Scripture Readings: Acts 2:42–47 | Psalm 23 | 1 Peter 2:19–25 | ​John 10:1–10

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21).
 
This morning, the fourth Sunday of the Season of Easter is sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday, as our Scripture readings, especially the Gospel reading, highlight this well-beloved biblical theme… inviting us to contemplate how Jesus Christ the crucified and Risen Lord continues to lead us His people into God’s New Life today. 
 
Our Psalm today, Psalm 23, is probably one of the most well known parts of the Bible where the Living God’s steadfast love and care for His people is likened to the care of a shepherd for their sheep. As King David composed this Psalm, we can imagine him drawing upon his own experience as a young shepherd, in charge of providing for and protecting his father Jesse’s flock: spending his nights and days by their side… guiding them towards the nourishment they needed, and away from harm… and even putting his own life in danger in order to rescue them from wild predators.
 
And years later, David prayerfully imagines the LORD God at work in the same ways: providing for and protecting His people… constantly with them, day and night… and faithfully leading them towards abundant life. And even though at times God would lead them through pretty dark times… through the very shadow of death… David calls us all to place our faith… our trust in God our Good Shepherd, who walks ahead of us, and with us every step of the way… confident that, no matter what may come, God really does care for us, and has our best interests at heart. 
 
Many centuries after King David penned Psalm 23… in the Gospel of John Chapter 10 Jesus of Nazareth speaks about Himself in ways that draw upon this very same imagery… identifying Himself with the Living God, and His ministry with God’s care for His people.
 
In the verse after our reading today, Jesus explicitly says: “I am the Good Shepherd.” (John 10:11). But before that, in our reading today, He uses shepherding imagery to highlight the difference between the Good Shepherd, and the thieves and strangers who are only concerned about themselves.

John 10:1-5, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
 
Now the meaning of this passage was kind of confusing even to those who first heard it, but it might help us a bit to remember the context of Christ’s words here. Where they take place in the story. Jesus is saying all this right after He had healed a man who had been blind from birth… offering this man a great gift of mercy and grace, and new life… only to have the religious leaders in Jerusalem interrogate, insult, and eventually excommunicate the man… all because they refused to believe that God’s good work had been done through Jesus. They had witnessed the miracle, but refused to believe it. They claimed to be shepherds and guides of God’s people, and yet they accused and turned on the ones God had placed within their care.

In other words, Jesus was contrasting Himself with those leaders who claimed to be God’s faithful servants and shepherds, but who were actively opposing Him, and revealing their own suspect motives. 
 
And there are, of course, many today who are following in their unfaithful footsteps… who want us to trust and follow their lead, but who will not and cannot lead us into life. Think especially of those who claim to be Christian leaders and teachers, but who would have us completely ignore so much of Christ’s own words and ways, and offer us their own agendas instead. There are a lot of folks these days teaching some truly messed up stuff in Christ’s name, which is why it’s so important for us to actually know what Jesus our Lord has actually said… to seek to listen to His voice, and understand His character, and heart… and to do so in the context of the wider story of Scripture… the story of God’s great rescue mission.
 
If we don’t want to be misled… or worse yet, if we don’t want to become thieves and strangers ourselves… those opposing Christ’s good work in the world… we really do need to draw near to Jesus again and again, and become intimately familiar with Him, and know how to discern  His voice, and how to spurn all who would lead us away from Him. 
 
After Jesus first draws this distinction between the Good Shepherd, who knows the sheep, and whom the sheep trust and follow… and all the other strangers and thieves… He then changes the metaphor and calls Himself the Gate… the entryway to gain access to life, and the true safe harbour for the sheep. John 10:9-10, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
 
This marks a turn from a warning, to an invitation: calling us all to listen to His voice! To come to Him, and find Him to be the source of God’s gracious provision and protection. To come to Him, and hear His teachings, and put them into practice, trusting that Jesus is the One leading us into God’s new, abundant life. Sounds like Good News to me.  
 
But here’s where we run into a serious challenge as Christians… because, as we know, going through the gate is not always easy… and the path of the Good Shepherd can often be a whole lot harder than we want it to be. Not hard in terms of who’s welcome and who’s not… no, all are invited to draw near to God’s Good Shepherd. The problem is that at times the path to abundant life can be painful. 
 
