Luke 24: 36-48
Paonia United Methodist Church
May 4, 2003
A young, ambitious pastor was called to serve in a certain church.
He was warned by his predecessor that this congregation was "dead"..
It was not even worth trying to save it.
But this pastor accepted the call because he believed with God’s
guidance he could bring life to that church.
He was an optimist and he worked hard, visiting the members,
preaching his best sermons enthusiastically,
he tried to develop an outreach or lay visiting program so
that visits might be done in the homes of the active,
the inactive and new people moving
into town.
The harder he tried, the more he knew that his predecessor was right,
this was one seriously dead church.
It was a shrine for the frozen chosen.
A mausoleum of faith.
There was just nothing there.
The spark for ministry, the excitement sharing the gospel was just not there.
So one Sunday he made a startling announcement to the few who
were gathered for worship.
He said, "In as much as you are a dead congregation, unresponsive to
resuscitative efforts, unresponsive to any effort of pumping life into the workings
of the congregation, in as much as the vital signs of the congregation
are dead, I will conduct a funeral for this ’dead ’church next
Sunday morning at 10:00am."
The members, at least the few who were there,
buzzed with excitement following the service.
One said, "What’s ’s he trying to pull anyway?"
Another said, "I don’t understand?"
The pastor and his announcement of a funeral for the church was the main talk
of the tiny rural town during that week
The phone lines were hot with talk, the coffee shop was filled with men
talking about what they expected next Sunday.
Sunday arrived, and as the people gathered,
there was an open coffin in the front of the church. As the 10:00 approached,
the pastor looked out and saw that every pew plus some chairs
were filled for this funeral service.
He began the funeral service by reading scripture, he shared prayer,
he even gave a very sad sermon on the demise of this over
100 year old church and congregation.
After he finished his sermon, he did something which again startled the membership.
He asked the members to please rise and pass slowly by the open coffin
to pay their last respects to this now dead church.
Row by row, the people rose and walked past the coffin.
And, each of them got the same sheepish, startled look as
They scurried quickly away from it.
The coffin was empty except for a mirror.
As each person peered into the coffin to view the deceased
each looked upon his or her own face.
It’s a great story!
I wish I could tell you that I was bright enough to come up with it.
But, it certainly does open up a question for us this morning
As we take a look at the text…
“What does a dead church look like?”
Luke 24:36b-48
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
This is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“What does a dead and defeated church look like?”
I think that the gospel we just heard is a pretty good example.
Think about this scene for a moment…
Jesus and the disciples are just coming off a very long couple of weeks.
There was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the betrayal,
the crucifixion, and (of course) the resurrection.
There faith had been tried and tested.
When all was said and done, most of them ran for the hills.
One had even denied ever knowing him.
Talk about defeated.
And, this morning, we find that they have gone back to the life
They lived before they had ever even heard of this man Jesus Christ.
Now, this really is an interesting Scripture.
All kinds of things are going on here.
There is of course the resurrected body of Jesus walking around.
He asks them to touch him, and he even sits and eats with them.
This clearly is not a spirit, but a living, breathing, resurrected Jesus.
Why is this important?
Well, I have actually heard clergy quite adamant that the spirit of Jesus is
Nothing more than just that…
His spirit among us.
Sort of like, well, Fido and his picture on the mantle above the fireplace.
Folks, spirits don’t ask to be touched and then hang out to eat breakfast.
Yes, we know that this is a supernatural body as he is appearing in
The midst of locked room with the disciples and
Disappearing out of another during the breaking of bread
On the way to Emmaus.
But, we also find that he does indeed inhabit a body as well.
He is quite alive, and quite risen with a new body,
The same as you and I have been promised one day.
And this is nothing short of amazing in and of itself.
Christ, their friend, their Lord, whom they watched murdered,
Is up and around and going about Dad’s business again.
But, as amazing as this is, I find something here far more surprising.
What I find surprising is how caught off guard the disciples are.
They think he is a ghost.
They can’t believe he is real.
Why is this surprising?
Well, this is not the first appearance of Jesus to the disciples.
His first appearance was Easter morning, and then again later to
Thomas, and then again on the road to Emmaus.
No, the resurrection of Jesus is already well established amongst his followers…
yet we find this morning that they are still in disbelief.
In fact, they have already gone back to who and what they were before
Jesus had called them.
Folks, that’s what the death of the church is all about.
Going back to who you were before Jesus called your name.
That’s what the disciples had in mind here.
It’s a good thing Jesus had something better in mind for them.
If he hadn’t intervened, we would never have had the Gospels…
We never would have heard the name of Jesus Christ.
They would have just hopped out in the boat and continued bumbling
Along their merry way.
But, Jesus did intervene.
Verse 45 says “Then he opened their minds so they could
understand the Scriptures.”
What’s that all about?
Well, after 3 years of following Jesus around, the disciples still didn’t get it.
They were still bumbling around confused as ever.
Even after the resurrection, its pretty clear
that they still don’t get it.
It is not until this morning that we hear “Jesus opened their minds.”
What does that mean?
I suspect it means far more than sitting down and explaining it all to them.
He had been doing that for three years to no avail.
Actually, I suspect it means much more.
I believe that this awareness came to them only as a gift from Jesus.
Their minds never were able to grasp what God was saying to them
until he imparted it to them through his Spirit.
Now, if you didn’t just hear that,
I am going to say it again…
And again, and again if necessary.
Their minds never were able to grasp what God was saying to them
until he imparted it to them through his Spirit.
Why is that important?
Actually, I believe it is more than important…
It is fundamental to our faith.
Why?
Because our minds will never be able to grasp what God was saying to us
until he imparts it to us through his Spirit.
I think the first thing we need to do is to acknowledge
that our awareness of God is extraordinarily limited
until such time we receive the gift of his Spirit.
Understanding God cannot be learned… it must be experienced.
To understand God’s will is to experience God’s will in your own life.
As beneficial as Scripture is, it is incomplete without the Holy Spirit
as your personal translator.
The words may be the same, but the conversation between God
and mankind simply does not occur without it.
That is why the disciples were at such a loss.
They simply could not grasp the message without the gift
of the Spirit to translate.
This is, of course, both good and bad news.
The good news is that the same Spirit is available to us today.
The Holy Spirit is still offered to us as a gift purchased
by the death of Jesus Christ and demonstrated to us through
his resurrection.
The Spirit is available to anyone who asks.
The bad news is that many folks either are not aware of this,
or simply are too afraid to take a chance and ask.
Instead, they get back into the boat and go back to doing whatever it was they were doing
Before Jesus called their name.
That is what the death of the church looks like.
Understand something here…
You can have the biggest building in town,
Have the most members,
Have all your bills paid as a congregation,
And even have money left in the bank…
And still be a dead church.
What makes a church alive is God’s Spirit.
It is either here, or it is not.
And the Good News is that it is available to any and to all who ask for it.
People of God,
Claim the Spirit.
Claim it in your life,
In your church,
In your homes.
It is the gift that is given to you through Jesus Christ the Son.
And the rest of it simply doesn’t work without it.
People of God, let’s take this moment to ask for God to release his Spirit
Upon us and upon this church…
