Go tell my brothers (John 20)

 There's nothing pretty about a dead body.
Yes initially, there can be a sense of peace, with the completion of suffering, and the face may loose the look of age or pain. But absent life is soon followed by decay, and fowl smell, unless steps are taken. Hence refridgeration, embalming or other practices followed by burial or other accepted forms of more permanently dealing with a corpse.

Mary was upset and confused with the absent body of Jesus. She assumed someone had moved it, and she was willing to move it back herself, if she were told where it was.
How a woman, single-handedly would drag a male corpse any distance is hard to imagine, but Mary, in her grief and confusion, was more than willing.
Why was she so early at the grave site in any case?
Different people grieve differently.
Part of her coping was to visit the site and possibly do some upkeep and some personal grieving.
It was only 3 days. The grief was fresh/raw/unsettled. Her love for Jesus was genuine and now his untimely death cut into her heart.

Resurrection was far beyond anything she could ever think of, or imagine.

Today, resurrection is far beyond what we ever think of or imagine.

We celebrate Easter, but our celebration, despite our genuine faith, is somewhat ceremonial, cultural, prescripted, routine, rushed, distracted, and possibly lacking in the fear, shock and wonder of what the actual resurrection caused at the time.
In the discipline of our faith, we take some time at some point to meditate on the truth and significance of Jesus rising, and the Holy Spirit evokes, edifies, provides and blesses these moments.

Jesus did not appear as a zombie; lifeless yet somehow alive.
Nor as an Angel, glowing with heaven.
He was mistaken for a gardener.

Now I'm not sure what a gardener looked like in those days. But today, someone working in a public cemetery as a gardener, would probably be wearing workboots, work pants and a fleuro top, with a hat for sun-protection.


Not exactly an expected picture of holiness or resurrection.

He was not immediately recognizable.

I have experienced this, having aged and become bald, people who haven't seen me in quite a while sometimes need a second look, or to hear my voice before they recognized me.

Death and resurrection had changed Jesus. I won't say it aged him, but it did something. Maybe he appeared more alive and healthy than ever before. Certainly not a zombie. Certainly not a ghost.

And he did not leave his body behind. This is interesting.

He had transformed, but not regenerated. His earthly body, started to breath again, the heart started to pump again, the brain regained consciousness. Warmth and colour and life returned where there was a cold, stiff, dead corpse.

The linen wrapping was cast aside, and other clothing was in place. ? heavenly clothing, who knows. Gardner clothing?
 What did God wear as he walked in the garden in the cool of the day in Genesis 3? Maybe he also wore Gardener clothing.

The last interesting point I will make is that Jesus had a special part to his message for Mary and the others who saw Jesus. "Go tell my brothers".

Tell them what? That he has risen from the dead.  That everything he had worked towards was now completed. His lifetime goal was achieved. His battle for the world was now won. He had entered death and defeated it. His gift of his body for the forgiveness of sins had been accepted, and sins had indeed been forgiven.

Tell my brothers.

You mean those weak followers who abandoned you in your time of need?

Tell my brothers.

What? You haven't moved on from those ordinary fishermen? Haven't you now graduated to heavenly beings, angels, God, heaven and all that stuff ?

Go tell my brothers.

So you are still our brother, even though you are the conqueror of death and sin?

Go tell my brothers.

Jesus was not now overwhelmed by his own success, he was not now moving on from his humble background with his ordinary fallible disciples.
He still identified with his troupe of floundering commoners.
He still loved them.
He was actually bursting with excitement for them to know of his victory.

When something really great happens, who do you want to tell?

The people you love the most.

Go tell my brothers.

At this point in his resurrected life, he wanted to share the joy and strong heavenly confidence of resurrection, with his beloved earthly family.

Things had changed but not his reason for suffering, dying and rising.

To save those he loved.

Which includes us today.

Coming Out?

John 19:38-39 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.

Sometimes, I have encoutered the attitude that being a secret Christian is weak or bad. Here the Bible mentions two secret Christians.

The passage is not critical, simply honest. These men were secret Christians, for practical reasons.

Better a secret Christian who acts on their faith than a loud Christian who is all words.

“Coming out”, as a Christian, is worthwhile in the sense of affirming what we know to have happened spiritually in our mind and heart, and then remembering and trying to be consistent, in our ongoing walk of faith, with what we believe are Christian ethics. 

