Making It Real

John 20:19-31; Acts 4:32-37

LAJ

Thirty years ago I went to a practice round of the Masters Golf Tournament in Athens, Georgia. I had never seen a golf course like it. The fairways looked like greens. And it was April, a truly magical time in the Southeast with all the dogwood, wisteria, and azaleas in bloom. Since then I always like to catch a bit of the tournament on TV if only to catch a glimpse of that beauty. This week I caught the back story of one of the six amateur golfers who was invited to play this year.

Thirty year old Matt Parziale grew up in Massachusetts. After playing in college in Florida he tried the pro circuit. When you start out you support yourself somehow, practice when you can, and then drive to tournaments to keep costs down. It was not unusual to drive all night to get to get to an opening day, not make the cutoff and then have to drive back home without even getting to compete. After a few years of that, Matt decided it was time to go back home and get a real life.

He became a fireman at the same station his father had spent a career in. The town of Brockton has a depressed economy and an opioid crisis like so many towns in the Northeast, but Matt loves his community and the people. He knows everyone, and they know and appreciate him. He has kept up with golf and won the Mid- Amateur Championship with his dad as his caddy. That win earned him a berth at this year’s Masters. The story on TV showed him looking at the engraved invitation he’d received. He’s been practicing in the snow and cold all spring, and they showed him teeing off through the open door of a big shed.

This week Matt got to play in Georgia. I wonder when it all became real to him that he was actually at the Masters. Was the engraved invitation enough? Or was it being in the locker room of that beautiful old clubhouse or practicing on the driving range? Maybe it was when he actually set up on the first hole, took his first real swing on the course and watched his ball arc through the air past the trees and land on that gorgeous fairway.

Think back on something momentous in your life – like graduation or marriage, having your first child or landing in a foreign country. When did it sink in and feel real? That’s the question I want us to remember as we consider the disciples in John chapter 20. What makes Jesus’ resurrection real to them? What makes it real for us and could make it real for others?

The Holy Spirit has to be involved, of course. But just as Jesus did when he became flesh in the first place, he reveals himself in concrete and vivid ways that are meaningful to the ones he wants to reach so that the resurrection becomes real for them.

First of all, Jesus leads with peace. The disciples are behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. But they are also filled with regret. As much as they might want to see Jesus again, they may dread it, too. Notice the first thing he says as he appears to them: “Peace be with you.” It’s what they needed to hear in this moment more than anything else. It’s what our divided and fear- filled world needs to hear, too. Jesus said elsewhere in John as he was preparing his disciples for his death, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Notice that Jesus came to the disciples through a locked door. The second way he became real for them was in his ability to penetrate that barrier. Jesus still breaks down barriers. He helps people bridge gaps and work through all that separates them from one another and from God – the fears that need to be overcome, the sins confessed and forgiven, the reconciliation that needs to happen. Jesus makes all of that possible as he comes to each one of us with peace, forgiveness and healing, and then gives us the power to extend these to others.

The resurrected Jesus also comes with his own battle scars. He showed the disciples his hands and side. Revealing his scars is a third way that his resurrection became a reality to them, and it still is. The humble way that Jesus lived and died, his suffering and brokenness – these all make him accessible to those who have faced their own brokenness and vulnerability. They see in him one who understands what they have been through. But he also overcame the powers of death and destruction in this world that hurt us and those we love. They no longer have the last word in any life or situation.

Jesus unleashed a new power in the world that we too can claim, the Holy Spirit. This is the fourth way that his resurrection became real for his disciples, and can for all of us who still seek to know and follow him. Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would not only give them power to forgive, but help them live out the resurrection in their own lives. Even though we weren’t among Jesus’ first disciples, we are among those blessed enough to have “come to believe” through their legacy, thanks to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who still helps us know if it’s really Jesus.

This past week our nation remembered the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4th 50 years ago. He was someone who made the resurrection of Jesus real through his ministry and his work for the civil rights of all people. He taught the way of non-violence and love for one’s enemies. Like Jesus before him, Dr. King wasn’t after winners and losers, victory for some and defeat for others. He was seeking the transformation of everyone into the “beloved community” that God created us for, where people live in communion and unity with God and each other and every person is treated with dignity and respect.

The beloved community is what Jesus lived and died and rose again to create. The beloved community reflects his presence and makes his resurrection real for us and for others. As Jesus did, it leads with peace. The “beloved community” is present whenever love overcomes fear and penetrates the barriers between us and God and with each other. It’s where we can reveal our scars, forgive and be forgiven. The Holy Spirit makes all of this possible, revealing the resurrected Christ and helping us to live into his resurrection with every hope of our own.

Sadly, Matt Parziale didn’t make the cutoff at the Masters this week, but it was still a dream come true. He was there with his dad as his caddy. He played a practice round with Tiger Woods, who complimented him on his game. On Thursday Matt seemed to freeze and couldn’t play his best golf. But Matt’s real life is back home in Brockton, Massachusetts, where he cares for the people who live there and helps them at some of the worst times of their lives. That’s where the resurrection of Jesus Christ becomes real for him, just as it does for us – in those times and places where people are afraid and broken, and old barriers and divisions no longer matter. All that matters is love, letting people know they are not alone.

The beloved community isn’t bound by geography, race, class or religion. It’s created by the Holy Spirit through the healing, reconciliation and forgiveness that happens in and through the resurrection of Christ and the beloved community that he makes real and fulfills all our dreams. Amen.