As you may know, whereas Easter Sunday is a single day, the Easter season lasts for seven weeks (or a week of weeks). One of the reasons why the season of Easter lasts this long is because of the tradition that says that the Risen Lord Jesus--Jesus after the resurrection--kept turning up in surprising ways for 40 days--about 7 weeks--before ascending into heaven to live with his Father.

(And, by the way, if you’d like a handy guide to Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection, Ellen Thompson has two neat resources over on her bulletin board near my office. Both are available in the box on the windowsill. One is called, The Ten Resurrection Appearances of Jesus Christ, and the other is a table, called The Resurrection Appearances of Jesus. These catalog what Jesus was doing--and where Jesus was popping up--for those 40 days before going into heaven.)

Ok. So, for approximately seven weeks after Easter, the risen Lord Jesus again and again surprised his disciples by suddenly appearing before them. Sometimes he spoke to them. Sometimes he fed them. Other times he taught them. But then, after 40 days, he ascended into heaven to be with God, his father.

And the question this raises--for Jesus’ first disciples, but also for us--is, what’s next? What happens when Jesus is gone?

You see, you might think--Ok, I’ll admit it: I might think--that what happens when Jesus is gone is that his disciples are now on their own.

In other words, right now we’re on our own! Oh, sure, we have stories and memories. What did those sheets say? The Ten Resurrection Appearances of Jesus Christ and The Resurrection Appearances of Jesus. But, other than that, we’re on our own! He’s up there and we’re down here!

Or so we might think. (Ok, or so I might think!) But actually that’s not what happening. And, in fact, that’s not what’s happening here and now.

This is what’s happening here and now: He’s alive! That’s the message of Easter. That’s the message of Christianity. He’s alive! Not: He used to be alive! or, Let me tell you stories about when he was alive. No: He’s alive. He was dead but now he’s alive.

Two weeks ago we heard the story of Saul--better known as Paul--avidly persecuting the early Church. Whenever he found someone belong to the Way (as it was called), Saul had them bound in chains and brought back to Jerusalem for punishment.

One day, as he’s on his way to Damascus, Saul suddenly falls to the ground, struck down and blinded by, what? He doesn’t know.

A voice says to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Who’s this “me” whom Saul has been persecuting? “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asks.

“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,” is the remarkable reply.

Do you get that? That would be like me tapping Pastor Harkness on the shoulder and Jesus saying, Yes?
Where is Jesus after he’s gone? He’s there--he’s present--whenever one of his followers is in trouble. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!”
That’s remarkable! But that’s Jesus. It isn’t that, for 40 days he showed himself as risen from the dead, went into heaven, and then, never was heard from again. No, he’s alive! He’s showing up in the lives of his followers!

Today’s example is even more remarkable. This time, Jesus shows up in Peter’s dreams and, frankly, Jesus won’t leave him alone until Peter recognizes him and does what he says!

The story, in brief, is that an Italian soldier--a non-Jew--by the name of Cornelius had been praying to God when he was told in a vision to send for someone by the name of Simon Peter in a nearby town. Simon Peter, meanwhile--our Simon Peter--is praying when he falls into a trance and sees something like a sheet coming down from heaven, filled with all kinds of animals, clean and unclean. A voice commands Peter, “kill, and eat!”

Peter refuses. Eating unclean animals would make Peter himself unclean. The vision repeats itself, this time, the voice adding: “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” The vision is repeated a third time.

Peter doesn’t get it. Visions are how God communicates with people. Yet this vision is clearly telling Peter to do something illegal, irreligious, and immoral, all the while claiming, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane,” or unclean.

When Peter comes out of the trance, he’s told that some strangers--Romans--have asked to see him. When they tell Peter that they’ve been sent by an Italian soldier who was told in a dream to send for him, Peter goes, perplexed why a Gentile would have any interest or knowledge in him.

They meet and, when Peter hears the story of how God had spoken to Cornelius in a dream, finally, he realizes, he is alive! Jesus is alive and is speaking to him--and to Cornelius--through this odd turn of events.

I promised you that I would tell you this story briefly. Well, believe it or not, that was brief! The account of God speaking to Cornelius--and then God speaking to Peter--and then God speaking to both Cornelius and Peter--is one of the longest (if not the longest) continuous stories in the New Testament.

And there’s a good reason why! Peter needed to be convinced that Jesus was still alive. More specifically, Peter needed to be convinced that Jesus was alive, and that Jesus was alive to move him and others in directions they never imagined.

Peter--like all of Jesus’ early followers--assumed that Christianity was solely for Jews, or for non-Jewish people who had first become Jews. I mean, for goodness sake, Jesus was himself Jewish and it was as the Jewish messiah that Jesus had died and then been raised.

That’s why it took Peter so long to realize that, because Jesus was alive, Jesus not only could, he was leading Peter in new and unanticipated directions! Cornelius--the non-Jewish Italian soldier, someone clearly “unclean” by Jewish standards--was being made wholly acceptable to God.

To which I say, watch out! In all seriousness, watch out. He’s alive! Jesus is not contained or boxed in a book, even if that book is the Bible. He’s not contained or boxed in a building, even if that building is a church. And he’s not contained or boxed in a set of beliefs, even if those beliefs are the ones we assumed he was contained in.

Watch out! As Peter found out in today’s reading--and as Saul found out in the reading two weeks ago--Jesus is alive and on the move in our world. Jesus wants us to be on the move with him. He wants us to be his hands, his feet, his speech, his love.

As time goes on, and as the season of Easter moves toward Pentecost, we’ll be learning better how and where to recognize Jesus in our world today. But, know this: he’s alive!

For Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! In Jesus’ name. Amen!