4th Sunday of Easter - Anchored in God

The other day in our office, somehow the subject of Soap Operas came up. We started to discuss what we had watched: Days of our Lives, Guiding Light, All My Children, General Hospital..  Those stories that over-exaggerated the human condition!

Almost inevitably a question I will get because people are curious about the private lives of priests who think that we spend our free time praying, because we only work for one hour or maybe two on a weekend therefore we have an overabundance of free time...  They want to know what I watch on TV. I watch escapism...I get enough drama, or draaaama in life. I go home and I want to forget or escape...so of late, Wandavision, Falcon and the WinterSoldier, Chinese magical movies about dragons on Netflix…

We do all try to make sense of our lives; we all try to grasp our lives, to gain some measure of control, try to protect our lives and the lives of the ones we love. We struggle to do what is good, to make the right choices.  All this within the milieu of a fast changing society, in which it seems expectations are so vivid, so demanding, and at times onerous.  Our times do seem so fluid, but this is not always a bad thing.

At times, I am a little envious of the younger generations; they seem to have more liberty to explore themselves. They live in a society that appears to be more open to various cultures, experiences in which it is common to hear and see others from other languages and cultures; to be able to communicate in real time with people across the world. Not like the days of Pen Pals and letters.  

But these younger generations also struggle. The fluidity of these times can leave them unanchored, uncentered; without a solid place to stand and be.

Then for all of us, throw in death and loss, marriage problems and divorce, financial struggles, sickness, the violence against people of color…  We too can feel ungrounded, no center, lost…

The Gospels recount disciples trying to grasp their reality when it has been ripped out from underneath them.  Their idea of the messiah, figuratively and literally, killed before their eyes.  Their teacher and friends in whom they placed their hopes; they abandoned, they denied and there is fear, guilt, maybe shame... Their understanding of God and how to live righteously, up in the air.  Then the biggest confusion ever… this messiah, this teacher, their friend is raised from the dead! Against all expectations, against all common sense, He is ALIVE!

They are thrown into more chaos, more fluidity! How? What? Why?

Don’t we enjoy Jesus’ time with them after the Resurrection?  He anchors them. He centers them.  He says: “Peace be with you!”  No..”I told you so!” No recriminations, no vengeance, no trolling, no angry threatening emails, texts, DMs,...  “Peace be with you. Then he says “Touch me” Touch me I am real. I am with you, Alive!!!!!  And even more, To give them hope, to anchor them in their grasp of this new reality, he helps them to remember their story and which is our story. He helps them to remember their history, which is also our history.

God has been with them, God is with them, God is with us! Always,  God provides new life, new options, mercy…  God has always been present to call us to our better selves, to our True Selves.

Remember Abraham and Sarah, their whole sage of leaving their home and trusting in God’s promise, but faltering at times. God called them back again and again, coming to their Tent to eat with them, and then the promise became fulfilled.

Remember the story of David, the youngest of the family, destined by culture to be the least of the family, God raised to be king.  And when King David’s ego got the best of him, he was humbled and God forgave.

Remember the people who chose to place their faith in political alliances, in false gods, in their money, power and status which in the end failed, and they were ripped from their homes and thrown into exile. God called out and restored them.

It can be so easy in our lives, in these times, to give into the pessimism, the negativity, to the ugly voices in our world and in our heads; to be only concerned with the “me, myself and I” of my wealth, my needs, my status, my perceived status…  Too easy to give into the chaos.

This is why we come here, this is why we need our worship, our Eucharist, why we need God.  We come with our drama, our messy lives, our questions, our doubts, our fears...our sinfulness.  We surrender it.

We remember the story of God and God’s people; and our own personal stories.  We eat and drink of the Resurrected Lord, the Son of God to be centered on his way which leads to life.  To remember that God is the stability of our lives.  To remember God who never ever abandons us; yet walks with us, to help us progress forward; God always who sees the good with each of us, within all people.  To remember that God will call us out at times to remind us that we are called to do what is good for others, not for ourselves alone..

The early church got this. We heard Peter reciting their history of God; God of Abraham, God of Isaac… Peter and that church were anchored in their story and upon that faith, built the church.  That story continues with us.  We as Church, we must grow in our own story, not give into our fears, our drama. We must continue to anchor ourselves in Christ, and be there for those who feel lost, feel weak..

To be as Christ for them, to be an anchor, a hope…  To those without adequate food, shelter… we can make a difference.  To those struggling with themselves, a safe place to find peace.  To those who grieve, a shoulder to lean upon...  To those who are arrogant and too comfortable in their privilege and so called power, the humility to see others and openness to be challenged.

Anchored, and on solid ground, we can risk believing, risk the hope, risk the faith.