Easter Evangelism
by Jennie Valentine
The Risen Jesus can show up anywhere at any time. Thanks be to God for that! That’s what makes us Christians different. We are an Easter people. We are people who understand the truth of the resurrection of Jesus as a rising over death and sin. We have seen it. We saw the stone rolled from the tomb. We saw that there was no body in there, just some old linen cloths. Jesus’ resurrection shows us that the thing that we fear most, death and end of life, isn’t something to be feared. If that isn’t good news, I don’t know what is. We are an Easter people in an Easter church. Don’t you just want to share that with everyone? We are even told to share the Easter message. In the book of Mark it says: He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. (Mk 16:15); Matthew’s gospel says the same thing: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (Mt 28:19). Back in chapter 1 of the book of Acts Jesus says, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) We have witnessed that death isn’t the end. We are an Easter people with an Easter message.
Don’t you just want to share that with everyone? Last week’s services were full of excitement and joy. Did you tell people about the services? Did you tell them why we had such special services? Even though we might want to, it’s a hard thing to do. Why is it so dang hard? Mostly I think its fear. Lots of us fear speaking about that Good News – we are afraid of what others will think, we are afraid of not being able to defend what we believe, we are afraid of being wrong even – doubting like Thomas. Fear stops us dead in our tracks. The Easter message can help us rise above that fear. It certainly did for those disciples. Let’s look at what happened for them.
The disciples had witnessed the message from Jesus; they had witnessed the resurrected Jesus who visited them, breathing peace over them. They were going about their business, as they had been told by Jesus, making disciples and sharing the Gospel. As a result, they were jailed and then brought before the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel. It’s like when you are a kid and you are summoned to the principal’s office only worse: first you’re embarrassed and you start to blush, then you start to think about why you are being called, then you start to sweat, and shake, and your air gets caught in your upper chest and you can’t seem to take a deep breath. There’s no peace there!
So, the disciples are called before the group of leaders called the Sanhedrin, a sort of High Court, like our Supreme Court, made up of 23 people. It included Sadducees who were concerned with all things Temple, doing the worship “correctly” and interpreting the Jewish laws strictly. They didn’t believe in the resurrection. It also included the Pharisees, learned teachers and theologians who did believe in the resurrection. There may have been some tension among them because of their differing beliefs, much like the conservatives and liberals that sit on our Supreme Court. And like our system of checks and balances to keep power even, the Sanhedrin had limited power. It was not of Roman authority, so they couldn’t put the disciples to death. I wonder how that effected how the disciples reacted when they were questioned?
Maybe that gave Peter, the main spokesperson, a little bit more bravery? He is the one who stands up to the authorities. In the first trial of the disciples that happens in Acts 4, Peter speaks boldly and claims that Jesus was raised by God and is the only one in whom there is salvation. When he speaks this way and the authorities see the evidence he presents, they are left speechless. When he spoke boldly, people believed him. Again, it happens that Peter is the bold speaker saying “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” (Acts 5:29) There’s always one in a group who will open his or her mouth, isn’t there?
OK, back to our story. They were called to the proverbial principal’s office. Earlier the disciples had been jailed for preaching in the temple. When they were in jail they were visited by an angel who told them to “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” Somehow in the night, they were released, which says to me that they must have known people in high places. Maybe it was an inside job; they had an ally on the high court, perhaps a Sadducee? Well, when they were mysteriously released after the visit from the angel, they headed over to the temple to continue to evANGELize – get it? Angels bring the messages, and that’s where we get the word that means bring a message or as Christians the “Good News”. Now, let me ask you, did you once hear any of the angels say anything like, “you’d better believe or you’re going to perish in eternal damnation” or “repent you sinners!” or any other phrase that makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up? NO! I think the word evangelize has gotten a bad rap. It’s like being an angel that brings the message “Do not be afraid”. The angel says to Mary, don’t be afraid. The angel says to the shepherds “do not be afraid”. We can be the evangelizers just as Jesus directed us and tell the world “Do not be afraid – death has no hold over us”.
The disciples did it and so can we. Dr. Walter Brueggemannan says we can be an “Easter church which is a public church that refuses to be defined by the conventional dysfunctions of society.” It might be unusual to share the Good News in our dysfunctional society that has trouble addressing matters of the heart. Kahlil Gibran said, “Faith is knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.” We don’t have to prove anything the way we prove math statements. We can share our Easter message in how we live – keeping a positive attitude, matter-of-factly speaking of how we experience God, loving our neighbor, doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly with God. It’s how we live, not screaming the message from the street corner wearing a sandwich board. I love St. Francis’ instructions to “preach the gospel always. If necessary use words.” If we live our lives passionately, matter-of-factly, positively, there isn’t a person on the face of the earth who would classify us as wacko.
Maybe we feel unqualified. I know I am nervous that I won’t be able to substantiate my claims. Martin Luther understood that. He said we are free as Christians – Christ set us free from sin - and therefore, we are just as free as any kings or priests, so we are worthy “to teach one another divine things”. We don’t have to have a theology degree or be able to quote scripture perfectly. We don’t have to know how we know what we know, we just have to know we know it! And stand in that knowledge boldly.
Relax, breathe, share, live. Be confident like Peter in front of the authorities. State boldly the truth as we have witnessed it. Live so that others can see the Easter message without words. That’s the message that Jesus brought when he breathed on the disciples. His breathe carried peace to them. He sent the disciples in a cloud of peace, the way God had sent him; the way God had breathed life into the planet at Creation. Have faith, not fear. Harry Emerson Fosdick in comparing faith and fear writes:
Fear imprisons, faith Liberates;
Fear paralyzes, faith empowers;
Fear disheartens, faith encourages;
Fear sickens, faith heals;
Fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable;
Fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while faith rejoices in its God.
We can rejoice that Christ is risen. Death has no claim over us. We can live and share that Easter message so Jesus can show up anywhere at any time. If that isn’t good news, I don’t know what is. Let all of us Easter people say Amen!