Back in the 1960s Pierre Berton was commissioned by the Anglican Church of Canada to critically assess the state of the church. The result was his 1965 book “The Comfortable Pew” in which he criticized the church for being overly concerned with its own comfort and compromising core Christian ethics to maintain the social status quo. Although the book is now over 60 years old, it is still considered an insightful, controversial study of institutional religion with some continuing to debate about the extent to which anything has actually changed.
Underlying such critiques are important questions about faith. What should it look like? How should it be embodied? What should be its priorities? Who should be its focus? Over the Easter season, the 7 weeks after Easter, we will hear stories of how the disciples and others sought to answer these questions and consider for ourselves what we might learn from them.
So, let’s start at the beginning, the first day, the day of resurrection. How does the day start? What did we hear last week? (Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb, finds it empty, tells Peter and John who go and find it empty and then Mary has an encounter with Jesus and tells the disciples about it). How does the day end based on what we just heard? (Jesus reveals himself to most of the group and sends them out). Can we imagine the feelings and reactions of the group at that time? What would they do with this experience? It makes sense that they needed time to process the information, talk about it, figure out what to do next.
A week later (Jesus’) disciples were again in the house,…
We often focus on the part in this story where Thomas gets an experience with Jesus and that is important. It is also interesting to note that the disciples have been sitting with their experience for a week now even though Jesus has said to them: As the Father has sent me, so I send you. They are still in the house. There is no sense they have gone out anywhere or done anything. What do you think is stopping them at this point?
Fear? Uncertainty? Doubt – their own, or not knowing what to do when someone else (like Thomas) doubts?
This seems fair for a time. At what point, however, does the delay become complacency? When does their behaviour become more like the ‘comfortable pew’? By this point, the disciples would constitute a family of faith that would affirm who they are and what they believe. They could gather comfortably together and talk about Jesus amongst themselves in a way that would feel safe. They could share what they know and remind each other about how much God loves them time and time again. They could create something very meaningful based on their shared experiences without having to face the discomfort of challenging the status quo. What would have happened if the disciples had chosen this path? (The Christian Church as we know it would not exist.)
We need the disciples to have the courage to be sent, to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News. Imagine all of the lives that have been transformed because the disciples decided that their experience of Jesus wasn’t meant only for them. Consider the extent to which seeds were planted, and new life was nurtured because those who heard the Good News spread the word. We can celebrate the many blessings that have been shared across generations because people have realised that faith is more than the comfortable pew.
We are indebted to the disciples because they had the courage to share their God-given gifts. We can continue to learn from their willingness to respond in earnest to Jesus’ invitation: As the Father has sent me, so I send you. To what extent do we make a difference when we also choose to embody faith beyond the comfortable pew, sharing our God-given gifts with the world? How many lives are touched by the ministry we do? How many seeds do we plant and nurture? How many blessings do we share? How important is it for us as people of faith to continually choose to respond in earnest to Jesus’ invitation: As the Father has sent me, so I send you?
May we too choose to use the wisdom, knowledge, and gifts God has given us to perpetually go forth and proclaim the Good News in our world today. This we pray as we sing: (VT) 582 My Love Colours Outside the Lines
