Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 133
1 John 1:1-2:2
John 20:19-31

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The Gospel according to John 20:19-31

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.

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THE CHURCH LOOKS DIFFERENT TODAY AS COMPARED TO LAST SUNDAY, DOESN’T IT? I LOVED THE FLOWERS EVERYWHERE, AND I LOVED KNOWING THAT THEY WERE GOING HOME TO SIT ON YOUR TABLES, OR TO BE PLACED IN YOUR GARDENS.

AND YET IT IS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE, THAT EVEN THOUGH WE AREN’T AS FESTIVE TODAY, OUR EASTER SEASON HAS JUST BEGUN. WE ARE STILL IN WHITE, OUR VESTMENTS, THE ALTAR FRONTAL, WE ARE STILL SINGING EASTER HYMNS. AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO CELEBRATE THE RESURRECTION , REJOICING THESE 50 DAYS UNTIL PENTECOST.

DURING THESE COMING WEEKS OUR GOSPEL READINGS WILL BE MAINLY FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, A GOSPEL SO DIFFERENT FROM THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE. THOSE THREE WROTE ABOUT JESUS IN VERY HUMBLE, HUMAN TERMS, THE JESUS WHO GOT MAD, WHO GOT TIRED AND TOOK A NAP IN THE BOTTOM OF A BOAT, WHO SPOKE IN PARABLES, AND HEALED PEOPLE.

JOHN WROTE AT A LATER TIME, AT THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY, SOME 70 YEARS AFTER JESUS HAD DIED. JOHN WAS WRITING TO A CHURCH THAT WAS STILL TRYING TO FIGURE THINGS OUT, THAT WAS HIDING, THAT WAS DEALING WITH THE QUESTION OF HOW YOU COULD BELIEVE WITHOUT SEEING. JOHN WAS CLEAR ABOUT WHAT HE WANTED TO TEACH, WHAT HIS THEOLOGICAL PREMISE WAS. IN OUR GOSPEL TODAY HE SAYS, " BUT THESE ARE WRITTEN 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." I THINK THAT’S PRETTY CLEAR.

AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS, IN JOHN’S GOSPEL TELLS US ABOUT HIMSELF. HE IS A PROCLAIMER, ONE SPEAKING WITH AUTHORITY ABOUT WHO HE IS, TO THE PEOPLE THEN, AND TO US, THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE WHO AT TIMES MAY STILL BE TRYING TO HIDE IN THE DARK, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, STILL TRYING TO FIGURE THINGS OUT. WE MAY WONDER HOW YOU CAN BELIEVE WITHOUT SEEING. WE WANT TO HAVE THE HOPE IN CHRIST’S REDEEMING POWER TO ACT IN OUR WORLD. BUT TODAY, WITH CONFLICTS BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS, BETWEEN THOSE WHO THINK WAR IS THE ANSWER AND THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN NONVIOLENCE, WE ALMOST DON’T DARE TO HOPE. MAYBE I SHOULD BE SPEAKING IN THE FIRST PERSON, CLAIMING THOSE FEARS FOR MYSELF, BUT I SUSPECT I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WONDERS ABOUT THE FUTURE. WATCHING THE WELL DONE TV SERIES, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES OF AN "ARMAGEDDON," MADE ME VERY ANXIOUS.

BUT LET’S GO BACK TO WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MATTHEW’S GOSPEL LAST SUNDAY, ON EASTER. WE HEARD THAT WHEN THE WOMEN CAME TO THE TOMB WHERE JESUS HAD BEEN LAID, THEY FOUND THE ROCK ROLLED AWAY, THE TOMB WAS EMPTY. A MAN IN WHITE TOLD THEM THAT JESUS HAD BEEN RAISED, HE WASN’T THERE, AND THEY WERE TO GO TO GALILEE AND THAT THAT THEY WILL SEE HIM THERE. THIS WAS OUR INTRODUCTION TO WHAT WE CALL THE POST RESURRECTION APPEARANCES OF JESUS.

TODAY WE FIND THE DISCIPLES, IN THE EVENING ON THAT SAME DAY, HUDDLED IN AN UPPER ROOM, FEARFUL, AGONIZING OVER THE DEATH OF THEIR LORD AND MASTER. IT WAS A DEATH WITHOUT A BODY, WITHOUT A FINAL BURIAL, A DEATH LIVING WITHIN EACH OF THEM, HAUNTING THEM. JESUS HAD PROMISED THAT HE WOULD SEE THEM AGAIN, BUT WHEN? THEN, WITHOUT WARNING, HE COMES TO THEM THROUGH A LOCKED DOOR, COMES TO THEM IN THEIR DARKNESS AND POWERLESSNESS, BEARING THE MARKS OF HIS WOUNDS, HOLDING OUT HIS HANDS, AND BESTOWING ON THEM "PEACE." IMAGINE THE JOY, THE RELIEF THAT MUST HAVE FILLED THE ROOM AT THAT MOMENT.