I mean, what comes to your mind when you hear the words “abundant life”? Success and status? Peace and security? Prosperity? Friendship and full bellies? That’s what a lot of folks spend their lives pursuing, and for good reason! Without these things, life can be quite painful. We can all name several places in our world today where these kinds of things are in short supply, or absent entirely… where suffering seems to be growing stronger day by day, and the shadow of death seems almost unstoppable.
 
Maybe you feel like you’re in one of those dark places today, and words like ‘abundant life’ seem more like a distant memory, or a fantasy than an anchor and promise to hold onto. If you are, know that you’re not alone, and that there’s Good News for you today too. 

On top of all the pain and the grief that it can cause, suffering is often also seen as a sign that we’re off course somehow… a sign that we must have made some big mistakes somewhere along the way. If ‘abundant life’ is the goal, many of us pursue it by avoiding as much suffering as possible. And lots of would-be leaders gather followers by promising to help them do just that.
 
And yet, the Good News of Jesus Christ consistently offers us a very different understanding of suffering.
Far from being a sign of our faults or failures… suffering is acknowledged as a common reality of life for all of us at one time or another outside of Paradise. Yes, when we humans make foolish or selfish decisions, we can certainly bring about all kinds of unnecessary suffering… but even those who consistently do what is right can often find themselves facing incredibly painful situations too.
 
As the story of the man born blind in John Chapter 9 reminds us, there’s no simple line of cause and effect between our choices and our current circumstances. In fact, doing the right thing and making the right choice can also lead us into a great deal of difficulty.

After all, Christ Jesus Himself suffered precisely because He was faithful! The agony of cross was not His fault… He was the sinless One! Yet, staying true to God’s good ways in a world turned upside down can make things much harder than they should be. No, Jesus suffered faithfully, laying down His own life to save us… and showing us in the process where and how God’s Good Shepherd is leading us.

In our second reading today from the first letter of St. Peter Chapter 2, we hear the words of the Apostle writing to Christian communities scattered around the Roman Empire… pockets of believers, frequently surrounded by hostile, or at least estranged neighbours and under threat of state sanctioned persecution. These early Christians were not exactly having an easy go of it. Many were struggling daily… especially those from the lower social classes, including many slaves who often faced harsh treatment and abuse from their masters.
 
But rather than promise his fellow believers an easy path to avoid all their pain and problems… St. Peter reminds them and us, that although we may not be able to avoid suffering… what we are suffering for, and how we choose to face that suffering is a vital part of our story.
 
Speaking directly to Christian slaves… to those without freedom, or civil rights, and who were frequently mistreated and looked down upon… St. Peter first of all warns them against suffering for bad reasons. But then he goes on to say that if they do what is right and still suffer because of it, there is no shame in that at all. In fact, when that unjust suffering occurs, they’re actually sharing in the very experience of Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd… who was Himself unjustly abused, and executed as a slave, without honour or mercy.
 
And yet, despite all that was done to Him to dehumanize and destroy Him, the Living God raised Christ Jesus from the dead… honouring Him above all others, and bringing Him through the very shadow of death and into God’s blessed eternal life. The cross is the amazing story of God turning Christ’s unjust suffering into, not only His ultimate glory, but also into the means by which God’s mercy and saving love were made known to the world…
reaching out to save the lost, and to lead them into life.

St. Peter isn’t saying that we should seek out or glorify suffering in itself… or that we should simply allow others to endure injustice and oppression when it is within our power to do something about it. Far from it. What he is saying is that, when we find ourselves in those dark places… feeling powerless and alone… we can trust that our Good Shepherd has not abandoned us in our time of need. No, He has walked this dark path Himself already… and He walks it with us still… faithfully leading us through the valley of the shadow of death, and inviting us to faithfully follow His own example… to follow, not just His words, but His way of life… including His faithfulness in the face of suffering.
 
1 Peter 2:21-25, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”
 
Jesus suffered faithfully once and for all at the cross to save us, not from all pain and suffering, but from sin! From all the evil and self-centeredness at work in us, and in our world that leads us all astray in so many ways… that leads us to turn against one another… to oppress, and abuse, and exploit our fellow humans, made in God’s image… to ignore those in need all around us… and to place our own status and agendas above the commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves.
 
