PAST SERMONS
Sermon of May 1, 2011 by The Rev. Rosalee Glass
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church
Second Sunday of Easter, May 1, 2011
Text: John 20: 19-31
Sermon by Rosalee Glass
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.
SERMON
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Those words are what Jesus’ bereaved disciples needed to believe. What must it have been like for those disciples in today’s story from the Gospel of John, those disciples hiding out in a locked house? They knew that Jesus had been killed, and though they were told that he had been seen since then, they themselves hadn’t seen him. They were behind locked doors, frightened and anxious…maybe with the same fear and anxiety that had made them flee from being associated with Jesus in the first place. They had made themselves scarce when he was arrested, and how much longer would it be before the authorities would come after them and arrest them also?
Sitting together locked in that house they must also have been engulfed in the sadness of shame and guilt for having played it safe, abandoning Jesus at his moment of severest crisis. And then there would have been feelings of loss and loneliness: Jesus’ presence, gone. A way of life, gone. A source of love and purpose, gone. Their hope, gone. What were they to do now?
But then, sudden joy! He was there with them, wounds and all. Locked doors didn’t keep Jesus from being present with those who needed him. His presence was what they most needed in their bereft state. With his presence and his words, he gave them the peace and joy of believing. The peace that he gave was not superficial or trivial. Their fright and anxiety were transformed into “the peace of God that passes all understanding.” It was the peace of assurance and rest, of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. It was peace that changed their hearts.
But giving the disciples new life and joyous belief in his resurrection and in his identity as God’s son wasn’t the only purpose for Jesus’ presence with them then. Nor is it the only purpose for his presence in our hearts and the heart of his church today. If having peace and certainty of belief were the only reason for the presence of Jesus, the disciples might just as well have stayed locked up in the house. And we, Christ’s church, might just as well be satisfied with looking no farther than the spiritual nourishment we receive for ourselves within the walls of this building.
But there was further purpose for Jesus’ presence with the disciples. It was to commission them ministers in the kingdom of God’s love. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” These words confirm that Jesus was sent by God to bring God’s love and forgiveness into the world. They also confirm that in turn Jesus sent out the original disciples and sends out all of us to make that love and forgiveness known by all who need it.
Many in our St. Thomas’ congregation have been sent out and are engaged in Christ’s ministry. Not only do they care for their families and their church family, but they also they carry Christ’s love out into our community and beyond. Some folks work at hospitals and clinics, some at the soup kitchen and food pantry, some work in help agencies here and abroad. The St. Thomas’ Outreach Coalition serves these ministries. It has as its purpose the mutual encouragement and support of all who are individually and collectively sent out.
But being in the world can be difficult; it isn’t always easy to be sent out to minister. Jesus realized this, and so he gave God’s Spirit to the disciples, and he has given it to us in our Baptisms; so that we have the strength and inspiration to do ministry. Jesus said to the disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He had promised this to his disciples before his death, and now with his breath he gave them the Holy Spirit to be present with them and with us forever. By doing this, he was renewing the divine Spirit within all who believe in him. He was renewing the Spirit that was present when God created the world, the spirit that in the beginning moved over the waters and was breathed by God into Adam, the first human in creation.
I cannot close without a word about “doubting Thomas,” our patron saint who is featured in this Gospel story. If we should ever be troubled by doubt about the truths given to us in the Gospel’s witness, we should remember Thomas and be consoled. Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples during Jesus’ first visit to the disciples. He hadn’t seen Jesus as they had. He needed to have proof before he could believe what he had been told was true. And so Jesus made a second visit to the disciples and gave Thomas the proof he needed in an individual direct experience that changed his heart. And we may expect that in times of doubt we too, like Thomas, will have an experience of Christ’s love that will transform us and cause us to say, as he did, “My Lord and my God.” Amen.