IN THE PRESENCE OF MYSTERY

Luke 24:36-43

Over Easter we get the usual round of media to and fro about who believes what. The following are excerpts from a letter in the SMH by Ashley Cooper: "Religious groups of all persuasions assume they speak for all of us with the claim that society would be happier if everyone believed what they believed.I suspect we would all be happier if all religious groups respected the beliefs and lifestyle choices of others, and ceased trying to impose their choices on those who do not share a belief in the same imaginary friend(s)"

I must say that I agree with most of what Ashley writes. Respect for difference is a key ingredient of a mature society, or church or family.What stung me was the comment about the 'imaginary friend'. It is important to me that my beliefs are intellectually sound, and I wondered if my faith in Jesus Christ as a present reality might be viewed with scorn by people like Ashley; and whether such scorn was in fact warranted!

For we are all people who have grown up in a modern world, where science is valued and respected perhaps more than metaphysical belief. When Descartes wrote, "I think therefore I am" he set a ball rolling that to a great extent has run over the unsophisticated expressions of faith that people like Ashley Cooper would no doubt consider naïve and childish. We are not helped by loud fundamentalists who insist on 'intelligent design' as an alternative to evolution, and continue to insist on a literal six day creation about six thousand years ago.

So when it comes to Easter, and we assert our faith in the risen Christ, are we left looking silly to most of the world as we claim Jesus as our, to them 'imaginary' friend; and if so, does it matter?

It does to me, not because I need secular approval, but because I regret the great gulf between those who can accept the mystical and miraculous, and those who reject anything they cannot see or prove. I also feel uncomfortable when there is a big gap between what I perceive intellectually and what I hold to by faith. How do we express a faith that can include both using our brains and accepting mystery and not look silly?

For modern people this very problem arises in today's story from Luke's gospel.Jesus appears to a group of his followers in such a way that they become petrified with fright, thinking that they are seeing a ghost. It is reminiscent of the incident recorded in Mark 6:49-50, where Jesus is seen walking on the water and the disciples think they have seen a ghost. Are these stressed and frightened, tired and grieving people letting their imagination run away with them? A group of us spoke together recently about supernatural experiences, and the consensus was that such 'appearances' often occur soon after the death of a loved one. Is their spirit really still around, or is the sense of their closeness in us due to our shocked and still disbelieving state?

Luke however goes much further than the implication of a strong spiritual presence, reporting that Jesus wants to assure his friends that he is physically alive and intact, by eating food with them. This is despite other resurrection accounts where it is implied that his presence is spiritual, as he enters rooms through locked doors. In the process of describing the event Luke comes up with an interesting phrase that for me sums up the difficulty of experiences on the boundary between the natural and the supernatural.He says "in their joy they were disbelieving and wondering…" Disbelieving joy! I cannot make sense of what is happening but I am so happy that it is! Nobody else is going to believe this when I tell them.

In fact some people did believe it, and the existence of the church today is testimony to the fact that something happened to that frightened group of disciples that helped them to change the world. In spite of the fact that Jerusalem and Rome tried to nip the Jesus movement in the bud by killing the leader, this rag-tag band of fishermen, committed women and at least one tax-collector, with faith in their so-called imaginary friend, survived the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, and the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century.

How do we cope with experiences that defy logical explanation? Is there room for mystery in our lives? Can we embrace spirituality while living in the real world?I would assert that we can, in fact we must, to be whole people; human beings both body and soul. With all of the very big telescopes, astronomers are a long way from explaining the mysteries of the universe, including the existence of dark energy that they know must be there but cannot find! And what of creation itself? Does it not inspire us to awe, and if not, when will we let it? And what of these children about to be baptised- the mystery of their little lives as they grow and develop? Are we not open to being moved by what we cannot understand? If we can only allow ourselves to dwell in the territory that is on the boundary between the spiritual and the physical world, we may actually find that this in itself is a false distinction; that reality actually can embrace both, and we are the better for it!

In spite of Luke, and Matthew Mark and John, I cannot tell you exactly what happened after Good Friday and how the followers became so convinced that their beloved Lord was alive and with them. I myself have great difficulty with the concept of a slain man physically coming back to life, and my faith dos not require me to do violence to my intellect.I have no idea what they saw in that room that left them in a state of disbelieving joy. There is to me however nothing imaginary about the spirit of Jesus alive and active in the community of faith- both in the early church when transformed disciples speak openly and boldly, and bring real positive change to the life of many, and here in our world today. As one commentator, Claude Mostowik puts it:

If anyone thinks that religion is from the eyebrows up then today's gospel could be embarrassing. God, in Jesus has come out of the closet to share the rented rooms of this planet. He challenges us about our religion and spirituality. Does our spirituality have legs and hand, or have anything to do with the food on our tables and the failure to provide for those without food, or does it have anything to do with our most intimate relationships and the way we abuse or neglect people and the planet? Does it relate to refugees who seek our protection? Does it cause us to keep asking why they come and how we as a nation have pretended that it was not our problem? Does it cause us to question why Somali men are attacking ships in the Indian Ocean? Do the wounds of others offer a turning point for our faith? Where are Christ's wounds to be seen today? or the church's wounds? Where the scars of its solidarity with Jesus? For Thomas last week we found that it is only a God with wounds that matters. A church without wounds, a church that is safe from threat, a church that does not stand in solidarity with anyone who suffers, cannot witness to the Resurrection.

And he is alive and bodily present here today, when we, at our best, offer unconditional hospitality to one another, and serve one another faithfully.

Anyway, Ashley, who said that 'imaginary' was the opposite of 'real'?

Brian Brown

26th April 2009