Second Sunday of Easter April 15, 2012

1 John 1:1-2:2 p. 989 1We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—3we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.4We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.6If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;7but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.9If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;2and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. This is the word of the Lord…….Thanks be to God John 20:19-31 p. 883 19When 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.”20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.25So 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.” 26A 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.”27Then 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.”28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.31But 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. This is the Word of the Lord……..Thanks be to God If we look at the characters in the Easter story, not much has changed- It is Easter evening. And despite hearing the good news, despite seeing an empty tomb, despite the stories of the women, and Peter, and the beloved disciple, there is no change. The disciples are huddled in a room. With a locked door. In fear. Now, we often talk about Doubting Thomas. In fact, that’s how he is known. And in church traditions, this Sunday is known as Doubting Thomas Sunday. But look at the other disciples: despite seeing and hearing testimony that Jesus is alive, is resurrected, despite having heard Jesus’ himself tell them that this would happen, they doubt. And Jesus comes into the room, the locked room, where they are huddled together, full of fear. And they don’t understand, they doubt. Jesus even speaks to them, saying “peace be with you.” And they don’t say “welcome back” or “nice to see you” or even “how come it took you so long?” (David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=577) No- It is not until Jesus shows them his scars, his hands and his side that the disciples “rejoice when the saw the Lord” And Thomas, who has been out- I always think he is the bravest of them all, out getting food so the whole group can at least eat, comes back from Wal-Mart, and hears their testimony. And he doesn’t believe them. Perhaps he is from Missouri, the “show-me” state. Thomas wants real, tangible proof, not somebody else’s report. He wants to experience it for himself. He is not any more faithless than the rest of them: he only wants to experience what they have experienced. And what do the disciples, the earliest church community, do? Do they shove Thomas out the door? Do they ignore him in painful and awkward silence? Do they barrage him with comments and treatises about why he must believe? No. None of those things. Thomas is still with them, a week later, fully part of them, fully part of the church. Last week, on Easter, we said that our call, like the women’s was to look, and go, and tell. And we said that your task, this week, was to look for signs of life, signs of resurrection, signs of the impossible made possible by the action and grace of God. But what if…..what if you didn’t see any? What if there was nothing there? What if, even when you looked very hard, very diligently, and all you saw was death, or despair, or depression? If that was your experience, then, like most people, you probably blamed yourself. “I’m not faithful enough—I’m not holy enough. I’m not—something enough—or I would have seen something, I would have had a sign from God, I would have seen some kind of resurrection, however small.” But if that is what happened to you, if that was your experience, I hope you will be honest with yourself- and with us, the church, and say so. Thomas certainly says so. Thomas doesn’t blame himself, doesn’t see a lack or a problem with himself- for not seeing, for not believing, for asking for proof. In the passage from 1st John, which we read earlier, we hear a testimonial. “This we have heard, this we have touched, this we have seen with our own eyes- the Word, Jesus! Which is life!” It is a wonderful testimony and witness- but what strikes me most is that it is in the plural—the “we”. Not “I have seen the Lord”, but “we- we have heard, we have known, revealed to us”. Nearly every Sunday, we say one of the creeds- and that word comes to us from the Latin, credo, which means “I believe”…..but I think it would be better if we said it as, the plural, as “we”- because belief is not housed only in individuals. It resides in the community. Oh, don’t get me wrong. We, each, have beliefs. We, each, have faith. In a few weeks, the confirmation class will share their faith statements, their own, personal “I believes” with the elders. And each of the new elders has to share their own, personal statement of faith, when they are elected by the congregation to be an elder, with the rest of the Session. And it is a very moving experience—just ask the elders. We pretty much all get teary—at people’s honesty, at people’s witness, at the individual’s account of how God has shaped and formed them, how God has acted in their lives. But there is also a way in which our creeds, our “what we believes” belong to the whole group, the whole family of faith—and they are what hold us up when we can’t believe. A good friend of mine confessed to me that, after the death of her infant daughter, and her subsequent divorce, she could not say the Lord’s Prayer. She went to church every week, she sang in the choir, but she could not say that prayer- it was as if her throat clamped shut. But she took great comfort in the fact that even if SHE could not say it, she could rest in the prayers of the church, those other voices, praying, every week. A story is told about a young man, a student, in an Orthodox seminary. And he had come to the part of his studies where he was working on the creeds. And he went to his advisor, in much agony. “Father,” he said, “I can’t say these things. I don’t believe all these things. I’m not sure I believe any of these things.” “Young Man,” the priest thundered, “These creeds are not your creeds—they belong to the church. If you can’t say them, we will say them for you, until you can join your voice with ours.” There is room for doubt in the church. There is room for doubt in the life of faith. There is room for you, when the burdens get too heavy, when you get too weary, when you can’t find the words or voice to say much of anything. We will carry you—and we will love you, and we will hold you. Until you come to believe- or continue believing, or take up believing, again. Look at what Jesus does. He does not chastise Thomas, Jesus does not exclude him, he goes to him, and answers his request. “See my hands,” Jesus says, “reach out and touch…” and Thomas believes. And then, in an aside worthy of the tv show the Office, Jesus turns from speaking to Thomas and speaks to us: “blessed are those who have not seen and have come to believe.” I don’t think that Jesus is rebuking Thomas. Instead, I think Jesus is blessing all those -- from John's community up to our own -- who have managed to believe without the benefit of direct experience; all those, that is, who have managed to come to a faith that is not the opposite of doubt but which lives with doubts and yet still finds a way to believe. (David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=577. ) As people of the resurrection, we don’t have to have it all together. We have faith along side of, mixed up with, our doubts. The church, the family of faith will hold you up. Christ, The Risen One is strong enough to bless our faith, bear our doubts, and use even people like us to make a difference in this world God loves so much. And, who knows, maybe a week or three, maybe a year, your questions will be answered or that doubt assuaged. Or maybe not. The point is that being faithful resurrection people isn't having no doubts, but living with them. (David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=577) And John, the Gospel writer, says this: “Jesus did many other things, but these things are written so that you may come to believe…” or continue believing….the Greek is unclear. But that’s ok. Jesus comes, to wherever we are, in our journey, comes to us in doubt and in faith, and says “Peace be with you.” Amen.