Signage and Its Purpose

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday April 15, 2012, the 2nd Sunday in Easter.

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Acts 4:32-35

Psalm 131

1 John 1:1-2:2

John 20:19-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen

The District of Columbia was created to serve as our nation’s permanent capital in 1790. Within the District, a new capital city was founded in 1791 to the east of the settlement at Georgetown. The original street layout in the new City of Washington was designed by Pierre Charles L’Enfant.[1]

A planned city, Washington was modeled in the Baroque style and incorporated avenues radiating out from rectangles. The District itself is divided into four quadrants. The axes separating the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol building. In most of the city, the streets are set out in a grid pattern with east-west streets named with letters and north-south streets named with numbers.

One of the oddities to the city’s layout is that there is no J Street in any quadrant. Legend has it that J Street was deliberately omitted by L’Enfant because of a dispute with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay over The Treaty of Enmity, Commerce and Navigation.[2] In truth the probable reason is more mundane. It is far more likely that the reason there is no “J” Street is because in the Gothic writing style popular until the mid-nineteenth century, the letters “I” and “J” were indistinguishable.

One of the better narratives explaining this is found in an episode of NCIS. At the conclusion of the episode Assistant Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer shared his take on why there is no J Street with Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. He said it was because the founding fathers did not want anyone to get lost.[3]

One very important purpose of signage is so people do not get lost.

In my opinion, Thomas, or “Doubting Thomas,” gets more abuse than he deserves for being skeptical. I find his tendencies to speak his mind and to ask questions when he doesn’t understand admirable. Thomas was not a man to be persuaded willy-nilly.  In John 14[4] when Jesus says “And you know the way to the place where I am going;” Thomas is the one who says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” If we truly believe there is no such thing as a stupid question, then Thomas belongs in the Hall-of-Fame.

I imagine Thomas was a man of home spun wisdom. He had a “Show-Me” mentality that would have been popular here when Marshall was the Confederate capital of Missouri-in-Exile.[5] He was deliberate and he was cautious. He has questions and he wants them answered. He has doubts and he wants them vanquished.

So it was the evening on the first day of the week, the day of Jesus’ resurrection; and the disciples had locked themselves in the house where they met. Not detoured by physical barriers, the Lord entered the room and offered them his peace. He showed them his hands and side and the disciples were overjoyed. In the next moment, they received their vocation, their directions; they were pointed in the direction they were to take so they would not get lost. They were also given the most important thing they could take on their journeys; by the breath of Christ, in the wind of God, they received the presence of the Holy Spirit.

As for Thomas, scripture doesn’t say why he was not with the other disciples; only that he wasn’t. So when the others finally see Thomas, he got an ear full. “We have seen the Lord!” they proclaimed loudly and joyfully. They weren’t rubbing it in his face, I think they were rejoicing and wishing he had been with them to share the glorious gifts they had received.

The Missouri Mule spirit that had served Thomas did not desert him. He knew all about the crucifixion and he knows dead is dead. He seemed willing to believe some sort of apparition, a Holy Spirit, but the physical presence of the Lord in the glory of his resurrection body struck him as unlikely. He had to see the Lord Jesus for himself. He had to touch him. He needed it before he would believe it was true.

Sure enough, a week later they gathered for fellowship. Give Thomas credit, he wasn’t sure about the resurrection, but he still believed and still worshiped Jesus. Then just like the week before, Jesus came into the closed room, stood among them, and said “Peace be with you.”

Quoting John’s gospel, “Then [Jesus] 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!’”

Then, as a word for the world to come, Jesus blesses the generations that follow the original apostles and disciples. This first generation believed because they saw. The next generations, including those who hear and read this gospel then and now, they believe only because of these words and by the witness of the lives of the disciples that have followed since.

We live in a world where we, like Thomas, did not receive the Holy Spirit along with the disciples on that first Easter Sunday so long ago. Like Thomas at the beginning of our reading, all of humanity longs to see Jesus, behold the glory of his face, and touch his hands and side. Like Thomas, we can find the resurrection difficult because we have not personally seen the person of the resurrection. Like Thomas we all want to stand before the Lord and worship crying, “My Lord and my God.” We want to sing out adoring God in the happy chorus begun by the morning stars.

We’re looking for miracles; we’re looking for signs to point us toward belief. We are looking for signs of assurance.

In one way or another, one of the great questions of life is “What size miracle are you looking for?” In a society where bigger is infinitely better, the land of the super-size, we want big-big miracles with a big-big crunch. We want “burning-bush” and “loaves-and-fishes” sized miracles. Of course, as is usually the case, we should beware what we ask for when we ask for big-big miracles.

One of my favorite miracles is a big-big one. It comes from Numbers 11. The people of Israel are in the desert and they aren’t happy about it. They have been so long with only manna to eat that they have begun to grumble and long for “the good ol’ days” when they were in Egypt eating fish and cucumbers and melons and leeks and onions and garlic and ate them at no cost. No cost except for their freedom, but they were so bored with their food and their journey that they longed for the regular hours of strict manual labor under the whip.

Moses hears the grumbling and fears for his life, not a bad reaction if I say so myself. Moses asks the Lord “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?”

I wonder if this isn’t a big question among all overwhelmed leaders. 

Moses even tells the Lord “I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.” He finally says if he can’t get relief he would rather die at the hands of the Lord than the crowd.

So the Lord tells Moses to assemble the leaders of Israel and tell them this,

“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

Beware what you ask for, because you just might get it.

People look for miracles. People look for signs and it looks like the people of Israel missed one. It looks like they blew through the “Yield” sign to me. In the parable of the vine and the branches John’s gospel would translate “Yield” as “Abide.” But for our purposes and the purposes of the people in the desert, it appears that Israel blew through a “Yield” sign.

Of course, the witness of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and all human history shows us that on the whole humanity has a tendency to blow through the “Yield” sign. And “Stop” signs for that matter too.

Another very important purpose of signage is to warn people and give them direction.

