“WHERE DID YOU GO?”
MATTHEW 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped
him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and said to them,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything
that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Have you ever been to a church committee meeting
that has affected the way you sleep at night? Did someone say something or ask
you something that you simply could not let go of once you were home? Well, I
have. As part of the process of ordination a student has to meet with the deacons
of their home church to be placed “in care”. For me, most of this
first meeting went well. The one thing that I got stuck on was a question by
one particular deacon. There was only one little problem, he said. In the paper and in my comments I did not really mention Jesus. Where
was Jesus? On the way home that night I found myself mumbling about leaving Jesus
out of my discussion. I was thoroughly embarrassed and horrified because I had
been involved in the church all of my life and knew for sure that Jesus was in my life even if I couldn’t articulate
my relationship with him effectively. In the wee hours of the morning that followed,
I was awakened by a nightmare. In the nightmare, I was alone in the church and
had lost Jesus. He wasn’t in the pulpit.
He wasn’t in the office. I checked under the pews. I flipped through the hymnals. I carefully looked at the Bibles. Jesus was absolutely nowhere to be found. I
had lost Jesus. What business did I have perusing this vocation if I couldn’t
even keep track of him?
Following Easter morning we are sort of in a
similar spot. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, but where is he? The women didn’t find his body in the tomb. They might
have lifted up the garments they found lying on the floor, just in case. And
the disciples wanted desperately to see him, but they didn’t know where or how to find him. “Where are you Jesus?” they probably called? Finding
out that someone is gone is a gut wrenching, empty feeling. Where did they go? Could they simply be hiding? Are we going
to see them again? Certainly, they’ll come back somehow.
Over the years we all have to say goodbye
to many beloved people in our lives. Some of them die. Some of them move away. Some relationships simply end for
one reason or another. When that happens, how do you remember or honor those
people who are no longer with you?
The women found the tomb empty and
then told the disciples that no, they couldn’t go see it for themselves or see Jesus.
How awful that must have felt. After abandoning other responsibilities
to follow Jesus, after being subject to criticism, after all of that hard work and after saying goodbye they couldn’t
even go see him at the tomb.
We all know what it feels like not
to have someone we love in our lives anymore. It is a feeling that Terri Schiavo’s
entire family must be wrestling with this morning. It’s a feeling that
millions of Catholics around the world must be pondering after the death of Pope John Paul II yesterday afternoon. Like Jesus they are gone, but are they still with us?
We can find an answer to many of these
questions in this text that is often read on the Sunday following Easter. It
is referred to as the Great Commissioning. The disciples are following the directions
that Jesus had given them. Even though they were frustrated that they could not
witness the empty tomb themselves they do eventually find Jesus. The
text says that Jesus appeared before them. In what form we don’t know. Jesus appears to them on a mountain top in Galilee where he
had told them he was going to meet them. Then while they were there he made a
powerful promise. “And, Lo, I will be with you always, even until the end
of the age.”
One of the things that Easter Sunday
reminds us of is the hope and good news that comes with resurrection. Even though
he may no longer be physically walking beside his disciples, he still continues to walk with us in our discipleship.
The same is true when it comes to the
people we’ve said goodbye to over the years. Like Jesus, their spirit lives
on in us. I have one example I witnessed personally. Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the archbishop
of El Salvador in the late 1970’s who challenged that
country’s leadership. Several weeks before his death he spoke with an interviewer
about the death threats he had received. “I must tell you,” he said,
“that as a Christian, I do not believe in death without resurrection. If
they kill me I will rise again in the Salvadoran people.” Last January I spent three and a half weeks in Central
America. Even though he was killed in a brutal fashion and twenty
five years have passed since his death, Romero is still very present in El Salvador. He indeed has risen in the Salvadoran people.
You see posters with his face on the street. There are quotations such
as this one in churches throughout the country. He indeed has been resurrected
in the people of El Salvador.
He has an impact in the very essence of who they are.
How do we remember or honor the people
that we have lost? Be it the friend that moved away in the eighth grade, a grandparent
who died years ago or even someone you were madly in love with once upon a time. They
are part of who we are. In that sense they are still present in our lives. We may laugh at a line from a movie that we watched with that friend who moved away. We might find the spirit of the grandparent present in us while we walk the beach
as we did with them. We might smile when we pass a romantic restaurant we went
to with someone who we no longer spend time with.
In that case, how does the risen Christ work himself into our lives? Jesus,
too, is very present in us and through us. In his role as Jesus the Christ he
stays with us and moves through us. We find Christ in the way that we relate
to others. We find Christ in our call to spread the good news of the resurrection. We find Christ in our desire to minister to others.
We find Christ in our joyful worship of God. Let our days be filled
with the power and grace of Christ. Let our relationships radiate with the love and compassion that Christ taught us.
Today we will partake in communion and affirm that the risen Christ is still
very present in our lives. We will break the bread and share the cup remembering
the risen Christ who said to the disciples and to us, “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” We do this in remembrance, in honor, of Christ.
And what about me, have I found
Jesus? Well, after that interview I started to see him everywhere. I heard his name in songs – even on secular radio stations.
I saw his name on bumper stickers. I saw his name in books of fiction. He was everywhere. Believe it or not,
I even found his name in my notebooks and some of my other essays even if he didn’t have an apparent presence in that
one particular paper.
Even though people may not be with
us in body, they remain with us in spirit in ways beyond our imagination. There
are moments like that when you want to grasp your heart with your hands because you feel it.
I feel the presence of loved ones and treasured relationships. These people
are part of who I am. The same goes for Jesus. Sure, we can’t see him at the tomb. We can’t touch
his sandals or grab on to his robe. But he is still here – right in our
hearts. And Lord – you will be with us always – even until the end of the age.
Marraine C. Kettell – Student Minister
April 3, 2005
