Experiencing God - Has He Risen In Your Heart 43

Jesus said to Thomas: “you believe because you see, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”.
Gospel of John

Last Sunday I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen for many years. His name is Joe. Joe is a musician currently living in Cape Breton. I’ve known him since my late twenties. Back then, he had quite an influence on me. You see Joe was a young man who I saw as giving his life to the Lord. Everything he did was for the Lord. I was willing to make a contribution to this, but was holding back a reserve for myself in case things didn’t work out. Joe challenged me in this by the way he lived. He wrote a selection of songs on the passion of Christ, and with a slide presentation, he would sing a very moving performance of the passion of Christ using the slides. I saw this presentation many times. The refrain to one of the songs that he sang goes like this:

Has he risen in your heart?
Have you let Him be free? 
Do you show Him the lock on your door,
or do you give Him the key.
  
Has He risen in your heart? Do you know the joy of the resurrection?

I love the gospel stories from scripture that follow the crucifixion of Christ. They are the stories that so vividly describe the changes that had taken place in the apostles and in the followers of Jesus after a turbulent time. We have Peter, who during Christ’s passion, denied Him three times. He wanted nothing to do with Christ’s sufferings, and was very much afraid of being drawn into the anger and hostility of both the Jewish and Roman authorities. Yet, in the readings from "Acts", we see Peter, boldly proclaiming the Lordship of Christ, even to his opponents, and healing others in Christ’s name. He is no longer concerned with the reaction of those around him.  

As a result of this new found courage, many were drawn to faith in the early church. Jesus had truly risen in his heart. And because of that, many were drawn to that same faith in Christ.

And then, in the Gospel of John, we have the story of Thomas, the last apostle to meet the resurrected Christ. Thomas was the last holdout among the apostles. He was, in a sense, a natural sceptic, as many of us are at times. He is the one who openly admitted: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and feet, unless I see the hole in His side, I will not believe.” It’s very surprising that after being with Jesus for three years that he did not have a better understanding of what Jesus taught. It was as if his mind was closed to the message that Jesus was trying to convey to his disciples. I don’t think there is any question that Thomas deeply loved Jesus, that he listened to Jesus, but it seemed that, up to this time, he was only able to understand and to know Him at a physical level. Jesus’ death, to Thomas, would mean that He was gone. And obviously, he didn’t want to be fooled into thinking anything different.

In a way, do we not live in a society that is largely stuck in a similar framework of understanding? On one hand, we have a growing knowledge about all that we can physical see, hear and touch, but have distanced ourselves from those areas that we cannot be rationally understood, but can only be understood from a faith perspective. And despite the fact that we may have a lot of intellectual knowledge about religions and principals of faith, we often remain quite unchanged by it. This was probably a bit of what Thomas was experiencing.

But when Thomas did eventually encounter the Risen Jesus, examined the marks on his body, his response revealed a traumatic change of heart. “My Lord and my God”, was his response. Jesus had risen in his heart. He now believed by faith. Jesus’ response to him: “you believe because you see, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”.

I recall the time as well when I too made that transition from just understanding a lot of stuff about Jesus to experiencing the presence of Christ by faith.  

It would probably be safe to say that I may have even thought myself a little wise from what I had learned; the vocabulary, the philosophy, even some prayer practices. Yet, all of this cannot compare to what I would eventually experience by this gift that comes from Christ. It was as if the lights had come on. Before, it was like I was in a room with all the doors and windows closed and the blinds pulled. And after, it was as if the windows and doors were swung opened and I walked outside into the bright sunlight. Thomas, in his encounter with the risen Christ, was moved from doubt to a new realization of God’s presence and a new understanding of His teaching. Before he was immobilized by uncertainty and confusion; after he became an ardent evangelizer for Christ to all he met. Thomas himself spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel in places from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, and eventually reached India where he was martyred for the faith.

Today, as much as in any other time, we need this change of heart. We need hearts that are open to re-discover and possess the power and the refreshment of the risen Christ.  

