiming that Jesus really was the Messiah. Within a year or two, it was taking the message of the good news to all the world. How can this amazing transformation be explained? It surely didn't come about because of a Messiah who had been crucified and buried.

There is a consistent message about the followers of Jesus in the Bible. Down to a person, not one of them believed in the resurrection of Jesus in the beginning. This rings true because the scriptures tell us about it in so many places and in so many ways. It also rings true because we know from our own experience that it's hard to believe. And yet, we know that something happened to Jesus' followers in the Bible, something so convincing that they devoted their lives to sharing the good news of the resurrected Christ with others. In fact, they were willing to give their lives rather than deny its truth. This, from the ones who cowered in fear behind locked doors after Jesus was crucified.

What was this thing that happened to them? The risen Christ appeared to them. We get some of these accounts in the Bible, but no doubt there were other instances as well. As I’ve said, Paul mentions an instance that we don't read about anywhere else in the Bible, a time when the risen Christ appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at once. Now, when over 500 people see something at the same time, you cannot dismiss it as a vision or a dream. There can be no doubt that it really happened.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, hundreds of his followers had the opportunity to see him. They saw the risen Christ. That explains why their lives were so transformed. I'm not sure how there could be any other explanation. After seeing the risen Christ, all the stuff that had confused them in the past became clear for them. Jesus really was the Messiah. From the perspective of the resurrection, the cross was not a shameful death after all but a victory.

The mission of the early church was simply to tell about what they had seen and heard. It was to bear witness to the things that happened.

What I said on my census return out of exasperation was true. My “job” is to preach the Good News, the Gospel. To share what has been handed down to me.

 

"... Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 NIV

The biblical witnesses are still announcing the resurrection to us today. That's why we gather this Easter day, and every Sunday actually, because that's why the Christian church changed their sabbath day to Sunday, so every week our worship is a celebration of the resurrection. The resurrection had the power to transform the lives of the first disciples. The truth of their witness to the resurrection still has the power to transform our lives, as well.

 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

It was Sunday

It was Sunday the woman realised. With the authorities saying people had to remain indoors – for their own safety you understand – all the days seemed to blur in to one. With many people – if they were fortunate – being able to work from home, the woman, like many she knew, often had to think whether it was a weekday or a weekend.

It was Sunday though that’s for sure. The woman liked Sundays. She’d always be first up on a Sunday to have some time to herself for her mindfulness. And this Sunday was no different. So, she left her husband snoring in bed got dressed and went downstairs.

It looked like a beautiful day and she decided she’d take her daily one-hour exercise now. Not that many people would be outside, and if they were, they’d be on their own, keeping the regulation 2 metres apart from anyone else.

The woman set off from her home. She was careful to keep moving – the authorities didn’t like it if you stopped during your allowed hour, and woe betide you if you sat down. Yesterday she’d seen an old man being told off by the authorities for taking a breather on a park bench. He could have been fined.

The streets were empty. The authorities liked to see the streets empty. They liked to see the public spaces empty. The authorities would have preferred it if everyone stayed indoors all the time – for their own safety you understand. But that wasn’t practical. People needed to shop, to exercise, to go to see their doctor.

Although the woman enjoyed some quiet time on her own, she also missed the usual buzz of the town and seeing people she knew.

Through social media, the woman had heard that on Friday “a man had been detained for questioning” by the authorities. She had met the Man on a few occasions. He was a teacher. He was a good man, a quiet man, a man of peace. She couldn’t understand why he’d been detained.

But the worst part was his closest friends were saying he’d not returned on Friday evening. The woman knew what that meant.

She found herself walking towards a suburb of the town you were wise to avoid. A part of town where there was a patch of waste ground where apparently the authorities took people for questioning. A patch of waste ground from which people never returned.

The woman found herself passing the waste ground. A member of the authorities was stood on guard. “Keep moving along please madam” the soldier said.

But the woman stopped and found herself speaking to the soldier – though she kept the regulation 2 metres away. “Someone I knew was brought here on Friday” she said boldly. “What would have happened to him? Where would they have taken him after, you know”

The soldier looked around nervously. “You didn’t hear it from me. But most likely he would have been taken away to be disposed of, know what I mean? No one returns from here. Now move on sister.”

The woman left and she found herself crying. Why kill the Man? And if they could do it to him who next? It made no sense. But there on the waste ground, early on a Friday morning, the authorities had set about their work. Their work of finding out answers. Their work of teaching a man, the Man, a lesson. Their work of punishment.

