Following Jesus after Easter

Following Jesus after Easter

I am still haunted by a long conversation I had with a man who was a member of one of my early congregations. He told me that one evening, returning from a night of poker with pals, he had a stunning vision of the presence of the risen Christ. Christ appeared to him undeniably, vividly.

Yet though this event shook him and stirred him deeply, in ten years he had never told anyone about it before he told me, his pastor. I pressed him on his silence. Was he embarrassed? Was he fearful that others would mock him or fail to believe that this had happened to him?

“No,” he explained, “the reason why I told no one was I was too afraid that it was true. And if it’s true that Jesus was really real, that he had come personally to me, what then? I’d have to change my whole life. I’d have to become some kind of radical or something. And I love my wife and family and was scared I’d have to change, to be somebody else, and destroy my family, if the vision was real.”

That conversation reminded me that there are all sorts of reasons for disbelieving the resurrection of crucified Jesus, reasons that have nothing to do with our being modern, scientific, critical people.

Theologian Jurgen Moltmann says that a major reason for disbelieving in the truth of the resurrection is that, if the resurrection is true, then we cannot live as we previously have lived.  We must change or be out of step with the way the world really is.  If the world is not in the grip of death and death-dealers, how then shall we live?

William H. Willimon
-  from The Best of Will Willimon, (Abingdon Press, 2012)

By: William H. Willimon On 4/16/2012
Topics: Weekly Message from the Conference

Comments

1. John Rhem wrote on 4/16/2012 12:58:11 PM
Well, at least you didn't wait to tell this story until Father's Day.
2. Joe Acker wrote on 4/16/2012 1:07:16 PM
As always, thought provoking. At the heart of his fear is also doubt. My experience with doubt is as follows; there is a direct coorelation between unconfessed sin and doubt and a direct coorelation between forgiveness and deminished doubt.
3. Billy brown wrote on 4/20/2012 5:30:46 PM
I think the major reason for disbelief in the resurrection is because of the lack of evidence. But when someone repents and turns towards God even though their own doubts and logic would suggest otherwise is quite compelling.
4. Billy Weems wrote on 4/21/2012 9:04:04 PM
Bishop, One thing that sticks out to me is this: No one can meet the Risen Savior and remain the same. To honestly encounter the Risen Jesus means that our lives will be changed. If we accept the encounter as real (valid) then NOTHING can ever be the same again. We will be changed fro eternity! Blessings.