The Rev. Carol Wedell
April 26, 2009

It's a good year to be a basketball fan in Cleveland!  We've watched a record breaking season, an amazingly close team and coach, coach of the year and hopefully, MVP of the year.  You may think by my title, however, that I have the wrong motto for the play-offs.  For the record, I do know that this year's saying is "One Goal."  And the Cavs are certainly focused on what that one goal is!  This year it even seems within reach.

But remember two years ago?  The season was OK.  NBA Champions? That goal was not even on their radar.  Sure, LeBron was incredible to watch, but there were many weaknesses.  Truthfully, no one expected that team to go very far.  Then they started beating teams they shouldn't be able to beat.  That's when the "we are witnesses" t-shirts, signs and banners came out.  In 2007 there was a low probability of the Cavs doing anything in the play-offs.  They didn't make it all the way, but they sure came close.  Cleveland fans were witnesses of an incredibly unlikely team going farther than anyone thought they could.  Something that seemed impossible occurred.

Most of us here this morning have been witnesses to other highly improbable events.  We witnessed the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.  We witnessed the coming down of the Berlin wall.  Many of us also witnessed the day when girls no longer had to wear dresses or skirts to school! We have seen things change, when we were sure that change was not possible.  

The disciples were sure that Jesus was dead. And they were sure that wasn't going to change!   They had seen him on the cross.  They had watched from a distance as his limp body was carried to the tomb.  Dead people stay dead.  That's how things work.  The disciples and others had gathered in Jerusalem, with numerous emotions: fear, frustration, guilt, doubt, anxiety, suspicion, despondency and terror.  Their leader was dead.  His body missing.

Then, in ways that must have totally challenged their perceptions of the world, Jesus appears in their midst, saying "Peace."  Luke tells us that they were startled and terrified - and I'm guessing that's an understatement!

The disciples were huddled together behind closed doors, afraid that the authorities would come after them.  Jesus meets the terrified and confused group exactly where they need to be met-with peace, with evidence, and with patient teaching and explanation. Seeing the disciples' fear, he asks, "Why are you frightened?"  Or to put it in language we often hear from our kids, "why are you freaking out?" Then he opened their minds to really understand the Scriptures and his place in them.  "Here is what God has been planning all along." 

But that is not the end.  Once they are comfortable with his presence and understand the way the Scriptures have been fulfilled, then they are told that they are expected to continue the mission.  Jesus wants them to take his story to the world. They are to be witnesses. As witnesses, the disciples are to go out from Jerusalem and preach two things: repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Thinking of the disciples huddled behind those doors made me wonder: what locked doors are we hiding behind? We understand the disciples' fear, don't we?   Fear has circled around most of our heads in recent months, as we have seen job losses and foreclosures reach record numbers and the stock market spiral down.  Fear may come in an unwanted medical diagnosis.  It may come as a pink slip.  Fear accompanies loneliness and loss.  And then there is the underlying fear of death - our own, or someone we love.  We know all too well how our fears can hold us captive. 

Those early followers had plenty to be afraid of.  If they were even associated with Jesus, their lives could be in danger. They didn't know what to expect next.  Their entire world had been turned upside down.  Yet the disciples had to get past their fear if they were to be able to witness to the great joy that death could not hold Jesus.  Open eyes and hearts helped them know --the impossible had become possible.  The final word is life not death.

Friends, the words spoken to the disciples are spoken to us as well.  Our fear does not have to have control of us.  Christ is alive - among us!  We can expect Christ to show up in all sorts of places.  Our eyes need to be opened by the Spirit, our hearts softened, so that we can see Christ's presence all around us. 

Fred Anderson, head of staff at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City writes, in a sermon on this text, "I saw a sweat shirt ahead of me while jogging around the reservoir last Friday. The first line, in bold print read "I am woman." The second, in smaller type said: "I am invincible." The third line was in print too small to read. It wasn't until I came closer that the words fell into focus: "I am tired." That's it, isn't it? "I am human, I am invincible, I am tired?" It is when we get to that third line that we are most open to Jesus' touch."

When we are tired of trying to do it all ourselves, when we are worn out from acting like we're in control of everything that's when we are most receptive to the risen Christ.  When our eyes weigh down with fatigue, which is when they are most likely to be opened so that we can see Christ in our midst.  In our weakness and vulnerability, in our need, Christ comes, strengthens us and calls us to serve. To be sure, we may see and experience Christ in the most ordinary of places.  Perhaps even in worship!  But Christ also told us where to look:  in the prisoner, the hungry, the thirsty, the outcast. Wherever there is hopelessness, exploitation or inhumanity, you can be sure that Christ is there.  Christ stands with those who are victims of any kind, and brings comfort and compassion.

So what does all of this mean?  What are we supposed to do?  Jesus' teachings to the disciples are not simply to help them understand what has happened. Jesus reminds them that they are witnesses to what has happened, and gives them the resources they will need to serve as witnesses: the understanding of the Scriptures and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is completing his work with his disciples by making his unfinished business with the world theirs as well. And as witnesses they have a huge responsibility. It is up to them to share this message with all of God's people- not just the Jews- but all of God's people.

As the disciples were called to witness to what they had seen and heard and learned, so we are, as well.  The story has not ended.  We are called to see that it continues.  The risen Jesus enters our lives and turns us around, too, even when we're critical and judgmental and closed-off in heart and mind. Jesus has a way of showing up and gently helping us remember who we are and what it is we are supposed to be about.

