5 Easter a May
14, 2017
Acts 17:1-15 Ps. 66: 1-8
1 Peter 2:1-10 John 14:1-14
Lectionary Link
Imagine the textual history of the New Testament like a stack of transparencies. The first represents the actual life and time of Jesus. But, Jesus did not write a book; he was a itinerate wisdom teacher who told stories but he was so full of charisma that his life was a healing presence to many. His words and his charismatic ways became legendary; he was bound to be remember and the traces of who he was remained in the memories of his followers. They handed on his words and his parables and stories and so we have a transparency of what might be called floating oral traditions. Stories of Jesus, his words, his actions were passed on after he left this earth around the mid-30's. Stories and oral tradition were rather inexact; they were not like live recordings of events or words or stories. They were passed around from person to person. They were used by preachers as they went from house church to house church. The Jesus Movement with a leader who was visually present became something else after he was gone. The message of Christ became a successful underground phenomenon. The oral tradition of Jesus was a lively tradition; people were excited. They used the stories of Jesus and blended them in their own sermons which like a legal tradition used the oral tradition of Jesus as new precedence to explain what was happening in the church long after Jesus was gone. Some scholars believe that during this period there was writing but those writings were lost, but they must have been read by Luke and Matthew to account for the shared material that they quoted verbatim, or in a slightly different way to fit their church preaching situations.
The next layer in our pile of transparencies is the writings of St. Paul, the first actual writings that we have in the New Testament. St. Paul's known writings first appeared in the mid-50's and they are not like the Gospel writings at all. His writing assumed that he knew word of mouth oral traditions from some of the disciples and associates of Jesus, but he did not endeavor to write a linear biography of the life of Jesus. He wrote more about the charismatic and mystical effects on the lives of people who were experiencing transformational incidences which accounted for the change of direction in their lives and a devotion to Jesus Christ, the Risen Christ.
Another layer of transparencies are the three synoptic Gospels, probably in the order of Mark, Matthew and Luke and then we have the next transparency of the Gospel of John.
Mark, Matthew and Luke compose quasi-biographies of Jesus but it really isn't what we think of as biographies today, because they are actually narratives of the life of Jesus used to present what was happening within the churches about 35, 40 and 45 years after Jesus left this earth.
And then we have the Gospel of John put together during the years from 90 to perhaps even 120. The Gospel of John took the charismatic experiences of the early Christians and the mysticism and interwove them with a presentation of Jesus as teacher who was a continuing oracle within the early church.
What is happening in the portion of the Gospel of John that we have read today? What are the issues?
The members of the community of the Gospel of John believed that they had received the authority to know themselves as children of God.
The members of the community of the Gospel of John believed that Jesus bore the image of God the Father on his life as the Special Son of God, as proof that all of the other children of Adam and Eve were made in the image of God as God's children too.
The members of the community of the Gospel of John, believed that God had not limited the divine familial likeness to Jesus only; God had shared within each person the inclination to know oneself as a son or daughter of God.
I see you, therefore, I see God, because you and God are one because God's image resides in you. This is the mysticism of the Gospel of John.
The members of the community of the Gospel of God did not believe that they were God's orphans because Jesus could no longer be seen.
An orphan is without parent; an orphan often is without home.
But God the Father has a big home and in this big home everyone has his or her own room, even more than a room, dwelling places.
The members of the community of the Gospel of John believed that in this life God had come to dwell in their hearts and that they lived and had their being in God's house and they would not cease to live in God's house after they had died. Once you have a dwelling place in God's house, you have it forever.
How is this so? Where is the first place that you and I dwell in this world? We dwelled in mom's house literally. We came to be within our mothers in a most physically close way. We and our mothers for a time were one and the same person/persons. But we did not just physically dwell in our mothers because as soon she found out about us we came to dwell in her heart, never to leave. When we left our mother's body in birth, we never left her heart, for within her heart we had a dwelling place forever.
We in our lives take each other into ourselves? We make dwelling places for each other within ourselves. We may not always like the dwelling place that we attain in each other but once we get within each other we can never leave. We can upgrade that dwelling place for each other. I hope that you would up grade me from being just a utility room to being the dining room or the kitchen. When we experience each other we have created within us dwelling places for each other. And if we do this, unavoidably for each other, just imagine the dwelling place that we have in God who is greater than we are and much more enduring than we are.