Everybody looks for signs and in our reading everyone gets the sign they need. The disciples saw the hands and side of Jesus and they believed. Thomas not only wanted what the other disciples got, he wanted to touch Christ’s rich wounds too. In the end though, seeing Jesus was enough. When he saw his Messiah he declared his faithfulness crying “My Lord and my God!”

In this world, people want their own “resurrection appearance” miracle. Everybody wants to see Jesus just like the disciples, but scripture says that’s not for everybody. So what kinds of signs and what kind of miracles should we be looking for?

Last Saturday there were a lot of little miracles wondering around the lawn. To see the smiles of the kids as they were having their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny was joyful. It was a sign of new life and the promise of what can be.

Last weekend there was a little boy who arrived late and was only able to find one egg on the ground. There were also several teenage boys who made pouches out of the front of their t-shirts that they filled with eggs. (Why t-shirts? Take it from a former teenage boy, baskets would not do.) When they saw the sad little boy they dropped eggs where he could get them. This little boy went from dejected to elated because he found eggs, enough eggs to fill his basket. Leaving greed behind in the name of sharing is always a miracle. Just like it was in the time of the early church as we heard from Acts this morning.

As for the disciples, they were asked to share forgiveness with the world. Now that’s a miracle as small as a smile and as big as a burning bush. This was tough because the disciples knew that only God could forgive sins, and they knew that even with the Holy Spirit they were not God. Yet they received the power and responsibility to forgive or not forgive people who had hurt them and others.

Their power was not to limit or empower God. Their power was given so that they might no longer be bound to anger and vengeance. God forgives, but unless we forgive we bind ourselves to the past. We don’t forgive so others can go on with their lives, but so we can get on with ours.

Let me add that if you have ever tried to get over such harm on your own, you’ll know it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to do the job.

Here’s the final sign we need, the green light. We need to be the miracle. We need to live so that others can see that our God lives. We need to live like the disciples of every time and age before us who lived so we could believe. Our lives need to show those who see us that our God lives so they can believe. It is our call and our vocation to live lives worthy of Christ so that they can believe and become Christ’s disciples.

In this case, the purpose of signage is to move people off the mark; going where they are supposed to go.

So, what size miracle are we looking for? Here is the biggest one of all. Here is the miracle we are to share with the world. We were created by the Triune God who loved so much that he created life. The Lord not only created matter to love and care for, our God created a race of people who could choose to love the Lord God back. (Risky move that is.) We are loved by a God who loves us so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. This by the grace and peace given freely by God in Christ.

Signs have their purpose. They make sure we don’t get lost, they assure us, they warn us, they give us direction, and they get us going when we are supposed to go. On the whole, this is a worthy vocation Jesus sends us into the world to share.

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[1] Much of these first paragraphs are taken and adapted from: “Streets and Highways of Washington DC.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_and_highways_of_Washington,_D.C.

[2] “No J Street in Washington DC,” http://www.snopes.com/history/american/jstreet.asp

[3] “Jimmy Palmer,” The NCIS Database” Wiki. http://ncis.wikia.com/wiki/Jimmy_Palmer. The episode is called “Broken Bird.”

[4] John 14:4-5

[5] Marshall, Texas,  The Republic of Texas and the Civil War (1841–1860) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall,_Texas#The_Republic_of_Texas_and_the_Civil_War_.281841.E2.80.931860.29

The Other Guys

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday May 1, 2011, the 2nd Sunday in Easter.

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Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Psalm 16

1Peter 1:3-9

John 20:19-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen

A movie came out last year called “The Other Guys” starring Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg as two detectives who aren’t the cops Hollywood makes movies about. In this Police Department, the Hollywood cops are Christopher Danson and P.K Highsmith. These are the guys who get the job done in the most overdramatic chaotic way possible. They make the big arrests. They get the girl. And they smash a classic car into a double-decker tour bus, a Cadillac Escalade and Trump Tower. They are the rock stars in the police department.

Of course, not everybody is a rock star. Every rock star needs a fleet of roadies to support the tour. The stars do their thing a couple of hours every night, but it’s the other guys who take care of business every hour of the day and night. Along with the Danson and Highsmith, the squad room is filled with veteran cops, jokers, chop busters, and the other guys. Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg are the other guys.

Among the disciples there are rock stars. The apostolic rock stars are (say it with me) Peter, James, and John. Among the disciples these men are “the rock upon which my church will be built” and “the sons of thunder.” These are the three who see the transfiguration. These are the three who accompany Jesus to the garden of Gethsemane. These guys are front and center.

As for the other nine disciples, the only one who comes close in the number of mentions is Judas, and frankly, that’s not good. We can all agree that he got his ink for all the wrong reasons. As for the rest, they hardly get mentioned at all. In the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, most of the disciples are only mentioned in the list of disciple’s names. In John’s gospel this changes. Yes, like in the synoptic gospels Peter, James and John have significant roles, but in John’s the other guys also have special roles.

It’s in John’s gospel where Philip and Nathanael have the conversation about anything good coming from Nazareth.[1] It’s Philip who asks Jesus how they are going to feed the 5,000.[2] It’s Philip and Andrew who bring the message that the Greeks want to see Jesus.[3]

When Jesus decides he’s going back to Judea after Lazarus’ death it’s Thomas who says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”[4] When Jesus says “You know the way to the place where I am going.” it’s Thomas who says “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”[5] And today, it’s Thomas whose words drive the action.

We hear in the beginning of this passage that almost all of the remaining disciples see Jesus. Jesus says to them “Peace be with you.” What a joy to hear these words. There’s a reason I begin worship saying “May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” It’s because grace and peace are wonderful, glorious gifts. The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ is a delight. It’s a reassurance. The Hebrews call it shalom. These gifts are from the best God has to give us.

Then, as is normal in scripture, after being given a gift; the disciples receive their call, their vocation. Jesus charges them with these words, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” But he doesn’t leave them hanging with his peace and a job, no. Jesus gives them the tool they need to do the job he has given them. Jesus empowers them breathing on them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

But not Thomas, Thomas wasn’t there.

So when Thomas gets back to where they were staying he receives the wonderful news, “We have seen the Lord!”  I imagine the disciples thought this revelation would be met with the same excitement that filled them. Think again.