And there on the waste ground, the waste ground in the suburb you avoided, the Man who had helped the authorities with their enquiries, had died. And then been disposed of.

The woman turned toward her home, conscious that she’d had 40 minutes exercise and in theory anyway, she should be home in 20 minutes. “Stuff that” the woman said. And she carried on walking.

A man who seemed vaguely familiar was just ahead of her on the other side of the road. Over 2 metres away. “It’s a beautiful morning isn’t it?” he said “Is it?” she replied bitterly. And then for some reason she started pouring out the story of the teacher who had been arrested, the Man had ‘been disposed of’

The man listened and nodded and asked one or two question. Why was she talking like this? To a stranger. And yet she seemed to think she knew him. But she couldn’t place him. He reminded her of someone.

They came to one of the unofficial coffee stalls that sometimes sprung up. “Fancy a coffee and a croissant?” the man said. Why not? The man bought her a drink and a croissant, placed it in a bag and left it in the middle of the road for her to collect. She rubbed her hands with sanitiser and picked the bag up.

The man smiled and raised his coffee cup and broke the croissant. “Bless you sister” he said and started to walked off.

“Wait!” the woman said “I know who you are, you’re the Man! The teacher! But how can it be so? You were dead and the soldier told me you were disposed of!”

But the Man had disappeared from her sight.

The woman ran home eager to tell others what she'd seen, what she'd experienced. To tell others "It's true! The Man isn't dead. He is alive! I recognised him as we shared coffee together"

Called by name

This is an abridged version of a sermon preached on Easter Day 2018 at Central Methodist Church in Chippenham

I don’t know about you but sometimes I get a bit annoyed when I phone up say British Gas or another company like that, I give my details and then you get “What can I do for you today David?”

Wait a minute. We’ve not been introduced. You don’t know me. Why are we suddenly on first name terms? But then I think of the alternative “What can I do for you today Mr Gray” and I immediately assume they’re talking about my Dad!

And perhaps you’ve noticed how in some restaurants waiters and waitresses give their names. We were in a restaurant in Southampton recently and the waiter introduced himself and then wrote his name on the paper table cloth, so we wouldn’t forget!

Call centre staff are trained to use a customer’s name. It’s not meant to be impolite it’s meant to make them human and to make us as a customer feel valued. Whether it has that effect or not I’ll leave up to you to decide.

In 2013, the late Dr Kate Granger was in hospital. At that time Dr Granger was being treated for terminal cancer and this meant frequent stays in hospital. During a hospital stay in August 2013, Kate Granger realised that many staff looking after her did not introduce themselves before delivering her care. In Kate Granger’s words “It felt incredibly wrong that such a basic step in communication was missing.”

Kate Granger decided to do something about it. And following her discharge from hospital Kate and her husband started a campaign, mainly using Twitter, to encourage and remind healthcare staff about the importance of introductions in healthcare.

Again, in Kate Granger’s words:

"I firmly believe it is not just about common courtesy, but it runs much deeper. Introductions are about making a human connection between one human being who is suffering and vulnerable, and another human being who wishes to help"

Sadly, Kate died in 2016. But the effect of her campaign was noticeable. During my stay in hospital in autumn 2016 I can’t think of one member of staff, from the lowliest porter to the most senior consultant surgeon, who didn’t introduce themselves by name. It did make a connection and it put me at ease.

The social media site Twitter has now had 1.8 billion contacts via the #hellomynameis campaign.

Using our name and being invited to call someone by their name is such an important part of making a connection.

The story of Jesus’ resurrection as told in John’s Gospel chapter 20 has Mary Magdalene encountering Jesus. BUt although they have a conversation, it isn’t until Jesus calls her by name, that she recognises him.

14 At this, Mary turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’
16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’
She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). John 20: 14 - 16

Although she sees him. Although she talks with him. Mary doesn’t recognise him. Why that should be the case John doesn’t tell us. It’s not something to get hung up on. After all, Mary would not have been expecting to see Jesus alive in front of her. She’d seen him die. She’d help bury his body. We all know that people who are dead and buried don’t appear again.

But when Jesus calls her by name she recognises him.

Perhaps there is an echo of what Kate Granger said going on then

"Introductions are about making a human connection between one human being who is suffering and vulnerable, and another human being who wishes to help"

Of course, it’s an analogy we can only take so far. Jesus is both human and divine. But somehow when Jesus uses Mary’s name, things change.

