Thought for the Week

I did smile when I read …

Nero: This is the end of Christianity.

Diocletian: This is the end of Christianity.

Julian: This is the end of Christianity.

Umayyad Caliphate: This is the end of Christianity.

Ottoman Empire: This is the end of Christianity.

Tokugawa Shogunate: This is the end of Christianity.

USSR: This is the end of Christianity.

‘Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave’ (G K Chesterton, ‘The everlasting Man’).

Now, the pedant in me might quibble with historical details; the historian in me might point out the longevity of other religions or the persecutions of religious minorities Christians have done when in power; the churchman in me might bemoan the self destructive behaviour of the Christian Church in today’s world which fragments Christianity and seems to almost bring about Christianity’s own demise BUT there is no getting past the proclamation about an empty tomb and there is no credible historical evidence brought by the 1^st century world against the followers of Jesus who said – and lived – accordingly – “Christ is risen!”.

For all the talk of comparative religions – our human mythologies enacted – what is simply ignored, it seems to me, is that the account of Jesus’ death and resurrection in a historical time and place – what has led to it and what flows from it – which brings about an encounter with Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I’m not talking about people meeting themselves, so to speak, intellectually or psychologically and deciding if one was to be religious then Christianity is the best one to follow. Rather there is in Christianity a mystery whereby meeting Jesus – whether one grows up in the Faith or one comes to the Faith later in life – is about ‘receiving’ Jesus rather than ‘grabbing hold of’ Jesus; being introduced to Jesus rather than deciding he exists. And as we grow this makes sense to us because Jesus’ grave is empty. Jesus is with us now through words, water, bread and wine, through faith. What Jesus did on the cross for us is ours and confirmed by his empty tomb because he is calling us, he holding onto us, he is with us. (That’s why Baptism is so precious.)

And should we live in a time and place where the world itself attacks Christianity, more so than our own doubts and fears and sins, or when death is all around, then Jesus’ disciples live in the truth that death does not have the last word with Jesus! No one wants hard times personally, for their family, for the wider community, even for the world but should they come for Jesus’ followers we can hear Jesus say (just before his arrest), “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 ESV). And so with both a theological and historical long term view, we can face each day with a confidence that Jesus knows the way!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

GS