Thomas answers back, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

I ask, which of us wouldn’t have reacted the same way in this situation? We can laugh at Thomas because we know the rest of the story, but first, let’s put ourselves in his place. How would we have responded?

Within the biblical timeline, our reading begins earlier in the day when Peter and the beloved disciple see the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene returns later with the word of the Lord saying that he will return from the Father. Later that day the Lord appears to everyone. Was Thomas in the room at anytime during the day? He wasn’t there when Jesus appeared. As for any other time during the day scripture doesn’t say, so we don’t know.

But imagine yourself in this situation. Imagine you just got back from Wal-Mart. You were the one who went to get pita bread and wine for everyone and by the time you got to the house, woo-hoo! The Lord had arrived sharing his peace, and empowering them with the Holy Spirit. I don’t think snubbed would be a bad word for how Thomas felt.

Thomas isn’t asking for anything the rest of the disciples hadn’t already received. Peter, James, and John were the rock stars, but suddenly everybody sees Jesus and everybody’s a rock star, everybody except Thomas. Thomas is the last remaining “other guy” in the room so I can’t blame him for being miffed.

Is this Thomas doubting the resurrection?  Scripture thinks so. Is this Thomas being jealous because everyone else got what he didn’t? I think this is probably true too. Jealousy would be a very human reaction.

We know the rest of the story, Jesus hears Thomas’ cry. When he returns the next week, with Thomas present, he says “Peace be with you.” Then he gives Thomas what he needs. He says “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” Then Jesus rebukes him saying “Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas cries out, “My Lord and my God.”

After the resurrection and before the ascension there were many who would see Jesus, but he knew that many would not see him and would believe. Jesus declares them, Jesus declares us, more blessed than this first generation of believers. We are more blessed because we believe without Thomas’ assurance.

John’s gospel and this passage in particular show us several things. The first is that there are rock stars. There is Peter, James, and John. There is Billy Graham and a whole flock of men and women who have received Elisha’s double blessing of God’s Spirit. And there are even more like us, the other guys. We’re the folks who set up before and follow up after the Billy Graham Crusade leaves town.

We all called by the Lord to do God’s work in the world, and there is no such thing as small ministry. There’s an old nursery rhyme that goes like this:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.

For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the battle was lost.

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.[6]

It just goes to show, there’s no piece so small that it’s unimportant.

To perform God’s work, to engage in ministry, everybody receives the same spirit. We all receive the same Spirit of God. We are all ordained to different types of ministry, but we are all chosen and we are all empowered to ministry, the Lord’s work, by the Spirit of God.  Jesus indwells us all. Even us, the other guys have the spirit, and the power and the vocation to do God’s work. Jesus gives us what we need to do his work. Nothing is so unimportant that it doesn’t require the power of the Holy Spirit.

The people who make the nails and horseshoes are important. The people who shoe the horses are important. The people who do the paperwork, cut the checks, and sort the mail are vital to ministry. I thank God Marie makes sure I get out of the house with my head firmly attached! I thank God for the work Georgia and Al and Brionna do in worship.

Thanks be to God for the people who mow the lawn and set up the Easter Egg hunt and clean up after it’s done. Thanks be to God for those who arrange the elements for worship and the sacraments. Thank God for the Elders who celebrate the Lord’s Supper. I even thank God for the computer that hosts the internet sites where this sermon hits cyberspace.

There is nothing that we do, inside or outside the church that is not ordained by God. There is nothing that we can do on our own that is worth doing without the Holy Spirit.

There’s an old story about the theme to the TV show “Gilligan’s Island.” During the first season, the black and white season, the theme song ended, “…and the rest are here on Gilligan’s Isle.” After the first season, knowing the show was a hit and knowing the network would be redoing the titles when the show began broadcasting in color, Bob Denver, the actor who played Gilligan, flexed his muscle.

He threatened the network brass that unless the characters played by Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were mentioned by name in the credits he would move his name to the end of the credits, and he had the authority to make this demand too. CBS wasn’t willing to find out if their star was playing a game of “chicken” or not, so they agreed to his terms. For the last two seasons, the show’s credits ended, “…the Professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan’s isle.”[7]

In his own way, Bob Denver told the network brass that there is no such thing as “…and the rest.” Everyone in the cast was valuable and valued. This is what John’s gospel tells us. We are all useful. We are all empowered by the same spirit. We are all endowed and called by God. Jesus gives us holy work to do and the power we need to do it. Not just Peter, James, and John; but Philip, Nathanael, and even Doubting Thomas. We are all useful to the work of God.

Christianity is not just a faith for the rock stars; it’s also the faith of the veteran cops, the jokers, the chop busters, and the other guys too.

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[1] John 1:46

[2] John 6:1-15

[3] John 12:20-26

[4] John 11:16

[5] John 14:5

[6] http://www.rhymes.org.uk/for_want_of_a_nail.htm, retrieved April 30, 2011.

[7] All Gilligan’s Island notes can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan%27s_Island, retrieved April 30, 2011.

Come and See

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday April 24, 2011, Easter Sunday. He is risen. He is risen, indeed.

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Jeremiah 31:1-6

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Acts 10:34:43

John 20:1-18

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

I ended last week’s sermon,[1] with these words:

The powder keg is lit and it leads to Pilate and the glory of Rome. The fuse he lights also leads to the Temple, and the scribes and the Pharisees. The fuse is lit; the course of history has begun. Eventually the spark will reach the charge and an explosion the world has not forgotten will blow.

In the mean time, much will happen:

There will be prophecy, and there will be prophecy fulfilled.

There will be scrutiny, and there will be examination.

There will be a supper, and there will be a betrayal.

There will be a trial, and there will be a judgment.

There will be a torturous death.

Surely by now the people would have thought that the powder keg had blown. The people have seen the Lord’s betrayal on Maundy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. The unthinkable has happened, the Lord God is dead.  But that wasn’t the end of the sermon, and death was not the end of the Lord as we heard in today’s reading.

It’s early on the first day of the week.  The Sabbath is coming to an end, but it’s still dark. Until the sun rises it’s still the Sabbath and Jews don’t leave their homes until the Sabbath ends.

