Startled Witnesses
Luke 24:36b-48
Early in my ministry I served as a district youth coordinator. One of the perks of that job was being able to go to Estes Park, Colorado, for the National Youth Forum training. Part of the leadership team at that training was a woman who signed all of the meetings.
At one of the workshops she explained the challenge of signing some of the things we say and do in the church. We tend to use words that are not commonly used in conversations – words like atonement and salvation. We also sing hymns that contain expressions like “which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.” And then you get pastors saying Greek works like “agape” and “philios,” or using theological language like “speculative latitudinarianism.”
Particularly, I remember her describing the challenge for signing “United Methodist.” There is a sign for “united” – interlocking circles moved in a circle. The problem is trying to sign “Methodist.” There isn’t a readily available sign for this, which usually meant that it had to be spelled out letter by letter. You can see how that might slow things down at a United Methodist function, with reports from the United Methodist Men, and the United Methodist Women, and the United Methodist Youth, and the United Methodist Foundation.
The solution to this challenge came from within the deaf community itself. Signs are not always word for word, but rather they can express meaning that is more than the words. And this is the sign they came up with for “United Methodist” [demonstrate] “united” interlocking circles, “Methodists” palms rubbed together. The second sign is the sign used for “doing” or “working.” Rubbing the hands also creates some warmth, capturing that we are the people of the strangely warmed hearts.
The way people outside of the United Methodist Church saw us is as the people who work together out of our love for God and our neighbors. We are the people who are together in working in the world to bring the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. They see this in us when the United Methodists show up at disaster scenes, and we stay there working until the job is done. They see this in us when we are digging water wells in Africa, and building earthquake resistant housing in Haiti, and distributing anti-malarial bednets – all in the name of Jesus Christ.
It is good to be given those glimpses of how we are seen by others. It is really good when how the world sees us is also how we see ourselves. It can mean that we are acting with integrity about who we are. It can mean that we are being honest with ourselves about who we are.
Being shown how others see us can also be an important corrective to our self-image. On a personal level, we may think we are urbane and sophisticated, only to be told that we are seen as being aloof and pretentious. We may think we are witty and engaging, only to be told that we are seen as being trite and off-putting. On a church level, we may think we are a warm and friendly congregation, only to be told that we are like visiting someone else’s high school reunion – welcoming if you belong, but otherwise not so much.
This insight doesn’t have to be a negative experience. Again, personally, we may think we are not able to accomplish something, only to be encouraged as others share how they have seen us overcome other challenges. And as a church, we may not think any one notices what we are doing, until it gets affirmed out of the blue.
One of the ways I judge the vitality of our ministries is by how others see us. When the highway patrol calls the parsonage in the middle of the night because he knows the Methodists will help a stranded family, I like how we are seen. When I hear a discussion about an issue in the community and someone says that you need the Methodists to get involved if you want it to be taken care of, I like how we are seen. When I hear someone in the school district talk about much difference it makes that shoes and coats are given to children in need, I like how we are seen. And the list goes on and on, because we are seen in the community working together for the kingdom of God.
It can be hard to listen to how others see us, though, when they don’t have any contact with us. Instead of seeing us as helpful, caring disciples of Jesus Christ at work in the world, many people outside of the church today have a much different image of us. They often report that Christians are intolerant and bigoted, quoting scriptures to justify half-truths about politics and subgroups of people. And when Christians hear these observations, we either get defensive, claiming that there is a war against Christianity, or we try to explain it away rather than understand why we are seen like that by the world.
One defensive website made the declaration that Christians are not intolerant – we just value the truth. Our defense is that we are not bigoted – we are Biblical. For Christians to deny the truth of the Bible is to deny our faith; and if the world can’t see that, then they are the ones who are intolerant and bigoted.
Outside of the church, however, that argument sounds a lot like, “We are always right and you are always wrong. God is always going to be on our side, and never on yours.” It is not hard to see how that can come off as intolerant and bigoted.
If you care to look a little farther, you can see claims that Christians are pedophiles. It is claimed that we are free loaders on the tax files. It is claimed that we are anti-science deniers. In some corners, Christians are generally a punching bag for those looking to blame all of its ills on us.
We are not always seen in such negative ways, of course. Most people can make the distinction between Westboro Baptist Church, for example, and the local congregations in their neighborhoods. It is easy enough to show the rule is not undone by the exception that lies at the root of the negative claims.
