The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Easter 3B
April 14, 2024
The Gospel of Luke takes the extra effort to tell us about the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus really did die, he really was raised – with his fleshly body and also a spiritual body. Jesus isn’t a ghost because he has a body. He has his wounds; he can eat a piece of fish. And that body is something more than what we experience. Jesus appears to disciples, he speaks… and then he disappears.
Resurrection is real and physical – it’s something we can touch, it’s not an idea or a concept. But resurrection is mysterious – it doesn’t perfectly line up with what we experience.
And then there’s the other aspect of the Resurrected Jesus … he doesn’t stick around for long. Each Gospel gives a few resurrection appearances, but just a few. Right after today’s Gospel reading, Jesus leads his disciples to Bethany, blesses them, and then ascends to heaven.
We only get a few little glimpses of the resurrection. It’s real, it’s physical, it’s mysterious. But it’s definitely not otherworldly.
Jesus didn’t overcome the power of death to deny or reject our this-worldly life. Jesus continually points his disciples back to the world. Go and preach. Go and teach. Go and change the world. Go and bring people together. Go and heal. Go and do.
The book of Acts points to that. The letters of Paul and the rest of the New Testament say that. Go, and do.
Go, and do what Jesus would do. Heal the sick, rebuke hypocrisy, pray and work for peace and justice, call for repentance and proclaim forgiveness. Go, and do good in the name of Jesus.
Go, and do. Not even death can stop the power and ministry of Jesus. Go, and do. It’s a life of freedom to do good.
We’re not stuck in the shame of our own failures, because we are given a spirit of humility. We admit our sins and mistakes, we work to make it right, and we try again.
We’re not afraid of being judged: as too merciful, as too big-hearted. The heart of Jesus is too big for ours to be small.
We’re not discouraged just how daunting it can all seem. We work for justice and peace in the world, and we work for justice and peace in our state and our community. We do what we can with great hope, and we know the power of Jesus’ name to make even small seeds bear fruit.
We’re not embarrassed to be people of prayer. We gather to pray, to praise God, to spend time together on beautiful Sunday mornings to worship God. We take time in our daily lives to pray, to have spiritual conversations with friends and family, to point to the “big questions” of life, of meaning and goodness. We sit in silence to pray, we go outside and admire the beauty of creation and adore its Creator. We make all things holy with prayer.
Go, and do. Go in the name of Jesus, and do the works of Jesus.
Every Sunday we are sent forth at the end of the Eucharist with the dismissal. Go, and do. That is the meaning of the Resurrection in our lives. Go in the name of Jesus, and do the works of Jesus. Amen.