This Is No Ghost Story

Devotionals This Is No Ghost Story 4/8/2024 - by: Julie Britton - Starting With Scripture Share Julie Payne Britton is a Member-in-Discernment in the Franklin Association of the SNEUCC. On this particular Sunday, she will sit for her Ecclesiastical Council at Second Congregational Church in Greenfield, MA. The rest of the time, she serves as Pastoral Assistant at Hadwen Park Congregational Church in Worcester, MA. Scripture: Luke 24:36b-48 (NSRVUE) While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Yet for all their joy they were still disbelieving and wondering, and he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Reflection: This Is No Ghost Story... I have to admit – the beginning of this passage makes me laugh. I’m instantly transported to one muggy summer night when I was 10. Earlier that day, my father remarried and at any second, he and my new stepmother would walk down the driveway following their honeymoon supper. (I suppose that’s all you get when your newly blended family includes 4 pre-teens.) While they dined down the street, my new siblings and I strung a sloping clothesline from the garage’s eave to the front door and transformed an upside-down straw broom, tattered sheet, and wire clothes-hanger into a fearsome ghost. The moment they approached, we would release the ghost who would slide down the clothesline, giving them a funny little fright. Meg, the oldest amongst us, held the ghost steady. Tom, the youngest, was the lookout. Josh and I were tasked with making scary ghost sounds as our contraption whizzed through the air towards our parents. Crowding in the shadows as we waited, Tom started giggling. I bit the inner lining of my cheeks but couldn’t help it – I cracked up too. Soon Josh was laughing so hard he snorted, which made me and Tom laugh even harder. Meg shushed us sternly, which of course backfired. Soon all four of us were laughing so hard we didn’t even notice our parents’ arrival until we heard my dad say, “WHAT IS GOING ON UP THERE?!?!” The Jesus of our text is no more a ghost than my childhood DIY apparition. He was no spooky specter, no ethereal emanation. He was raised from the dead with body intact, recognizable by his wounds and by his hunger for a good piece of broiled fish. And this makes all the difference. Noting those wounds, disability theologian Kimberly Anne Willis says: "The disabled God embodies pure and complete Emmanuel – God with us. In the midst of extreme human pain and suffering, God is physically broken, but never defeated… Disability and death do not prevent Jesus from manifesting his authentic self and becoming who he was called to be."[1] Showing us that neither woundedness nor hunger is inconsistent with resurrection, salvation or perfection, Jesus validates our embodiment and affirms that all bodies are welcome at God’s table. This matters, of course, because the bodies we inhabit – finite, fragile, and marked by our social location and intersecting identities – shape our experience and impact our experience of the Divine. For too long, we’ve abandoned our bodies, forgetting they reflect God’s mystery and marvel – no matter their shape or size or form or ability or disability or race or gender or sexual or gender identity. Or worse! We’ve believed old theologies that preach a (false) binary between Spirit and Flesh. How much we miss when we do not remember that all bodies inhabit the imago dei! And how much we lose when we try to live as though our bodies do not matter! This is no ghost story, as Jesus said so long ago. Recognizing Jesus’ flesh and bone body allows the disciples to witness to his message. May the same be true for all of us. [1] Kimberly Anne Willis, “Claiming the “Fearsome Possibility: Toward a Contextual Christology of Disability,” Gender, Ethnicity, and Religion: Views from the Other Side, edited by Rosemary Radford Reuther, (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2012), 224. PRAYER Holy Presence, you are as close as our heartbeat and as expansive as the early spring sky. We give thanks for that broken body of yours – the one that revealed the wonderous mystery of life everlasting. We seek to recognize you rising in our lives, our churches, and our world. Help us come home to ourselves and our bodies so that we can better witness your glory. Amen. New Prayer Requests: We ask churches and church leaders to join us in the following prayers either by sharing them during worship, printing them in bulletins, or sharing them in some other way. To add your prayer to a future edition of this newsletter, please contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane at cochranem@sneucc.org. Prayers of Intercession: For the people of Ukraine and the Middle East whose lives continue to be shattered by war, as well as the many landscapes that are currently embroiled in conflicts. (Read A Call for Peace) For those grieving or suffering due to the ~4,100 gun violence deaths that happened in the US since the start of the year. For the friends and family of The Rev. Carol A. Granger who passed away on March 12, 2024. Rev. Granger held Exempt Ordained Ministerial Standing in the Central MA Association and served churches in Pittsfield, ME and Clinton, MA. Prayers of Joy and Thanksgiving: For those giving away free Bibles. For those who offer a voice when they see injustice. For opportunities to meet and discuss how to help grow the church. For opportunities to regroup, including praying together. (You are invited to participate in Pause for Prayer, Wednesdays @ 12:30, Live on Facebook. Add your prayers through the chat feature, and recordings can be found on the SNEUCC Facebook page or our webpage.) This Week in History: April 10, 1866 (158 years ago): The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in response to the witness of horrors inflicted on animals, and has since been at the forefront of animal rescue and protection. [History] “Study the past if you would define the future.” — Confucius j.britton photo.jpg Julie Britton Julie Payne Britton is a Member in Discernment in the Franklin Association of the SNEUCC and Pastoral Assistant at Hadwen Park Congregational Church in Worcester, MA.