THOMAS WAS ABSENT FROM THIS FIRST APPEARANCE. AND WHEN HE RETURNED, AND THE OTHER DISCIPLES TOLD HIM THEY HAD SEEN THE LORD, HE EXPRESSED DOUBT. HE WANTED TO CHECK IT OUT, TO REACH OUT AND TOUCH JESUS. BUT THOMAS, DESPITE HIS PRACTICALITY, HIS QUESTIONING, WHEN JESUS RETURNS A SECOND TIME TO THE GROUP, DOESN’T DO THAT. THE SIGHT OF JESUS TOUCHES THE DEEPEST PART OF HIMSELF AND HE SIMPLY RESPONDS, "MY LORD AND MY GOD." AND JESUS GENTLY CHIDES HIM WITH THE BEATITUDE, " BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN AND YET COME TO BELIEVE."

EACH TIME I READ THIS PASSAGE, I RESONATE WITH THOMAS AND HIS SKEPTICISM. I, TOO, LOOK FOR PROOF IN MANY SITUATIONS. I, TOO, AM A PRAGMATIC PERSON, THINKING OFTEN IN TANGIBLE TERMS. BUT IT HAS BECOME IMPORTANT FOR ME TO THINK BEYOND THE GLORIOUS CELEBRATION, THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE OVER DEATH IN THE RISEN CHRIST ON A SUNDAY MORNING IN APRIL. THE DETAILS OF WHAT HAPPENED IN A PURELY HISTORICAL SENSE OVER 2000 YEARS AGO SEEM TO FADE IN IMPORTANCE. WE DON’T REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE RESURRECTION IN TERMS OF FACT. THE TRUTH IS THAT THE DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS WAS A PUBLIC EVENT, SEEN BY MANY. BUT HOW HE ENTERED INTO GOD’S BEING, IS NOT AN OBSERVABLE MATTER. THE PROOF , IF WE CAN SEE IT, IS IN THE LIVING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, AS IT WAS THEN AND AS IT IS TODAY. FOR MOST OF US, BEING A DISCIPLE OF THAT CHRIST MEANS SEEING HIM IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS, BEING SENSITIVE TO HIM AT WORK IN OUR LIVES, AND IN LIVING OUT HIS WILL FOR US AS WE CAN UNDERSTAND IT.

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I WAS CALLED TO PIEDMONT HOSPITAL TO SEE ON OLD FRIEND, LET’S CALL HIM JOE, SOMEONE I HAD MET MANY YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS LEADING A SUPPORT GROUP FOR HIV INFECTED PEOPLE. HE HAS BEEN DEALING WELL WITH THE VIRUS, AND WITH THE HELP OF EXCELLENT MEDICAL TREATMENT BEEN RELATIVELY HEALTHY UNTIL NOW. WHILE I WAS THERE, ANOTHER FRIEND OF HIS JOINED US, AND AFTER OUR VISIT, SHE AND I WENT OUT TO LUNCH. SHE HAS BEEN A STRONG SUPPORT TO HIM OVER THE YEARS, I KNOW, AND I SEE IN HER, THE FACE OF CHRIST AT WORK IN THE WORLD.

AT LUNCH SHE CONFESSED THAT SHE HAD NOT BEEN AROUND DYING PEOPLE BEFORE, AND EVEN THINKING ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT HE MIGHT LOSE THIS BATTLE SCARED HER. OUT OF THE BLUE, SHE ASKED ME, "DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION?" AFTER MY QUICK ASSENT SHE SAID "WHAT DO YOU THINK IT’S LIKE?" I MUMBLED SOMETHING LIKE "ALTHOUGH I DO BELIEVE IN RESURRECTION, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE." AFTER A MINUTE, I GATHERED MY THOUGHTS AND WENT ON TO SHARE MY SENSE OF WHAT THE EASTER SEASON TELLS ME. "IT HELPS ME TO KNOW THAT CHRIST LIVES ON. HE HAS "ABOLISHED DEATH AND BROUGHT IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT," AS IT SAYS IN I TIMOTHY. THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT JOE WON’T DIE, BUT THAT DEATH IS NOT THE END. THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT GOD CAN BRING FORTH THE NEW - NOT IN THE GRUESOME SENSE OF REVIVING A CORPSE, BUT IN THE SENSE OF OPENING UP NEW POSSIBILITIES. IT IS A TIME WHEN GOD SEIZES THE OPPORTUNITY TO OVERCOME THE POWER OF DEATH, TO TRANSFORM. BUT INTO WHAT, WE DON’T REALLY KNOW. IT SEEMS THAT WHAT HAS HAPPENED IS THAT CHRIST, TOTALLY SURRENDERING HIMSELF, HAS ASCENDED TO GOD, AND THAT WE AS HUMANS, FOLLOWING IN THE WAY OF THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION, WILL DO SO AS WELL.

"WHERE I AM GOING, YOU WILL GO ALSO."

MY PRAYER IS THAT DURING THESE EASTER DAYS WE WILL ALLOW JESUS TO COME TO US, TO SHOW US THE WAY. HE WILL FIND US, AS HE FOUND THE DISCIPLES, COMING THROUGH WHATEVER LOCKED DOORS WE HAVE. MAY WE RECEIVE HIS PEACE AND BE STRENGTHENED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. MAY WE HEAR WHAT HE HAS COMMANDED US WHEN HE SAID, "AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, SO I SEND YOU." MAY CHRIST’S POWER TAKE HOLD OF US IN OUR POWERLESSNESS.

The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate

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