And the oracle of Jesus was proclaiming in the Gospel of John, "I may not have been able to gain a place in the inn at my birth, but I assure you that you have a dwelling place in God my Father, now in this life and forever. You are not an orphan without parents or without a home; you are a crown prince and crown princess with a palace."
The mysticism of the community of the Gospel of John was the mystical knowledge of belonging to God as sons and daughters.
"But Jesus, it would be better if you lived forever in the flesh on this earth. You did such great work. You healed, you changed water to wine, you brought people back from dead....just imagined if you had stayed around."
What did the community of the Gospel of John believe? They believed it necessary for Jesus to leave this earth to dispel the notion that God could be limited to one physical body on earth. They believed in the greater work of the Risen Christ. The Risen Christ was not limited to a physical body; The Risen Christ could possess anyone who wanted to do this greater work beyond the limitation of God on earth to the physical body of Jesus of Nazareth.
No we may not walk on water often or change water to wine or bring people back from the dead, but just imagine what the Risen Christ has been able to do through the 2000 years of being present in the lives of billions of Christians? This is indeed the greater work because of the physical absence of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth had two hands to heal, work and feed; the Risen Christ has had billions of hand to heal, work and feed, including yours and mine. And indeed is this not the greater work?
What does this all mean for you and me today here and now? Well, we like genealogy. We like to trace our lineage, excluding horse thieves and including royalty to show our preferred roots. What about this? You and I are sons and daughters of God and we are to live our lives in such a way that image of God becomes seen by others to discover themselves to be the same.
Finally, our life vocation and our baptismal ministries are the greater work sthat Jesus said would happen. You and I may not walk on water, but we can feed the hungry, we can comfort, we can encourage, we can mentor and we can love. We are not here to be greater than Jesus Christ; we are here to show the greatness of Jesus through the greater works that the Holy Spirit of God is able to accomplish through us in God's great love for the world. So let us get to work in doing the greater works that Jesus promised that could be done through us as sons and daughters of God. Amen.
Acts 17:1-15 Ps. 66: 1-8
1 Peter 2:1-10 John 14:1-14
Lectionary Link
Imagine the textual history of the New Testament like a stack of transparencies. The first represents the actual life and time of Jesus. But, Jesus did not write a book; he was a itinerate wisdom teacher who told stories but he was so full of charisma that his life was a healing presence to many. His words and his charismatic ways became legendary; he was bound to be remember and the traces of who he was remained in the memories of his followers. They handed on his words and his parables and stories and so we have a transparency of what might be called floating oral traditions. Stories of Jesus, his words, his actions were passed on after he left this earth around the mid-30's. Stories and oral tradition were rather inexact; they were not like live recordings of events or words or stories. They were passed around from person to person. They were used by preachers as they went from house church to house church. The Jesus Movement with a leader who was visually present became something else after he was gone. The message of Christ became a successful underground phenomenon. The oral tradition of Jesus was a lively tradition; people were excited. They used the stories of Jesus and blended them in their own sermons which like a legal tradition used the oral tradition of Jesus as new precedence to explain what was happening in the church long after Jesus was gone. Some scholars believe that during this period there was writing but those writings were lost, but they must have been read by Luke and Matthew to account for the shared material that they quoted verbatim, or in a slightly different way to fit their church preaching situations.
The next layer in our pile of transparencies is the writings of St. Paul, the first actual writings that we have in the New Testament. St. Paul's known writings first appeared in the mid-50's and they are not like the Gospel writings at all. His writing assumed that he knew word of mouth oral traditions from some of the disciples and associates of Jesus, but he did not endeavor to write a linear biography of the life of Jesus. He wrote more about the charismatic and mystical effects on the lives of people who were experiencing transformational incidences which accounted for the change of direction in their lives and a devotion to Jesus Christ, the Risen Christ.
Another layer of transparencies are the three synoptic Gospels, probably in the order of Mark, Matthew and Luke and then we have the next transparency of the Gospel of John.