Not Mary Magdalene, she’s gone to the tomb. The Chief Priests wouldn’t be out and about yet, but the Romans would be. If she is found she could be in trouble. For violating the Sabbath certainly, but if she is found at the tomb they would assume she was one of Jesus’ partners in revolution. This the Romans would not take lightly.

When she comes to the tomb she sees that the stone had been removed from the entrance.  Scripture is silent, but perhaps she looked into the open tomb, for just a moment.  If she didn’t look in, she must have had a sinking feeling in her heart.  Either way, she had come to the correct conclusion.  Jesus’ body was not there.

She has come and she has seen and Jesus was gone.

The Lord is not there, how can this be?  Mary sees the open tomb, overwhelmed by grief and maybe by panic she runs to Simon Peter and the beloved disciple to tell them.  The Lord has been taken from the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. 

Mary’s panic is shared by the two disciples.  They run together, Peter falling behind as they race to the tomb.  The other disciple arrives first, looking in he sees only the linen that had been wrapped around Jesus.  Peter arrives on his heels and we read that he is the first who dares to enter.  Peter too sees the cloths that had been around his body and the wrapping that had covered his head and face folded, set aside by itself.

After the other disciple entered the tomb, they saw and they believed.  They believed that he was gone.  Simon Peter and the beloved disciple; they had entered the tomb of their Lord and Master, and his body was gone.  Scripture is silent, but would I be wrong to think they were devastated?  He is tried, he is crucified, and now he is gone.

They have come and they have seen and Jesus was gone.

Logic says he was taken.  If the authorities thought that they had taken him, if they thought these disciples had taken this rabble rouser’s body to cause more religious unrest, then they would be next on the Pharisees’ and Pilate’s enemies list.

They didn’t understand what had happened.  They didn’t understand the scripture.  So they did what seemed sensible.  They needed to sort out what was happening.  They needed to mourn.  They may have needed to hide.  So they went home. 

Mary remains crying at the tomb.  Her Lord is dead and missing.  The two people she shares her worries with have abandoned her.  She is alone again.  She is lost.  She is distraught.  She cries and she looks into the tomb.  What else can she do?

Suddenly she finds two angels sitting in the tomb. They ask why she is crying.  She repeats her lament, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Can you hear her heart breaking?  Flowery speeches are unnecessary. “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then, she turns and sees a man she doesn’t recognize standing before her.  Who is this man? she wonders. Did he take the body of the Lord? 

He breaks the momentary silence repeating the angels’ question, “Woman, why are you crying?” adding “Who is it you are looking for?” Scripture tells us Mary supposed he was the gardener. This supposition would have given him the benefit of the doubt; she may have also thought he was a thief or a fool.  

Only a fool wouldn't know what had been going on in Jerusalem over the past week. The Passover was only a part of what was happening now. The Nazarene, Jesus came into Jerusalem triumphantly on the back of a colt. Later, he was tried as an enemy of the state or of the church depending on the accuser. Then he was crucified with two criminals. This was his crypt, and if this man was the gardener either he was oblivious to the events of the last week or he was the one who moved the body.

She answers his question without contempt toward its foolishness, but she is not above suspecting this gardener of taking Jesus. “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.” How Mary is going to carry the dead weight of a man is irrelevant. If this gardener knows where the body is, she will retrieve it and return it to its proper resting place.

It’s the least she can do. The Lord delivered Mary from her life in the world to life with him. The gospels tell different stories about Mary and her history, but there is one thing that is certain. Jesus finds Mary and then she becomes useful to his ministry. Carrying him to his final resting place is the least she can do.

Her world is shattered. Being useful in this small way is all she can think to do. It is all she dares to believe she can do. What else is there? 

Jesus then calls her by name. “Mary!” She turns and recognizing him calls out “Rabboni.” It’s amazing; she doesn’t recognize the Lord until he says her name and that makes all the difference in the world.

She has come and she has seen her Lord and her God.

She is flooded with emotion. The warmth must be glorious. Her tears of grief and fear become tears of joy and relief. The Lord reveals himself to her by saying her name. She has found him and the world is turning anew. She rushes to him, she clings to him. Then Jesus tells her this is not yet the time for he has not yet returned to the Father. Jesus tells Mary to tell the brothers, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

Mary does as she is told. She comes back to the place where the disciples are staying and she tells them what she has seen and what the Lord has shared.

There’s such a difference a moment makes in our lives. Mary’s world has been turned over three times in the last three days, the twice within the last hour or so. If she is running she is skipping. If she is walking she is walking on sunshine. Life is never going to be the same. Her Lord lives. And she is trusted to take the Good News to the others. “I have seen the Lord,” and life, which had all ready been turned on its ear, is turning again.

She comes and sees; then she says “I have seen the Lord.”

Come and see. It’s a recurring theme in the Easter story. Mary comes and sees the tomb. She then comes back to the disciples and sees them. Mary, Peter, and the beloved disciple come back and see the tomb. Then comes the glorious turn, Jesus comes and sees Mary. Mary finally recognizes him and sees her Lord.

This is the ebb and flow of scripture, we come and we see. We come and we hear. We come and we receive. We come and we receive the visible signs of God’s invisible grace. Today is no exception, today is the most glorious example.

There are so many other things I want to say today, so many things, but that’s not why we came. We came to hear the Easter Story. We came to celebrate Wilda Leigh joining this part of the Body of Christ. We came to celebrate the sacraments: Belle’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We came because Mary came. We came because Peter came. We came because the beloved disciple came. And most of all, we came because Jesus came. This is why we come and this is what we see.

If you remember, there was more to last week’s sermon. After I said “There will be a torturous death.” I followed with these words:

And there will be a glorious resurrection.

Hosanna! The fuse is lit. Let it burn.

And I’ll see you next Sunday for the big explosion.

Today we have come and we have seen the big explosion.

He is risen. He is risen indeed.

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[1] http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2011/04/lighting-fuse.html

Making It Real

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday April 11, 2010, the Second Sunday in Easter.

Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 118:14-29
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

These days there is a tendency to value learning by experience over other forms. Often this is important, sometimes not so much, other times it’s darn near impossible. This tendency has been expressed by the question, “Why is it that if someone tells you that there are one billion stars in the universe, you will believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint, you will have to touch it to be sure?”[i]

So frankly, should we be so surprised that Thomas wanted to see and touch Jesus? Here it is, right there in scripture, “So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’” This immediately becomes the Christian equal to a “Wet Paint” sign as far as Thomas is concerned. “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.”

It is from Jesus’ own mouth that the word “doubt” is attached to Thomas. This is how the expression “Doubting Thomas” entered our vocabulary. Still, the resurrection wasn’t going to be real for him until he was able to have the same experience the other disciples had shared. C’mon, can we blame him? In his own way, Thomas was ahead of his time, he was told that “wet paint” had come to visit and he wasn’t going to believe it until he was able to touch it himself.

Praise be to God, Jesus offered Thomas just this opportunity. Jesus arrived, offered his peace for the third time since the resurrection, and said, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” So Thomas reached out and touched his rabbi, his teacher.

It makes me wonder, was there still swelling around the injuries he sustained? Were the wounds still damp with his blood? Was there still a feverish warmth in his hands, feet, and side? Thomas touches Jesus and his reaction is more than just the contact, there is a visceral connection. Touching the wounds that are truly holy and in a blessed way still fresh, he responds in an informed yet primeval way. He sees that the paint surely is wet and proclaims for all to hear, “My Lord and my God!”

This is often the place in both the scripture and the sermon when preachers often focus on doubt again. Jesus proclaims to the disciples assembled in the sealed room, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” So often we hear this story as one of doubt, but scripture is not about us, it is about the Lord God. The heart of this story is not the doubt of Thomas, but the generous offer Jesus makes him, the offer to make his faith as real as his touch.[ii]

Again, praise the Lord that Jesus gave of himself, giving Thomas the same experience that he gave the other disciples, all of whom believed because they first saw. In the end, Thomas’ faith is more important than the grounds of his faith. Jesus presents himself saying “Do not be unbelieving, but believe.”[iii]

Of course, as we thank God for these experiences, this is the last generation that will be able to see and believe Jesus up close and in person. The ascension of the Lord will come sooner than later and those who will believe will believe without seeing Jesus in the way of the disciples.

In “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” Douglas Adams, an author of absurdly humorous science fiction, wrote that the biggest problem with time travel is not meeting yourself at another place in time, or even becoming your own grandfather. He maintains that any well adjusted family will be able to contend with someone being their own grandfather.

No, according to Adams, the biggest problem with time travel is grammar. How do you conjugate a verb for something that should have happened but did not because someone ate a piece of cake that they should have left well enough alone? Well, scripture, and in particular the Greek New Testament offers just this sort of quandary in our reading today.

Our question is, “What does scripture mean when it uses either disciple or apostle?” Is there a difference? How important is that difference? The answer, it depends. Don’t you just hate it when that’s the answer? In the Greek New Testament and particularly in our gospel reading today, there is a distinct difference.

In Greek, the word we translate as disciple can mean pupil, student, or apprentice. Since we translate Rabbi as teacher, it is appropriate that the resurrected Jesus would call those he met as his disciples. Another definition of disciple means adherent or follower. Since they had followed Jesus in his life and now in his resurrection life, this definition would also be appropriate.

In our reading today and in the gospel of John in general, when John uses the word “disciple,” he means it to describe the followers of Jesus. It is also important to note that John doesn’t use any expression like “the twelve,” or as in the case of this reading, “at most the ten of the twelve since Thomas isn’t there and we can pretty much assume Judas has hung himself by now.” John’s gospel uses this word to describe his pupils; all who follow Jesus, every single one. This following aspect is particularly important.

This “following” aspect is important because where the word disciple comes from a noun that is related to following a teacher; the word apostle comes from a verb meaning to send. Apostles are the ones who are sent by the Lord God into the world to share what they are called to share from the Lord God.

One more time, to be a disciple means to be a follower. To be an apostle means to be sent. To Christians this means being sent by God. In our passage, Jesus comes into the locked room, meets the disciples and scripture tells us, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’”

Jesus lives because he breathes new life into those disciples through the gift of the Spirit and commissions them to continue his work.[iv] Jesus continues to live because he breathes new life into us through the gift of the Spirit and commissions us to continue his work. In the church, like those who have received the breath of God, Jesus sends us into the world to share the Good News of the gospel with those who are thirsty to hear it.

For John, the church’s ongoing life as a community of faith, as the people who continue Jesus’ work in the world, is derived from Jesus’ Easter promises and gifts.[v] As the people who continue Jesus’ work in the world, we receive the Easter promises to take God’s word into the world. As Jesus gives the disciples his Spirit, his breath so that they would have the gifts they need to go into the wild, wild world; we receive these gifts too.

In a 1990 graduation address, Cornell University astronomer Carl Sagan urged Lehigh University graduates to embody what they know about the environment. “Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by an accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” Do something.[vi]

In the same way, these first Christian disciples, these who become the first apostles sent into the world, are the first graduating class of the church. These Christians are given their commission, they are sent to do something. Far more valuable than an Ivy League sheepskin, they are then equipped with the one thing that enables them to do anything; the breath, the Holy Spirit of God.

They will not be able to present Christ to the world in the same way Christ presented himself to them. Christ presented himself physically, bodily to them; this option is no longer available. Instead they, and we, we represent Christ to the world. It is important for us that we represent Christ in the world. It is we who are now Christ’s body in the world. By the word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to show the grace and peace of God to the world.

In a world that insists on touching a wall that is covered with signs that say “wet paint,” it is up to us to paint the world in ways that people will reach out and touch. This is how we make our faith real for ourselves and for others, by representing Christ’s love and forgiveness in the world. In Christ’s grace and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit, our witness makes Christ real to the rest of the world.

Someone once said “When you ask your lover for a kiss, you don’t expect a piece of paper with ‘A Kiss’ written on it. Description, definition, interpretation, and [forensic] analysis of truth to find out ‘how it's made’ still gives us only part of the story.”[vii] When our faith is real, we go beyond the written word and represent the Living Word. We must become Christ’s body in the world so that others may see that our Lord lives.

