Second Sunday of Easter (C)-- Groundbreaking 2 April 28, 2019
This is the second week of our Easter-season series that we're calling "Groundbreaking".
A groundbreaking event—of any kind—describes something that's never been done or seen before, maybe never even thought of. It's new, innovative, pioneering; perhaps revolutionary. It can surprise, even shock; occasionally it dazzles and amazes—maybe it’s something that changes history and
shapes culture; that redefines the way people live and work or relate to one another. From the Renaissance to the American Revolution, from vaccines to motor vehicles, from abolition to aviation—groundbreaking.
Easter celebrates the most groundbreaking event in history, an event that was truly groundbreaking in every sense of the word. The impact is still being felt today—one third of the world's population following a Jewish carpenter from an obscure village in the middle of nowhere, who lived 2,000 years ago. Think about the life of Jesus. He never invented anything, never owned anything, never made anything. He didn’t have money. And here we are celebrating His life. How is it possible that we even know the name of this person—Jesus of Nazareth? By all logic and any reasonable standard, He should have receded back into the obscurity from which He briefly emerged. And yet, the whole world has been touched and changed by Jesus. That all comes down to Easter. All this impact because of the Resurrection—Jesus rose from the dead.
The Resurrection proves that Jesus was who He said He was: God; and He could do what He said He could do: anything. If you can predict your own death and then bring about your own resurrection, you can pretty much do anything. He said that, because He would rise from the dead, we would, too. His friends and followers would follow His pattern. That's why Easter is groundbreaking for everybody.
Jesus' Resurrection was also groundbreaking because it was the event that launched the movement of the Church. The brand-new Church changed the world and the course of history by introducing groundbreaking teachings and ideas, like the idea that every human being has dignity and value. That was groundbreaking. Like the groundbreaking idea of forgiving one another and living in peace with one another. Through this series, we want to re-discover the principles and practices of the early Church that made them a movement that mattered. What did they do that drew people so effectively to them? What did they do that had such a huge impact? We want to know that because that's the type of Church we want to be, too. Today, we're looking at the first reading from chapter five of the Acts of the Apostles. Just the title gives some insight into it: it's the Acts of the Apostles. They acted; they did something. Throughout this series, we're going to be relying on and reflecting on the Book of Acts. And a great way to get the most out of this series would be to read through the entire book; it’s easy and interesting to do, since it reads like an action adventure.
But we're only going to look this morning at a few verses, which give us insight into just one—but critical—aspect of the early Church. Here's what we heard about the Apostles: "They were all together in Solomon's portico. None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them."; So, what's that all about? Well, following the Resurrection, the Apostles spent some time at Solomon's portico, an area of the Jerusalem temple. And what's just happened is that Peter has performed his first miracle, healing a man who couldn't walk. Up to this event, people were very hesitant about this whole new Church thing, and for good reason. Their leader had just been crucified. The authorities held the Apostles in suspicion—in contempt—harassing them constantly. So, people tended to stay away. Even though they respected the Apostles, they simply didn't want to get involved. And yet, despite this fear, the word begins to get out about Peter's miracle. Look what happens. More than ever “great numbers of men and women” were added to the Church. In other words, the Church grew. Despite difficulties and persecution, the Church grew. This is a constant theme of the Acts of the Apostles. And it's true of the Church in every generation. God is constantly adding to her number, bringing phenomenal growth. God wills the Church to grow and to prosper. And the Church always and everywhere grows, always and everywhere succeeds, when we're doing what Jesus told us to do. Look at what happens next. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on them. A large number of people came from out of town bringing their sick, and they were cured.
This passage gives us a snapshot into what the Church did and how it saw itself. Jesus healed people; that's just basic to what He did. The Gospel is full of encounters where people would come to Him because they needed healing for themselves or for somebody they loved. Jesus healed people who were sick and dying. He healed the blind and the deaf; lepers; people who were suffering from unclean spirits—who were tormented in mind or body. He healed people who were mentally ill, emotionally ill, spiritually ill. He healed all kinds of infirmities and diseases. He healed people from all walks of life: the poor as well as the rich; the child of a Jewish authority and the servant of a Roman centurion. Why did Jesus heal people? He did it to reveal the heart of God, Who wants to bring healing into the world.
That was a groundbreaking idea—to associate the attributes of mercy and compassion with God. It's not that ancient peoples didn't know anything about compassion. It's just that they didn't hold it as a religious virtue. Pagan gods weren't merciful; they were angry, and jealous, and demanding. The God of Israel was different. Throughout the Old Testament, God expresses His affection for Israel through mercy, especially to the afflicted and the forgotten. Over and over again, we read about His special care for the poor and the lowly. But it wasn't until the Church was launched, as a result of the Resurrection, that this message moved beyond the confines of Israel into the larger world. Compassion became the hallmark of the early Church, not because the Christians were inherently better people than other people, but because they came to understand that Jesus healed people. It's what He did, which meant it's what they had to do, too. It wasn't optional. Bringing healing to a hurting world was part of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
In turn, as the Christian community responded in this way, outsiders started to take notice. People were drawn to Christianity—not initially because they were attracted to the message of the Gospel; they didn't even know the message of the Gospel. They hadn't even heard it yet. They were attracted to the way Christ’s followers treated other people. The Church grew because of its compassion and its care. It’s the same for us and for our parish: to be a healthy Church, a growing Church, for our Church to be a groundbreaking Church, like the early Church, we have to do the very same thing. And that begins, first of all, with what we do here in the church building. You know, life tends to beat us up every day. We're assaulted with criticism and complaint and attacks on our heart; broken friendships, broken relationships, broken promises; fear and failure; disability, disease, disappointment, even despair. We deal with all of this—we all do—all of the time. Here at the Eucharist, it can be different. Mass can be an opportunity to put aside the world and its challenges, at least for an hour, and worship God in unity, and peace, and joy of heart.
The experience, this experience is intended to be healing. Another place it can happen in our Church family is in small groups such as our men’s group, the Council of Catholic Women, the Legion of Mary, those who take the Eucharist to the hospital and homebound, or even just individually with those around you. And that support is always important, but especially in times of critical need. Fr. Doug’s and my thanks to everybody who is providing that kind of care to their fellow parishioners, because when you're acting in that way, you're acting on behalf of our pastor. There's no way, obviously, in a parish this size that he could even begin to personally provide pastoral care to all the sick. And he doesn’t have to do it anyway, because we can do it for one another. We can all be a part of this kind of healing. And as a groundbreaking Church, we're called to more.
We're called and sent to heal others. We're blessed to be a blessing. We're healed to help in healing. Our vision is to break ground for Christ and His Church, not only around us here in Fort Walton, but out there in the larger community and in the world. Our mission field is all around us all of the time. There are people you know, people you see every day, with whom you work, in your neighborhood, in your school, who are hurting, who are in need of healing—and you know it. It was Saint John Paul II who named the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday—to underscore the mercy of God as given the ultimate expression in the Resurrection. Since then, God has established the Church to be His instrument of mercy in the world. And when people in the world, in our community, see that to be so: a compelling case is made for Christ, far more compelling than anything we could ever say. People are drawn to people who have spent time with Christ, who have been healed by Him, and who then bring that healing with them everywhere they go. Here’s a challenge for this week: why not ask God to show you some positive step that you could take to reach out and help someone in healing? Pray for them, of course, but also consider visiting the widow down the street, saying a kind word to a classmate who’s feeling low, taking a casserole to a person who is ill, reaching out to an estranged family member. For you and the one you touch personally, it could, well be "Groundbreaking”.
God bless you always, and in all ways!
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