This is what Christ came to save us from. And He saved us for a new and truly abundant life… one marked by compassion, integrity, generosity, humility, and sincere fellowship with one another. A life where we look out for one another… and take care of each other when we’re struggling… where we look for ways to lift up, and encourage, and support one another… so that everyone has what they need… becoming more and more like our Good Shepherd as we listen closely to His voice, and follow His example of long-suffering love.  
 
We get a glimpse of this abundant life that our Good Shepherd is leading us into in our first reading today from the Book of Acts Chapter 2, in the early days after Pentecost.  God’s people, empowered by His Holy Spirit, were truly living like Jesus, their Good Shepherd: caring for one another. Supporting one another. Even giving up their own goods to meet the needs of those who were struggling. Providing for and protecting one another by embodying God’s holy, self-giving, and long-suffering love… by listening to the voice of Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord, and following closely where and how He leads.
 
And so, may we who have gathered here today in Gondola Point, listen closely to the voice of our Good Shepherd, and follow Him always. May we be willing to face our own times of suffering faithfully… for the sake of God’s people and God’s world… growing in love for the Living God, and for one another, even when it’s hard… searching for ways to provide for and protect others… just like Jesus our Good Shepherd has first loved us… trusting Him to lead us through it all into His blessed and unending abundant life. Amen.
 

Scripture Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36–41 | Psalm 116 | 1 Peter 1:17–23 | ​Luke 24:13–35

“Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24:26-27).
 
What kind of story do we think we are living in?
 
Our lives are, of course, a lot more complicated than all the novels and movies we create, and which tend to fit into neat little categories. In reality, each of our stories are a unique combination of experiences… and moments of tragedy, and romance, and laughter, and adventure… and horror… and boredom… and hope.
 
Even so, I think it is helpful at times to remember that whatever season of life we may be facing right now… that this season is not the whole story… it’s only one part… one chapter in our much wider story… a story that’s actually much bigger than our own. After all, we are a part of the story of God’s people, living in God’s world. The great divine drama into which we are all being graciously invited to play our own part as it continues to grow and unfold.
 
As Christians, we seek to understand our own lives, as complicated as they are, within the context of God’s story: how the Living God has made Himself known, and what He is up to in our world. Only then can we really discern what He wants from us… what it means to faithfully follow Him. 
 
But as it turns out, God’s story isn’t that simple either. It comes to us, not as a straightforward, simplistic narrative, or as a random collection of moral fables… but as an intense, and nuanced, and puzzling, and piercing account of our great Creator seeking to set His wayward creation aright, even as we humans keep getting in the way. And if we don’t take this challenge seriously… if we don’t take time to humbly try to understand the big picture of God’s story, and where it is all leading, then we can end up in all sorts of strange and dangerous places. 
 
As a quick but timely example: there have been some vocal and powerful political voices recently claiming that the story of God is largely about their country dominating the world, and crushing their enemies… brazenly making use of passages of the Bible to justify and promote their vision of violence and aggression, all the while arguing that the Living God is clearly on their side.
 
And while we may not all be making the same vicious claims, or wielding the same kind of destructive power, this same tendency can be a danger for us all. The tendency to pick out one or two sentences or paragraphs or chapters, and try to make them into the whole story.
 
But the Bible is not a grab-bag of random sayings, or inspiring words to be picked through and re-arranged as we see fit. It is the story of God… the sacred narrative God uses to make Himself and His intentions known to His creation.
 
And so what we need is not a handful of texts that we can use to support our own opinions or positions… what we need is a stronger sense of where His whole story is headed… what the heart of its message is… and how we too can take part in it. And this is exactly what two of Christ’s disciples received on the road to Emmaus. 
 
In our Gospel reading today, St. Luke tells us that on Easter Sunday, two of Christ Jesus’ disciples were leaving Jerusalem… heavy hearted and confused. They had placed their faith in Jesus… hoping that He would be the long-awaited Messiah… the saviour sent to redeem Israel from the power of their enemies.  It seems that, like many Israelites in those days, these two disciples were expecting a military Messiah… one who would summon the faithful to fight against ungodly, and bring about God’s victory through violence. But just two days before, Jesus had been arrested, and publicly executed by those very foes they were hoping He would overthrow… the Romans… the Gentile military superpower occupying their land. And so, despite reports of the resurrection they could not fit neatly into their story of God’s Messiah, these two disciples leave Jerusalem, the Holy City behind, and make there way to Emmaus… a village with an interesting and bloody story of its own.
 
