Doubting Thomas
All the
Easter appearances of Jesus have something both real and unreal about them.
CJesus was
the same yet different after the resurrection.
CHe talked
with his disciples for hours on the road to Emmaus, but
they did not recognize him until he broke bread with them.
CMagdalene
saw him right beside his own grave, yet didn't recognize him until he spoke her
name.
CAnd that is
still the way we recognize him - in the breaking of bread and in the words he
speaks.
CThe
different stories of the appearance of Jesus are trying to tell us in word
pictures what resurrection means.
CThey show
that Jesus is really alive - otherwise our faith would be in vain-
CThey show us
that it is the very same Jesus - otherwise there is no point to his earthly
life.
CBut they say
he is somehow not the same - otherwise there is no benefit from rising from the
dead.
CThat may be
wonderful for Jesus, but what does it do for you and me?
CWilliam
James once spoke of the cash value of any religious idea - its market price -
the effect it might have in the real world.
CAn
irreverent way to ask the question would be:
C"Will
the resurrection and a dollar get me a cup of coffee?"
CDo you want
it black or with cream and sugar?
CThe
resurrection gives everybody black coffee whether they want it or not. just as
God made the world without our leave -
Cand us
without our permission, so God raised Jesus from the dead without our consent.
CWe may use
or abuse the world, we may love or despise our life, or we may approve or
ignore the resurrection.
CBut our
opinion does not alter the fact.
CResurrection
means that at least one human being emerged on the far side of death
transformed into a new life.
CNow, if you
want cream or sugar, you have to add your own -
Cas little or
as much as you like.
CMinimally,
you might believe in the resurrection of Jesus only.
CThat makes
you a nominal Christian.
CThen you may
add a little personal color by believing that if it happened to him, it can
happen to you.
CThat adds a
whole new flavor to life, because it means that you have a goal in life
C that you
are not an accident of the universe but a purposeful act of God -
Cthat all of
your days and ways are not merely futile striving, finally mocked by death.
CYou may even
want to add that everybody will rise from the dead, that even history has a
meaning - a divine scheme.
CYou and I
are not bit-players who strut a while, then retire to the wings without ever
knowing how the play ends.
CNo - we all
come out for a final curtain-call at the end of the world - to appreciate each
other,
Cto enjoy the
marvelous unfolding of creation, and to be amazed at how God contrived to make
such a complicated plot come out all right - and to applaud God!
CBut although
cosmic resurrection is a grand thing, it is a little much.
CAnd most of
us, most of the time, would settle for a little less.
CAnd on a
really rough day, all we want to know is what we can "cash"
resurrection in for.
CI think we
have to admit that it is a bearish market today.
CThe world
does not appear to be appreciably better since Jesus defied death.
COur lives
still seem, at times, to move on in their petty, puny pace.
CBut things
do not have to be as they seem.
CIf
resurrection is not merely a one time event at the end of life
C if it is
instead the radical pattern of everyday life -
Cthen our ups
and downs are not indifferent blips on a screen.
CEvery ache
and pain is an extension of the death of Jesus.
CEvery
happiness is an expression of his resurrection.
CEvery single
thing that befalls us is an indispensable line in the script of our salvation.
CThat is
difficult to prove.
CIn fact, it
is impossible.
CIt is rather
our belief, our hope.
CAnd it is
fragile.
CIt demands a
new way of walking, a blurred look through a clouded mirror, and a personal
attachment to a dead and risen friend.
CIt is hard.
CBut that is
how faith has always been.
I love this. Beautifully expressed.
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