But we need not be "militant" in our Christianity. Peter (believed he) was militant in his faith, he cut off the ear of one who tried to arrest Jesus, but when it really counted, he denied ever knowing Jesus. 

On the other hand, with Joseph of Aramathea, and Nicodemus, we see Christians, people who love Jesus, going about the practical needs of our deceased Savior. Yes they feared those around them, but their love for Jesus was strong enough for them to do what was needed, and the scripture passage quietly, honestly, describes their actions, motivated by faith and love.

Pleasing God

 What I set out below is written as a reflection on how we can go off the rails as Christians, as well as trying to understand how religion can motivate terrible acts of violence.

"Pleasing" God can be a powerful motivator.

Once religion is embraced, and some sort of understanding of who God is, occurs, an individual may then take on all forms of devotion in a relatively short time, with relatively immature, biased and unbalanced assumptions. Assumptions that may have originated in childhood interpretations of religious stories, or childhood experiences within a religious group.

As the individual becomes caught up in the headiness of these spiritual emotions, they/we are relatively open/vulnerable to more extreme understandings of the religion.
Human pride/competitiveness leads ever so subtly into aiming "high" with our devotion, wanting to achieve a high level of "holiness" (good standing with God/pleasing God) as quickly as possible.
We easily become enchanted by those we perceive as "prophets" or "high priests" (people who seem wise, devoted and close to this God whom we have quickly become attracted to).
Those people become knowingly or unknowingly our leaders, examples, teachers and strong influencers. They stand as God's representatives to us, and we (in this newly converted state) give them power over us. If they suggest an action or habit, we are quick to take it up, with little question, as we have put our trust in them having some belief that they are acting in God's behalf as far as our lives are concerned. We dress like them, speak like them, quote them and often think of them. We may eventually wish to replace them.

If we have a competitive nature, and there are other devotees with us in our new found faith, we will at some point, take hold of a vision or goal to do more than our devotee peers. To stand out from the crowd, to possibly become noticed/noted by our leader, to please our leader and thereby please our God whom we have become devoted to. But as God is all knowing, even if our leader does not notice, God does.
If the leader is truly wise and godly, he or she will recognise the issue, and carefully advise the devotee that they are on the wrong track, that they themselves are not God's personal representative to them, and that they are in fact fallible and imperfect as all of us are.
However if the leader themselves is basking in what they interpret as God-given authority and influence, they may encourage the devotee to continue in ever greater degrees of self sacrifice in the pursuit of loving and pleasing God.

In some people's understanding this would  mean giving up relationships with family/loved ones, giving up well payed jobs, giving up social status among "regular" peers, accepting criticism from those who are in our understanding, spiritually blind, as once we were ourselves.

Certainly a sense of converting others to our new found faith is present and compelling, but it may not stop there.

In all religions there are extreme minorities.

Amongst Christians it may involve joining a cult. Separating oneself from normal society and joining those who have a "higher" understanding and deeper devotion than we have ourselves. And thence engaging and joining in extreme expressions of that particular religion, as a way of both gaining acceptance by that group, as well as what we perceive as pleasing God.

I suspect this is the road to extremism and potentially serious acts of violence towards others. 

There may also be perversions of one form or other (eg sexual) that will be accepted as normal practice.

Losers

Christianity will always seem like the “losers” religion. The weak, irrelevant, pathetic religion. The club you join when no one else will have you. For people who need a “crutch”.

It’s also going to be the religion that is bigoted and judgemental, with outdated rules and practices. It’s also the weirdo, happy-clappy religion.

Jesus, well that’s a different matter. He was a good bloke. And a useful swear word. Oh, and a prophet for Islam.

But those who identify as his followers, they are really pathetic, boring, outdated, superstitious, unscientific, irrelevant and basically, a waste of space, not to mention hypocrites.

Sad at it sounds, being a Christian means accepting this view from society, more-so today than ever.

But, our hope far outweighs the criticism we receive from those around us.

So, we continue to love our enemies and turn the other cheek, because this is what our leader commanded us to do. And also because we  were once on the other side of the fence, poking fun at Chrisitians. And also because Jesus accepted this treatment from others, including us.

I stuck thorns in your head, Lord, you loved me instead.

This Is The Moment

There's no midwife in this stable helping Mary through her labour,

Just a man who prays by her side.

No fresh linen, no hot water, just the comfort of each other,

Trusting in the kindness of God.

