2 EASTER

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: 2 EASTER
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: April 27, 2003


TEXT: John 20:19-31 – “Do not doubt but believe.”

ISSUE: The Johannine tradition of the resurrection has Jesus appearing to the disciples in a locked room. It is a moment of assurance and commissioning of his disciples to be reconcilers. What’s more is that Thomas, who suffers the depression of loss, is exhorted to be a believer. The new beatitude is given: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Accepting the commission and being faithful embracers of the Holy Spirit is at the heart of the church.
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The resurrection appearance of Jesus to his disciples from the Gospel of John is read on this Sunday after Easter each year. It is one of the important traditional stories of Jesus’ resurrection experience, the commissioning of the apostles, and the call for strong faithful commitment to Jesus Christ’s resurrection and his ministry of reconciliation.
True to the Johannine style, there is rich symbolism in this resurrection appearance. The resurrection of Jesus tell essentially that Christ has burst his prison, Jesus is released from the grave and death. His ministry has been one in which he has raised the sick, the poor, the dead, and restored many people who were considered to be the expendable unimportant people. He has given a whole new appreciation of life and human existence and God’s forgiving love of his creation. Is it any wonder then, that God would raise Jesus from the dead?
How or exactly how it happened we cannot be sure, but Jesus appears to some of his disciples who are themselves locked behind closed doors for fear of the authorities. It was the first day of the week, or what we call Easter Sunday. Unlike the Markan tradition or story, Jesus appears to his disciples somewhere around Jerusalem and not in Galilee, as last week’s story told. John’s story gives the distinct impression that the fearful disciples are locked in a room. It is as if they too are locked in a tomb out of fear. Once the leader of a movement has been destroyed, it is as if the whole movement is vanquished. (It’s like out trying to get Saddam Hussein in order to squelch his whole regime, and send them all packing into obscurity.) What we have in the John story of Jesus appearance is in fact the power of the Christ bringing his disciples back to life, and ordaining them, commissioning them so that they become “apostles,” that is, men with a mission.
For those gathered there in that room there is for them no question but that this is Jesus who says to them, “Peace be with you.” It is important for us to keep in mind that the bestowal of peace upon the disciples did not mean that Jesus wished them a quiet cozy happy life. To extend peace, “Shalom” in the Hebrew language meant something like, “may all the goodness and love of God be with you always.” It is not peace in the sense of peace and quiet. Hebrews who did not like to use the word or name of God in deference to its great holiness, used Shalom, Peace, to imply that the presence of God would be in one another’s lives. Having God in your life, like Jesus did, did not mean peace and quiet; it could mean crucifixion, but God’s presence was still with you in your ordeal. So my friends, when you wish one another: “The Peace of the Lord be always with you,” you are not wishing them peace and quiet or a life of solitude, but of a lasting presence of God in their lives. Thus, in this scene in the locked room tomb, the disciples are miraculously receiving the peace of God, the presence of God is with them in the living presence of Jesus Christ their Lord.
Then Jesus does another seemingly strange thing. He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” “Receive” is not really a good translation. It means to “seize – grasp – embrace – grab hold” of the Spirit of God. Thus, grabbing hold of the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ is to have taken hold of the Holy Spirit of God. The disciples are now Apostles, those who are sent to bring the spirit of God to the world. Start forgiving sins says Jesus. Start releasing those who have a terrible sense of their self worth, and resurrect them. Raise them up. All are worthy. Jesus died for them all. Lift up all the sinners and expendable worthless folk that are unworthy of entering the Temple. Forgive the lepers, the sick, the dying, the widows without sons, all who are thought to be cursed sinners and restore them to their human dignity.
Get this dramatic picture that John’s Gospel is painting or portraying. Here’s a bunch of simple men gathered in a locked room, a tomb. In comes the empowering renewing spirit of God in Jesus Christ, and he says embrace me and breathes the Spirit of God upon them, and sends them forth. It is as if the tomb, the egg, is cracking by some mystical, mysterious force that compels a whole new creation, a new beginning, a new hope for the world, in which all are to be redeem and reconciled to God. It is a bold and dramatic creation story, just like God blowing his breath upon Adam and Eve, and the release of Noah and his family from the Ark. It is a renewing opening up of God’s creation to love and serve God and one another. It is the new once and for all creation story, the new covenant.
Into this story comes Thomas. Thomas is told that the disciples have all seen the Lord. But, Thomas cannot immediately believe. Thomas can’t get it, that Christ Jesus has risen. “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,” says Thomas. Thomas is not unlike many people down through the centuries, and people like us from time to time in our lives, like many people in the world today. Thomas is still in his depression. He is still steeped in his grief. And Thomas is the victim of his non-spiritual world. Thomas is a victim of hopelessness; all is lost. There’s nothing new. There is no hope. Who of us have not felt like this at times in our own lives.
Strangely enough a week later Jesus appears to Thomas, and says, “Put you hands in the mark of the nail, and thrust you hand into my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Jesus Christ is saying what? He’s saying, “Receive me, seize me, grasp me, embrace me and all my suffering love. Seize and embrace my very spirit of peace, as the spiritual presence of God, the hope, the love, the forgiveness.” Finally, Thomas gets it: “My Lord and my God.”
The story concludes with the last Beatitude: Blessed, (or most honorable), are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Blessed are all of you gathered here this morning, who having not witnessed Christ in this way, but who have come to have loyalty, trust, commitment to the way of life that spells out resurrection, hope, forgiveness, and renewal. But keep in mind too, that we have seen the risen Christ in the love, the forgiveness, the wishing of peace by others who came to believe before us. The more we commit ourselves to grasping or taking the spirit of God in the ways and teachings of Christ, the more we become the living presence for those who have difficulty in believing, embracing and grasping the Spirit of God in and through Jesus Christ.
Today we are meeting to elect new vestry members and leadership. We pause to reflect on the state of our parish, its health and faithfulness. It comes as a time for our own renewal and taking hold of our mission as we face the future. As Americans who have just come through another war, it is the time for renewal and rebuilding, and for the work it takes to learn how to bring peace in the coming years and centuries without the hostilities of war and aggression. In our personal lives there may be many doubts, fears, depressions, angry feelings, old hostilities, and an inordinate love of only material things. Pray that we shall not be reluctant or unwilling to seize, grasp, renew the Spirit of God so that even though he may not be seen literally, we can be loyal believers in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, the life, and the resurrected hope of the world.