In the first book of Maccabees, one of the books of the Apocrypha, widely read by God’s people in Jesus’ day, even though it wasn’t included in the Hebrew Old Testament… it turns out that Emmaus was the location of a remarkable battle, where the underdog Judean forces fought and defeated a powerful Greek army.

And right before the battle, fought over a hundred years before Christ was born, in 1 Maccabees Chapter 4:8-11, the Judean general, Judas Maccabeus says this to his soldiers: “Do not fear their numbers or be afraid when they charge. Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea, when Pharaoh with his forces pursued them. And now, let us cry to Heaven, to see whether he will favor us and remember his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army before us today. Then all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel.”
 
Judas and his men placed their hope in victory through armed conflict, aided by God. And Judas saw the violent defeat of his enemies as the way to show all the Gentiles “there is one who redeems and saves Israel.” That was their story. Over a hundred years later, the site of this battle was where Christ’s two despondent disciples were headed… having their hopes just dashed that Jesus Himself was “the one to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21).
 
Do we have dashed hopes and expectations of God today? Maybe our life hasn’t gone quite the way we planned. Maybe we were hit by an unexpected setback or loss… a season of grief, or tragedy. Or maybe we’re just left feeling lost and confused… uncertain about what lies ahead.  
 
If so, we’re in good company. Many of us have walked that hard road before… and found that Jesus was walking it right there with us. Not always recognizable… but right there gently inviting us to open our hearts to Him… perceptively challenging us to reconsider our assumptions… our stories… and drawing us deeper into the much wider story of God, and His redemption. His way of salvation.
 
Jesus meets us all on the road. On the way. He’s not sitting back waiting for us to figure it all out first. He’s walking with us, even if we don’t see Him right there with us. Even when we can’t see anything but tragedy, and loss, and hopelessness… Jesus our Saviour is with us… urging us to trust Him, and seek to understand the story we share in.
 
St. Luke tells us that the Risen Jesus came near to these two disciples, and walked with them in their confusion and grief… but He took issue with their assessment that Christ had failed at the cross. No, He says to them. That’s the real victory!

Luke 24:25-27, “Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”
 
‘All the Scriptures’… meaning the Hebrew Old Testament at this point. After all, the New Testament wasn’t written yet! A lot of the time, we might be tempted to see the Old Testament as a completely different story from the New Testament. Many of us are certainly less familiar with it... apart from the odd story we might remember from Sunday School.
 
But the Old Testament is in fact where Jesus Himself calls His followers to look to understand His own story. They are the roots from which the branches of the Gospel have sprung, and continue to be nourished. And yes, the Old Testament is a complicated part of the story. It takes twists and turns that catch us off guard at times. It covers ground we may find confusing, or even deeply disturbing… but together these sacred writings point us faithfully to our Messiah… to the One who has indeed come to redeem Israel, as well as the Gentiles! Not through waging war, or through violence directed against the ungodly, like so many expect… but by giving His life at the cross to redeem and reconcile us all… even those acting as His enemies. Giving His own body to be broken… and giving His own blood to be shed to set us all free from our sins and wickedness… to set us free to share God’s holy love forever.
 
And contrary to Judas Maccabeus’ grand vision of glory through military might, Jesus shows us that the Messiah Himself must first suffer… and only then be glorified. And as His disciples today, He calls us to follow Him on the same road… to embrace God’s way of holy love, and to reject the path of vengeance and hate. To open our hearts to the whole story of God’s great rescue plan for all nations… drawing us together into one family through the death and resurrection of His Son.
 
As the disciples listened to Jesus on the road, opening the Scriptures to them, their hearts burned… but it was when they were seated at the table with Him that their eyes were finally opened to the truth. As the Risen Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them… the whole story came together. They knew it was Him! And seeing Him alive again changed everything for good.
 