What a joy, when suddenly the baby appears,

What a joy, the sound of crying filling their ears.

This is the time, this is the moment a child is born,

Who could have known this is the way the true King would come;

A feedbox for a bed, with straw beneath his head,

And a star in the sky telling all who go by, “This is the moment”.

Guided by the voice of angels, shepherds find this chosen stable.

Filled with awe, they see what God's done.

Could this be our precious Saviour sleeping sweetly in the manger?

Heaven knows he's truly the one.

What a day, when grace and mercy meet in a stall,

What a day, the day that God has come to us all.

This is the time, this is the moment a child is born,

Who could have known this is the way the true King would come;

A feedbox for a bed, with straw beneath his head,

And a star in the sky telling all who go by...

This is the time, this is the moment a child is born,

Who could have known this is the way the true King would come;

A feedbox for a bed, with straw beneath his head,

And a star in the sky telling all who go by, “This is the moment”.

  

This Is The Moment ©Joe Romeo 19^th Nov 2010

Artist:  Joanne Subramaniam

Writer:  Joe Romeo

Piano:  Roger Nicholson

Produced by Adrian Hannan

 

https://open.spotify.com/track/4Nj4GXZAQ8rUBEKJM6vMgP?si=rIyPLq_sROSZQ8cEqlKsjw 

Our Loved Ones in Heaven

I think most off us hope to see our loved ones, who have died, once more, after we have died, sometime in the future.

Whether we go to church or not, whether we outwardly admit to faith or not, if for no other reason, because of our Christian culture, many of us have this quiet hope within us.

But when we come to faith, sometimes our hope wavers, having a more developed understanding of hell, separation, and the work of Jesus.

I certainly believe there is no other way to go to heaven than “The Way”, meaning “Jesus”. I say this knowing that many put their faith in Allah, Mohamed, Buddha, Jehovah, and others I can’t think to name.

My understanding is that there is only one name under heaven, one Lord on whom we call, one King of Kings and Lord of Lords, only one Lamb that was found worthy to open the scroll.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”

The early Christians spoke of their faith as following “The Way”.

Without the work of Jesus on the cross and the power of his resurrection, no one is able to stand before God and be accepted into his Holy presence, forever.

Yet we as Christians believe that we are saved. Meaning we have been “processed” into new beings. Re-created. Born again. Circumcised in the heart. And this process makes us members of the family of God both now, and after we die, forever, meaning eternity, heaven, etc.

Various denominations have varying understandings of the steps we have to go through to achieve this outcome. For many, as long as you participate in the “sacraments”, whether you understand them or not, you are safe and sound. For others, it requires a personal act of confession and prayer, in which the seeker speaks out their submission and allegiance to Christ Jesus, and then continues in the fellowship of that congregation.

Still others require strict adhesion to baptism as full immersion in water, with others requiring speaking in tongues as evidence.

Whatever process is required, what of our loved ones who have not been “processed” in that way?

Some would say there is no doubt that they are lost, hence it would be naïve to think that we would meet again in heaven.

More liberal denominations have the sense that everyone is saved, whether or not they showed evidence of faith, went to church etc.

My personal view is that there is only one way to heaven, as I stated above. So best to put our faith and trust in Jesus and call on his name for forgiveness and salvation and hold onto him for all our lives (it all comes in one package). It also means we publicly identify ourselves as followers of Jesus, and accept the positives and negatives of this.

 I believe all is a gift. (Faith repentance, baptism, understanding, fellowship etc, it all comes from God, he is the initiator and giver, we simply receive with joy)

But I also believe in an amazing God with great mercy, who is able to do things outside of our knowledge, and despite our rebellion.

The thief on the cross was saved in his final hours, after a life of possibly no faith or church. Somehow, his condemnation on a cross became his salvation, when he happened to be crucified next to our Saviour. Who would have thought that his death sentence was his biggest blessing?

So it is possible that God arranges a point in a person’s life to come to faith, sometime before they die, that doesn't involve a church service, and we don’t necessarily know about it. Therefore, we ought not to be dogmatic about who actually makes it to heaven and those who don’t. All we can be dogmatic about is that Jesus is the only one who saves us, and John the Baptist identified him as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the “WORLD”. That implies there is potential for all to be saved.

I do believe there is a hell, and that those who are not “in” Jesus, will not go to heaven, and will suffer eternal torment, the second death.

But the point of interest I want to get around to is the reunion with loved ones.

