Tag Archives: Joy

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Encountering the risen Christ

Watch the video below of this 42-minute message. Yes, much longer than usual! I’m sorry about that, but it is – I think – worth the time, as a close reading of John 20:19-29 sheds to much light on Jesus’ character, his relationship with the disciples and his work as the Son of God. My notes are available below the video

Verses 19, 26    Both times Jesus “stood right in the middle of them”

Christ is the centre – not the priest, Bible, APB – only the person Christ

Christ-centred church

1, 19, 26               Easter Sunday morning – Jesus appears to Mary

Easter Sunday evening – Jesus appears in the upper room

Following Sunday (today) – Jesus appears again, to Thomas

19, 21, 26             Peace be with you – Shalom alechem x3

Easter Sunday – Christ made peace between us and God

Forgiveness of sins – done, paid for, wiped clean, forgotten, cast the deep

Everything is good. It’s all okay

Easter is the Great Forgiveness!

20           He showed them his hands and side

Emphasis on bodily resurrection, reconnected to his people

Not just some spiritual, esoteric thing

He is fully embodied, albeit with some unusual capacities

20           He could have come back healed, but doesn’t. Why?

His identification with us, solidarity with our pain & suffering

He remains the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 (4-5):

He took up our pain and bore our suffering. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

20           The disciples were overjoyed – full of joy

Joy (chara) & grace/gift (charis) – joy is a gift of God – because Jesus is back

21           “As the father has sent me, I am sending you”

We are to continue God’s work. We are sent, just as Christ was sent

Jn 3:16/7 “God so loved the world that he gave [sent] his one and only Son … For God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save it”

Every Christian is sent – not just clergy or evangelists

22           He breathed on them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”

Hebrew for spirit & breath are both? Ruach

Gen 1:2: Spirit of God hovering

22           Gen 2:7: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being”

To receive Jesus’ breath & Holy Spirit is to be made a new living being

22           To receive Jesus’ breath & Holy Spirit is a grace/gift (charis)

As the Spirit/breath was active in the creation of earth and humanity

2 Cor 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come.”

22           Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost: Easter Season is from Easter Sunday to Pentecost

23           Forgive anyone’s sin

The gift of HS is not so much miraculous signs, etc.

Instead the central commission – sending – is to forgive

And to warn that to not repent = no forgiveness

The Great Forgiveness!

24           Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

Where was he? He should have been in church! We should be in church!

27           Touch, see

V20. Jesus showed them his hands and side.

Thomas wants what the others got – to see. But also to touch

Our Eucharist is a see and touch moment

– receive the body of Christ broken for you (not receive this bread)

– receive the blood of Christ (not receive this wine)

Not clear if Thomas did actually touch: “Thomas answered and said…”

Perhaps seeing and the invitation to touch was enough for him

27           Stop doubting and believe. Be a believer!!

Accept the small and periodic signs of God and believe into him

28           My Lord and my God!

Hebrew: Yahweh & Elohim – names for God

Greek: Kyrie & Theos – names for God

The only place in the Gospels where Jesus is referred to as God – A profound statement of faith – perhaps the most

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Attitude of gratitude

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 8-minute message. Or watch the YouTube video. Or read the text summary below.

There are many valid reasons for us to feel depressed and discouraged this year. Covid has had many negative impacts on our lives – on our freedom, our health, our ability to move around. We may have lost people to Covid. Our own health may have suffered. We may have lost our jobs or income Research has shown significant increases in mental ill health this year.

But the scriptures repeatedly exhort us to express thanksgiving, gratitude and joy. We could say that the Bible encourages an attitude of gratitude. Actually, neuroscience is showing that expressing gratitude or thankfulness really does have direct impacts on our brain chemistry, facilitating well-being and happiness. And these effects can be sustained over months – it is not just a quick fix. Read this article from the Greater Good Magazine about how gratitude changes your brain.

Paul certainly grasps the importance of gratitude. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, he writes:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

The last phrase about God’s will refers not to our circumstances, but rather to our continual rejoicing and prayer. It is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus that we should always rejoice and continually pray. That we should adopt an attitude of gratitude!

And listen again to Philippians 4:4 & 8:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! … Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Paul continues to emphasise the importance of joy and giving thanks. And then goes further to encourage us to think more about the things of God. We might even say that Paul was a proponent of positive psychology or rational emotive behaviour therapy!

Gratitude is an expression of faith, because even though we might not perceive a reason to be grateful, we nevertheless express gratitude. We are grateful, even when it seems there is nothing to be grateful for. Neuroscience now helps us understand how thinking and behaving with gratitude actually changes our brain and generates feelings of well-being and happiness. And our faith helps us recognise that as we express gratitude to God, we begin to recognise God at work in us and in the world. Our perspective on life begins to shift. We begin to perceive the world from God’s perspective.

The Psalm set for today is Psalm 98. It speaks beautifully of the power of God to take care of his people, and calls us to gratitude. This translation is from the Jerusalem Bible:

Sing Yahweh a new song for he has performed marvels; his own right hand, his holy arm, gives him the power to save.

Yahweh has displayed his power; has revealed his righteousness to the nations, mindful of his love and faithfulness to the House of Israel. The most distant parts of the earth have seen the saving power of our God.

Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth, burst into shouts of joy!

Sing to Yahweh, sing to the music of harps, and to the sound of many instruments; to the sound of trumpet and horn acclaim Yahweh the King!

Let the sea thunder and all that it holds, and the world, with all who live in it; let all the rivers clap their hands and the mountains shout for joy, at the presence of Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth, to judge the world with righteousness and the nations with strict justice.

Featured image from https://www.sttimothylutheran.org/trees-clapping-their-hands/

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In his joy

Click here to listen to the audio of this 5-minute message. Or watch the YouTube video below, or read the short summary thereafter.

This is the order Jesus gives for Christian life: we find the treasure, this fills us with joy, so we sell all our possessions (which are worth a fraction of the treasure), and we acquire (take ownership) of the treasure (Mat 13:44). The treasure is there at the start and the end; the joy is the immediate consequence of finding the treasure; and the sacrifice of possessions is really no sacrifice at all. This is the Christian life. Let’s find our joy in Christ!

Featured image from here.