 We see Jesus as we gather at His table too… inviting us sinners to His table… inviting us to receive again the gift of His own life. Despite all our failings, finding not wrath but welcome… not condemnation, but blessed forgiveness… not fear or hatred, but holy love… all because Christ Jesus died and rose again… offering Himself at the cross to redeemed God’s broken but beloved world.
 
This is where the whole story of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is leading us… to draw near in faith to the crucified and Risen Jesus to receive from Him God’s gift of New Life. The heart of this message is God’s self-giving love revealed in Jesus. And rather than pulling out passages here or there that we think we can make use of for our own purposes, we’re called to respond to this Good News and gift of life and love by walking together the road of life that Christ Himself leads us down.
 
By obeying His commands… of which love… of God and neighbour is the greatest of all. By being willing to suffer for the sake of His Kingdom, rather than imposing our version of it by force. And by turning around… repenting when we find we have taken a wrong turn… trusting that, even when we feel lost, and alone, and confused, Jesus Himself is with us, and longs for us to return to His side… where, by grace we now belong.
 
Once they recognize Christ at the table, Jesus vanished right before there eyes. And even though the hour was late, and they’d been walking all day, these two disciples turn around and immediately head back to Jerusalem to join the other disciples… encouraging one another, sharing their own experiences of the Good News, and finding themselves drawn even deeper into the world-changing adventure of God’s story.
 
May we, like them, have our stories transformed by the Good News of Jesus found in God’s whole story… through the Scriptures… through drawing near in faith to Christ’s Table… through walking in the ways the Risen Lord has taught us… and through our love for God and one another. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Acts 2:14a, 22–32 | Psalm 16 | 1 Peter 1:3–9 | ​John 20:19–31

“Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’  Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” (John 20:28-29).
 
Yesterday marked the successful conclusion of NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission, as four brave astronauts, three Americans and one Canadian, safely returned to Earth after travelling farther into space than anyone has before… circling the Moon for the first time since 1972, running all sorts of experiments, and reminding a lot of us here at home the kinds of amazing things that are possible when we humans actually work together. At a time when so much in the news seems to be about wars, and scandals, and serious problems on the horizon, it was certainly refreshing and encouraging to hear about this journey to the Moon… and to consider what the next stages of space travel might entail.
 
Now, I’m too young to remember the first time that humans set foot on the Moon. But that moment really did mark an amazing milestone… a new and unparalleled achievement in the human story… proving that all the hard work and science that went on behind the scenes was trustworthy, vindicating the folks at NASA, and firmly disproving the doubters. It also opened the door for further discoveries… for actively contemplating what comes next… as well as inspiring future generations of would-be astronauts to join in this adventure too. 
 
But as important, and exciting, and inspiring as our human expeditions into space have been, last Sunday we celebrated an even greater moment in the human story: the miracle of Easter… the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The birth of our salvation… and the beginning of God’s New Creation.
 
Easter changes everything. Because Jesus rose from the dead, everything we humans have assumed about the world and its destiny has to be reorganized around this new and amazing event… as the Living God turned tragedy into hope… darkness into light… and even death into life.
 
And so, this morning, we’re going to spend some time reflecting on what the resurrection of Jesus means… the implications of this wonderful reality, and how we might begin to respond to it.

First of all, the resurrection is a vindication of Jesus Christ… proving once and for all that He really was God’s Son, and the Saviour of the world. During his ministry before the cross, Jesus said and did a lot of amazing and challenging things… and even though many were compelled to place their faith in Him, plenty of others had serious doubts about what He was up to.
 
And then when Jesus was arrested and crucified, it seemed like all the nay-sayers were right. I mean, if He was God’s Son, sent to save the world… then why would God let something that horrible happen to Him? No, in their minds, Jesus must have been wrong… or worse, a fraud. Another failed would-be leader who could not even save Himself.
 
But then when Easter morning arrives, and the Risen Jesus meets His friends again, more alive than ever… they could see for themselves that His suffering and death at the cross was not proof of His failure, but of God’s amazing victory over the power of suffering and death itself! What had at first seemed like absolute proof that Jesus could not have been the promised Saviour was transformed into the most convincing sign of God’s power at work in Him.
 
In our first reading today from the Book of Acts Chapter 2, we heard St. Peter say as much to a confused crowd in Jerusalem about the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus.
 
Acts 2:22-24, “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2:22-24).
 