Our Lord lives just as surely today as he did those 2,000 years ago when he presented himself before his disciples; when he empowered them with his Spirit, his breath; and sent them into the world with his grace and peace. Scripture tells us that Jesus did many other signs that are not written in this book. It is up to us to continue doing these signs by the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is when our faith is made real that we have life in his name.

[i] HomileticsOnline.com illustrations for the topic “Experience.” http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1207. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
[ii] New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol .IX, page 852.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] NIB, Ibid, page 848
[v] Ibid.
[vi] HomileticsOnline.com, Ibid
[vii] HomileticsOnline.com, Ibid

Childlike

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday April 4, 2010, Easter/Resurrection of the Lord Sunday.

Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Acts 10:34:43
John 20:1-18

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

The Reverend Randy Cross is a clergy member of the United Methodist Church’s Dakotas Conference serving as District Superintendent of the Lower James River District, Director of Connectional Ministries, and Director of Leadership Development for the Dakotas. He also writes curriculum for the United Methodist Publishing House from his home in Mitchell, South Dakota. It is in this latter role where he tells this story:

Preparing youth to do a sunrise service is a terrible joy. I use the oxymoron “terrible joy” because the work is so hard and the event so important. The task of helping youth understand the seriousness and the joy of receiving the news of resurrection on Easter often drives pastors and youth leaders to distraction on the days before Easter. I remember one year when I had a group of funny, entertaining youth. Throughout the rehearsal for the service, the more I tried to get them to focus, the more they flew off into their imagination to the four corners of the earth. In frustration and exhaustion, I finally ended the rehearsal early and wished them all good luck on Easter. I hoped they would not embarrass themselves and their families by not being prepared. Like Pontius Pilate, I washed my hands of them. It was not the way I had hoped to prepare for Easter Day.

When Easter morning came I dreaded the first event. I hoped no one would show up and that the ill-prepared service would fade into oblivion. It was a particularly nice morning, and the sunrise service had twice as many people as usual in it. All I could see was a gathering darkness. I tried to look into the eyes of the youth before the service, but I saw no hint of fear or concern. I resigned myself to a bad experience. Everyone appeared to be in place for their various leadership roles.

I looked up front and saw our “lead off” youth at the pulpit. He was one of the youngest members of the group and was in charge of the Easter greeting. As the lights came up, he yelled at the top of his squeaky, high boy-soprano voice, “Christ is risen!” Laughter bellowed from the members of the congregation because they did not expect that sound. Quiet again, he continued, “Christ is risen!” Finally people began to hear the muffled sounds of the youth up front who were responding to the ancient Easter greeting with “He is risen indeed.” It was a quiet, sleepy rising; but the words were exchanged. However, the youth leader was not satisfied. He yelled again, “Christ is risen!” The congregation responded, “He is risen indeed.” Over and over again came the yell from the pulpit as the congregation’s voice grew louder and more enthusiastic. Finally, at the last, the sound was so thundering between the speaker and the smiling faces of the worshipers that it could have almost rolled a stone away. Easter had come, and the announcement of new life had been shared with a squeaky voice that would not be silent until the world had responded.[1]

What strikes me about this story is the truth it contains; a child did lead them. One of the youngest members of this youth group, this boy soprano, a child did lead them.

This Easter passage has been read for over 1900 years by and to the people of God. But the take on the actions of Peter and the beloved disciple offered by the Reverend John Stendahl[2] offers a new point of view on their actions. Pastor Stendahl offers the opinion that these disciples behave far more like boys than men when Mary Magdalene came to them after finding the empty tomb.

Imagine two boys, cut from the mold of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, hearing of the disappearance of the crucified Christ and racing to the tomb. It’s the beloved disciple and the rock upon which the church will be built racing like little boys to the scene of the crime.

Pastor Stendahl makes the point of using these titles quite intentionally. As men and as disciples of Jesus, they share the peace of their teacher, their rabbi. But in this moment, they seem to revert to the little boys they once were. In this moment they stopped behaving like grown men and became like little boys competing against one another.

Lest we begin to think that this image is too irreverent for these great saints of the faith, consider the words of scripture. We read that they went to the tomb, but this image soon dissolves into them running together. This image moves further into absurdity as we read that the other disciple outran Peter. The whole mantle of maturity falls apart when the other disciple, the beloved disciple bends down to look into the tomb only to find the linen wrappings rolled up and set aside. But while he does not go into the tomb, Peter smashes all decorum and enters the tomb. Only then does the other disciple follow.

How doesn’t this look like a race between two kids at recess? If they were truly youngsters who should be off tending the sheep instead of full grown men, it would be no great leap to think of them as boys being boys instead of the Rock upon which the church will be built and the beloved disciple. Does this overstate the comic? Perhaps, but in the words of Pastor Stendahl, “it is hard to ignore at least the suggestion of such childish, such boyish, competition between these two iconic figures.”[3]

This part of the passage ends as they return to their homes after they saw and believed. They saw and they believed, but scripture makes it clear that they did not understand. They did not understand the scriptures. They did not understand that Jesus must rise from the dead. It’s almost like this part of the gospel has dissolved from Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn into a Hardy Boys mystery, “The Case of the Missing Messiah.” They saw and believed, they had all of the information in front of them, but they did not understand. They were not able to discern what happened to the body, so they went home.

The Hardy Boys would have done more to get to the bottom of this.

It is the story of Mary Magdalene that has none of this comedy.

For Mary, it’s early. It’s still dark outside as Mary leaves for the tomb. Perhaps the sun has just begun to come up so it can still be considered dark outside. If Mary leaves the house any sooner she will violate the Sabbath. Perhaps she doesn’t care anymore, she has to get to the tomb so if she is caught in violation Sabbath travel restrictions, so be it.

So from which ever side of the crack of dawn she leaves, she leaves the house and goes to the tomb. When she arrives she sees that the stone that had been placed over its mouth has been removed. I suspect she looked into the open tomb, if for just a moment. Maybe she didn’t look in, but instead had a sinking feeling in her heart. Either way, she comes to the correct conclusion. Jesus’ body was not there.

