Meditation for October 22, 2008

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Luke 10:23-24

23 Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!  24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

Celebrating the Jesus Who Is With Us

Sometimes you and I might think to ourselves, "Wow!  What it must have been like to live during Jesus' time, and actually be in his presence!"  What if we had heard him give the Sermon on the Mount, or been at the wedding in Cana when he turned the water into wine?  What if we had been there when the five loaves and two fish fed not only us, but thousands of others?  What if we had been in Bethany when he brought Lazarus back to life, or been in the crowded room when he healed the paralyzed man who was lowered down through the roof by his friends?   And what if we had been there when he began showing up to the disciples again after he was resurrected?  Thinking about these kinds of things can leave us shaking our heads and smiling to ourselves.  Perhaps, if we have a vivid imagination, we might even get goosebumps thinking about what it would have been like to actually be present at one of these events.  Perhaps we think, "Wow, I would really have some kind of faith if I had seen and heard and known Jesus, if I had had time to hang out with him and touch him and walk around Galilee with him and pray with him."  Then again, maybe we have to remind ourselves that many people who were right there with him, including some of the brightest religious scholars, did not believe that he was the Messiah.  And even his disciples didn't always get what he was saying!  So maybe our lives would have been changed dramatically, and maybe they wouldn't have been - had we lived in Galilee or Jerusalem during Jesus' time.

Still, there is this moment when Jesus says to his disciples, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!"  They were deeply blessed by being with Jesus, even if they didn't fully appreciate it at any given moment.

Fortunately, we have the Bible.  Fortunately, we have all the saints who have gone before us in the faith, and who have helped pass on the story of Jesus - one generation at a time - until it reached us.  And most fortunately of all, we have the resurrected Jesus available to us.  It's not like he was resurrected, ascended into heaven, and sits on a cloud somewhere - never again available to those who happen to live after his time on earth was over.  That is the miracle of Easter.  He lives!  Yes, I know that I am writing this long after the Easter season has come and gone this year.  But we are Easter people.  Our faith turns on this one miracle that is above every other miracle.  God gave Jesus back his life again, and he lives on - never to die again.  Not only that, He is available to us - still - all these generations later!

You recall what the risen Jesus said to the disciples when he appeared to them in Galilee.  "... remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)  And you recall what he said to Thomas, after appearing to Thomas and the other disciples, after he was raised from the dead.  "Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." (John 20:29)  Jesus anticipated that others would come to believe in Him - those who had never walked this earth with him.  They would come to believe through others sharing the good news.  They would come to believe by having a mystical but real experience of the risen Jesus coming alongside of them.

Somehow, someway - through varied circumstances - you and I have come to believe.  And Jesus calls us blessed, too.  Though we haven't seen Jesus "in the flesh", we have come to see and know him.  Like sheep who know the voice of their shepherd, we have come to know his voice.  (See John 10:1-5)

We have seen and heard Jesus during times of quiet, when suddenly a deep peace comes over us, and we know He is present.

We have seen and heard Jesus in the people who have come into our lives, who listen to us and forgive us and keep loving us, no matter what we do.

We have seen and heard Jesus as we risk new things - new relationships, new ministries, new jobs, moving to a new and different part of the world - and we feel the Lord guiding us and present with us.

We have seen and heard Jesus comforting us and simply holding us, when we are going through an especially difficult time.

I grant you, it would have really been something to have walked around Galilee or gone on a pilgrimmage to Jerusalem with Jesus.  But the truth is, we can and do walk with him, because he chooses to be with us.  We can and do go on a journey with him - one that lasts a lifetime.  Jesus keeps showing up.  He keeps his promise to be with us - to the end of the age.  How has your life been transformed, because Jesus keeps that promise, and continues to show up in your life?

We are no less blessed than the twelve disciples, and the others who heard and saw Jesus when he walked this earth.  We have something to celebrate each morning when we get up.  God is indeed Emmanuel - God with us.

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:21-23)

His mercies are new every morning, and His faithfulness is never-ending.  And that is something to celebrate - something for which we can continue to praise God!