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Sunday 21 May ’17
Fifth Sunday of Easter
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Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
“The one who believes in me will also do … greater works than these…”
Where are these greater works that Jesus promised? It is interesting to note that this chapter of the Gospel begins by Jesus telling us who hear these words to “not let your hearts be troubled.” And yet it seems almost impossible for our hearts not to be troubled when we hear these words and then look at the impact of the presence of the Church in the world.
Jesus sets the bar high when he tells us that we who are the Church will do greater works than those that we encounter in the Gospel done by him. Remember that in the Gospel we find accounts of Jesus bringing healing to the body and the soul. Jesus encounters persons in deep anguish and brings to them a peace that is too deep for words. He feed the hungry, healed the sick, loved the unlovable, clothed the naked, comforted the hurting, showed the presence and compassion of God to those who thought that God had forgotten them.
What has the Church done in the name of Jesus? That is a question we don’t always want to answer. Oh, there are people who have benefited greatly. I know that and can say that because I have known the power of the presence and ministry of the Church. At a time in my life in which I thought God had forgotten me, and could not possibly love me, it was the Church that showed me the amazing grace of God in which God’s love is shown to be unconditional and limitless.
But I have also experienced the other side of the coin. I have also had the experience of being condemned by the Church. I have been broken in spirit by broken persons speaking in error in the name of God, who have neglected the love that they first received and who fail to reflect the eternal love of God that can never be earned and can never be extinguished.
Part of the problem, I believe, is that we look at the works of Christ as being of such a grand level that the Church can never go and do likewise. But remember that Jesus did not feel that way. When he tells the Church to go and do as he has done, he believes firmly that this task can be fulfilled. In fact, I will even be so bold as to say that Christ has much more confidence in our ability to fulfill this invitation than do we ourselves.
So, who is right? Remember that Jesus is the Truth! Embrace that, and you will find the answer. Jesus is the one who is right. He speaks the truth when he says that we who are his body, his Church, his hands and voice in the world, can and will do greater works than he has done in the pages of the Gospel.
But if we are to see the fruits of this promise, we must remember the mission of the Church; to love as we have first been loved. This means that we must set aside the priorities of the world around us and cling to the promises and vision of the Gospel. And then we must apply these promises and this vision to the world around us.
Look around the world today and you will see those whom Jesus identified in the Parable of the Last Judgment in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus speaks in that parable of the hungry and thirsty, the lonely and forgotten, the sick and dying, those in hopelessness and despair, those forgotten in the midst of various types of suffering. Jesus challenges us to remember these ones and be Christ for them, to love them in his name, and to see his face in their faces.
This, of course, leads often to the ageless question asked first by Cain: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Make no mistake about the fact that those who are viewed by the world as the wise and the powerful still ask this question. And in most instances, even in our own land and among our own people, when this question is asked outside the Church and apart from the perspective of faith, the answer is “No!”
If the Church is to live into the vision set forth by Christ in this Gospel, we as Christians must have the boldness to speak up and say: “We are our brother’s keeper!” We must have the courage to stand up in the midst of the world and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely and forgotten, give hope to those in despair, show the unconditional love of Christ especially to those who believe falsely that they are unlovable not only by other humans but especially by God.
This is not an easy mission. The world about us will call us fools for acting in such a way. Perhaps even some Christians might think us fools also. But what does Christ say of us? Go back to that Parable of the Last Judgment with me. To those who do these greater things, he says: “When you did it to these, you did it to me.” And to those who failed to accomplish these greater things, he says: “When you did not do it to these, you did not do it to me.”
Now go back to the first words of this Gospel, in which Jesus says: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” How can our hearts not be troubled? How can we live into this vision laid out by Jesus? Remember that Jesus also promised not to leave us alone. Jesus is in our midst. His face is seen not only in those whom we are called to love as he first loved. Jesus is in our midst, always empowering us and equipping us for the works that he promises will be greater than those done by him in the Gospel. If we were left to ourselves, we will always be goats. But since Jesus is in our midst, now and always, we can be sheep who go and do as Christ has done and envisioned, trusting that in and through us, the love of God will transform the world about us.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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Father Timothy Alleman
Rector of The Church of the Holy Cross
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