5^th May 2009

“Promised power from on high” – Luke 24:36-49

The reading for today is one suggested by the Lectionary as a key post-resurrection appearance by Jesus. Suddenly Jesus was in the room with His closest circle of friends and gave a blessing of peace. He almost certainly would have used the Hebrew expression, “Shalom” - a word means far more than ‘peace’ which is how we usually translate it in English. Jesus said far more to them than just “Peace – don’t be afraid. It’s not a ghost. It’s Me!”

One Jewish writer said this... “The shalom of God means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquillity, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord.”  

What Jesus actually said to the disciples meant; “God’s encompassing peace, grace and life, His completeness and fullness, be with you.”

And that is what we can have in Jesus today – life in its fullness, life enriched by the Shalom - the presence, the abundance of God.

Easter is a glorious season in the church, and the abundant grace and renewed life that flows from the Cross should keep us enriched as God’s people always. In the supermarkets the chocolate eggs have been sold off at bargain prices.  Easter is over for the shops. For the Christian, however, Easter is not over.

Easter is ongoing – it is life for us, and it is the centre of everything our faith rests upon. The Cross, the empty tomb, and the stories of Jesus appearing to over 500 people in the six weeks after the events of Easter add life to our faith. We don’t just follow empty teaching or some ‘wise philosophy’ – we have life in its fullness, life in its abundance, and life that reaches us daily...always...ongoing. 
Today’s reading has two parts – the appearance and the promise.

Both those aspects of this passage give us so much enrichment. Not only did Jesus rise from the dead, not only did Jesus conquer sin and the grave, Jesus also gave us the promise of a future empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at the appearance first –

This event is the last of four times that Jesus appeared on Easter Sunday.  First it was to Mary Magdalene in the garden near the empty tomb. Then He appeared to Simon Peter, (but we don’t know how or where). We know Cleopas and his friend met Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and finally Jesus appeared to the disciples as a group behind closed doors in the evening of that first day.
In that room, behind those locked doors, was the entire leadership team for the new church that would be birthed by the Holy Spirit a few weeks later. Jesus then explained the call, the mission, that these men and women would commit their lives to when He said to them...

“Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in the
Christ’s name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are
[and will continue to be] witnesses of these things.” Luke 24:47-48

One commentator has said that we must note that the disciples were not to preach forgiveness without repentance of sin. It was pointed out that any preacher who offers salvation on the basis of easy faith in the fact that ‘God forgives your sin’ but fails to mention the need to repent and obey Jesus as Lord actually preaches an incomplete or false Gospel. 

Now let’s look at the second aspect of today’s reading – the promise.

In just one verse Luke established the future of the church, and the future of the men and women gathered in that room.  Jesus said...
 
“I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

On the same day that Jesus rose from the dead He told His disciples that they would receive power – a gift from the Father on high. They would soon be equipped by the Holy Spirit - I wonder if they had any idea what the church would be like.

I want to be careful here and not be seen as judging the church across our nation – especially the Uniting Church which is my home, my place of ministry, and my mission field. Even so I have observed the church in many ways and places, both here and overseas. I have attended meetings and watched and read and visited and travelled for well over 20 years now and this is my observation... 
The church has often ignored, overlooked, and even spoken against the ‘Power from on High’.  In many places the result has been a ritualised yet power-less church where the Holy Spirit may be mentioned from time to time or may appear by Name in the benediction and yet the power, the gifts, the equipping, and the tangible evidence of what Jesus promised is simply not visible.

I am not saying God’s presence is totally missing from those churches – in that way the Holy Spirit is present, just as Jesus promised. There should be a difference!  What to look for in the church, in the house of God, are lives that have been transformed... 

• Look for people who live like it is Easter Sunday every day. 
• Look for people who enjoy being in the house of God. 
• Look for change - the Church should be different from any other club or social group or organisation.  
• Look for signs of grace - Christians should be different to every other member of the local community.  
• Look for the fruit of the Spirit like Paul speaks of in Galatians 5 – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

What saddens me is that so much of the church seems bereft of those things.

Again I say I don’t want to judge God’s Church – He alone is Lord of the church and He alone truly knows the heart of the people – yet it often seems to me that what Jesus promised and Scripture says He gave seems to have been lost along the journey somewhere...

Bobbie Houston – wife of Brian and a senior pastor of the huge Hillsong network of churches - said this under the heading ‘Imagine...’

Imagine a place so irresistible that people can’t wait to get there.
Imagine a place so functional that no one ever wants to leave.
Imagine a place where the atmosphere takes your breath away.
Imagine a place where the atmosphere causes humanity to flourish.
Imagine a place designed for no other reason than to connect you with a world beyond your wildest dreams.
Such a place exists and has existed within the Heart of God since before all time... 
That place is called ‘the church’ - ‘the house of God’.

As we move through the season of Pentecost, as we focus on the Risen Christ and the promise given, I encourage you to imagine...

• Imagine what the church would be like if the people of God longed for what Jesus promised.
• Imagine all Uniting churches truly alive in the Spirit of God.  
• Imagine power from high renewing us and making us more into the image of the Risen Christ.
  Imagine...    

Amen

Rev Rob Tann
Unity Hill - 26th April 2009