I think it no coincidence that John includes this account. Because in chapter 10 of John’s Gospel when Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd and we his followers as his sheep we hear these words:

The Good Shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:3
And later in the same passage Jesus says:
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me John 10:14

It’s not surprising therefore that Mary recognises the risen Jesus Christ when the Good Shepherd’s voice is heard calling her by name.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

To be known by name, to be called by our name, is so important to our well being as humans. To be called by name by the Good Shepherd, the Risen Good Shepherd is more so.
To not have our name called or known means we go unrecognised and unnoticed. Go back to school days and remember the agony of not having your name called out to be on a team or take part in a play. If you remember such an occasion, you’ll remember too the feeling of being left out. Of being an outsider.

When nobody knows or calls your name, you stand outside the community. When your name is known and called, you are enfolded in the community. Thus, when Mary’s name was called by the risen Jesus, she is brought into the family of the Easter people. The people who believe in the Risen Jesus. But from her point of view she recognises for herself the power of the risen Jesus and all his resurrection means. Love and Eternal Life.

Christians are sometimes called the Easter people or Easter community. We have heard the Good Shepherd calling our names. Yes, sometimes we might think his call isn’t so much a call as a whisper. Nevertheless, we are believe because the Risen Jesus has called us, and we’ve responded to that call. Jesus, the risen Good Shepherd has called us to him, to share his love and to join him in the hope of eternal life.

The Easter people, the Church family, join Mary in being enfolded in the divine life and presence of Jesus. And being called by name into Jesus’ community. By being called by name into Jesus’ community means we take on something for Jesus - the importance of knowing and calling the names of those we encounter. Whether it is the newest member of our congregation or a person in distress seeking our help and love, we are Easter people. And Easter people are reminded of the importance of speaking the names of all we encounter. For by speaking their names, we enfold others in the Easter people community both human and divine.

30 years ago there was an American sitcom on the then new Channel 4. The sitcom was called Cheers and it was set in a bar in Boston Massachusetts. It pretty much revolved around the customers and staff of the bar. A strange assortment of people but they congregated in the bar for company and companionship.

The theme song of that sitcom contained a chorus which said:

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

Those words could have been written about being part of the Church family.

Though sadly we know that isn’t always the experience found in some churches.

American Methodist Bishop Gerald Kennedy once told about a young girl who lived in an apartment in a big city, and after supper in the summer the children on the block gathered in the streets to play. But after a while one would say that she had to go home because her mother told her to be in before eight o'clock. Or a father would whistle, and a boy would have to leave. A mother would call, and others would have to go. The girl said, "They would all go. It would get dark and I would be there all alone, waiting for my father or my mother to call me in. But they never did."

There are children of all ages who don't know, or have never known, the voice of a caring parent, who never get called in or called home. When what they really want, what they really need is someone to care. Someone to call their name with love, someone to reach out and let them know they matter.

Among the many joyful, hopeful messages of Easter is that the Risen Jesus Christ calls people by name. He calls them into his loving, forgiving arms. He calls them into life in all its fulness. He calls them home. He calls them by name He greets them

Hello, my name is Jesus.

Happy Easter - Cheers!

A theme in the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection on Easter Day is that at first he isn’t recognised.

In the Gospel of Luke we have my favourite post Resurrection story. It is of two disciples walking along the road from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They are joined by a stranger. The stranger is in fact Jesus. They tell him about what has happened but they do not recognise him. It is only later when he joins them for a meal and as he breaks bread and says a prayer that they recognise Jesus. (The Emmaus story linking with the Last Supper.)

In John’s Gospel John 20: 1 – 18 we have the story of Mary Magdalene going to the garden containing Jesus’ tomb. She finds the tomb empty. Then she encounters someone she takes to be the gardener.

14 At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’
16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’
She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).

Notice it’s only when Jesus calls Mary by name that she recognises him. They’d spoken before. But it is only when he uses her name that the penny drops.

This reminds us of something Jesus says earlier in John’s Gospel, chapter 10 where Jesus talks of himself as the Good Shepherd. In that chapter Jesus says that his sheep know his voice.

14 ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me

It is not surprising that when Mary hears Jesus’ voice calling her name she recognises him.

