by Fr. Bill Garrison
Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.
Luke 24:36b-48 (NRSV)
Appearance While the Apostles are at Table - Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
This morning we are talking about life changing events. To get started here is a quick story.
A woman who lived next door to an Episcopal Priest was puzzled by his personality changing at church. At home he was shy, quiet and retiring, but in church he was a real fire orator, rousing the parishioners in the name of God. It was as if he were two different people.
One day she asked him about the dramatic transformation that came over him when he preached.
“Ah,” he said, “That’s my Altar ego.”
There truly are events in our lives that change us. There are events from which people will instinctively know that something is different about us but may not know what it is. Hopefully these events are positive. Some of course are not. Either way they change us. When they are positive, we hear things like this. Wow, what’s up with you? Did you lose weight? You look so happy. There is something different about you, I know there is, what is it? They know something is up, but what? Then they start to guess in earnest what it is. When changes are not positive people recognize that too and want to know if something is wrong. The expression on their faces shows concern.
I can think of many lifetime events that change us in a positive way. Remember what it was like to get a driver’s license? You went from someone who could not legally drive to someone who could. The world of travel opened up to you and the world of dating did too. This was especially true for the boys. Maybe the shoulders became a little squarer. Maybe the smile showed a little more self-confidence. Whatever it was that changed people could see it and as soon as they learned you had gotten your license they understood. You looked mostly the same but you were different in an important way.
How about the first time you fell in love? Perhaps it was the stupid grin you couldn’t wipe off your face. Maybe it was the way no one could seem to get your attention without touching you or raising their voice. Maybe it was the fact you had lost your appetite. But people knew something was different and when they figured out what it was, they understood.
For me getting my first computer was one of those events. Before that I didn’t even know how to type. I quickly learned how to do so because I instantly understood how amazing computers were and how they could change my life. As a result of that meeting between Bill and Computer I became a different human being, much more capable than I had been before. Without that meeting I never would have finished my degree, started my own business, gone to seminary, or become a priest. I stand here today because of the dominoes that started falling because of that event.
And yes, we must also recognize that there are events that impact us in negative ways too. I don’t need to list what they might be. We all have experienced them. We all have our own to remember.
Now none of these events changed who we fundamentally are. How we are changed is subtle, but recognizable in subliminal but important ways. People encountering us sort of held a mirror up in front of us by their reactions, helping us to see the changes within ourselves that have occurred.
In the gospel story we see the disciples encountering the risen Jesus for the second time. They had been standing around talking with each other and Jesus was suddenly there in the midst of them. He spoke a greeting to them. “Peace be with you.”
They were taken aback. Was this a ghost? They had seen Jesus risen from the dead, but had they wrapped their arms around the fact of it? Well, I guess the answer is no, not really, because they having a hard time accepting the idea that this figure in front of them is really Jesus.
Jesus obviously understood this. And so, he asked them to take a look at the holes from the nails in his hands and feet. But that only partially convinced them. The scripture says the were filled with joy, I guess for the possibility that this was really Jesus, but that they were still not completely convinced.
So, Jesus asked them for something to eat and they gave him a piece of broiled fish. He ate it in front of them and that finally turned the tide of their doubt. He indeed was their beloved Jesus. “A spirit does not have flesh and bones.”
Jesus was the same as he had ever been, but he was different too. Remember the Road to Emmaus story that occurs in the Gospel of Luke just before today’s gospel? The two disciples in the story spent the day with Jesus without knowing who he was. It wasn’t until late in the day that they recognized him. I can only imagine their reaction when they did figure it out.
How about when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb on Easter morning? She mistook Jesus for a gardener. It wasn’t until he spoke with her that she realized it was him.
Jesus stood on the shore while the disciples were out in the boat fishing. They saw there was someone on the shore cooking over a fire but didn’t realize it was Jesus until they came ashore and he spoke to them and fed them. Then they recognized him.
The gospel writers have clearly told us two things. Number one, Jesus was the same as he had ever been, but number two he was also changed in some way. I guess resurrection will do that to you. Twenty centuries later we don’t understand exactly what they meant, but we do know that in some way he was different while at the same time he was the same Jesus they had always known.
And for each of us we have been changed as the results of living our lives too; sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, probably for most of us some of each. Living and the events we encounter will do that to you.
We, like Jesus, are changed and yet are still the same basic individuals others have always known. When others see us, they aren’t confused about who we are. They might say, “It seems like I don’t know you anymore.” But the fact they say that tells us that they do know and recognize us.
We retain our individuality because we are the creations of God. We exist inside just the same as we were when we were created. The you that exists and the me that exists is the same as it was the day we were born. We look out of ourselves into the world exactly as we did then. We may be smarter. We may be beaten down or raised up. But whatever shape we find ourselves in we remain the same at our core.
The story of Jesus is our story too. He died and was resurrected. Yes, he was changed in ways that others recognized, but he was still fundamentally the same. Our life changes us, yet we remain fundamentally the same. It’s the strong, loving, and creative hand of God at work in both. God is the force that orders creation. We can rest easy in God’s hand because we know that fact.