Mark, Matthew and Luke compose quasi-biographies of Jesus but it really isn't what we think of as biographies today, because they are actually narratives of the life of Jesus used to present what was happening within the churches about 35, 40 and 45 years after Jesus left this earth.
And then we have the Gospel of John put together during the years from 90 to perhaps even 120. The Gospel of John took the charismatic experiences of the early Christians and the mysticism and interwove them with a presentation of Jesus as teacher who was a continuing oracle within the early church.
What is happening in the portion of the Gospel of John that we have read today? What are the issues?
The members of the community of the Gospel of John believed that they had received the authority to know themselves as children of God.
The members of the community of the Gospel of John believed that Jesus bore the image of God the Father on his life as the Special Son of God, as proof that all of the other children of Adam and Eve were made in the image of God as God's children too.
The members of the community of the Gospel of John, believed that God had not limited the divine familial likeness to Jesus only; God had shared within each person the inclination to know oneself as a son or daughter of God.
I see you, therefore, I see God, because you and God are one because God's image resides in you. This is the mysticism of the Gospel of John.
The members of the community of the Gospel of God did not believe that they were God's orphans because Jesus could no longer be seen.
An orphan is without parent; an orphan often is without home.
But God the Father has a big home and in this big home everyone has his or her own room, even more than a room, dwelling places.
The members of the community of the Gospel of John believed that in this life God had come to dwell in their hearts and that they lived and had their being in God's house and they would not cease to live in God's house after they had died. Once you have a dwelling place in God's house, you have it forever.
How is this so? Where is the first place that you and I dwell in this world? We dwelled in mom's house literally. We came to be within our mothers in a most physically close way. We and our mothers for a time were one and the same person/persons. But we did not just physically dwell in our mothers because as soon she found out about us we came to dwell in her heart, never to leave. When we left our mother's body in birth, we never left her heart, for within her heart we had a dwelling place forever.
We in our lives take each other into ourselves? We make dwelling places for each other within ourselves. We may not always like the dwelling place that we attain in each other but once we get within each other we can never leave. We can upgrade that dwelling place for each other. I hope that you would up grade me from being just a utility room to being the dining room or the kitchen. When we experience each other we have created within us dwelling places for each other. And if we do this, unavoidably for each other, just imagine the dwelling place that we have in God who is greater than we are and much more enduring than we are.
And the oracle of Jesus was proclaiming in the Gospel of John, "I may not have been able to gain a place in the inn at my birth, but I assure you that you have a dwelling place in God my Father, now in this life and forever. You are not an orphan without parents or without a home; you are a crown prince and crown princess with a palace."
The mysticism of the community of the Gospel of John was the mystical knowledge of belonging to God as sons and daughters.
"But Jesus, it would be better if you lived forever in the flesh on this earth. You did such great work. You healed, you changed water to wine, you brought people back from dead....just imagined if you had stayed around."
What did the community of the Gospel of John believe? They believed it necessary for Jesus to leave this earth to dispel the notion that God could be limited to one physical body on earth. They believed in the greater work of the Risen Christ. The Risen Christ was not limited to a physical body; The Risen Christ could possess anyone who wanted to do this greater work beyond the limitation of God on earth to the physical body of Jesus of Nazareth.
No we may not walk on water often or change water to wine or bring people back from the dead, but just imagine what the Risen Christ has been able to do through the 2000 years of being present in the lives of billions of Christians? This is indeed the greater work because of the physical absence of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth had two hands to heal, work and feed; the Risen Christ has had billions of hand to heal, work and feed, including yours and mine. And indeed is this not the greater work?
What does this all mean for you and me today here and now? Well, we like genealogy. We like to trace our lineage, excluding horse thieves and including royalty to show our preferred roots. What about this? You and I are sons and daughters of God and we are to live our lives in such a way that image of God becomes seen by others to discover themselves to be the same.
Finally, our life vocation and our baptismal ministries are the greater work sthat Jesus said would happen. You and I may not walk on water, but we can feed the hungry, we can comfort, we can encourage, we can mentor and we can love. We are not here to be greater than Jesus Christ; we are here to show the greatness of Jesus through the greater works that the Holy Spirit of God is able to accomplish through us in God's great love for the world. So let us get to work in doing the greater works that Jesus promised that could be done through us as sons and daughters of God. Amen.
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