April 13: Galilee

"Galilee"
Written by the Reverend Canon Caleb J. Lee,
President of the Standing Committee for the Diocese of South Carolina

It is fitting this year that we have the opportunity to hear Matthew’s Easter Gospel. For in it the Marys are told to tell Jesus’ disciples that he is going to Galilee and there they will see him. Galilee is the home region for the disciples. It is where they are called by Jesus to follow him. It is where they grew up. It is where their moms and dads live. It is home. Jesus is telling his disciples that they will see him in his risen life at home. I wonder what this looks like for each of us this year as we watched and participated in Easter from home. I wonder what it means that he has gone ahead of us to our home and tells us that we shall see him there. Not at work. Not at school. Not at weekend club soccer tournaments. Not on the golf course. Not at bridge. Not at Rotary Club.  Heck, not even at church this Easter season; but home. At home. Home means something different this year to us than perhaps it ever has before. The risen Lord promises to meet us there. 
 
In the Great Fifty Days of Easter, as we celebrate Jesus' risen life, we do so recognizing that he doesn’t hang around the holy city of Jerusalem too long. No, he goes to Galilee. He goes home. He goes to his disciples’ home. He goes to where his disciples actually live. He goes to the mundane nooks and crannies of our lives. He doesn’t go to the places where we put on a show or are likely to attempt to be something other than our authentic selves. He doesn’t go to the places where we want to be but where we actually are. He comes to us while we are in our pajamas, not our Sunday best. He comes to us when there is the third breakdown of the day with one of the kids, not when everyone is acting perfect for Easter services. He comes to us in our isolation, not when we are out avoiding isolation for our own good. He comes to us at home. That is where the risen Lord meets us today.
 
I wonder where the Risen Lord is today in your home. I wonder what he is raising in you. I wonder what has died a long time ago in you that maybe Jesus is raising from the dead because you are, in fact, in Galilee, at home. That is where he desires for you to see him.
 
On a personal note, I can say that Christ is risen in me, at my home, allowing me to be a little more engaged as a father. For some reason, I thought that was dying. Christ is raising in me an authenticity or a part of who I am that I thought somehow needed to die if I were to take on more "responsibility" as an adult. God has brought me back to music in a very powerful way. I thought that was dead.
 
So I wonder if you can relate in some way to what I am saying. I wonder where God has met your darkness with light? I wonder what Christ is raising in you as you meet him in Galilee? In your home. For there, he promises that you will see him.
 
Alleluia! Christ is risen! You will see him at home in Galilee!

Peace,
Caleb+