"From Doubt To Wonder; From Worship To Witness"

By Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

(Luke 24:36-48)

[36] While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." [37] They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. [38] He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? [39] Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." [40] And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. [41] While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" [42] They gave him a piece of broiled fish, [43] and he took it and ate in their presence.

[44] Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." [45] Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, [46] and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, [47] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [48] You are witnesses of these things.

(NRSV)

INTRODUCTION:

Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin (the ruling council of Pharisees and Sadducees) and a secret follower of Jesus. It was Joseph who went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body after the crucifixion. And it was Joseph who supplied the tomb for Jesus' burial. Well it seems someone pulled him aside and asked him: "Joseph, that was such beautiful, costly, hand-hewn tomb. Why on earth did you give it to someone else to be buried in?" Joseph just smiled and said, "Well shoot, why not? He only needed it for the weekend."

This morning we continue with our readings from the days following the Resurrection. This passage actually breaks in at the end of the story of Cleopas and his friend encountering the risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus. It breaks in right as Cleopas is describing the event.

I. FROM DOUBT TO WONDER:

A. Scientists have just discovered that if you eat at least 8oz of boiled, baked or broiled fish a week it can reduce the risk of heart attacks in men by as much as 40%. It's a good thing these guys were fishermen and ate at least two portions of fish a week. Because what happened next is a another one of those real shockers. They all had to have had good strong hearts to survive.

Cleopas and his companion are there with all the disciples. The doors are locked. The place is electric with excitement, as Cleopas describes their encounter on the road with Jesus and how he revealed himself in the breaking of the bread. All of sudden, Jesus is standing there, smiling. Out of the clear blue, he pops in like Kirk or Spock being beamed down from the Enterprise. Luke says: the disciples are "startled and terrified."

I think that's an understatement. I probably would hve jumped right out my sandals. You could have heard my knees knocking and teeth chattering for miles. I got bit by a copperhead about ten years ago and ever since then I've been terrified of snakes. I won't even go into the Snake House at the Zoo. They give me the willies. I can be walking across the yard, step on a piece of dead fall from the trees and have it flip up and I'm a half a block away before I realize it's a piece of wood.

The Disciples reacted the same way. Even though Jesus opened with the words: "Peace be with you!" when he popped in like that, it startled and terrifed the disciples. I don't care who you are: if you had seen someone die and e buried and then have that same person suddenly appear in your midst out of nowhere it would have startled and terrified you, too.

B. Years ago I read a great story about a judge in Yugoslavia who had an unfortunate accident. He was electrocuted when he reached up to turn on the light while standing in the bathtub. His wife found his body sprawled on the bathroom floor. She called for help, friends and neighbors, police, the whole shebang showed up. He was pronounced dead and taken to the funeral home. The local radio picked up the story and broadcast it all over the airwaves.

In the middle of the night, the judge came to. He realized where he was, and rushed over to alert the night watchman, who promptly ran off, terrified.

His first thought was to phone his wife and reassure her. But he got no further than, "Darling, it's me," when she screamed and fainted. He tried calling a couple of the neighbors but they all thought it was some sort of sick prank. He even went so far as to go to the homes of several friends but they were all sure he was a ghost. Finally, he was able to call a friend in the next town who hadn't heard of his death. This friend was able to convince his family and other friends that he really was alive. (1)

Jesus had to convince the disciples that He wasn't a ghost. He had to dispel their doubts and their fears. He showed them his hands and his feet. He invited them to touch him and see that he was real. And he even ate broiled fish with them. All to prove that he was alive. And it worked, they moved from doubt to wonder.

II. FROM WONDER TO WORSHIP:

A. Verse 41 puts the transition in wonderful terms. It says: "While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering." They were filled with wonder and disbelieving joy. Haven't you even felt like that? Haven't you ever felt something was too good to be true? That has to be how Sweepstakes winners feel when Ed McMahon or Dick Clark or one of the others show up at their door. They have to be filled with disbelieving joy, that this is just too good to be true, that they'll wake up and the dream will be over.

