[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #604, Easter 4, 4/13/08

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Easter 4 – April 13, 2008

Acts 2:42 47
Psalm 23
1 Peter 2:19 25
John 10:1 10

Trust

It's about trust.  "...they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need."  (Acts 2:45)  "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me..."  (Psalm 23:4)  "For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly."  (1 Peter 2:19)  "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and bandits..."  (John 10:7-8)

These were the early astronauts strapped in their seats, counting down, headed for an imaginary window in the sky.  Committing their lives to a vehicle that could dash them to pieces or leave them stranded in space, they trusted the plan and the planner.  They trusted the end and embraced the means.  Lift-off pressed them against another dimension of life.  Stage one and stage two of the booster dropped off and returned to earth.  They, however, had escaped earth's gravity.  They were in the world but not of it.

First and foremost, they trusted the identity of the risen Lord, the "good shepherd", the "gate of the sheep".  They trusted the proposition that he first called them by name, then led them like a shepherd, then died for them so they could get in.  The shepherd became the gate.  They trusted him more than they trusted the commonly perceived reality around them.  Walk through the darkest valley?  Never mind.  In pain and suffering?  Wear it like a badge.  Don't know where your next meal is coming from?  Eat with glad and generous hearts.  These are astronauts in pressurized suits able to sustain their lives in the most hostile of environments, even to exult in spite of the danger.

These are people who have seen something the earth-bound don't see.  These are people who have seen the risen Lord.  They aren't just the disciples, not just the five thousand, the ones who are reported to have seen the very realistic version of the risen Lord.  No, these are also the many thousands who "have not seen and yet believed".  They have seen the risen Lord only through believing.  

How can we apprehend their testimony?  How can it be conveyed?  How can we live as they did?  Only by strapping ourselves into the seat.  Only by submitting ourselves to the vehicle.  Only by yielding to the violence that is required to break free from the earth.  Only by trusting the planner and the plan.  Don't expect to see what they saw if you don't go where they went. 


May these thoughts strengthen you. 
 
An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors 
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor 
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