"WHAT WE POSSESS" April 15, 2018

Luke 24: 36-49 Acts 3: 1-14 Like the ancient Roman world of the 1st Century, we live a disposable society, where we throw people away, where we stop believing in our leaders, stop trusting friends and neighbors, where we give up on what seems too hard. But try to imagine, how it would feel, if after being wounded by life, after years of rejection, after a lifetime of pity and guilt from others and yourself, if Peter and John looked you EYE to EYE and declared absolute belief in You and in the power of Jesus to make a difference. There used to be an Ice-Breaker, for people to get to know one another by taking something out of your pocket, your wallet or purse, today we would have to include your Smartphone, something innocuous you possess with you all the time, which introduces and represents who you are. For many it was a photo of your child or grandchild, a Wedding band, a College Ring, Fraternity pin, a Cross. But this week’s readings from the Bible challenge us to claim and to affirm, that what we each possess, and take for granted that we have, is the name of Jesus. Something awesome and amazing took place 5 years ago. The most revolutionary act of The Church in 500 years, which received virtually no attention. As the final act of Pope Benedict XVI (the most conservative and scholarly of recent popes), prior to his announcement of his retirement, was that he declared the Lutheran Reformation resolved. That Martin Luther was Right in interpreting Paul, a person is not saved by their Works, but by their faith in Jesus Christ. The 95 Complaints of Martin Luther had now been addressed and reconciled between the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Reformed churches. More than an agreement that we would play nice together, or who was right and who was wrong, Pope Benedict 16th declared that as Reformed Protestants our Baptism and Confirmation is acceptable in the Catholic Church. In practicality, what that means is that, prior to 5 years ago, whenever a Reformed Protestant married a Catholic, the Catholic might be excommunicated from the Catholic Church unless they could prove their fiancé was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. So regularly, I received calls and letters from priests asking if so-and-so had been baptized in the name of Jesus (and while I wanted to question if they are baptized, whom else would we baptize them in?), trying to avoid controversy I would respond in the name of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. But now, there is no longer need to ask, because the Pope declared that our Baptism is in the same Jesus Christ; Catholic, Lutheran and Presbyterian all believe we have salvation through belief in Jesus Christ. Christianity offers something that no philosophy or religion had ever offered before, or since. Salvation cannot be taught. Faith is not a matter of understanding, or knowing, or following the Law, or transcending physical reality, or reincarnation, or living a Moral life. Salvation is through absolute faith in Jesus. But there is the rub. The world knows about a “Historical Jesus” as having lived and died 2,000 years ago. We have each been acculturated and taught to believe that Jesus was born in a stable, in Bethlehem, on December 25th, and died a Criminal’s Execution on the Cross of the Roman Empire on Good Friday, taught that Easter is the Resurrection. But the point of this morning’s Scriptures is that LIFE, and because of that Christianity and THE CHURCH, are very earthy, gritty, physical, tangible, human! Luke simply says “Jesus ate Fish”, but what that means is that the resurrected Jesus was not an idea, not a philosophical theory, not a belief, not a ghost, or a memory, “Jesus-After Death” was just as alive, “fleshy”, just as tangible and real as when laid in a manger, or healing lepers, or when preaching, or when nails were driven through his hands, or when his body was laid in the tomb. Second, what Jesus did after the Resurrection was to reveal how everything in the World, All human history, everything we know about God, everything we experience as reality, is united and explained through Jesus. That is a powerful claim! Jesus is the Rosetta Stone of Reality. Jesus is the answer to all life’s questions! Third, over and over throughout the history of the world, human cultures have responded to fear and conflict, matching and escalating force. Every disagreement, every war, every killing, bombing, and genocide, have been natural human reactions of meeting force with force. We try to compete, we try to win. We teach a lesson, we demonstrate our power, fight for control, attempting to ensure others will remember and never again question we are the greatest, most powerful in all the history of the world. But instead, Jesus demonstrated commitment to God, humble submission, request for forgiveness, that even death and killing would not undermine, change or prevent. Next time you are confronted with a challenge, next time you are faced with a conflict, or fear, instead of meeting the challenge, instead of submitting to our fear, if we responded with apology and request for forgiveness. What I am naming (funny I cannot say “What I am suggesting” or “Asking for”), this has to be a DEMAND, an absolute conviction, is what Peter and John believed, said and did, with the lame beggar at the pool. After a lifetime, this man had given up trying, had resorted to begging for pity, for people to respond out of guilt. Can you envision a beggar by the roadside, lying in the dirt on the ground, reaching with outstretched hand for whatever change you are willing to give, not wanting to look you in the eye? AND When he sees you have nothing to give, closing that hand in a fist perhaps cursing, and searching for somebody else to give to him. HOWEVER, Peter and john respond differently. “Gold and Silver have I none, but what I have, I share with you! Believing in the name of Jesus Christ, be healed!” What they do is not a magic incantation. This is not wish fulfillment or a trick of any kind. Peter and John look him EYE to EYE as a human being. They honestly have nothing, but Peter and John believe in the Man and believe in the power of God through Christ to heal him.