The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. Psalms 65:12-13 NRSV
For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12 NRSV
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6 NRSV
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4 NRSV
This event for me speaks of the deeper reality of creation and parallels the transfiguration narrative of Jesus: this was the revelation of the church as it is. In this narrative we see the true nature of the church revealed.
As a Christian, I see in scripture a hidden reality, a reality where Jesus walks on water, calms the storm, feeds thousands, and raises Lazarus from the dead. It is a created reality where, in the life of Jesus, time is wrapped up in the event of the cross. A reality where resurrection brings the future into the present. This reality is not only the reality of spacetime but the reality of kingdoms.
There are three kingdoms that spring to mind, in addition to the kingdom of heaven, there is the kingdom of this world, or the kingdom of me, and the kingdom of Satan.
Each kingdom bends and forms the universe, each held in God. The Kingdom of heaven brings light, Satan darkness. In the kingdom of this Earth, the kingdom of me, gravity, chance and time, prayer, and action operate.
And in Jesus, we see mystery revealed as the kingdom of heaven breaks through. At Pentecost, the kingdom is revealed and shakes the ground and breaths like a wind, appearing as tongues of flame on each follower of the risen Jesus.
What is revealed is the current reality. The church is the body of Christ, and Pentecost transfigures the little children; followers of Jesus. This inauguration, and every breakthrough of the Kingdom of God in our lives, opens our eyes to the purpose we have, to love God and one another, not to worry, to forgive and love our enemies. We are empowered to obey the words of Jesus and to love and serve the world.
The kingdom of God always pervades and governs the whole of the physical universe – parts of planet earth occupied by humans and other personal beings. p 26
God’s own “kingdom,” or “rule,” is the range of his effective will, where what he wants done is done. The person of God himself and the action of his will are the organizing principles of his kingdom, but everything that obeys those principles, whether by nature or by choice, is within his kingdom…. We have an invitation to be a part of it, but if we refuse, we only hurt ourselves. p 25
Creation Untamed: The Bible, God, and Natural Disasters, by Terence E. Fretheim
That human sins, including the sins of violence, have consequences, including violence (see Gen. 6:11-13), is testimony to a functioning of the moral order, and this reality can be named the “judgment” of God.”
More than Matter, by Keith Ward
The material universe is perhaps more like an organism than like a repetitive machine. Whereas an older generation of scientists and philosophers thought the universe was like a watch, many now regard the universe as more like a large organism. It grows and develops, and its first stages can only be properly understood when its completely developed state is perceived.” … it is a basic mistake of reductive materialism to try to explain everything in terms of its simplest elements–as though a large enough group of such simple elements just had to be mixed up at random for a long time, and would then produce brains, thoughts, and the theory or relativity.” (Keith Ward, More than Matter, p. 83-84)
Yes, really on the cross, Jesus asks his Father to forgive those who had put him on the cross, as they did not know what they had done. And, the first martyr, Stephen is dragged out of the city and stoned by the leaders and asks the same, though they knew exactly what they had done. This is the context of our reading of scripture and our knowing Jesus; our ideas of justice and mercy are turned on their head, redeemed.
While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died. Acts 7:59-60 NRSV
This gives us confidence to have the same perspective.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:2-5 NRSV
In Christ, we are gathered priests of redemption. Our purpose is to redeem, and in Jesus live a way of truth that is found in knowing Jesus: live redeemed and redeem. We are freed from condemnation and together, serve one another. The love we show, draws people to God.
Jesus enables us. When Thomas and Philip question Jesus about how they are to know this way and see God, he answers,
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. John 14:10-14 NRSV
“They stood still,..” seems so poignant. It’s a phrase pregnant with sorrow.
And then in verse 19,
Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, Luke 24:18-19 NRSV
“What things?” Is this Jesus being playful? The mood is so sombre, but soon, there will be joy. Jesus wants to hear them, to know their side of the story, maybe.
Finally verse 25,
Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Luke 24:25 NRSV
This, for me, is where the passage hits home. How am I hearing this, as a rebuke or an encouragement? Is this angry Jesus, shaming the hapless couple with a rebuke? It doesn’t say rebuke, so could it be friendly Jesus with a big smile on his face, wondering at their demeanour as he himself experiences the joy of resurrection? He really wanted them to see for themselves, to know for themselves… as one of our gathering said: all the authorities had turned on the one they loved, all their religious turned on their precious friend and he had died and not only that his body had gone.
Their hearts warmed at what Jesus showed them, and he walked on, deity in person, but they got him to stay, and the story resolves in bread and wine. A simple meal reveals and replaces all they have lost. The mystery is, it does it again and again; it does it today.
The simple message preached by the women to the followers, He is risen! Becomes a universal call in the mouth of Peter,
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Acts 10:34-35 NRSV
Peter is taking up his cross. He takes the message to the Roman authorities and boldly denies the Lordship of the pretender, Ceaser.
That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:37-38 NRSV
Peter takes up his cross and exposes the authority of Herod, who had John slaughtered and handed Jesus over to the capricious, hate-fuelled bully Pilot, the Roman authority, as having no power, faced with the power of Jesus.
We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. Acts 10:39-41 NRSV
The simple fisherman, Peter, takes up his cross and speaks truth to the gatekeepers of the faith. Those chosen as priests to the nations failed their calling and used violence to protect their power.
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Acts 10:42-43 NRSV
Peter takes up his cross to declare the universal, ever-present, eternal, everflowing mystery of the reconciling forgiveness of God which is, and always has been, now and forever, found in Jesus.
The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601). Oil on canvas, 230 x 175 cm (90.5 x 68.8 in). Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Takeley Chapel 
.jpg#mw-jump-to-license){kind=link}