26th April Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; Luke 24:36-48
I have a friend…yes don’t laugh, I do have one. I have a friend who doesn’t like to eat fish, she cannot even bring herself to let a morsel of the stuff past her lips.
She also doesn’t like blue cheese or mango.
So imagine how we felt when at a dinner, longer ago than I care to remember, we started with avocado with a blue cheese sauce, to be followed by knot of sole. I can remember to this day, how she carefully put her fork through the fish, splatted it, gently spread it around the plate and put the fork down without once ever raising it to her mouth.
Then just to clear our palettes we were served with mango sorbet, to give her, her due, she did try with the sorbet.
Why do I mention this today, today’s gospel passage is a curious one and we know that Jesus ate a piece of fish. A piece of broiled fish.
It was all they had. One must assume that it was the best thing that they had, and Jesus eats it. Jesus eats it to show that he isn’t a ghost. He eats it to show that he is really alive, he eats it to show that he has really beaten the power of death and this new life is a real, live physical life.
And we know that unlike my friend, Jesus likes fish…
This is part of the transition for the disciples, part of the journey from grief to happiness that Jesus is alive, to the next bit, Jesus is really alive so what does that mean.
Jesus says ‘Peace be with you’ when he stands among them, then he says “Why are you troubled?”
It’s a really good question.
Why are you troubled?
I wonder what it is that troubles us?
Often there are small things that annoy us.
If I gave you all a minute to rant about something which really annoyed you I’m sure most of you would have no problem in finding something to say. Whether it’s a particular thing to do with language, or punctuation or when people drop litter, or are inconsiderate or when it says on the safety card on the aeroplane, if you can’t see well enough to read this card please don’t sit in the emergency exit row. Or something else.
These then are things which annoy us are these the things which trouble us?
One of the passages we often have read at funerals is from John 14 and Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me…”
All sorts of things trouble us, our health, our family, supporting our families being able to clothe and feed and see them grow up. All these things trouble us. Other things trouble us, what’s really going to happen when we die, am I going to make a mess of my life, is God really going forgive me when it really matters.
Jesus says why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?
It’s a good question, why are we troubled and why do doubts rise in our minds?
Dr Pepper for some time have been running a series of ads on the TV and in the cinema trying to encourage people to try Dr Pepper.
They say, Dr Pepper, what’s the worst thing that can happen?
They are trying to imply that actually if you try Dr Pepper the worst thing that could happen is that you might not like it.
I am not a very decisive person, and often I have to find myself asking that question. So what is the worst thing that could happen in that particular situation. If you think that however unlikely it may actually happen you could actually cope with the worst case scenario you are more likely to move forward.
And partly that’s what experience teaches us. If we think about the worst thing that could happen, and we realise that actually we’ve coped with something similar to that before, then it makes us braver to act.
I guess a lot of us are frightened of dying, it’s the ultimate leveller, it’s often not very dignified, and as Benjamin Franklin said it’s the only thing certain in life apart from taxation.
Jesus has of course returned from the dead, but in a different way to Lazarus, and the disciples were just trying to work out what that meant for them.
Jesus was sharing his experience that death does not have the power everyone thought it had, it is universal, true but look Jesus can even come back and eat fish.
We have hugely varying opinions of heaven even within different traditions of the church. There are a few certain things revealed to us in the bible, and lots of things which we don’t know. I’m sure my friend will be pleased if the resurrection life of heaven didn’t involve compulsory fish eating, but I kind of think that if it did, she would find she liked fish in her resurrection body.
Jesus comes back to tell his disciples they don’t need to be afraid of death, but as part of this package they do need to repent.
The psalm asks us to consider ourselves, ‘when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.’ What would you find if you searched your heart in quiet. We were talking at Little lights on Friday about prayer and how important it is to find a quiet place to pray. One of the little girls thought it was hilarious that mummys sometimes only found peace and quiet in the toilet with the door locked. But honest reflection in peace and quiet will reveal things about us, make us appreciate our need for repentance.
Jesus talks about repentance and forgiveness of sins being preached. Peter in Acts is found doing just that,
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
We have repentance, forgiveness and security in God’s love. God’s love which is not limited by anything even death. If we’re not scared of death, what then is there left to be afraid of?
Today’s Psalm, Psalm 4 is used at Compline, the traditional monastic bedtime service which used to be said in the big dormitories.
Can you remember how it ends?
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
We don’t need to be troubled, we don’t need to be afraid. If we live our lives showing that we believe that it will be transforming, not just for us, but those around us.
I wanted to end with some words of an old spiritual song..
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
Nobody knows but Jesus
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
Glory Hallelujah
Sometimes I’m up and sometimes I’m down
Yes lord, you know sometimes I’m almost to the ground
O yes, Lord, still
You got here before I do
O yes Lord, don’t forget to tell all my friends I’m coming too
O yes Lord, still