There is at least some degree of romanticism in the modern Christian culture, of a wonderful reunion with loved ones as we reach the “other shore”.

Meaning those who have reached heaven before us, meet us as we arrive.

This is modern imagery. Not portrayed in the Bible.

I do hope to see many who have gone before, including my father. Including the apostles. But what the Bible speaks of is being with Jesus and the Father, and the Holy Spirit. It also speaks of a great multitude, more than anyone can count. It states that God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

So there are many people, which hopefully includes our loved ones. But the highlight of being in heaven will actually be, being with God.

I’ve been thinking about the others including our loved ones.

What follows is just reflection, nothing biblical.

I think we will realize and identify our loved ones in heaven. But they will look different, as will we. (we will all be "like" Jesus)

They will be in awe of God, as will we.

We will be so caught up in our awe of God, that our connection with each other will be a much smaller thing.

If we have a parent and a child in heaven, who will we be drawn to more?

Neither. We will be drawn to the Lamb.

Does that mean we won’t experience relationships?

Not at all. But all these relationships will be transformed in the light of the Lamb. We will all be brothers and sisters with one Father.

And the best foretaste of this happens in our plain old gathering together as Christians each week.

We will all be together in joy, enjoying each other, but especially enjoying being with our God.

So our consolation, will not come from the embrace of our long lost child, or brother, or best friend or parent or grandparent, or Paul, or Peter, or Elvis.

No our consolation will come from our true Father, who himself will wipe away our tears and fill us with great joy.

That deep warm wonderful sense of belonging and acceptance that we get when we reunite with a loved one, after a period of separation, is what we will experience a hundred fold from God himself. He will be our resolution and consolation, the fulfiller of every emotional emptiness, loss and hurt, in a true, physical and permanent way. But the amazing thing is that he already is that to us now. And we can experience this in faith even right at this moment.

Now to him who is able to keep us from falling and present us without fault and with great joy before his glorious presence, to the only God our saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more. Amen.

Unforgiven

There was a time in my life when I was desperate.

I was anxious and disheartened, and wherever I looked, including the Bible, all I saw was condemnation.

“What can I do to be saved?”

This was a deep and unending question for me. For a while I was relatively satisfied with the understanding of “surrendering my life to Jesus”.

It’s what Christians around me seemed to agree was the way to be saved, along with regular reading of God’s word and prayer.

But after meeting a certain denomination representative, I felt on the outside again.

They seemed to do more than me, more witnessing, more bible study, more devotion of their life, and besides, it didn’t actually say anywhere in the bible that surrendering your life to Jesus was the way of being saved. There must be something else we have to do?

“Baptism”.

Full immersion baptism was the only way, according to that person, and he backed it up with Bible verses.  But I had been christened as a baby, and all the people that I spent time with as Christians, didn’t feel that was necessary, but I still felt unholy, unclean, unforgiven.

I didn’t want to go to that church (I still would not go near it), I didn’t like what this fellow was doing to me and he would NOT go away, or back down on his stance.

I was feeling desperate, and was looking over my shoulder wherever I went, and also dreading the sound of the phone ringing, in case it was him.

I was backed into a corner. How could I call myself a Christian, when I felt no reliable connection to God? I wanted something firm and secure that I could take out of my wallet and say, here is my license to prove I am a Christian, but I had nothing. (Some people use "tongues" as "proof")

It was in that setting that one day I heard, loudly and clearly, that in fact there is nothing we can do to satisfy God, and his holiness. Nothing. We are, in fact, hopelessly lost as far as our own ability to gain God’s favour. Not the most honest baptism in the purest water can wash away even the smallest drip of our guilty stains. We are lost.

But God did something.

He sent his Son.

He provided a lamb.

A spotless lamb.
This lamb takes away the sins of the world...

And ANYONE who trusts in him is given the gift of forgiveness, repentance, cleansing, a clear conscience, adoption as children into the family of God, eternal life.

Yes, a washing takes place, a purification, a baptism. It all happens on the cross.

And we who believe in the cross are immersed in the power of it, even if we don't understand it, or even "feel" it (feeling guilty does not prove guilt, not feeling guilty does not prove innocence)

The gift we receive is faith.

Faith gives us the heart to see that Jesus has done it all. We do nothing except receive what we can’t live without. The precious blood of Jesus washes the guilty sinner and they are white as snow. 

What a Saviour!!!!!!