"Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.' "

 

Wolfhart Pannenberg writes, "The evidence for Jesus' resurrection is so strong that nobody would question it except for two things. First, it is a very unusual event. And second, if you believe it happened, you have to change the way you live."

         What is the evidence for this very unusual event?

         N.T. Wright, in his book "Simply Christian," makes the point that the resurrection of Jesus is an unusual event not only to our modern scientific minds, but also to the trained readers of scripture in Jesus' day. Both cross and resurrection were unexpected to those who looked for a Messiah from God.

         Wright states, "No one in this period suggested that the Messiah would have to suffer, let alone die. Resurrection was something which, in Jewish belief, would happen to all God's people at the very end, not to one person in the middle of history."

         But Jesus saw it differently. His understanding was especially shaped by the prophet Isaiah, who spoke of a servant sent from God, who would be "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and who would bring the renewal of creation through a ministry of healing, and then ultimate victory for the will of God to save and restore.

         Through the cross and resurrection of Jesus, Wright says, "the forgiving love stored up in God's future was poured out into the present."

         Jesus rose from the dead as a living, bodily human being, the vindication of God who did not abandon his Son to the grave. He rose in a transformed body, his victory over death the first fruits of a great resurrection yet to come, and because of that victory he reigns as Lord over a new creation both present and future.

         But then, as Pannenberg said, if you believe that this very unusual event happened, and that it meant something, then you have to change the way you live. So, Wright concludes, "The resurrection doesn't leave us as passive, helpless spectators. We find ourselves lifted up, set on our feet, given new breath in our lungs, and commissioned to go and make new creation happen in the world. The music Jesus wrote must now be performed."

         It is this change in the way we live, this commission that defines our vocation in life, which we must examine. For the disciples, the commission came to them as they journeyed from Jerusalem to Galilee, as they walked the 70 miles back home, there to meet the risen Lord and receive his instruction for their lives.

         "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

         Why do they go back to Galilee? R.T. France suggests that Jerusalem was the place that Jesus met rejection, the place where the ministry of Jesus was thwarted for a time, and then in the cross there was "an apparent triumph of the opposition." In Jerusalem the disciples end up scattered, fearful and hiding. Now they go back to where they were first called, where the mission of Jesus began, to receive a commission which will define the change and renewal in their lives.

         In Galilee they are restored to their positions of trust and responsibility. They come to truly believe in the one they have followed.

         In Galilee they are given instructions to extend baptism to the people of all nations.

         In Galilee, where they first heard the call to be disciples, they begin the task of making disciples, sustained by the presence of Jesus who is with them always.

         Where is your Galilee? Where is that place where you first came to love Jesus? Where did you hear his call upon your life? Where did you surrender your life by following him?

         Do you need to return there? Have you felt thwarted, disappointed or hurt? Have you become passive in your faith, more fearful, more hiding in the church than out making disciples? Do you find yourself more troubled and annoyed by people these days, than looking for ways to express the love of God to them? The risen Lord Jesus is ready to meet you in your Galilee today – to renew your faith and your witness.

         This week I found an article on the Covenant Newswire about Beverly Covenant Church on the South Side of Chicago. Beverly is an older church, placed in a long-settled community, perhaps wondering just how to share good news with the people around them. The article said that in recent years they had become increasingly annoyed by the crowds of people who would engulf them each year at the St. Patrick's Day parade, which took place just one block from the church. On parade day the streets would become congested, there was no place to park, the level of drinking, especially by teens, was disturbing, and the whole event seemed to ruin their Sunday worship. So their community became annoying to them, it became a source for their complaining.

         Then they decided a few years ago to embrace the parade, to see the crowds not as a nuisance, but as a ministry opportunity. So they now invite the crowds in. Beverly Covenant becomes a place for people to use a rest room, to get warm, to have a cup of coffee or some food, to engage in conversation with church hosts.

         They begin with a worship service at 9 a.m. celebrating the ministry of St. Patrick, using Irish dancing and bagpipes. Many people stop to talk. This year quite a few of their pamphlets about domestic abuse were taken from the women's rest room. One young man about to go into the armed forces asked for prayer. A cocaine addict prayed with the pastor. In their Galilee, they discovered the commission of the risen Lord Jesus.

         When you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, it causes you to change the way you live. You begin to hear the commission. You become secure because of his presence. Paul calls that "being hidden with Christ in God."

         I thought about what it was that annoyed me most in this community. I get upset with the motorcycles that have no mufflers as they roar up and down Rte. 176 during worship. I have become convicted that Jesus' commission leads me to welcome the bikers instead of grumbling about them. Perhaps we could take an offering so they could buy mufflers for their Harleys. Or maybe better, invite them in for coffee and get to know them.

         Maybe the things that bother us and annoy us are the most fruitful opportunities for ministry. Or maybe the Risen Lord wants to meet us in our disappointments and resentments and hurts, and take us back to our first love to heal us and restore us.

Maybe the evidence of the resurrection is so strong, that you have to change the way you live.

         Amen.