Nougat 2

Somehow, despite the ongoing sharing of the stories, I find new insights in the Resurrection narrative. It remains relevant to our time. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.

“For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men … While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭4‬, ‭11‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

Fear and Faithfulness 2

There is a tendency, especially when speaking of ‘faith matters’, for us to assume that when we refer to faithfulness it is always a good thing. Reality says different. For, of a truth, we can be faithful to anything.

Matthew 25 recounts among other stories, the parable of the talents. And, the refrain of the Master to the servants who’d wisely invested the talent given them is, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ Implicit in the refrain is the idea that faithfulness is connected with service or action. They were given a task and executed it well. And the Greek transliteration, ‘pistos’ corroborates this by telling us that it’s about reliability. In short, I understand faithfulness to imply that on can be relied upon to complete an assigned task.

You may recall from yesterday’s Nougat, the soldiers had one assignment. Guard the grace of Jesus. We don’t know whether it was only intended for three days, but that was their task. And these guards were in service to the Roman government in the Jewish territory.

One could argue that they did not successfully complete their assignment – Jesus’ body was removed from the grave in front of them. And for all intents and purposes, they did nothing about it in the moment. They couldn’t even give a full account of what actually happened.

There was an earthquake; the tomb shook; a figure in bright light appeared … and – the tomb was empty; save for the linen that had wrapped the body

It sounds preposterous. After all – hadn’t it taken a few soldiers to roll the stone in place that hermetically sealed the sepulcher? Yes, there was an earthquake, but was it only felt there at the tomb? Regardless of that answer, the hermetic seal was rolled away and the dead disappeared in the time it took for the dust to settle.

And no one saw it (Jesus’ body) move!

Yet the soldiers were handsomely paid and sent on their way.

Could it be that the assignment extended beyond simply guarding Jesus’ dead form, and also included reporting any ‘foul play’? From our perspective the Resurrection was not a case of Foul Play, but from their end, it certainly was foul. Even though no one was playing. If the assignment extended thus far, then the soldiers – who’d been paralyzed by Fear at the appearance of the angels and the manifestation of the earthquake – understood the assignment and executed it correctly. And, with no body remaining in the tomb, guard detail was no longer necessary.

When we speak about faithfulness however, there’s also that element of being in service to someone or something. Among believers, it is often associated with an act of worship. Or a recognition of where and how one’s bread is buttered. That I believe, underscores the soldiers’ faithfulness. They were sold out to the government of Pax Romana, or at the very least the income received from the system. That’s where the soldiers’ loyalties lay, and they remained dedicated to that.

Where do our loyalties lie? There’s no longer need to defend/protect an empty tomb, but there’s always opportunity to share the God News. Nevertheless, despite the earthquakes and angels visitations, we sometimes manage to miss the real point of the manifestation of God’s Spirit and power. When that happens, is it proof of Divided Loyalties?

To whom do we owe allegiance? Do we see ourselves as being in the employ of the Lord God Almighty? If so, there’s work to be done. Right here, right now. Otherwise, I pray we realize that we’re called to faithfulness to God through Christ Jesus. May we find grace to switch and to persevere.

—

May all we seek be found in Christ