In our gospel reading for today, the resurrected Jesus returns to his disciples to find them in total confusion and disbelief. They were not expecting Jesus' return, even after all the times he had told them in advance. So Jesus opens their minds to understand everything written in the scriptures about him. And that changes his disciples from confused reporters of unconnected facts, into powerful witnesses....
Do you recognize the name Heather Perkins-McVey? If you don't know it now, you will know it by the end of August, because by then, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey is supposed to have completed the unenviable task of judging the criminal case of two names that are more familiar, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. Lich and Barber are, of course, the alleged co-conspirators who organized the Freedom Convoy to Ottawa in February of 2022, to protest covid pandemic policies. And it has been the dirty job of Justice Perkins-McVey since September, to wade through the hours of video evidence, listen to the testimony put forward by witnesses, hear the interpretations of spin by the crown prosecutors and the defence lawyers, and come up with THE INTERPRETATION: Were the actions of Lich and Barber valid political protest, or were the actions of Lich and Barber mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief, and intimidation. The verdict of Justice Perkins-McVey will affect two people deeply, and millions of people in Canada broadly. Unless it goes to appeal, and a different Justice becomes famous in 2025....
The disciples were in a similar situation about Jesus. They were there, on the scene, and they knew all the facts of Jesus' last days: How he came to Jerusalem with the fanfare of the people calling him the Messiah, how he was accused and convicted by the religious leaders, abandoned by the disciples themselves, and crucified at the hands of the Romans. And now, somehow, in our gospel reading this morning, the disciples must deal with the contradiction that, standing right in front of them, they are seeing Jesus again. What's the best interpretation they can come up with? It must be the ghost of Jesus, back for revenge! And nothing short of watching Jesus eat breakfast was going to convince them otherwise.
My guess is that if you were to take a group of people unfamiliar with the gospel story, and gave them the same set of facts the disciples had, the majority would interpret it the same way – Jesus' ghost has come back to terrorize those who deserted him. Because for our society, revenge is a natural impulse, especially for those participating in the mob. And because for our society, ghosts are somehow easier to believe than resurrection. But where our society would be different from the disciples is that it might take MORE than a breakfast of broiled fish to convince them to change THEIR interpretation. Because everyone in our society holds very tightly for themselves, the RIGHT to interpret the facts they encounter.
So what we think we want are the facts, plain and simple. Yes, truckers made it hard to get around in Ottawa for about three weeks. But I reserve the right to INTERPRET that as either a blow struck for freedom...or domestic terrorism. And I reserve the right to HOLD ONTO my “narrative,” sometimes even in the face of contrary facts.
And it's the same when we tell people about the events of OUR lives - they don't want our interpretations. “Are you trying to tell me, GOD BLESSED you with an excellent harvest last year? You planted at a good time, got enough moisture, avoided the hail, and sold it for a good price – those are the FACTS I was interested in.”
And because of this, sometimes we are even hesitant to interpret the events of our own lives for OURSELVES. Sometimes, the events of our lives are too tragic, or too random, or too much out of our control, for us to be confident interpreters. And so, we leave our story on the level of facts. This is when I lost my job, this is when my grandchild was born, this is when my best friend got sick, this is when my business really took off. We can relay these FACTS to other people, if they are interested, but we do not trust ourselves to interpret our story on the basis of Jesus' story. And so our opportunities to be a WITNESS, pass us by.