From this Sunday .... Easter 4
Easter rolls on! Once again it is tempting to
think that Easter is long since past,
but that may be because we seem to live busy lives, lives dominated by market
forces, and lives that are surrounded with the ever present promise that things
could be better. (Indeed they will be better if you buy the latest ipad 3, Dove
anti aging cream, and eat Tesco finest food)
But for the Christian Easter is as good as it
gets. It is both the conclusion and the beginning of faith, and not something
that has to be “past” at all. It is certainly not seen as something to be improved
upon. It could well be suggested that every Christian festival is grounded in
the Easter Story. (A story which we remember has life and death, suffering and
joy.)
Perhaps the central point for us today comes from
the Epistle reading from Acts, the continuation of last weeks story where Peter
and John addressed the crowds following the healing of a man at the Beautiful
Gate. By today’s reading Peter and John had been arrested and dragged before
the Jewish Religious authorities, the same ones that had broken every rule in
the book to sentence Jesus, and ultimately to crucifixion.
The central point is in fact The Name.
Jewish writings at that time refer frequently, I
am reliably informed, to “The name” Apocalyptic literature of the time speaks
and hopes for the Messiah of God, the beginning of the end times heralded by
Elijah, the Name by which the world is saved. Such feelings frequently find
themselves expressed in the later prophets of the Old testament. And in Isaiah
we read “who declared it of old? Was it not I the Lord? There is no other God…
there is no other saviour, to me every knee shall bow” (Is 45: 23) “the name”
soon became associated with Jesus.
Peter and John had already referred to “the name”
when speaking to the crowds last week and this week the name is associated with
“the rejected stone” of Psalm 118:22
Shetland is not particulary renowned for its dry
stone walls, it needs to be said, though there are still a good number around.
I have been noticing some of them recently and am curious from time to time to
see rather “odd” shaped stones in what appear to me to be “odd” places”.
When you are building a wall there are certain
stones that are absolutely key to the wall’s success. Not always the corner
stone at all.
Judaism was well established. Jerusalem at that
time could easily have had a population of
over one and a half million people. It was in any case a key town and
had been for a long time. The Temple stood proud. The religious authorities
were proud of what they had oversight over, proud enough to protect it from
heresy and dissension. They needed no changes made it all worked well. It was
established in the community.
There was no place whatsoever, as far as they were
concerned for a Jesus shaped stone. He had no roll to play.
But suppose a wall needed rebuilding! It may seem
a radical thing to do, even unnecessary one may argue. Then that rejected stone
may well become key to a new wall.
This is the situation that the church found itself
in, in those early centuries.
The whole of the New Testament keeps speaking
about a saving act which stands out from all the others. One of the main
reasons why Christianity spread so readily and rapidly in the Roman World at
that time was because society had become goal cantered, task orientated and
people had become sometimes little more than pawns in the path to success. The
Empire ruled!
On the other hand Christianity proclaimed a saving
act which drew in the needy, cared for the innocent, supported the poor and
downtrodden, a saving act that looked after the sick, visited those in prison,
and became a friend to the friendless. What is more this saving act had a name
his name is Jesus, something that in John’s epistle is wonderfully described as
something we have seen with our own eyes, touched with our hands… this is what
we declare to you the word of life itself. And the epistle of John speaks of
the joy to be part of that fellowship, and in sharing that joy their own joy is
made complete.
Selfless and sacrificial love…. This was the new
kid on the block, The Jewish authorities could see no place for it. Roman
culture had no place for it, but the people who learned about it realised that
this was the only real way to be. It may sound silly….. but!
All this talk was of course politically incorrect,
very foolish but there seemed to be no denying it.
A couple of weeks ago we heard what it was like to
be part of the church in Jerusalem, that huge busy city. It was exciting,
exhilarating, life giving, selfless to the point of being scary, deeply found
on prayer and unity with God.
Is there a reason why our faith could not be so
life giving today?
Are we part of a wall that even today rejects the
stones that have shapes that no longer suit us?
Has the church got a place in today’s society?
“Little children let us love, not in word or
speech, but in truth and action”
Our Shepherd is known as the Good Shepherd because
his love is selfless and reckless, are we known in his sheepfold?