For St. Peter and the other Apostles, the resurrection vindicated Jesus… proving that He was indeed God’s chosen Messiah, sent to save the world… but in the most surprising way. Not by slaying evildoers, as many expected… but by suffering and dying in their place and for their sake! By laying down His life as a gift of love to turn all our hearts back to God, and to one another… to offer us all forgiveness of our sins, and the promise of New Life.
 
This leads us to our second point: the resurrection of Jesus is an initiation… the beginning of something completely new. What happened at Easter was not just a reversal of death, but the conquering of death. Going through it… experiencing its full force and power… and coming out the other side of death more alive than before.
 
This is a key difference between what happened to Jesus, and the experiences of people like Lazarus, or others who have been resuscitated by miraculous or medical means: they all had to return to the same kind of life they had before… and one day in the future, they would all have to face death again. But Jesus’ resurrection was of a completely different sort.
 
After His resurrection, Jesus was truly alive, not just present as a spirit or ghost with no physical body. But His body has been transformed and filled with God’s New Life in such a way that death has no hold on Him anymore. He’s broken free of its power, and He will never die again.

And the Good News is that what happened to Jesus on Easter morning… His victory over death was only the first step… the first instance of God’s New Creation… a pivotal moment, paving the way for others to follow and share in this new reality one day as well.
 
In our second reading today from St. Peter’s first letter, the apostle wrote to his fellow Christians, speaking of the resurrection of Jesus as the source of new life and hope for those who believe in Him, as we look forward to sharing in God’s New Creation.
 
1 Peter 1:3-5, “By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
 
The resurrection of Jesus initiated… it kicked off God’s New Creation… giving us a glimpse of the future that God intends for His beloved but broken world: not its destruction, and abandonment, but its ultimate redemption! Its complete restoration… more filled with God’s blessed life than ever before, and set free from the fear of death forever! And even though for the time being, we know that life remains full of ups and downs… and times of deep suffering… because of Easter, we can hold onto this hope of an imperishable inheritance… this future existence that cannot be shaken, and which rests in the strong hands of our Risen Saviour… encouraging us not to give up, but to stay true to the way of Jesus no matter what comes.
 
And this leads us to our third point: that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an invitation… an invitation to believe this Good News, and to respond to it.
 
Now as exciting as it was to follow the progress of NASA’s Artemis II mission this last week… and as amazing and inspiring as it is to consider that we humans have actually walked on the Moon… there really are very limited ways that these events actually influence or impact our day to day lives. Sure, some people have been inspired to become astronauts, or scientists as a result of these missions. And yes, as technology gets more advanced, there will likely be more ways to get involved with the grand human space projects. But the way most humans make choices, and live out our lives has precious little to do with visiting the Moon.
 
But the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus… the Good News of Easter morning invites us not just to observe from a distance, but to be drawn into the story and to have our whole lives reshaped by it. It invites us to make daily choices, and to live our lives in ways that line up with what we claim we believe… and to take on our small part in the great mission of God that Jesus the Risen Lord calls us to share in.
 
In our Gospel reading today, we heard the story told by St. John of Easter Sunday when the Risen Lord first met with His stunned disciples. And in that precious, world-changing moment, Jesus puts them to work:
 
John 20:21-23, “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”

Jesus offers them peace, and empowers them with God’s Holy Spirit… and sends them out into the world… as His ambassadors, and agents of God’s forgiveness… sharing the Good News that He is Risen with the world all around them.
 
But to truly take part in this Easter story… to let the resurrection of Jesus shape the course of our lives, and the choices we make each day… we really do need to believe it. Not necessarily to understand it. Or to be able to explain it all inside and out. No one can. No, the resurrection of Jesus is not a mystery to be solved, but a mystery to be embraced… to say ‘yes’ to, again and again, even when we have our doubts… and deep questions… to say yes, not by checking our brains at the door, but by answering the invitation to explore all the new and exciting horizons and possibilities that it opens up for us and our world. To begin by believing even while we seek to understand. 
 
One week after Easter, John tells us one of the disciples, St. Thomas, still had his doubts. Thomas had missed out on the Easter meeting, and had not yet seen the Risen Lord. And to his credit, Thomas did not want to believe a fantasy or a lie. At one point He had believed that Jesus was the true Messiah, God’s chosen Son and Saviour King… but when he came face to face with the horror of seeing his beloved Rabbi crucified, all that had changed.  And so, he tells the other disciples that he will not believe in the resurrection unless he sees Jesus alive again for himself, just like they did.
 
