Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Zombie Jesus Day

To be perfectly honest, I get it.  I do.  I've even smiled and giggled hear Professor Farnsworth blurt out, "Sweet Zombie Jesus!"

And this meme certainly isn't the first place where the cannibalistic overtones of the Eucharist have been pointed out.

But I think Know Your Meme only has it half-right when they claim "The Christian Church is known for spreading the word of god, whether people like it or not.  Zombie Jesus is often used in order to retaliate against the churches (sic) constant preaching."  The site assumes that the Christians who yell the loudest get to represent the rest of us.

I'm here to tell you that they don't.

Truth be told, I don't have beef with atheists, generally speaking.  Not any more than I have a beef with certain strains of Christianity—you know the ones I mean:  the ones that aren't content to say "This is where I am, and this is why..." and then leave it there.

I have a hard time with the ones who simply can't help going on.  "...and you're an idiot for not believing the same way I do."

Yes, I'm looking at some of you, too, atheists.

So I get, I do.  You don't really see the story of the Resurrection of Jesus as a case of zombification.  After all, what zombie ever said, "Peace be with you.  Why are you frightened..." and then asked for some fish to eat?  (Cooked even!)

Zombie Jesus isn't about that.  It's a way to provoke a reaction from that brand of Christian I was talking about.  The ones who scream the loudest.

I get it, I do.

But...

Isn't there a name for people who say things just to provoke a negative reaction?

And seriously, how can you get any satisfaction out of that kind of trolling?  I mean, it's so easy.

So how about I give you a more positive, if slightly less funny, interpretation of the Resurrection of Jesus?

Martin Bell once wrote that "God raised Jesus from the dead to the end that we should be clear-once and for all-that there is nothing more important than being human. Our lives have eternal significance. And no one-absolutely no one-is expendable."

So be good to each other
Rev. Josh
041415







































Lectionary texts

Acts 3:12-19

When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out...."

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call,
   O God of my right!

You gave me room
   when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me,
   and hear my prayer.

How long, you people,
   shall my honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words,
   and seek after lies?

But know that God has set apart
   the faithful for God;
God hears when I call.

When you are disturbed,
   do not sin;
ponder it on your beds,
   and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices,
   and put your trust in God.
There are many who say,
   "O that we might see some good!

Let the light of your face
   shine on us, O God!"

You have put gladness in my heart
  more than when their grain and wine abound.

I will both lie down
   and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O God,
   make me lie down in safety.

1 John 3:1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Luke 24:36-48

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. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, 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."

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