Opened Minds and Hearts -- A Lectionary Meditation
Opened Minds and Hearts
On the
day of his crucifixion, Jesus prayed:
“Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke
23:34]. I preached
this word on Good Friday, and in that brief sermonic reflection I asked the
question: Is it true that they/we act in
ignorance? Or, perhaps we could say
that even when we act knowingly, we often don’t truly understand the
ramifications of our decisions and our actions.
Whether we act in ignorance or not, Jesus offers us a word of
forgiveness that allows us to restart our lives. Forgiveness enables boldness, especially if
that boldness is expressed in bearing witness to the transforming presence of
God, revealed to us in the Risen Christ.
It is
now the Third Sunday of Easter. As the
days go by, we may lose sight of the events of that Holy Week that led from
cross to tomb to resurrection; from death to life. The lectionary, however, continues to return
to the basic message of Jesus’ Resurrection appearances and how these
appearances – however you choose to understand them -- transformed the lives of
those Jesus called to be disciples and witnesses, bearing with them a message
of forgiveness.
In the texts for this Third Sunday,
we’re assured that what was done ignorance, God has transformed for the good of
all. It is, in these readings, an embodied
message, even if that body carries with it scars that remind us of our
complicity in acts of violence. Luke
doesn’t directly mention the wounds, but I find myself importing John’s
account, knowing that he has been wounded for our transgressions – or by our transgressions
– but in the end there is healing for humanity.
The question is, are we able to
understand and embrace this truth?
It
seems appropriate to begin our conversation with the reading from the Gospel of
Luke. The reading Acts is, after all, a continuation
of the story that begins in Luke. Our
Gospel reading, which follows directly after the Emmaus Road encounter, stops
just short of the Ascension story, thus it’s the penultimate moment, when the
commission is given, but the moment of leaving is yet to come.
As we
begin reading, Jesus is making his appearance to apparently terrified followers,
who think he’s a ghost. Who wouldn’t –
the doors are locked and the windows closed (they’re in hiding), and yet he
appears suddenly. Now there are reports
that the tomb is empty and that Jesus may have revealed himself to two
disciples who had been traveling the road to Emmaus (wherever that is). Still they’re not prepared for this. They don’t have categories – except ghost
stories – to explain this phenomenon. Of
course, neither do we. The events
described here parallel the account given in John, which we considered a week
earlier, except Thomas isn’t a lead character.
There is doubt expressed, but it’s not placed on the back of just this
one disciple (John 20:19-31). Interesting,
as in John, Jesus greets them with the words:
“Peace be with you!” He also
shows them his hands and feet, though we’re not told if there are wounds to see
and touch. Apparently they remain unconvinced,
or at least confused, though doubt is expressed in the midst of happiness. Their emotions are mixed – is this a moment
of celebration or not? They’re not sure,
quite yet, and so to further quell their concerns, Jesus asks for fish. I guess, seeing him eat a fish satisfies
their skepticism, since ghosts don’t eat fish.
The presentation
of his embodied self leads to an opening of minds to understand a message that
is traced back to the Torah, to the Prophets, and to the Psalms, showing that
this message must be fulfilled. And what
is the message – that Christ will suffer, rise from the dead, and direct that a
message of repentance (“change of heart and mind” CEB) and forgiveness be
“preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Change and forgiveness is at the heart of
this message that is to go out beginning in Jerusalem. The key here is that it is to be done “in his
name.” It is by his authority and not
their own, that they go. They’ll be
witnesses, but they can’t forth without the “heavenly power.” Patience, yes, patience is needed. But when the time comes there will be
power. A new age of the Spirit is coming
into our midst.
In Acts
3, we hear Peter speak of the power and the name by which he has engaged in
healing the man who was unable to walk, the one who asked for silver and gold,
but who received the ability to walk instead.
Some in the crowd aren’t sure what to think about this, and so Peter
makes his defense. He didn’t do this
through his own power or piety, but through the power of the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, who glorified (resurrected) Jesus, whom Peter accuses them of
killing. Once again we must keep in mind
that the blame gets placed on the Jews, but it is really a cabal of imperial
ruler and religious appointees who were entrusted with keeping law and order in
place. Faith in “his name,” Jesus’ name
is the reason this man walks. The
healing is designed to not only provide a new life for the man, but give
opportunity for the name to be lifted up before the people. As the message is presented, in line with the
earlier commission, a word of forgives is offered, for they “acted in
ignorance.” “Father forgive them for
they know not what they do.” As in Luke,
all this has happened, as it was revealed through the prophets. So change your heart and mind, and God will
wipe away (forgive) your sins.
Finally
we come to this word from 1 John 3.
There is a word here about closed eyes.
Those who don’t recognize Jesus, fail to recognize those who bear his
name, those whom God has called children.
The good news here is that that we shall be like him – when he
appears. There is for us a transformed identity;
one that is pure for Jesus is pure. In
this new identity, those who know him will not sin, because he does not
sin. We will be like him, but even
though we may not be in a perfectly transformed state, and surely that is what
John is anticipating, we can begin practicing righteousness. I like that idea, that the one who “practices
righteousness is righteous, in the same way that Jesus is righteous.”
The reign of God has broken into
the earthly plane. It’s not fully
revealed. There is still need for having
hearts and minds opened, and sins forgiven.
There may be questions to wrestle with, but lives are changing. The realm of God is making itself felt. It may still be little more than a mustard seed,
but it’s present. Let us look at
ourselves, and recognize in ourselves the need to be transformed, to be opened
to the purposes of God, as revealed in Jesus, so that we might bear this
message, even as we are transformed by the heavenly power – namely the Holy
Spirit.
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