When we served the Ovilla United Methodist Church, our oldest son Paul played in the Red Oak High School Band. So, like all good High School parents we were at every game. The band was holding a drawing and each of the kids were supposed to sell 20 tickets. Well, Paul wasn't much of a saleman and only sold about 8, so we bought rest and forgot about it

Ovilla had a Volunteer Fire Department and one of the things the preachers in the area did was rotate being the Chaplain on duty. They didn't have a pager for us yet so they would usually call. I was on duty and left a message about where I would be. On this particular night, we were at the game. At half time, we were sitting with a bunch of Church members and talking and stuff and not really paying attention. I had heard sirens a few minutes before and wasn't too surprised when I heard my name called and was asked to report to the Press Box.

But when I got there, I was shocked and surprised. I was filled with that disbelieving joy. Because when I walked in, they all started congratulating me. And then they handed me a VCR. I must have really looked confused because one of the guys said, "You don't know what this is do you?" I shook my head "No!" and they all started laughing. That was when they told me that the reason my name had been called was because I had won the drawing. I was dumbfounded, I wasn't expecting to win at all.

B. The disciples felt like that. They had never expereinced anything like this before. They weren't expecting it and didn't know how to react. They didn't know what to do. Whether to flee in terror or to jump for joy. But once Jesus spoke, showed them his hands and ate with them, their whole demeanor changed. They moved from doubt to wonder. They were filled with an overpowering sense of awe at the mystery and joy of it all. How could God do such thing? It really was too good to be true but they realized that it WAS TRUE. Jesus really was standing there munching on fish.

Then they moved from wonder to worship. It wasn't fear that moved them, now it was the joy of remembered promises being fulfilled. Now it was the joy of reunion. Now it was the joy of the resurrection that filled them. They moved from wonder to worship. No longer was Jesus just some upstart itinerant preacher proclaiming unfulfilled promises. Those promises had been fulfilled right before their very eyes. And they moved from wonder to worship.

III. FROM WORSHIP TO WITNESS:

A. But just as Jesus wouldn't leave them in their shock and fear, and didn't leave them in that state of awe and wonder. He didn't let them stay in that state of worship, either. You can see the flow of this passage. Jesus moved them from doubt to wonder, from wonder to worship and then He moved them from worship to witness.

He opened the Scipture to them so that they could see how the prophecies of his coming had been fulfilled. He reminded them of what they had heard and seen and what they had been through together. And he said, "You are witnesses of these things." And then he commissioned them to proclaim "repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

He eased their fears, filled them with wonder, drew them closer in worship, and then commissioned them for ministry. They moved from doubt to wonder, from wonder to worship and then from worship to witness.

B. Do you know what most people judge us on? Do you know what most people, especially the younger generation, looks at most when they are considering a Church home? Not the Narthex and how clean it is. Not the nursery. Not how friendly people are. Not how they have been welcomed. Not the programs for their families. All of those are very important and they do play a part in someone's choosing a Church. But the one single most reason for choosing a Church is US, and how we live: "Do we really live by what we claim to believe?" Are WE faithful or are we going through the motions. Does our faith make a difference in our lives.

That's some pretty heavy stuff isn't it? But that's really what it's all about. Living what we say we believe.

During a Stewardship Campaign a couple of years ago we developed a motto or a Purpose Statement that would sum up in a very few words, what we're all about as God's people here at St. John the Apostle UMC. Maybe you remember it. It is: "Christ Centered People: Making Disciples, Making a Difference."

That's really what it's all about. Making Disciples. While we celebrate all sorts of different days and have all kinds of worship experiences, our worship really only has one purpose, to glorify God. We glorify God through worship by being drawn closer to God and becoming better disciples, ourselves. In other words, we learn to live what we claim to believe. We further glorify God by carrying out the commission Christ gave to all disciples, that of making more disciples by inviting and leading others into this wonder filled, awe inspiring relationship with God.

CONCLUSION:

When we do that, we make a difference. We're called to lead others from doubt to wonder, from wonder to worship and then from worship to witness. And we do that through the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. And through the proclamation of the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Our best tool for that proclamation isn't the pulpit. It isn't even the lectern. Our best tool for proclaiming Christ is simply walking the walk. We don't all have to be preachers. We don't all have to go to the street corners. The best sermon you can preach is simply living the faith you profess. We don't have to get it right all the time. We don't have to be perfect. All we have to do is live what we say we believe. Then we move from worship to witness and fulfill, in part, our great commission.

The challenge for today is that we celebrate the one who only needed a borrowed tomb for the weekend. That we celebrate the resurrection by being effective witnesses.

1. Bruce Larson, LIVING BEYOND OUR FEARS (New York: Harper & Row, 1990).