And yet, even in the midst of all his doubts the Risen Jesus comes and visits Thomas too… inviting him, and all of us to believe… to give our hearts and our lives to our Risen Lord, and spend our days taking part in the good work of His good Kingdom.
 
John 20:27-31, “Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’  Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’  Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’  [And as St. John goes on to say:]
 
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” 
 
What kind of life are you and I invited to live today in response to the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus? What does it look like when we really believe that Jesus Christ is risen indeed?
 
There is so much that can be said at this point. Here at St. Luke’s, I’d like to point us to our Parish Vision Statement as a good place to start: Living Faith, Growing Love, Sharing Hope. 
 
Living Faith looks like learning to trust that the Risen Jesus really is with us, even when things in our world seem darkest… trusting that He will not abandon us, or the world He made and loves enough to die for. And that faith calls us not to give up, but to press on in the way that Jesus has taught us to go.
 
Growing Love looks like choosing to resist and let go of things like hatred, prejudice, and pride. And setting aside our self-centredness and sins, so we can start to live the way that God always intended us to… loving God, and one another, and everyone around us.  
 
And Sharing Hope looks like not keeping all this Good News to ourselves, but trying to help those around us experience the reality of the resurrection at work in our lives. To look for ways God is calling us to shine light in the darkness, and to help those suffering in body, mind, or spirit. 
 
The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. And this world-changing event calls us all to respond to it with our whole lives… to believe it, and to live it too. And so today, this first Sunday after Easter, and in the days to come… may we place our faith in the Risen Lord Jesus… and celebrate God’s New Creation already begun in Him… and answer His call to take part in His mission… and to share in His unending life. Amen.

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here:

​And here are some links to the Hymns listed in our service, found on YouTube: 

Scripture Readings: Exodus 12:1–14 | Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 | ​John 13:1–17, 31b–35

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
 
Amid all the craziness and chaos at work in our world these days… all the uncertainty, and greed… all the suspicion… and deception… and the violence and bloodshed apparently tearing humanity apart… amid all this, Jesus Christ, God’s Son invites us all to draw near in faith and dine with Him. He calls us to join Him and one another at His Table… to receive together the nourishment we need… a place already prepared for us… a sincere welcome extended… and God’s gracious gifts and blessings beyond compare. 
 
Tonight, on the night that Jesus Himself was betrayed… the night which saw the first birth-pains of His passion… before He was abandoned by all, and crucified in our place… our Lord Jesus chose to share a meal with His disciples… a sacred meal, pointing back to the Exodus… God’s saving love offered to Israel at Passover in ages past… and pointing now towards God’s saving love offered to all in His own body and blood. 

That night, He also chose to rise from the table, and to take on the role of a servant… stooping down to wash the filthy feet of His apprentices… not shying away from this lowly task, but tenderly caring for those who so often only seemed to care about themselves. He did this to show us the way… to show us what God’s love looks like in practice… not serving ourselves, but humbly… graciously… mercifully tending to one another’s needs.
 
“Do you know what I have done to you?” Christ says, “You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:13-17). 
 
In a world apparently hell-bent on abandoning God’s good ways, Jesus our Lord calls us to join Him at His Table… and to join Him in putting God’s good ways into practice. This high calling is not just a suggestion. Just an optional extra add-on.

No, as Jesus invites us to dine with Him, and to be cleansed by Him… to draw near in faith and share in the gifts of His heavenly Table… He also gives us the gift of a commandment… a mandate… our ‘marching orders’ as Christians, so to speak: John 13:34, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another...” 
 
What kind of gift is this? A commandment to love each other? Wouldn’t being commanded to love make it insincere? Forced? Fake? The kind of make-believe sentiment that falls apart as soon as things start to get difficult?
 
Well, if love was just a feeling… an impulse or desire, then yes, this commandment might seem kind of futile. Sort of like commanding someone to appreciate country music… or to enjoy eating dulse… or to cheer for the Maple Leafs. Yes, some of us would find those things pretty easy… while others might be repulsed by the mere thought. Our culture tends to see love along these same lines… as little more than our personal desires and tastes. ‘We love what we love.’ ‘To each their own.’ ‘The heart wants what it wants’… or so the old sayings go.   
 