Mary sees the open tomb, overwhelmed by grief, or maybe by panic. The Lord is not there, how can this be? Mary remains weeping at the tomb. Her Lord is dead and missing. The two people she shares her worries with have abandoned her. She is alone again. She is lost. She is distraught. She weeps and she looks into the tomb. What else can she do?

Suddenly she is found by two angels who ask why she is crying. She repeats her lament, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Can you hear her heart breaking? Flowery speeches are unnecessary. “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then, just as suddenly she turns and sees another man standing before her. Who is this man? Did he take the body of the Lord?

He breaks the momentary silence repeating the question of the men in the tomb, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Scripture tells us Mary supposed he was the gardener. But she may have also thought he was a thief or a fool.

Only a fool wouldn’t know what had been going on in Jerusalem over the past week. The Passover was only a part of what was happening now. The Nazarene, Jesus came into Jerusalem triumphantly on the back of a colt. Later, he was tried as an enemy of the state or of the church depending on the accuser. Then he was crucified with two criminals. This was his crypt, and if this man was the gardener either he was oblivious to the events of the last week and the responsibilities of his job or he was the one who moved the body.

She answers his question without contempt toward its foolishness, but she is not above suspecting this gardener of taking Jesus. “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.” How Mary is going to carry the dead weight of a man is irrelevant. If this gardener knows where the body is, she will retrieve it and return it to its proper resting place.

It’s the least she can do. The Lord has delivered Mary from her life in the world to life with him. The gospels tell different stories about Mary and her history, but there is one thing that is certain. Jesus finds Mary and then she becomes actively useful to the ministry of the Lord. Carrying him to his final resting place is the least she can do.

Her world is shattered. Being useful in this small way is all she can think to do. It is all she dares to believe she can do. What else is there?

Jesus then calls her by name. “Mary!” Recognizing him, she turns and calls out to him “Rabbouni.” She is flooded with emotion. The warmth must be amazing. Her tears of sorrow and anxiety and fear become tears of joy and relief. The Lord reveals himself to her again. She has found him and the world is turning anew. She rushes to him, she clings to him. Jesus tells her this is not the time, she is to go and tell the brothers what was happening, and what would happen. Jesus tells Mary “I am ascending to my Father.”

Mary does as she is told. She goes to the disciples. Such a difference a moment makes in our lives. Her world has been turned over three times in the last three days, the twice within the last hour or so. If she is running she is skipping. If she is walking she is walking on sunshine. Life is never going to be the same. Her Lord lives. And she is trusted to take these things to the others. “I have seen the Lord,” and life, which had all ready been turned on its ear, is turning again and again. “I have seen the Lord.”

I retell this story because I want us all to see the difference between the disciples’ story and Mary’s story. By the reckoning of Pastor Stendhal’s re-envisioning of the gospel, Peter and the other disciple act childishly. They behave like boys-being-boys racing each other to the tomb. While they have all of the information they need, they have no idea how to interpret it. So as dawn breaks, they go to bed.

Mary’s reaction is much different. She approaches the tomb first to worship her slain Lord and then to mourn the loss of his body. She cries out in tender (if suspicious) lament to the one who might be able to tell her what has happened here. She cries out that the one she grieves is now gone. Her affection to the Lord is obvious as she weeps to the angels. Her sorrow swells as she is met by her Lord who she can only see as a gardener. Her joy then becomes infectious as she recognizes him, crying “Rabbouni!” as she meets his wondrous gaze. Her glee, her delight, her abandoned, unrestrained joy is childlike.

Yes, this is our lesson for the day. We are called to have a faith that is childlike, not childish. The story I started with about this special Easter sunrise service in South Dakota makes this point. It begins as Reverend Cross fears the childish antics of a bunch of unruly tweens and teens and is met with the childlike joy of a boy-soprano crying to the specific congregation and the church universal “He is risen.” Let’s not make him wait, let us join his childlike wonder and answer him with the most ancient of all confessions, “He is risen indeed”

[1] Cross, Randy, “Bound for Golgotha, A Lenten Study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, Lent 2007.” Nashville: TN: Abingdon Press, 2006, pages 57-58.
[2] Stendahl, John K. “Feasting on the Word” Year C, Volume 2. David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, pages 372-376
[3] Ibid, page 372.

Twins

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday April 19, 2009, the 2nd week of Easter.

Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 131
1 John 1:1-2:2
John 20:19-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

In my opinion, Thomas, or “Doubting Thomas,” gets more abuse than he deserves for being skeptical. His tendencies to speak his mind and to ask questions when he doesn’t understand are admirable. Thomas was not a man to be persuaded with words alone. In John 14[1] when Jesus says “And you know the way to the place where I am going;” Thomas is the one who says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” If we truly believe there is no such thing as a stupid question, then Thomas belongs in the hall-of-fame.

I imagine Thomas was a man of home spun wisdom. He had the “Show-Me” mentality that could make him our neighbor to the north today. He was deliberate and he was cautious. He has questions and he wants them answered. He has doubts and he wants them vanquished.

So it was the evening on the first day of the week, the day of Jesus’ resurrection; and the ten, not the twelve but the ten, had locked themselves in the house where they met. Who’s missing? Well, Matthew’s gospel records Judas’ death as an aside to the passion narrative, so he is obviously missing. As for Thomas, we have no idea where he is. Rugged individualist that he is, he is not with the others.

While the others receive the Holy Spirit; Thomas, the Marlboro Man[2] of the apostles, is out having a smoke.

So when the others got a hold of Thomas, he got an ear full. “We have seen the Lord!” they proclaimed loudly and gladly. They weren’t rubbing it in his face, I think they were rejoicing and wishing he had been with them to share the glory of the peace of the Lord and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Missouri Mule spirit that had served Thomas so well was not about to desert him. He knew what he had seen at the crucifixion and he knows dead is dead. He might have been willing to believe some sort of apparition, a Holy Spirit, but the physical presence of the Lord in the glory of his resurrection body struck him as unlikely.