Like Thomas, the only way to get unstuck from doubt is to be lifted up and outward by the Spirit. Jesus’ rising encompasses this mystery, that even though we may find ourselves in the uncertain state of confusion and sinfulness, we are invited to believe, to be transformed, and to be a part of this sublime mystery.

Has He risen in your hearts? Have you let him be free? Do you show Him the lock on your door, or do you give Him the Key.  

By giving Christ the key to our hearts, we come to the knowledge and the belief that, through Christ, we are acceptable before God, we are forgiven, we are liberated, we are saved. He calls us to a way of life that is beyond our rational understanding, but a way that enables us to be His creative expression in the world, and to all those with hearts that are open to listen.

Experiencing God - Shifting Our Understanding 37

"Worshipping God means learning to be with Jesus, stripping away our hidden idols, and placing Him at the centre of our lives."
Pope Francis

The Gospel of John beautifully brings about a rich multi-faceted understanding of Jesus as the Bread of Life.  Chapter six of John's Gospel starts off with the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand (plus) with the bread and fishes.  He is the giver of the bread, the new Moses.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites, in the desert, survived on bread or manna, but there is something more being offered here by Jesus; something beyond the need for mere survival.  Jesus is encouraging us to look beyond physical nourishment.

Following the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, we read the story of Jesus walking on the water towards the frightened disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee during a vicious storm.  As the disciples see Him, Jesus speaks those encouraging words:  "It is I; Do not be afraid"  We are encouraged to place our trust in Him, the source of life that even transcends the need for physical safety from an unpredictable environment.  Can we take this invitation for courage and apply it too the many outrageous events that we experience today?  Are we able to restore our calm and vigilance despite the many violent things that come our way?

If we read on in the Gospel of John, there is a sudden shift from seeing Jesus as the one who feeds the five thousand with bread to Jesus "the real bread" that has come down from heaven.  Jesus becomes for us the bread of wisdom, the bread of revelation, who comes to nourishes us with faith.  The operative verb in this Gospel story is "to believe".  "They who comes to me will never be hungry.  They who believes in me will never thirst."  The same invitation that was extended to the Samaritan woman at the well is now extended to us: To believe, to accept, to belong to that which brings life.  The belief asked of us is much more than intellectual understanding and consent.  It is an invitation to give our whole selves to believe in the one who comes to save us.  It is an invitation to change.  It is an invitation to give our hearts. 

Pope Francis tweeted yesterday:  "Worshipping God means learning to be with Jesus, stripping away our hidden idols, and placing Him at the centre of our lives."  This type of radical faith requires us to move away from being merely satisfied with a physical existence, and moving towards hungering for the abundant life that comes from knowing Christ.

The last shift of understanding that we are challenged with in John's gospel can be found in the stories that follow.  It is the shift beyond experiencing Jesus as the bread of wisdom and revelation to actually being with the one who nourishes through His presence in the Eucharist.

The shift we see happening in the apostles as we read the story of their lives in the Gospels is the same shift that is happening, or should happen, in us as we surrender our lives to the reality of Christ presence.   Other things fall away as we discover, with deeper meaning, the life and relationship that Jesus calls us to.  "Where I am, you will be also."

Experiencing God - I Am The Vine 34

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." 
Gospel of John

We read several stories in the Acts to the Apostles of a church in crisis.  These crisis were often over matters relating to faith practice.  There were good reasons for these problems to arise.  The early Christian Church was born from Jewish roots.  Mary, Joseph and Jesus were Jewish.  They practiced their faith in the Jewish synagogue.  The apostles, their families and the early followers of Jesus were Jewish.  After the resurrection and the first encounters with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, it would have been quite normal for the new followers of Christ to incorporate Jewish rites in their worship, and Jewish rules in their faith practice. 

