[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Easter 2: John 20.19-31

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Fr HC Smith <howard.smith at anglican.org.au>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Tue, Apr 26, 2011 5:13 am
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Easter 2: John 20.19-31


Friends,

This week here are few notes on the Gospel for you on which you may like to 

build a sermon.

Howard

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

*    For many people in the community, and even some in the Church, the 

Resurrection of Jesus was, and is, a great puzzle: What are we to make of 

it?  What does it mean?  What difference does it make for us as individuals?

+    I suspect that many people think of it in much the same way

    as we think about people who have been clinically dead for a

    brief time (i.e. their heart has stopped beating), but then

    doctors have been able to revive them;

    -    perhaps even like Lazarus, or Jairus’ daughter, or the

        widow’s son from Nain, to mention a few from the NT;

    -    or people who have had open heart surgery.

+    But that doesn’t plumb the depths of Jesus’ Resurrection;

    -    because all those people had to, or will have to, die again:

        all they got was their old life given back to them.

+    Jesus, on the other hand, was raised to life never to die again: his 

risen life is a new kind of life.

*    This new kind of life is well demonstrated in the experience of Thomas 

(about whom we read today):

    -    when he was confronted by the risen Christ he did not simply

        respond by saying: “well, it’s true after all; you’re back alive;

        so, let’s get on with what those soldiers so rudely interrupted.”

+    No!  Thomas “saw” much more than he bargained for: he saw that Jesus 

truly is ‘Lord and God’.

+    When we in the 21st century come to that same realisation,

    everything else changes: we cannot remain the same.

*    The depth of the change is shown in the other part of the Gospel 

passage we’ve read today:

    -    the Spirit of the risen Christ creates a community of people

        where forgiveness of sins is the very basis of its life.

+    The way of overcoming the defects of the ‘old creation’ is

    sharing and accepting the pardon which God extends to all people;

    -    realising that forgiveness is offered even to people who

        commit such horrifying acts as crucifying God’s Son;

    -    and then we are challenged to go and do the same to others:

    -    not to seek revenge, not to mete out merciless punishment,

        but to forgive: to behave in such a way as to keep open the

        channels of communication, fostering change and growth.

+    This is an entirely new and radical way of living - it’s Resurrection 

living.

+    It is not simply a recovery or a continuation of the old kind of

    life; it is living in a community of harmony, a community living

    in the power of the Spirit, conscious of being new creatures in Christ.

+    This is what the Resurrection means; it is overcoming the old

    way of living where all the ravages of sin continually frustrate

    our plans, our hopes and our dreams.

+    By placing ourselves in the company of the Risen Christ we’re

    not merely saving our souls, but we are building the New World

    of God here and now.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Rev'd Dr H.C. Smith

Retired Anglican Priest

Orange NSW

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 






 
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