Jesus meets us

Readings for this week, of Sunday May 1, 2011 are for The Second Sunday of the Easter Season Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Psalm 16 I Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31

Easter is not just a one day festival

but rather a way of life

The rather good stories that tell how early Christians encountered Jesus after his death

help us to assimilate our own experiences of Jesus.

Take Peter, for example, who stands up boldly and reminds his listeners

"This Jesus who you crucified"...

he might also be saying....

"and who I deserted at his time of need"

...well "This Jesus God has shown to be the Messiah,

the incarnation of God himself."

It is, a reminder of the way we take the revelation of the Godhead for granted

and fail to see

what mind-blowingly transforming stuff we are involved in.

Thomas, too, who is a quintessential figure in the Christian story.

Not with the disciples when Jesus appears

he does not just take at face value

the fact that they have "seen the Lord"

Why, indeed, should he?

There is perhaps a salutary reminder

that sometimes we assume that people will take our witness for granted.

When we tell them what our experience of the Godly encounter is

we should not just assume that is going to be the last word in the debate.

We often mistake what is happening

we do not name it rightly

we may fail to appreciate where the other person is

(all these are warnings for the would-be evangelist)

but more than this we need to appreciate

that conversion is not so much about persuasion

as about openness to the Holy Spirit of God.

The disciples encourage Thomas

to articulate what it would take for him

to be convinced of the truth

of what God is doing in our lives.

What would it take for me to be convinced?

Perhaps more deeply convinced, or more fundamentally convinced,

can you write a short list of the doubts you have

and what God needs to do to allay those doubts.

Thomas did....I need to see and feel the wounds...

to experience the physicality and the aliveness of Jesus.

This confrontation and naming of doubt enabled him to respond well

when the moment came.

This is an important statement about the integrity of God

The God who honours our shortcomings

as well as our insights and our strengths.

Indeed the story seems to suggest

that doubt is not necessarily a "shortcoming"

The experience of resurrection

invites us to explore

both the light and dark places

where God is to be encountered in our faith journey.

What would you name as your doubts?

What would it and does it take to be more firmly and deeply committed?

and can I allow that process to take place in God's good time

O ye of little faith!

Readings for this Sunday, Easter 2, 19th April 2009 Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31

We would and do expect the accounts of the Resurrection experiences to be important parts fo the scriptural story.
They, after all. speak of what is at the heart of the Christian Gospel



that Jesus who once was dead
was encountered alive by the first disciples.
The stories are not straight forward
they are of course
sailing in uncharted waters.

We could make a couple of observations from todays readings:

ACTS: what ever else we see
the early church understood that things had changed
and there was a tremendous boost of energy
when Jesus was encountered alive
POINT: if we are wanting to focus our energies
then we look not to the empty tomb
but to the presence of the risen Christ
in our midst.

1JOHN: This is about seeing things as they are
God is light, and lights dispels darkness
We also need to be up front about where
we get things wrong
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves
But that is not the end
because God who faithful will and can forgive sins
and bring us into relationship with Jesus
POINT: This changes and deepens our relationship with God
and is an invitation to live with a new freedom

JOHN 20
We should expect Jesus to bring peace
in our relationships
and in our lives
And we also need to take this seriously
the story of Thomas
reminds us
that we are not required to park our brains
or arbitrarily dismiss our doubts
but rather that
in struggling with doubt
and inviting Jesus to deal with us realistically
we can move to a deeper and profounder encounter with God.


THIS WEEK

• Where is God inviting and challenging you to respond at this time?


• Where do you need peace? Where do you need light? Where do you grapple with doubt?


• None of this need be negative: rather it is the opportrunity to be a deeper person, more deeply committed and energised by the Holy Spirit of God

Easter 2

Readings for this week are for The Second Sunday of the Easter Season March 30, 2008 Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Psalm 16 I Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31
Easter is not just a one day festival
but rather a way of life
The rather good stories that tell how earlyChristians encountered
Jesus after his death
help us to assimilate our own experiences
of Jesus.
Take Peter, for example,
who stands up boldly
and reminds his listeners
"This Jesus who you crucified"...he might also
be saying...."and who I deserted at his time of need"
,,,well "This Jesus God has shown to be the Messiah,
the incarnation of God himself."

It is, a reminder of the way we take the revelation of the Godhead
for granted
and fail to see what mind-blowingly transforming stuff
we are involved in.

Thomas, too, who is a quintessential figure
in the Christian story.
Not with the disciples when Jesus appears
he does not just take at face value
the fact that they have "seen the Lord"
Why, indeed, should he?
There is perhaps a salutary reminder
that sometimes we assume that people
will take our witness
for granted.
When we tell them what our experience of the godly encounter is
we should not just assume
that is going to be the last word
in the debate.
We often mistake what is happening
we do not name it rightly
we fail to appreciate where the other person is
(all these are salutary warnings for the would-be evangelist)
but more than this we need to appreciate
that conversion
is not so much about persuasion
as about openness
to the Holy Spirit of God.
The disciples encourage Thomas to articulate
what it would take
for him to be convinced
of the truth of what God is doing in our lives.

What would it take for me to be convinced?
Perhaps more deeply convinced, or more fundamentally convinced,
can you write a short list of the doubts you have
and what God needs to do
to allay those doubts.
Thomas did....I need to see and feel the wounds...to experience the physicality
and the aliveness of Jesus.
This confrontation and naming of doubt
enabled him to respond well
when the moment came.

This is an important
statement about the integrity
of God
The God who honours our shortcomings
as well as our insights and our strengths.

The experience of resurrection
invites us to explore
both the light and dark places
where God is to be encountered
in our faith journey.

What would you name as your doubts?
What would it and does it take to be more firmly and deeply committed?
and allow that process to take place in God's good time