But love is far more than an inclination or feeling. Love is an act of the will. It’s a choice to act upon. A gift that can be deliberately offered and received… yes, when it’s easy, but even when it’s extremely hard… and even when it’s not at all deserved. We can choose to love… to practice love… to embody it in our day to day lives… or not. In this light, suddenly, Christ’s commandment to love one another doesn’t seem all that foolish anymore.
 
Christ Jesus gives us this commandment, this mandate to love one another because it’s so easy to make the opposite choice… to refuse to love one another… to misuse, or abuse… or to simply ignore each other, and leave those around us to fend for themselves… or to demand that others do our will… and serve our interests… and lower themselves to clean up our filthy feet. Time and again, we humans… even those in the Church… tend to choose not to love one another.
 
And yet, amid all of our failures to get things right, and the messes we’ve made of ourselves, and of God’s good world… Jesus comes to us, and humbly shows us what God’s good ways… what God’s love looks like up close.

He does not just command us to figure out for ourselves how to love one another. He shows us how. He lives out God’s love for the whole world to see, and calls all who believe in Him to do the same. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34).
 
And how has Christ loved us?

Humbly… generously… mercifully cleansing the feet of His followers… stooping down to wipe away all their filth. Not preoccupied with His own status, or comfort, or with some other agenda at work… but choosing to care for us in sincerity and truth… even when we least deserved it. 

Jesus loved us by setting us free from our slavery to sin… setting us free to become God’s faithful family… to share God’s good ways with us, and set us on the path to God’s blessings and peace. Jesus loved us by giving His body to be broken for us… by giving His blood to be shed for our forgiveness… choosing to go to the cross… to suffer and die, crucified… offering Himself in our place. That’s how He loved us. He laid down His life for us. He loved us to the end, with His saving love that will never end.

And the Good News is God’s saving love has proved to be even stronger than death, and Jesus Christ our Lord was raised again for us, to share His New Life with the world. 
 
Amid all the craziness and chaos of our time on this earth, as Christians this is our mandate: to love one another with Christ’s kind of love… a love that seeks to cleanse, to forgive, to uphold, to strengthen… to save. Christ’s love, not just offered when it’s easy, but when it really challenges us. The kind of love St. Paul describes, when he says that “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a).
 
And Christ does not just give us this commandment to love one another as He has loved us… He also gives us the power to fulfill this commandment… pouring this same love into our hearts by the gift of God’s Holy Spirit… strengthening us, and guiding us, and challenging us to love God’s way… far beyond our own capabilities. 

And finally, this commandment to love one another is not only given to us for our own sake. It is given to us as a sign of God’s saving love offered to the rest of our world too! “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
 
Sharing God’s love with one another is how the world will know we really are Christ’s disciples. It’s not our eloquence… or influence… not the grandeur of our buildings, or the engaging nature of our services. It’s our love… Christ’s love at work in us… love offered with conviction, and intention. Love offered in humility, and in down-to-earth ways… love practiced in ways that reflect and reveal God’s own self-giving love offered to us all at the cross… bearing with one another… even suffering with and for one another… so that everyone around us might come to see God’s love at work, and draw near in faith to receive this love as well. 
 
In a moment, I will invite anyone who is willing to come forward to have their feet symbolically washed, remembering the humble, gracious, and merciful love that God has shared with us in Jesus Christ, and that He now calls us to share with one another. But whether we come forward, or remain seated tonight, may we all choose to take our Lord’s commandment to heart.
 
May we choose to believe… to draw near in faith and receive God’s saving love offered in Jesus Christ… and let Christ cleanse us from all that would keep us from walking in God’s good an holy ways.
 
May we take and eat Christ’s body broken and His blood shed to set us free. And may we choose to follow our Christian mandate: to share Christ’s love with one another… to humble ourselves, welcome one another, forgive one another… and care for one another… putting the love of Christ into practice in everything that we do. And with the Holy Spirit’s help, may our words and our actions inspire and invite our crazy, chaotic world to turn around and join us in God’s blessed life of love. Amen.