Eastertide
April 14, 2018
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36b-48
Jesus himself stood among them 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. –Luke 24:36b-43
What is real? We have all asked this question at one time or another. I think at this point in our history we are confused and cynical. I must admit to being somewhat amused, although I know it is very serious, about all the panic regarding our privacy. I was telling my staff 20 years ago to not put anything in an email they would not want their mother to read on the front page of the local paper. Government employees whose jobs must be an open book have long known that privacy is an illusion.
So too is thinking we understand what people are saying to us when we do not want to hear it. I have sat with many people being given information about the grave nature of their loved one’s illness who just could not take in the information as true. I imagine the disciples in this same mindset all the times Jesus told them he was to die. They were just as disbelieving at his resurrection. Most of us would probably have thought we were hallucinating had we been in the same gathering when the resurrected Christ entered their presence.
In the midst of mystery, belief comes with the practice of the common, eating fish. There is a lesson for all in this story. Christ is in our daily walk. Just as Abram put one foot in front of the other as he left Ur and headed for a new land, as Moses lifted his staff and marched the Israelites out of Egypt, as David rescued the new Kingdom of Israel from Saul’s failure, as Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem, Jesus open the door for our salvation and charged us with the common work of building his Kingdom of love here on earth. Sometimes doing the commonplace is the best way for humans to get their heads straight and remember who they are and whose they are.
Prayer: When we get discouraged, give us a simple task that can bring us back to the reality of our calling. Amen.