Following Jesus is not simply to be a personally enriching experience and nothing else.  We are commissioned to take action, to speak and live our faith wherever there is need. One pastor puts it quite pointedly:  "And I do not mean just that you and I are to be decent and kind and honorable, and all the other adjectives up to and including reverent. Everybody in the world is expected to be that!.... Your duty is more arduous. `It is you who are the witnesses to all this.' For what you have seen you are to tell. We have no right...to treat the Christian faith as a source of comfort without at the self-same moment acknowledging its claim."  ( From http://www.goodpreacher.com/; Easter 3, year B, Coe). 

Just as Jesus gave the disciples a job to do, he gives us a task as well. Belonging to Jesus is not just about being made to feel good about ourselves, although that may happen.  It has to do with bearing witness to the fact that we can be clothed with power from on high in such a way that things change.  Things that seem impossible, may happen after all.

We not only are to tell the story, we are to live the story.  The greatest proof of Christianity for others," writes T.S. Eliot, "is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief." There is an old story of a Civil War chaplain, who one day happens upon a wounded soldier on the battlefield. The chaplain asks him if he'd like to hear a few verses from the Bible. "No," says the wounded man, "but I am thirsty. I'd rather have some water." The chaplain gives him a drink, then repeats his question. "No sir," says the wounded man, "not now -- but could you put something under my head?" The chaplain does so, and again repeats his question. "No thank you," says the soldier. "I'm cold. Could you cover me up?" The chaplain takes off his greatcoat and wraps the soldier in it. Afraid now to ask, he does not repeat his question. He makes to go away, but the soldier calls him back. "Look, Chaplain, if there's anything in that book of yours that makes a person do for another what you've done for me, then I want to hear it." The chaplain's loving actions are a witness for the defense -- as eloquent as any words he could have uttered, and probably even more so. It is because the chaplain has a relationship with Christ that he is able to offer a drink of cool water, and to give up his own coat -- and it is this relationship, shining through his loving actions, that allows the wounded man to invite him to speak to him of things eternal. "(See above, as told by Carlos Wilton, http://www.goodpreacher.com/)

Notice one very important thing. This encounter with the risen Lord takes place in community, as they witness to one another and to the world.  Witnessing to Christ's presence in the world today is a team effort.  LeBron may indeed be a superstar, perhaps even MVP, but he knows that the whole team has to be in the game, or the game is over.  And so it is with us. To witness to the love and forgiveness we have experienced in Christ is something we do together, united in our effort to reach out in Christ's name.

Being entrusted with the responsibility and privilege of carrying on the story can seem like a daunting task, don't you think? Look who Jesus chose:  disciples who were every bit as ordinary as you and me!  Yet as Jesus came and commissioned his disciples as witness of all that God has done and is doing in the world, Jesus declared that his followers were ready to be credible witnesses, because of what they have seen and what they know.  The same disciples who doubted, denied, betrayed, ran away, and argued among themselves- these were the ones to whom Christ entrusted his world and his people.   This rag-tag group was empowered to share their story against tremendous social and political opposition. Because the story was real, because the story was such life-altering good news, the story of Jesus Christ spread and was told and retold. From the eye-witness to the life-witness, the greatest story ever told continues to find voice and work its way into the most unlikely of places and hearts.

Friends, we too are witnesses to the Risen Christ. This seemingly straightforward Gospel passage today is important for us. It reminds us that the story continues.  It is not just something that happened to those first followers - it is something you and I experience, as well. Granted, we did not stand in that room and see the wounds in Jesus' hands and side. We did not walk with him on the road leading to Emmaus nor break bread with him. We did not see the empty tomb, yet that does not erase our powerful ability to bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Somehow Jesus has found us hidden away in our locked rooms and has offered us new life. With that new life comes the responsibility - and privilege - of sharing our story with others. Jesus calls us to go into the world to preach the good news - to live the good news with our actions, and bring hope to those who have no hope.

When the world looks around for the Risen Christ they will look at his followers. Will they see the Risen Christ in our eyes? In our hearts? In our actions?

"We are witnesses when we can invite someone to look into our homes, our families, our friendships, our work, our checkbook, our day timer- and find the Risen Christ there.

We are witnesses when we allow ourselves to be touched by folks who are lost and afraid. We are witnesses when we live in a way that defies any explanation other than the presence of the risen Christ within us." (April 13, 2008  1- "Fresh Evidence," Kristen Bargeron Grant, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, 2003 )

Fred Anderson tells the story of how his church in New Jersey responded to a new awareness of hunger:  Hunger in America had just re-emerged as a critical issue, and the congregation responded by turning the basement of the church office into an emergency pantry, and plowing an acre of its unused land into a hunger garden, to supplement the pantry staples with fresh vegetables. One day a phone call came that a mother was down to a box of salt; could our pantry help? Questa and I packed up six to eight bags of staples and fresh vegetables, loaded them and our two young girls into our station wagon and drove up Route 23 to the address-a tiny apartment located on the second floor of a row of rather run-down commercial buildings skirting the highway. Rebecca, our youngest, was still an infant, so Questa stayed with her in the car as Larra, then about six, maybe seven, and I carried the groceries up the exterior staircase, knocked on the door, and gave the food to a surprised, overwhelmed, very grateful mother. In those days I wore a clerical collar all the time, and the woman began to flood the church and us with words of thanks and kindness. Embarrassed by the deluge of praise, we quickly made our retreat. But as we were about to head down the stairs, Larra turned back to the woman, and with the guileless honesty only children can muster in such moments, she said, "Don't thank us; these are from Jesus." The Madison Avenue Pulpit
The Rev. Dr. Fred R. Anderson, Pastor, Copyright 2006.

May our lives let everyone know: we are witnesses.