But a problem arose when the Christian faith spread to the gentiles who, not only did not practice Jewish rites, but were not familiar with them.  Should the rules that the apostles and the early Jewish Christians practiced also be a condition for the new gentile believers?  This question was ripe for a crisis.  The important thing that came from all this was that the church gathered and prayed about these contentious issues.  The Holy Spirit was consulted.  Through prayers and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a decision was made, and the church moved on from there.  Were there people dissatisfied with the decision?  Probably some were.  Were there some who may have left the Christian community because of the decisions?  Probably some did.  The important thing is that the Church, the people of God, remained close to Christ; they remained connected to the vine, and in doing so, this community moved ahead in accordance with God's will.

In the Gospel of John mentioned above, Jesus encourages us to remain connected to the vine.  Jesus says:

 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." 

We can see and identify with this on a personal individual level, but we must also see this and connect with it on a communal level.  Christ will only be made visible to the world as we work together as people of faith to bring His Kingdom alive in the hearts of others.  It's not a job we can do by ourselves.

We remain connected to Christ in our personal encounter with Him, but we also remain connected with Him through His vine the Church which gives witness to His presence in the world.

Does our culture have difficulty with some of the Church's practices and teachings?  Sure they do.  Do we at times?  This is true as well.  But as we bring these issues of concerns before the Lord, if we do it as church, as the people of God, then the direction we must go will come forth, maybe not always in accordance with what we want all the time, but in accordance with God's will for the Church at this moment in our history.

"If you remain in me, Jesus says, and my words remains in you, then what you ask of me in prayer will be granted if it is for the glory of the Father and the building of His kingdom on earth.  These are the things that will determine if you are my disciples, my followers."

Experiencing God - Wisdom 31

"Whoever loves wisdom, loves life.  Those who wait upon wisdom early will be filled with happiness.  Whoever holds wisdom close will inherit honor.  Whoever pays attention to wisdom dwells secure"
Book of Sirach

One of the most outstanding psychiatrists in America who died in 1987 was Carl Rogers.  Rogers developed what is called the humanistic approach to psychology.  In his approach, he discovered that the personalities of his clients could be developed by moving them beyond the responses that had been habitually formed from their past experiences.  For Rogers, deep down in each person is the innermost self.  The core of our personality, this innermost self, he found, is basically healthy, positive, and society oriented.  In other words, this inner most self is a much truer expression of our humanity.

In my last posting, I mentioned the Book of Sirach, one of the Wisdom books from the Old Testament.  The above quote is from this Book of Sirach.

It is clear from this book of the Old Testament that "wisdom" is not conventional intellectual learning, like learning to be a lawyer or an accountant.  Wisdom is a gift.  Wisdom is something that wells up at the Soul or Spirit level of a person.  Wisdom comes to us as a guide, enabling us to respond to life's situations in a manner that is most beneficial to ourselves and to those with whom we interact.

In the political scene today, particularly with the recent discovery of Senate expense scandals that we are hearing so much about in the news, we see evidence of clever well educated people who are not being guided by wisdom.  What is it that prevents some from seeing and using the gift of wisdom?

It usually springs from a blindness that results from the past life's habits of self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, resentments, insecurity, arrogance, and many other things.  These many things distort our vision as to what is important.

Jesus speaks about this blindness in the Gospel of John when he is approached by Nicodemus by night who asked Him many questions.  The fact that Nicodemus meets with Jesus at night is symbolic of the blindness or darkness that many experience.  Jesus tells Nicodemus:  "What is born of the flesh is merely flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.  Flesh begets flesh.  Spirit begets Spirit".  What I believe Jesus is saying by this is that when it comes to our spiritual nature, humans are not sinful.  But it is the "sarx" in us, which means the flesh element, through which sin enters the world and tends to move us towards self-centeredness.  But it is through the gift of the Spirit within that the gift of wisdom is made known and moves us towards selflessness or a self-sacrificing love. 

If we wish to tap into wisdom, or the Spirit, we must tap into God.  Otherwise, we will have only the whims of the flesh to guide us.  As evidenced by the scandals in our institutions; and yes, even in our churches, the flesh has not served us well.

Jesus recognizes this in what He taught and in how He lived.  When the apostles confronted Jesus about the fact that someone who was not a part of their group was ministering in His name, Jesus told them:   "Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because they are a follower of mine, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

In other words, that person is guided by wisdom.