Dear friends,

Just a short update this week including a copy of last Sunday’s sermon. I’ve been busier than usual this week, including dealing with two bereavements. Please could you hold in prayer the family and friends of the late Mick Fletcher, of Egton Bridge, and the late Joyce Rhea, of Glaisdale. May they both rest in peace as we commit them to God’s eternal care.

Please reply to this email if there’s any help you might need from me.

With love and all good wishes,

Reverend Anthony

Please follow this link for the Readings that go with the sermon Reverend Anthony preached this morning:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.

I don’t know about you, but I feel quite uncomfortable with talk of spirits and ghosts and other strange things that ‘go bump in the night.’ That’s not to say that I don’t believe in ghosts. Do you? But I’ve never liked horror films or anything at the cinema or on TV to do with ghosts. I can remember watching a few things as a child and being absolutely terrified!

As we read today in our gospel reading from Luke, the disciples weren’t made any different to us. They were just ordinary folk. And when they saw Jesus appear among them, standing before them, very much alive - and they had seen him die only days before - they were absolutely terrified!

Just prior to the reading today in Luke’s gospel, the disciples had heard all about the two from Emmaus who had walked and talked with the risen Jesus on the road. They’d failed to recognise Jesus in the fading light; but they’d known him instantly in the breaking of the bread. Despite that, all the disciples, when Jesus came and stood amongst them, were terrified. They thought Jesus was a ghost.

The Greeks in Jesus’ day, saw reality in terms of concepts, of universal truths, but to the Jews, the disciples, reality was particular and concrete. And so the resurrection had to be particular and concrete to the disciples, not just a concept. They needed something they could see with their own eyes. Jesus demonstrated this; he really did come and stand with his disciples; he really did rise from the dead. And we have numerous eye witness accounts in the Bible to testify to that.

Last week we were thinking about Thomas and reading the closing verses of John’s gospel. Famously, Thomas had the need to touch so that he could believe, and Jesus understood that need. Caravaggio, the seventeenth-century Italian artist, captures very clearly the moment when Thomas makes his declaration of faith in the risen Christ: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.

In the dim light of the spluttering candle, Jesus grips Thomas by the wrist.

Thomas extends his finger, which Jesus guides into the loose flesh of the gaping wound in his side.

Thomas' brow is deeply furrowed with doubt and incomprehension.

His eyes follow the direction of his extended finger.

This is the moment of his decision.

Can he believe what he sees?

He can, and he does by exclaiming: "My Lord and my God!"

It is a life-changing moment for Thomas. And it remains a crucial moment for the many, the children of God, who come after him throughout history: those "who have not seen and yet have come to believe." That includes us. We are children of God.

We read this week, in the closing verses of Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ response to the unbelief of all the disciples, not just Thomas. "A ghost", Jesus says, "does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And, for a final and unmistakable confirmation of his physical reality, Jesus asks for some food: “They gave him a piece of fish and watched him eat it,” Luke writes.

I think there’s a playfulness and humour in Jesus' words and actions here, as he asks:

"Why are you frightened? Have you never seen a dead man eating?"

The way Jesus teases them is part of what helps them to accept that this is really him, really alive. This sense of reality, this absolute certainty that Jesus had risen from the dead and was with them again, came before a strengthening and deepening understanding. That strength and understanding was enabled by the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we look forward to celebrating in a few weeks at Pentecost. Unless they were sure, how could they preach with conviction? The disciple’s faith was deepened beyond measure because it was based on absolute certainty, on eye witness accounts.

In our reading from Acts, Luke Volume 2, Luke jumps ahead from his Gospel story past Pentecost and we see Peter, bold in the new-found courage of the Holy Spirit, and certain of his faith through those concrete resurrection appearances, where he saw the Risen Jesus. Peter reminds the authorities that they had disowned Jesus, the same Jesus who Peter had also disowned. But Peter has moved on - we hear the confident affirmation of his faith, a faith that has transformed his life in every conceivable way.

Our Bible passages about Jesus’ appearances to Thomas and the rest of the disciples, and Peter’s bold and courageous speech, are there, I think, to remind us of our identity: we are children of God, children in God’s family. And hence, we are meant to be here together across the benefice, because we belong together in and through Jesus. Hence, we are called to work together as one family.

We move along our faith journeys together, belonging together. Belonging is where we start. Then, in that belonging, we can support, nurture and encourage each other to enrich our lives and share our thoughts and dreams together, so can work out what we’ve come to know, what we’ve come to believe.

Belonging… Enriching, Sharing, Knowing… Believing.

We didn’t see what the disciples saw, but despite not seeing we can “come to believe” as the disciples did. Believers are not just friends, but children, children in God’s family. We’re meant to be here in this place at this present moment; we belong here, together. But many of us have followed the pattern of disbelief and uncertainty that Thomas, Peter and the rest of the disciples experienced. I might even hesitate to assert that we’ve all been in that place? I certainly have. And perhaps that’s a place we return to periodically? We’ve experienced the same struggle as the disciples to believe, to come to terms with the Christian faith, to make a commitment to the Risen Lord.

There is ample evidence in the Bible of many people who heard God's call and felt it could not be so. And, like the disciples, we’ve all had to weigh the evidence, reach our own conclusion, make our own decision. Only then can we make a personal declaration of faith. Through the evidence in the Bible I think we can see clearly and unambiguously that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, stand amongst the disciples and eat bread and fish with them. I wonder, would you agree with that? Do you accept the eye witness testimony in the Bible?

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have access to that very same boldness and courageousness that Peter received. So, let’s be encouraged, sisters and brothers, by the faith we can share in our Risen Lord, Jesus! Anything is possible through that faith – even sorting out our four parishes across Middle ESK Moor!

In the words of the popular hymn, and from the evidence in the Bible, this is what we know,

…he was born of Mary when Bethlehem’s manger was his only home…

…he heals the broken-hearted … calms our lurking fear and lifts the burden from the heavy laden…

…all flesh shall see his glory, and he shall reap the harvest he has sown … his sun will shine in splendour…

… the skies will thrill with rapture, and myriad myriad human voices sing, and earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, will answer: “at last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King!”

As children of God, let’s be encouraged by the Bible readings we’ve read today and last week, in this glorious Easter season!

Amen

---

The Reverend Anthony Bennett

Interim Minister – the Benefice of Middle ESK Moor