Go Tell The Disciples and Peter

An Easter letter from Bishop Trevor and our House of Bishops.

And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” Mark 16:6-7

I write to you on behalf of the Bishops of the Anglican Network of Canada. Our prayer is that you are raised with Christ this Easter. Your body, your spirit and your heart is raised because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

My audience is the disciples and Peter. Your task is to write to the world about the resurrection of Jesus, by your life and witness. My focus therefore is to those who have previously made a commitment to follow Christ and to receive his forgiveness.

The pandemic has seen a rise in “and Peter”s—those who are not with the disciples gathered electronically by Zoom or YouTube or not going to church for health reasons. But, pandemic or not, there are always “and Peter”s—disciples who feel as though they are not worthy of being with the disciples. They identify with Peter. They have denied Christ by their failure to be numbered as a Christian. They have been silent about faith more than three times. The strength of their denial of faith may have involved a curse. They have been bitterly angry at God for the way their life has turned out. They now feel isolated from people of faith. They are embarrassed by what they have said in the hearing of the other disciples. They still believe in God but here’s the rub, they don't feel as though God believes in them. Goodness knows how God could believe in them, when they no longer believe in themselves.

Enough of the “they”, we all know we are too often Peter. We, like Peter, can lack courage in our witness, be embarrassed by our association with Jesus, be disillusioned in our faith, have a season of bitterness, feel at times isolated from other disciples and doubt whether God believes in us because of what we have done in the past.

This Easter hear Jesus say to you: “Go tell the disciples and Peter, meet me in Galilee and I will see you and you will see me.”

Encounter Jesus again, just as you did when you gave your life to Christ all those years ago. He promises again to meet you just as the first time. He promises to forgive sin, the sin of failure, unbelief, and hardness of heart.

Remove the “and” in you this Easter and know that you are a disciple encountering Jesus in an intimate way once again. Isolated Christians, away from the disciples, are like a log previously on a fire that has slipped out of the grate and is rapidly cooling on the hearth away from the heat of the other logs. Time to get back into the fire, get connected and to meet Jesus with other disciples in your Galilee.

I hear you, you are not good at technology and so Zoom is not possible. My mother started her computer career at aged 80, so age may not be an excuse. Meet a friend at a socially distant coffee and bring your phone or iPad. Or get someone in your bubble to help. Let them download Zoom on your phone and then get them to send you a Zoom invite for that same time, let them look over your shoulder as you have your first Zoom meeting where you can make all the mistakes you want to. Let them coach you. Maybe they will need to send a second invite, not a problem. Then on Sunday have them on the phone, if they have a computer, as you go through the few steps to get on the Sunday service Zoom call.

If you are computer savvy offer to be a Zoom buddy to end the “and Peter” technology isolation. This would be your Easter gift to one of your ‘cooling’ parishioners, the gift of getting comfortable with Zoom or YouTube.

Have a glorious encounter with Jesus as you see him resurrected in your Galilee.

+Trevor

The Right Reverend Trevor Walters
Area Bishop for the West