Today is the Sixth Sunday of Easter.
It is the final Sunday of the season with the resurrected Christ here
on earth with his disciples before his Ascension, which is celebrated
this Thursday, 40 days after the resurrection. As we come to the
end, liturgically speaking, of Jesus' time on earth with us, I want
to examine these past 40 days.
As Episcopalians we are comfortable
living with ambiguity. We are comfortable living in the gray area
between the easy black and white answers. We are comfortable living
with the perceived inconsistencies of both/and. When someone asks
me, “Do you think X, or is Y the better option?” I will often
say, “Yes.” And this is all because we, as Episcopalians, have a
history of walking the via media, the middle way. We are both
Catholic and Protestant, and we know that, in most cases, it's more
complicated than that.
I bring this up because the 40-day
post-resurrection period with Jesus is a both/and event, and it
challenges us to use that gray matter in our heads as we look between
easy black and white explanations.
First, was the resurrection a literal,
physical event? Yes. Early in the morning on the first day of the
week some women went to the tomb to finish the burial rite. When
they got there they found the tomb empty, the body of Jesus was gone.
So this is the first indicator that this was a real, literal,
physical event.
There are other places in the gospel
stories where we learn of the physicality of the resurrection. In
Matthew, the women take hold of Jesus' feet as they were going to
tell the eleven that he had been raised. In Luke, Jesus breaks bread
with two disciples in Emmaus. He invites others to touch him. He
eats a piece of fish. And in the gospel of John, Mary holds onto the
newly resurrected Christ, he invites Thomas to touch his wounds, and
he has breakfast with some of the disciples after they had gone
fishing. Our faith tells us that the resurrection was a literal and
physical event.
Second, was the resurrection a
spiritual event? Yes. In Matthew, Jesus appears out of nowhere to
meet the women as they were on their way to tell the disciples that
Christ had been raised. In Luke, Jesus is at first unrecognizable to
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then, when they finally
do recognize him, he vanishes from their sight. He then reappears
out of thin air, causing the gathered disciples to think they are
seeing a ghost. And in John, Mary Magdalene cannot at first
recognize him because he had been so drastically changed in
appearance. Additionally, Jesus has the ability to materialize
through walls, as he does twice: once with the ten disciples in the
evening of that first day and again the following week when Thomas is
present. The resurrection is a spiritual event in which the person
of Jesus is at first unrecognizable and who has the power to appear
and disappear at will. Our faith tells us that the resurrection was
a spiritual event connecting us to that realm of angels and
archangels like nothing before.
The 40-day post-resurrection period is
both physical and spiritual.
It shows that the resurrected Christ
was an actual, physical, human body, thereby arguing against Gnostic
heresies that claimed Christ was only a spiritual being. It shows
that the resurrected Christ was spiritual in nature, thereby arguing
against the belief that Jesus was just a really good guy. These 40
days, probably more than at any other time in his lifetime on earth,
show the complete nature of Christ as fully human AND
fully divine.
I believe it's important for us to pay
attention to this physical and spiritual, this both/and, nature of
Christ, especially now.
We, as the Church, make up the mystical
and spiritual body of Christ. This place of Saint John's, and other
holy places, is what many people refer to as a “thin place.”
That is, it's a place where the boundary between physical and
spiritual can be felt and sometimes seen. It is a place where angels
and archangels, and all the company of heaven, gather together with
us. It is a place where you can feel the presence of God. It is the
place where, through holy mysteries, simple bread and wine become the
Body and Blood of Christ. It is the place where we are fed with
spiritual food.
We, as the Church, also make up the
physical Body of Christ here on earth. As Teresa of Avila said:
Christ has no body now but yours. No
hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which
he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he
walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the
world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes,
you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Besides all of that, when we gather
together we are gathering as the physical body of Christ. We can see
and touch others. Our physical presence together reflects and
embodies the physical presence of Christ.
Which brings me to Holy Communion.
There have been some in the church
wondering when I would celebrate Holy Eucharist again. In fact,
there is a whole world of debate out there among church-type people,
clergy and lay, about whether or not a priest should celebrate Holy
Eucharist in this time of virtual gatherings. Our bishops, Sutton
and Ihloff, came out in support of Spiritual Communion – one where
a priest celebrates, and is the only one to physically receive the
elements, while the people who are unable to physically receive, look
upon the elements and are assured that they have received all of the
spiritual benefits of Communion due to their deep desire.
Offering Spiritual Communion (or
“Ocular Communion” – reception via viewing) is one thing when a
person is lying in great bodily weakness or distress and is unable to
physically receive the elements. It is quite another when the cause
of being unable to receive the elements is a mass pandemic.
There are those who believe Spiritual
Communion is a satisfactory answer during this pandemic when our
buildings are shuttered and people are quarantined. I am not one of
those people.
Holy Communion is not just spiritual
food, it is also the physical embodiment of Body and Blood. We
gather as a physical body to gain spiritual strength, and are fed by
physical food in the holy mysteries that offers spiritual
nourishment. We need both. We need the both/and of the
post-resurrection Jesus to provide a physical presence and spiritual
assurance.
Which is why during this time of
virtual online worship we are offering Morning Prayer for the people
of Saint John's and beyond. Until we can come together safely in
some manner, until we can once again gather as the physical body of
Christ, we will gather here, online and in our homes, and we will
pray. Our virtual connectivity is important, but it cannot replace
the physical gathering of the both/and of post-resurrection Jesus.
Just as Jesus did not separate his physical body from his spiritual
being, we must not separate the physical elements from their
spiritual sustenance. We need both.
In-person worship is coming. It may
not come as quickly as we desire. The leadership of Saint John's –
Vestry, Commission Chairs, and myself – will work to do this as
safely as possible while following all recommended guidelines. Our
regatherings will occur in limited numbers and we are trying to
figure out what that will look like. Everything from assigned
seating to limited or no congregational singing to a Communion flow
chart is being considered. Through all of this, we will be changed.
And it is during this time that we are trying to figure out to what
it is which are being changed and to what we are becoming. Just as
the apostles had to navigate the change of a post-resurrection and
post-ascension Jesus, we are trying to navigate a change that is no
less daunting.
As we move forward, I ask for your
continued patience. I ask for your continued dedication. I ask for
your continued commitment to being the Church in these difficult
times. I ask for your continued willingness to live in the gray area
between easy black and white answers. And I ask for your continued
prayers.
Holy Communion is a both/and, just as
is Jesus. Jesus is both human and divine. He is both body and
spirit. Holy Communion is both physical and spiritual. It is made
up of worldly DNA and supernal glory. We cannot push one aside in
favor of the other.
So until we can once again gather as
both the physical and spiritual representation of Christ on earth,
until we can once again receive the benefits of physical food and
spiritual sustenance, until we can experience the both/and of the
physical and spiritual post-resurrection Jesus, we will gather in
homes, separated by distance but united in Christ, and we will pray.
We will pray for safety and sanity. We will pray for health and
compassion. We will pray for patience and understanding. We will
pray for tenacity and relief. And we will pray that when we two or
three are gathered together in Christ's Name, wherever we may be, in
person or online, God will be in the midst of us.
As we contemplate our return into this
holy space, as we look to incorporate best practices, as we work to
ensure the safety of our parishioners, let us remember the both/and
of the post-resurrection Jesus and let us look for ways that we
ourselves can incorporate both the physical and spiritual nature of
our faith into our daily lives.
Amen.
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