Sermon for Easter 2B- RCL
Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 133
1 John 1:1-2:2
When
it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the
house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said
this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when
they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on
them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins
of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained."
But
Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when
Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord."
But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and
put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not
believe."
A
week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.
Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger
here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt
but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus
said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Now
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may
have life in his name.
Alleluia Christ is Risen!
Happy Easter! Easter is not a day but a season. A season that lasts 50 days. This year for me there it is a season of
anticipation and planning as well. At
the end of the Easter season on May 23rd, God willing and the people
consenting, I will be ordained a priest here in this place. On Friday I picked up the red set that I will
be vested in which belonged to my God Father – the Rev. Wallace Christopher
Sprague. I also sent the file for the
invitations to the printers. And I met
with the Bishop to talk about my ordination and what I am doing to prepare. It is all becoming real. And perhaps a little scary as well. A calling that I have felt for many years
and have been encouraged to take on by many of you as well is coming to
fruition. Perhaps Thomas is a good place
to enter into new things!
Poor Thomas always gets the bad
wrap. We like to call him doubting
Thomas. There are other monikers that
would work equally as well. How about
rational Thomas? Or scientific method
Thomas? Or perhaps plain ol’ simple
Thomas the human. Because Thomas is just
like the rest of us. Thomas is just like
the other disciples locked in the empty room.
They did not believe Mary when she told them that Jesus had risen. They
did not understand the empty tomb any more than we do. Jesus’ inner circle of followers were not
following directions but cowering in a locked room for fear that those who
advocated for Jesus’ execution had another cross with their names on it – or
some other dreadful style of Roman execution. They where in shock. And why not.
Their entire world had been turned upside down.
So Jesus does what he asks us to do. He shows up.
He offers them peace and comfort.
"Peace be with you." Jesus
knows that his followers needed some proof that what he taught was true. That when the authorities hung Love on the
cross they did not kill that love but made it stronger. And now Jesus asks his disciples once more to
go out and spread that love. “As the
Father has sent me, so I send you."
Unfortunately for Thomas he is
not it the room. Thomas wants no more
than what the other guys got. Just like
us. We want what the other person
gets. We get jealous of other peoples
gifts and don’t see our own sometimes. Lucky
for Thomas Jesus shows up a second time.
Thomas gets his proof. But Jesus
also says that others will come to believe that have not seen with their own
eyes the crucified and risen Christ.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe."
So how are we to get the
reassurance the Thomas asked for? Each
and everyone of us deep in our hearts have asked the same questions. If God exists then why… fill in the
blank. For me – the scientist – I like
proof. I am trained in the scientific
method and the use of statistical hypothesis testing to prove theories. And I get the proof of God’s love all the
time around here.
When I have had doubts that I am
doing the right thing God sends proof. When
I looked and saw that we were feeding the hungry on Maundy Thursday and washing
their feet I saw proof. Proof that we are commissioned by Jesus to love our
neighbors. When I sit at the bedside of
someone dying – who although non-verbal, starts humming along as I sing – I see
proof of God’s love. When I see people
who our society would like to go away be embraced by people in this church I
see Jesus.
When I wrote my final evaluation
for Clinical Pastoral Education one of the sections had me state my theological
beliefs that guided my work as a Hospice Chaplain. I said that one of my beliefs is that I can
see God in the face of others. That the
light of Christ can be seen in each of us. That I take my baptismal vow to Seek
and Serve Christ in all persons – and to respect the dignity of every human
seriously. My group challenged me on this statement. They thought is a nice aspiration but I
couldn’t actually see the world through such lenses. But I do.
When I am low the Holy Spirit sends the least likely people to show me Christ’s
wounds. Yesterday I gave out a sack
lunch to a fellow. He thanked me and
then quietly added “My name is William.”
He might as well of said “My name is Christ”. At that moment I did not see a hungry and
homeless person standing in front of me.
I saw Christ – just a surely wounded by society as the risen Christ that
appeared to Thomas was wounded. When I
see you all providing food and care to each other – and especially to those who
others avoid – I see the love of Christ at work in the world.
If we open our hearts and our
eyes we can see Jesus all around us. We
can put our hands in his side. And we
can see his love. That is all the proof
that I need. Sure – there will be
moments of doubt in our lives. Moments
where we are blinded by grief or hurt. When one of our fellow inhabitants of
this earth cry out for proof that there is love in this world then that is when
we are called to show up. When we are
called to be Jesus’ hands, feet and heart.
That is when we are called to bind up the wounds. That is when we are to feel the breath of
Jesus blowing through us.
Because we tend to focus on
Thomas on this second Sunday of Easter we miss part of the story – there is a
lot going on in this short part of the Gospel!
Jesus does not just show up to calm the fears of his followers. In the Gospel of John he also breathes the
Holy Spirit into them. This is John’s
version of Pentecost. Jesus commissions
the disciples and fills them with the Holy Spirit to go out and try to bring
God’s dream of Love into the world. And
each one of us has also been filled with God’s spirit. A spirit that calls us to love and
action. We are called on doubting Thomas
Sunday to see the wounds of Christ around us.
To feel the breath of God pulsing through our bodies and to go out. To go out of our locked rooms where we hide
in fear. To go out of this Church and to
spread the Love that refuses to die.
I invite each of us during these
great 50 days of Easter to see the love that refused to die on the cross. To feel the breath of the Christ and the Holy
Spirit flowing through our lives. To
offer God’s love to those who are locked in their own rooms of fear and
hurt. To help heal the wounds of Christ
that the world is still inflicting. In
short to feel the love that God has for his creation and to help spread that
love.
No comments:
Post a Comment