To be called by name, to be known by your name is a very important human experience. There is a big difference in how we feel when, for example someone might say “Good morning David. Please help me with this task” and “Oi you. Help me with this task”

There was a very surreal 1960s TV programme called “The Prisoner”. It is not a programme I ever got into. The series follows a British former secret agent who is abducted and held prisoner in a mysterious coastal village resort where his captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job. Everyone is known by a number. And the catch phrase of the central character was “I am not a number I am a free man”. This suggests to me the importance of us being known by name. Even though he was referred to as a number, in his mind he still had his name and hence was a free man.

Jesus knows our names. Just as he knew Mary’s name and called her by name. He calls us by name too.

When people are called by their name they no longer feel excluded, they feel included. They feel known. They feel cared for. They feel loved. On the other hand when nobody knows our name or calls our name we feel excluded from the community.

The Easter community that is the Church is a community whose members have heard the Good Shepherd’s voice calling them by name. We join with Mary in being enfolded in Jesus’ love, of being enveloped by his presence. And because we know how it feels to be called by name by Jesus, we seek to call others into community by name as well. From the newest person in our congregation to those who have been part of the family for many years, we who are the Easter community know the importance of calling people by their names so that they feel part of the community of Christ as well.

An American sitcom of the 1980s was called “Cheers”. It was set almost exclusively in a bar in Boston called “Cheers”. And each week the various characters – misfits and loners for the most part – would share their news and stories and feel part of something.

The theme song of that programme could have been written about the idea of being included in the Easter people community. Of being called by name and being part of that community:


Sometimes you want to go to a place
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You want to be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

That theme song should be a template for how churches should be.

Churches should be where people are known by name, where there is a sense that we are all the same, we all have troubles, we all fall short but we are welcomed – by Christ, by name.

Being called by name into the Easter people community gives many a sense of identity, a sense of being cared for, a sense of belonging. Something that so many in our world today lack elsewhere. But most of all it gives a sense of hope.



This blog is adapted from a sermon preached on Easter Day 2015 at Studley Methodist Church.

The Cheers theme song was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo and performed by Gary Portnoy.

The Cheers image came from www.Huffingtonpost.com

I believe in the power of Easter. That's a fact!

It is strange but I have more memories of Christmas than of Easter. And yet as a Christian, Easter is the most important festival.

That said, some Easter memories are really special to me. There was the time we were on holiday in Bruges in Belgium and were awakened early on Easter Day by church bells. There was a time staying in North Wales with friends in a holiday cottage (Easter Day was made memorable because we woke to the sight of snow on Snowdon in the distance and, sadly, a truly dire Easter service at an Anglican church in Caernarvon.) And there was a time when I preached at a service at Shrewsbury United Reformed Church on Easter Day. And that leads me to my most memorable Easter memory.

The most memorable Easter wasn’t Easter Day as such – though it was (in the church calendar) still Easter.

It was 1991 and we had a weekend in Yorkshire. On the Sunday after Easter we went to church in Ripon Cathedral. To this day I do not recall what was said by the preacher or what else was in the service that I found so powerful. But I know that on that Sunday, for the first time I truly believed in the Easter story and the power of the resurrection. And my response was to become a Local Preacher (a lay preacher) in the Methodist Church. Starting a journey that has led me to become an ordained minister.

The Easter story – Jesus coming back to life after dying on Good Friday – is the biggest challenge for people to accept about the Christian faith. And yet that is the most important part of our faith for it is only by believing and accepting that fact, that the rest of the faith falls in to place.

And for Christians, the Resurrection is a fact. And to believe that fact is the most important part of our faith.

The sceptical find it hard to accept it as fact but nevertheless, I believe it as fact – even if I might not understand the how and why of the Resurrection.

Charles Coulson, who was one of Nixon’s “Watergate Seven”, said this;

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

And I believe it as fact because Jesus’ people, those who believe in him do extraordinary things. Yes, I know, lots of people do wonderful things too. But Jesus’ people are Easter people and we should be empowered by the Resurrection which is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for us.

During the marking of the 70th anniversary of Auschwitz in January this year, I became aware of the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Polish priest who died as prisoner 16770 in Auschwitz.

When a prisoner escaped from the camp, the Nazis selected 10 others to be killed by starvation in reprisal for the escape. One of the 10 selected to die, Franciszek Gajowniczek, began to cry: My wife! My children! I will never see them again! At this Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and asked to die in his place. His request was granted.

In that Good Friday Hell of Auschwitz, Maximillian, a Beloved Disciple of Christ exhibited the power of Easter. Love conquered the hatred.

That is the power of Easter. Love conquers hate. Love conquers death.

Christ is risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia!