April 3, 2005

Mindekirken, April 3, 2005
Pastor Jens Arne Dale

Recently we have heard about shooting tragedies where innocent people have been killed. I think of what happened at Red Lake High School in northern Minnesota and the three people who were shot in an Atlanta court house in the middle of March. It’s difficult to understand why people can do such gruesome things.

The shooting tragedy in Atlanta got a special epilogue. The shooting suspect, Brian Nichols, took a random woman hostage in her suburban apartment in Atlanta. Ashley Smith’s story was aired on all the major TV channels. It was a moving story about how she managed to gain the confidence of the man who kept her hostage. He was aware that he had ruined the lives of other people, and that he was about to ruin his own life as well.

Look at me, look at my eyes. I am already dead, he said. Ashley managed to communicate to him that his life was not hopeless even in this situation. She has gone through difficult times herself, among other things she lost her husband four years ago. As hostage she shared her faith with Brian, read from the Bible and The Purpose Driven Life. I am reading Rich Warren’s book myself now, and I find it easy to understand why it has sold 20 million copies. The book answers questions like:

Ashley communicated that God is able to overcome evil with good. We are created by God, we are loved by him, there is a purpose with our lives. Brian, who had regarded his life as hopeless, began to take courage. Ashley told: He said he thought that I was an angel sent from God. And that I was his sister and he was my brother in Christ. And that he was lost and God led him right to me to tell him that he had hurt a lot of people…A bit later Ashley said: You know, your miracle could be that you need to be caught for this. You need to go to prison and you need to share the word of God with them, with all the prisoners there.

I see a similarity between Brian and the criminal on the cross. Both were murderers who could see no hope for their lives. But Christ gave light in the deepest darkness. Jesus said to the criminal: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise. A similar message gave hope to Brian. Forgiveness, hope and eternal life are God’s gifts, and they are given for free to anyone, also the one who might have ruined things for himself or others. Through the love of God, a human may be able to love himself, too.

Today we read about the disciples who had locked themselves in for fear of the Jews. They were afraid to be killed as Jesus had been. Ashley had also been locked up and had good reason to fear for her own life. But she experienced that God was present in that threatening situation. The disciples also experienced that Jesus came. He greeted them with peace, this word which in Hebrew contains the fullness of God’s blessing, shalom. Then he showed them his wound-marked hands and his side. By that they would understand that it was he, and that he was risen from the dead.

Our faith is not based on pious wishes, but historical facts. It’s not the strength of our faith which is decisive, but the realities behind it. Jesus lives, and that fact changes everything. The disciples lived 2000 years before The Purpose Drives Life was written, but they surely got to know what would be the purpose of their lives: As the father has sent me, so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them; Receive The Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Why do we live? What is the purpose of our lives? Jesus' resurrection gives us the answer to these questions. We are created by God to live for him. We are commissioned by Jesus himself to convey the peace of God and forgiveness in a world which is characterized by so much evil. Our lives are not insignificant. God has made himself dependent on us to share life and hope in a world of death. Don’t think too modestly about yourself. God has called us to the greatest task of all: To pass on the joyful message of Easter which still has the power to transform the lives of people today.

It worked for Thomas as well, he who was absent the first time Jesus came. He doubted that Jesus was risen, but he remained in the fellowship. Maybe that is an example for us; to be present in the Christian fellowship where the word of God is preached. Then Jesus may come near and meet also us who so often are dragged between faith and doubt.

Thomas was convinced. He fell down before Jesus and said: My Lord and my God! Thomas’ doubt didn’t make the resurrection a half truth. But he needed to get a personal encounter with the resurrected. And he got it!

Jesus lives! The joyful Easter message is even today the limit shaking and decisive difference for our lives today. Those innocent who were killed at Red Lake High School and in Atlanta will not return. The fact that Jesus himself was killed tells us something about God’s presence where people are suffering and dying. But the cross means so much, much more than that. By freely willing to give his life on the cross, Jesus surrendered evil and death. The cross was not a defeat, but a triumph. Jesus stood up to a full victory and he comes to us with forgiveness, new life, hope and future.

Glory be to God, the Father, Son and The Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716