What if it really is real?
William Willimon, a United Methodist bishop, recalling a conversation with a member of a church where he once served, explains that one evening, returning from a night of poker with pals, his parishioner had a stunning vision of the presence of the risen Christ. Christ appeared to him - undeniably, vividly.
Even though this moment shook him to his core, ten years went by without the man ever telling a single person about it. One day, he shared it with his pastor. Willimon pressed him as to why he had been silent for so long - was he embarrassed? Was he fearful that others would mock him or fail to believe that it really happened?
"No," the man explained, "the reason why I told no one was I was too afraid that it was true. And if it's true that Jesus was really real, that he had come personally to me, what then? I'd have to change my whole life. I'd have to become some kind of radical or something."
(from William H. Willimon, Undone by Easter, 2009) In faith,
Pastor Tim
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