A homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, April 24, 2022
Acts 5:12-16, Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19, Jn 20:19-31
Why do we follow someone?
Why do we pay attention to politicians, movie stars, athletes, religious leaders or cult leaders?
Is it what they say? Is it what they do?
Is it because their words or actions — or both — make the world better? Better for humankind? Better for all of God’s Creation?
Is it because they have that je ne sais quoi quality about them?
That “It” quality…
That charisma…
“Charisma” has been a part of everyday speech for so long that no one regards it as a profanation, or remembers that it is, or perhaps ever knew that it is.
And in common parlance, charisma doesn’t always involve earth-shattering altruism. Charisma just is.
Pizazz. Jazz hands. Ta-daaa!
Capitalizing on everyday real-world charisma is a trillion-dollar industry.
Go to any sporting event and you’ll see tens of thousands of fans wearing their favorite players’ names and numbers on replica team jerseys.
Drive down any street and you’ll see flags or lawn signs paying fealty to their preferred politicians.
Turn to an entertainment channel on cable or pick up a copy of People and you’ll see red carpets with crowds leaning in, all shouting words of admiration to actors and models.
These days, thanks to the freedoms we enjoy and celebrate in Western society, we can follow secularly charismatic people and try to live vicariously through them.
But the word’s — and the concept’s — origins indeed are spiritual. “Charisma” is an offshoot of “charism,” a word still used in religious circles, meaning a special and often unique talent given by God. A charismatic gift or set of gifts shines a divine light on certain chosen people that inspires other people to follow them and, often, to emulate them.
Centuries ago, spiritually charismatic people were the ones getting the attention, albeit haltingly.
As we learned today through our passage from the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples of this Jesus of Galilee fellow clearly had charisms. They healed. They spoke Truth that opened eyes and ears and minds. They had It, because God imbued them with the power of the Holy Spirit.
And the people whose lives they touched throughout the known world were inspired to edge out of their comfort zones, comfort zones they created to protect themselves from oppressors like the ones who tortured and fatally crucified The Christ.
In the early days of the Apostles’ evangelistic activities, as the passage from Acts suggests and histories of the Roman Empire also chronicle, people risked their lives to follow in the footsteps of these messengers sent by a condemned and executed criminal. They took a literal leap of faith to start to find out what made the Apostles special somehow.
What made the Apostles’ rabbi special somehow.
What made this Jesus a person to believe in. And follow. The way these Apostles do.
The Apostles did what we have seen missionaries do for millennia: They cared for the people’s earthly needs — food, health, other comforts — and then introduced the people to the One who sent them.
It may be a bit crass to say the Apostles had to dazzle the people with signs and miracles before those people would consider accepting what the Apostles were offering, but that’s human nature, whether in the First Century or the 21st Century. By giving the potential new believers a sample of God’s Almighty power, the Apostles were able to add to the followers of Jesus.
By showing the people their charisma.
By showing the people their charisms.
The Apostles and their entourages, of course, received their charisms directly from their teacher and friend, Jesus of Nazareth. Those disciples had witnessed his passion, death and resurrection and were filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, though they in all likelihood were receiving spiritual gifts long before that. Kind of the way a battery is charged.
The Apostles had seen firsthand, and their accounts were believable enough that the Word spread across distance and across time. New believers, with new charisms. A movement that changed the world.
The movement spread to us. To Europe, Africa, Australia, the Americas and beyond in 2022.
We have not seen firsthand, but the disciples of Christ have made their case so convincingly that we believe. That we can see our own charisms.
We believe. And we know what we must do.
