May 1, 2011 | Second Sunday of Easter Year A
I'll be the first to confess that I have missed a fair number of popular culture memes. I try to stay on top of things, but I'm often pretty much behind the curve. So I was late, for example, on vampires. I read one of Anne Rice's books, but didn't really get the appeal. And I never got to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer until after the series was over. I fell in love with it and ended up buying it on DVD. And although some of my online friends were talking about zombies a couple of years ago, and sending pictures of the makeup and costumes they been putting together for zombie parties, I didn't get it.
Apparently, zombies have had a resurgence in popular culture in recent years. I'd seen hints. I'd seen a hint of it in a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A sort of "Mr. Darcy meets the undead" thing. Now if you are a fan of Jane Austin and zombies, it sounds like it's just the ticket. I didn't quite get the fullness of the zombie metaphor, however, until last Sunday. Last Sunday, Easter, I was looking at my Facebook feed in the evening when I ran across a status update from a friend of mine who said "I have to admit, Easter kind of freaks me out. No offense, but the whole Zombie Jesus thing is really freaky to those of us on the outside. Just so you know. I sort of understand the idea, but, um, Zombie Jesus, you know?"
Now I try not to be shocked by references to things like "Zombie Jesus." I try not to be offended by or surprised by what people who do not share my faith might come up with to talk about it. I realize that the zeal of many of my fellow Christians has made some of those who do not yet believe, or those who once believed but no longer do, nervous about exploring and professing belief. They have experienced the narrowness and judgment of others in the name of Christianity, and it has turned them off to and sometimes made them hostile to exploration of any religious belief.
So Zombie Jesus becomes a way of trying to get a handle on what some people explain as the foundation of their Christian faith and as the basis for the celebration of Easter. It becomes a defense mechanism, a way to say "I don't really understand what you're talking about in this resurrection thing, but I heard about zombies, I saw a movie, or I read a book, so the Resurrection is like Jesus was a zombie right? He came back from the dead? That's what zombies do." And to them one is as fictional as the other.
It's always amazing what happens while we are out. I was out, apparently, of popular culture. Apparently I missed, starting about fifteen years ago, the resurgence of the zombie. It's at such a state that there is even now a course in zombies as part of a new minor in popular culture at the University of Baltimore. One might almost say, "Everyone's talking about it."
While Thomas was out, something amazing happened among his friends. The risen Christ appeared to them in a locked upper room. When they told Thomas about it, he expressed surprise and skepticism. He wasn't quite ready to believe that this had happened. He was a little behind the curve. And who wouldn't be? This was strange, strange stuff. We look at it now through the lens of history, and is still a little strange to us. Imagine how strange it must have seemed to Thomas.
So it's understandable that Thomas wants some proof. It's understandable that Thomas says "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." I understand that. Thomas hears an incredible story. Why would he not want to put off believing until he could see and experience the tangible evidence? The fact is, of course, that a week later when Jesus comes and stands among them again, Thomas no longer needs to touch him. Jesus invites the touch. Basically, Jesus says, "Do what you need to do to understand that this is real."
We call Thomas "Doubting Thomas." We should call him "Believing Thomas." Thomas believes almost sooner than anyone else. The disciples have spent time running back and forth, or sitting around being stunned. The people who have believed almost instantly have been Mary Magdalene and Thomas. Theirs is the kind of faith that we are called upon to emulate. In the account of Easter from the Gospel of John, Mary doesn't recognize Jesus until he speaks to her. In this account, Thomas is not ready to believe in the resurrection until he sees it.
There is a reason these stories have been given to us in this way. They help us to find our own faith. They help us to understand the ways in which belief can come to us. And they help us to see that we know Jesus best by his presence with us.
We will always have people to convince. We will always have people who need to be shown. Right now, their numbers are legion. Right now we can expect in this country, according to studies, 18% of the population to be in church, in any house of worship, on any kind of a regular basis. 82% of people are not in church on a regular basis. That's a lot of people that we can reach. A lot of those people will be like my friend who doesn't understand the Resurrection, and only knows how to frame it as people believing in Zombie Jesus. We have a choice about how we will respond to that.
That means we can choose to get offended. We can choose to say, "Boy, no one would pick on Jews or Muslims or Buddhists that way." And we might be right. We would also have closed off an avenue of communication. We would've missed an opportunity to share, with respect, what we have come to believe. Even if we share it in halting words, in doubt, in uncertainty.
We don't need to have answers when we talk about faith. One of the great powerful things is that we can share our questions. And we can ask people to share their questions with us. We can be curious about their questions. We can be curious about who they think we are as believers. We can be curious about what they think belief is supposed to look like. We can be curious about their experience. And from that curiosity, we can know them in a different way. If we can be curious about others, truly curious, we can open and invite a dialogue. And in that dialogue, we can share in a different way. We can be invitational. We can be loving. We can spread a gospel that is inclusive, forgiving, grace-filled, and hopeful.
When I saw my friend's comment on Facebook last Sunday night, I knew I wanted to respond to it. It took me a while to compose the two sentences of my response because I didn't want to sound judgmental. I didn't want to sound narrow. I didn't want to sound all high and mighty and defensive. I wanted to say who I was and what I thought, but I wanted to do it in a way that respected her. That may have come through. I hope it did. I do know that what happened was that over the next two and a half hours, there were fifty-four comments on my friend's status update. A group of people had a lively discussion about the resurrection, about Christians, about faith and doubt, and everybody respected each other. I don't know if we convinced anyone of anything. But I know we had the discussion. Opportunities to share the story of Jesus occur in unexpected places and that unexpected times. When we are alert, when we have our curiosity muscles flexed, openings and opportunities abound.
We are called to be witnesses today. We are called to share the story of Jesus. We are called to proclaim the joy of the resurrection and what it means for life and hope. We are called and we are strengthened for this call when we come to the table, when we are fed by Jesus, and when in bread and wine and shared community we know again the presence of the risen Christ.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
1 comment:
Well said!
Post a Comment