On the Move

One of my favorite children's/adult stories is the Chronicles of Narnia. I didn't read these books by CS Lewis until my own children were ready and Esther and I read the first one together, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In this book the Christ figure is a great lion, named Aslan. When four children from our world arrive in Narnia, a mythical land, there is great trouble. The evil White Witch has control of the land and it forever winter and never Christmas. The witch controls the land by fear and turns her enemies to stone. But when the children arrive there is hope in the air that the long siege of terror is almost over. The whispered rumor is flying ­ that Aslan is "on the move". Aslan, who has not been in the land of Narnia for several generations, is coming back and may already have landed. The children go on to join forces with this mysterious powerful beast who is on the move ahead of them. I want to introduce this concept as the nature of Jesus Christ in our own world. A connection I am fairly certain CS Lewis fully intended for us to make. Jesus Christ, since the resurrection is "on the move".

For our Bible Study on Tuesdays Harriott prepared a parallel Bible. She took the Passion story from each of the four gospels so we could read them together, showing how in many places they are the same, and in many places different. Mark's gospel was the first one written, and it's clear that Matthew and Luke follow Mark in many ways. But John's is very different. We discovered that when it comes to the resurrection stories, all four gospels tell a different story. Mark's 16th chapter, where he tells his version of the resurrection appearances, is one of the most hotly contested parts of the Bible. The problem is, the original manuscripts of Mark end at verse 8, as do most Bible's today. However, the other gospels include various resurrection stories that Mark does not. Mark's is very simple. Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Salome bring spices to the tomb. It is the day after the Sabbath and they want to properly prepare the body for burial. They find the stone rolled away and a young man sitting on the right side dressed in white. He says, "Do not be amazed, you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, he is risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go; tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, as he told you." Then they run from the tomb and are afraid. And that's the end of Mark's account. The end. The credits roll. Mark, the oldest and original of the four gospels has no resurrection appearances. Now this was not acceptable to some Christians in the Middle Ages, and they took it upon themselves to add a longer ending to Mark, verses 9-20. The additional verses sum up the various resurrection stories from the other gospels. But the original Mark did not mention the other stories. Mark ended at the tomb. Why did he do that? Were the other verses lost? Or maybe Mark wanted to leave it that way, to leave it open. Each reader is thus invited to look for Jesus who is not in the tomb. The young man who we assume is an angel, tells us that Jesus in "on the move"­ heading toward Galilee ahead of the disciples. And we are all invited to look for him, not just the disciples, not just a select few, but everyone.

There are other gospels besides the four that the Council of Nicea decided to include in our present Bible. The Gospel of Thomas, for example was discovered in an Egyptian cave and was written around 140 AD. It parallels the other Gospels at many points, but some sayings are new. In saying 77, Jesus says, "I am the light which is over everything. I am the all: (from me) the all has gone forth and to me the all has returned. Split wood: I am there. Lift up a stone and you will find me." Another saying number 111 reads, "His disciples said to him, on what day does the Kingdom come? Jesus said, 'It does not come when it is expected. They will not say, lo, here or lo, there, But the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.'"

A theme is emerging here of the world full of the presence of the risen Christ, a world full of light. It has been said that Christianity is one of the true mystical religions of the world. Mystical is defined in Webster's dictionary "of or relating to an intimate knowledge of God or direct communion with God". Translation, mystical means a personal experience of meeting or communing with God. Paul of Tarsus, whose letters are the oldest part of our New Testament, tells of his own mystical experience of meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road. He doesn't mention the Gospel versions of the empty tomb. Instead he refers to numerous people meeting the risen Christ. He refers to one instance where 500 people experienced the risen Christ at the same time.

When you think about it, we are all mystics. We base our faith on personal experience, not on believing the Gospel stories of the resurrection. There are literally millions of personal stories people tell of meeting Christ: of healings, of the power of prayer, of personal transformation, of meeting Christ in the stranger, of dreams and visions. A huge body of material, documented and undocumented of proof and legend that Jesus is alive after his death and is "one the move".

Maybe Mark knew what he was doing. He knew that faith is not based on believing a doctrine. The question Easter asks of us is not; "Do you believe in the doctrine of the resurrection?" The question Mark's Gospel asks is "Have you encountered the risen Christ?" We've put a lot of emphasis in Christianity on belief. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But I wonder how many people have really been able to do that. To believe 50 impossible things before breakfast as the White Queen does in Alice through the Looking Glass. We trust our own experience or that of people close to us.

In a play about the crucifixion by an author I can't remember, a slave of Pontius Pilate's wife comes to her and says that he heard that Jesus rose from the dead. Pilate's wife is amazed and asks the slave, "Do you believe that he has risen?" The slave answers "Yes". "Where then is Jesus now that he's risen?" she asks skeptically? "He is," the slave answers, "loose in the world". That's my understanding of the risen Christ. Jesus is "loose in the world". Jesus the Christ is "on the move". He is going on before you into Galilee and you will encounter him...² You and me, too, all of us, may encounter him, in places we never expect: in prayer, in the still small voice, in nature, in people, in dreams, in music, in tears, in the least of these my brothers and sisters, split wood, he is there: we will encounter him.

I guess that is why I had Sue read that Inuit song as part of the readings. For when I hear it I think of God's Kingdom, spread over the world, of the light of God loose in the world, of Jesus on the move. I remember my small adventures, my fears, the small ones that seemed so big. All the vital things I had to reach and to get. But there is only one great thing, the only thing. To live to see the great day that dawns and the light that fills the world.

2650 Table Mesa Drive
Boulder, Colorado 80303
303/499-9119

An Open and Affirming Congregation
The Rev. Pete Terpenning, Pastor