And the example of Jesus, and how he dealt with the false claims made against him, offers us a template for how we are to deal with the false claims made against us. We can deal with the negative images by living more fully into who we are called to be as the Body of Christ. We can disprove those negative images, and replace them with positive images, whenever we truly love God and love our neighbors as Christ has loved us. We have a Christ-like response to any so-called war against Christianity, which precludes acting like the world by declaring war against those who hate us.
But I believe there is a worse way for the world to see us. It is largely unreported by the media but more pervasive in its impression on the world. This worse image is that we are the people who, like the disciples in our reading, are startled and afraid when Jesus appears. This image says we talk a good game, but that we would be startled if Jesus actually appeared during our worship services. This image says we would be afraid if Jesus actually expected us to die to this world so that we could be raised in the next.
This is nothing new, and it is not entirely unearned or false. We can even see this in our reading for today. It is Luke’s telling of the day of resurrection. Mary has been to the tomb, and told the disciples that she has seen the Risen Lord. The two on the road to Emmaus have just told the disciples about their experience of seeing the Risen Lord. And we pick up the story in our reading, with the disciples behind locked doors.
Even though the disciples have heard the women’s report of what they experienced at the tomb, and even though the two on the road to Emmaus have just shared how their hearts were strangely warmed, when Jesus appears to the disciples, they are startled. Not only are they startled, they are terrified. The last thing they expected to happen to them was to have the Risen Lord appear.
That’s what startled means. It means they weren’t expecting Jesus to come to them. They were emotionally and spiritually unprepared for Jesus to appear amongst them. And when he does, they are terrified by his appearance.
After Jesus assures them that he is really there with them, and he eats the piece of fish, the disciples’ fear is replaced with joy. It is then that Jesus tells them that they are now witnesses. It is their job to tell others that Jesus is the Risen Lord so that others won’t be startled and afraid when Jesus comes to them.
We can forgive the disciples being startled and afraid on that first day of Easter. After all, this was still something very new, and it had never happened to them before. But what about us? Would we be startled? Would we be afraid?
We have heard the story of Easter hundreds, if not thousands of times. Yet, too many people in church have no expectation that Jesus is present in worship. Too many people have no expectation that Jesus is with them when they serve. Even though we are the people who like to say “Christ is the head of this house, the unseen GUEST at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation,” too often our gatherings and conversations are indistinguishable from the contentious world around us.
When we do not expect Jesus to be with us, we miss Jesus when we pray. Our prayer becomes little more than a repetition of words, a duty to be performed. We miss opening our hearts to receive his blessing, to find our forgiveness, to be filled with his grace. Instead, we go for the supposedly safer course of only repeating the words because we are not afraid of that.
When we do not expect Jesus to be with us, we miss Jesus binding us together as a part of his body. Our time together is then only voluntary, and church can go on with or without us. It’s not like Jesus needs his hands or his feet, which we become when we know that Jesus is with us.
When we do not expect Jesus to be with us, we think the service lasts about an hour, rather than experience it as a time when we can touch eternity. Worship is just another thing on our schedule, which we include if there is time for it amongst all the other claims on our time.
When we do not expect Jesus to be with us, we take our sins and our guilt home with us, instead of leaving them at the cross so Jesus can forgive us. What’s the point of asking for forgiveness, if the one who forgives isn’t here? What’s the point of giving your life to Christ, if he isn’t here to give you a new one in return?
When we first experience Jesus, it can be startling. It might scare us that God could love us that much. We might be terrified of how our lives will change if we follow Jesus. And we might be tempted to deal with that fear and doubt by pushing it down, shoving it aside, ignoring it, or perhaps most commonly, redefining it as something else.
Instead, we need to embrace it so that we can look for Jesus again, and expect him to be with us. We embrace it by preparing for it, practicing the spiritual disciplines. This makes all the difference in us, and it will make all the difference in how the world sees us, which could then lead to the world becoming us. Or to say that same idea Biblically, when we are the Body of Christ in the world, the kingdom of God comes.
It makes a difference if we pray, instead of just saying prayers. It makes a difference if we study our scriptures to hear the Word of God, instead of just scouring the scriptures for proof that we are already right about the things of the world. It makes a difference if we sing the hymns, instead of just going through the motions without being moved by the words. It makes a difference if we commune with Christ, instead of just tasting the bread and grape juice. It makes a difference if we give in thankfulness, instead of just giving to support a budget.
This is the difference between being startled and afraid, and being disciples who witness. Hear the good news! Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And he is here with us today, and he will be with you throughout your life!
FWS 2115 “Christ Is Risen”