My cousin, who serves in the military, and we pray for him every week—Jeff Woodard—has had a dream for many years, to be a secret agent for the military. And now he is—doing secret work for the military wherever he’s sent.
This week we’ve also heard a lot about the work of the FBI agents who jumped into action after this past week’s tragic and disheartening bombing in Boston.
The homemade bombs that caused the deaths and horrible injuries at the Boston Marathon remind us that evil is still alive and well in this world.
And here we are celebrating in this Easter season the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But this past week’s events make us wonder.
In the end, what difference has the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ really made in this world where violence and mayhem seem to be inevitable?
As Christians, we believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is healing and redemptive and continually brings new life, not only to us as individuals, but also to the entire universe.
Now if we really believe this good news, that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is healing and redemptive and brings new life, then we too are agents.
We are Agents of the Resurrection! Our work is to bring Christ’s healing and redemptive love and new life to the whole world. Our work is vital for the well being of the world, and it is not secret work, but work that makes Christ’s healing and redemptive love visible and real in our hurting world which is still subject to evil and death.
The risen Lord gave his disciples, and gives us, the responsibility of carrying on his redemptive, healing work in the world because he is no longer physically present to do it himself.
This week’s scriptures provide us with some excellent examples of how we are to carry out our responsibilities as Agents of the Resurrection.
If we want to be Agents of Resurrection in this world, the first thing is to get our priorities straight and put God first in our lives.
The 23rd Psalm describes the life of a person who wants nothing except God, a person who puts God first, and realizes that everything else in life flows out of wanting for nothing but God.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus succinctly describes the people who put God first.
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”
We Agents of the Resurrection listen for God’s voice, and then we follow that voice where it leads us, knowing that God, the good shepherd, is with us. You might say that an essential part of our equipment works like a GPS, a Global Positioning System—only our equipment is God’s Positioning System, that is, God’s voice directing us and leading us.
(An aside here. How do we know when what we are hearing is God’s voice? If what we’re called to do is in line with Christ’s healing, redemptive love, then chances are, God is directing us. If what we hear pulls us in the direction of evil and death dealing actions, then run the other way.)
In Acts today, we heard a story about Peter, who is an Agent of the Resurrection, putting this special God’s Positioning System to work.
Distraught disciples in Joppa seek Peter out and beg him to come with them to Joppa without delay. The Christians in Joppa are devastated over the death of Dorcas, one of their leaders. And since Peter is one of the leaders of the church, they want Peter with them in this hard time.
When Peter arrives and goes up to the room full of mourners where Dorcas is laid out, Luke tells us that “Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed.”
Peter’s example in this situation reminds us that if we are God’s agents of healing and resurrection in this world, then we need to take time to pray before we do anything else. To pray is to put God’s Positioning System to work. Prayer helps us to know where God is leading us and what we are to do when we get to the place God is sending us.
Many of us are very busy doing good things for others all the time. And Peter could have ended up being very busy offering comfort and counsel to the mourners without taking the time to pray. But Peter cleared his mind from all of the distractions, even the distraction of doing good and offering comfort to the mourners. Once he was alone, he knelt down and prayed, and ended up resurrecting Dorcas.
Time spent with God in prayer is an essential activity for those of us who are called to be God’s Agents of the Resurrection for those around us. Through prayer, we make ourselves available to God so that God can use us for God’s healing and restoring work in this world.
We may not end up resurrecting anyone from the dead, but God’s love and healing power will become visible through us if we spend time in prayer before we take action.
Now going back to the gospel, Jesus says that he gives those who follow him eternal life and that they will never perish.
Once we decide to become Agents of the Resurrection and want for nothing but God, and then listen for God’s voice through prayer, we come to see that heaven, eternal life, begins here and now.
And the reading from Revelation, with its powerful description of those who have followed Jesus in this lifetime now before God’s heavenly throne, reminds us that part of being Agents of the Resurrection is to be people of praise.
We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to praise God. When we think about the fact that God pursues us with goodness and mercy all the days our lives, we can’t help but praise God, starting here and now!
I love the last verse of Psalm 23. This verse assures us that God pursues us with goodness and mercy all the days of our lives.
Now imagine walking as if you knew God’s goodness and mercy were not only pursuing you, but also springing up behind you with every step you took–God’s goodness and mercy springing up as healing gifts for those who walk with us and who come after us when we follow Jesus and serve as God’s Agents of the Resurrection.
So here’s the take home from today’s scriptures—to be powerful agents of God’s resurrection for the world—a recap of the guidance our lectionary passages provide for us today.
First, want for nothing but God.
Second, putting away all distractions, spend some time in prayer with God each day, listening for God’s voice, and soaking up God’s power. Use God’s Positioning System.
Third, live as people of praise.
And finally, as we walk through our days knowing that God desires to pour out goodness and mercy on us, we then do all we can to share God’s goodness and mercy with the world as followers of our risen Lord and as Agents of the Resurrection.
So, in the end, what difference has the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ really made in this world where violence seems to be inevitable?
How we live as followers of our risen Lord and Savior makes the difference–God’s mercy and goodness, God’s healing and redemptive love, poured out through us.
Amen.