He had to see the Lord Jesus for himself. He had to touch him. He needed the experience before he could believe it was true.

Don’t you wonder if Thomas didn’t stay close to home base for a while? Sure enough, a week later, it was the eleven together for fellowship. Give him credit, he wasn’t sure about the resurrection, but he still believed and still worshiped Jesus. Then just like the week before, Jesus came into the sealed room, stood among them, and said “Peace be with you.”

Quoting John’s gospel, “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!’”

Smithsonian Magazine some 30 years ago had a story about two men known as the “Jim Twins.” [3] They were identical twins separated at birth. When they were reunited at age 39, they found a startling number of similarities between them.

Both had been adopted by separate families in Ohio, and had grown up within 45 miles of each other. Both had been named James by their adoptive parents. Both had married twice; first to women named Linda and second to women named Betty. Both had children, including sons named James Allan.[4] Both had at one time owned dogs named Toy.

Dr. Thomas Bouchard of the University of Minnesota studied the personalities and attitudes of the Jim Twins, and the resulting similarities were again astonishing. In one test which measured personality variables, the twins scored so closely that it was as if one person had taken the test twice. Brain wave tests produced skyline-like graphs looking like two views of the same city.

Intelligence tests, mental abilities, gestures, voice tones, likes and dislikes, were similar as well. As for medical histories, both had high blood pressure, both had experienced what they thought were heart attacks, and both suffered from migraine headaches. They even used the same words to describe their headaches.

The twins discovered they shared the same habits too. Both chain-smoked, both liked beer, both had woodworking workshops in their garages. Both drove Chevys, both had served as Sheriff's deputies in nearby Ohio counties. They had even vacationed on the same beach on the Florida Gulf Coast. Both lived in the only house on their block. The same patterns shared by the Jim Twins occurred time and time again.

This isn’t the only example of identical twins being separated at birth. A Google search[5] reveals over 6,000 hits on the subject. (Of course, I don’t know how many of these articles are twin articles separated by Google.) There are thousands of stories of people who were raised in different environments, different households, yet turn out with amazing similarities.

Another one of my favorite “odd” birth stories, no where near as common as twins separated at birth, is twins with different birthdays. I don’t mean twins who were born a couple of minutes on either side of midnight, I mean days or even weeks. Known as interval delivery; it’s rare, but it happens. In the case of the Rugg family from Highlands Ranch, Colorado; twins were born 63 days apart.[6]

One of the twins was born four months premature. He weighed a mere one pound nine ounces. Everyone knew this baby was in dire straights, so when the doctors said that they could stop the labor before the second baby was born, the parents just looked at each other then the doctors and asked, “you can do that?”

So while the older twin, Adam, fought for his life in the neonatal intensive care unit at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver, the second, Jayson was fighting to get stronger inside his mother's womb. Doctors were amazed that his mother was able to carry Jayson, more than two months after Adam’s birth.

Despite the fact that Adam had been in an incubator and Jayson had been in utero, the day the two were reunited they were virtually the same weight and height. So while one had spent two months in the real world, and the other had the benefit of two additional months in his mother’s womb, when they met again they were virtually the same.

I share these two stories to make a point about the apostle known as “the Twin.” Separated at birth both in time and space, and born of the same womb at different intervals, we are very much like Thomas. The 20th century rugged individualism that is an American trademark is not so far from the “not ‘til I see it with my own eyes and touch it with my own hands” of Doubting Thomas.

Like Thomas, we did not receive the Holy Spirit along with the ten on that first Easter Sunday so long ago. Like Thomas at the beginning of our reading we long to see Jesus, behold the glory of his face, and touch his hands and side. Like Thomas, we can find the resurrection difficult because we have not personally seen the person of the resurrection. Like Thomas we want to stand before the Lord and worship crying, “My Lord and my God.” We want to sing out adoring God in the happy chorus begun in the morning stars.

Being separated at birth in time and space, we will not have the same benefits Thomas had seeing his resurrected Lord. We are those who will be blessed as those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Instead of the person of the resurrection, we see the fruit of the resurrection. Instead of the Lord in person, we see the Lord in works of charity and justice. We hear the word of the Lord in proclamation and in song. The promise of God’s grace is present when we celebrate of the sacraments. Whenever a child is loved, we see God at work in the world.

It’s redundant to call Thomas “Didymus” like the New International Version or “Twin” like our reading this morning because Thomas is a transliteration of the Aramaic word for “twin.” There is no explanation in scripture, or anywhere else I have found, about why he was called the Twin. So let us here and now resolve that issue and affirm that we are Thomas’ twin. We are the didymus of Didymus.

We are blessed like Thomas during the week between these two appearances of Jesus. We believe though we have not seen the physical manifestation of the resurrection. And we are blessed for we will be like Thomas and the day will come when we see Jesus again in his glory.

We read that Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, and we see around us that Jesus continues to do many other signs in the presence of his modern day disciples by the fruit of the Spirit. This so that we may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that though believing we may have life in his name.

Additional Resource…

Barker, William P., Personalities Around Jesus. Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1963.

[1] John 14:4-5
[2] Marlboro and Marlboro Man are registered trademarks, Philip Morris.
[3] Study of identical twins separated at birth and reunited later in life, http://iris.nyit.edu/~shartman/mba0120/twins.htm, retrieved April 18, 2009.
[4] As I remember from the original Smithsonian article, one was spelled Allan and the other Alan.
[5] Google search using term “identical twins separated at birth” on April 18, 2009.
[6] Twins born 63 days apart celebrate older twin’s birthday, http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=69412, retrieved on April 18, 2009.

A Scarred Faith

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on March 30, 2008, the 2nd Sunday of Easter.

Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heats be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

If you’re wondering why this passage is familiar, it’s because we hear this passage on the first Sunday every after Easter. I am often curious about why the committee that put together the lectionary uses the passages it does, but using a passage every year that isn’t Luke’s version of the Christmas story reeks of a lack of imagination. It could be asked how many ways one passage can be preached. Well, we’re about to find out if I can make it three with this one.

I have talked about Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples—what bible scholars call “John’s Pentecost.” I have also talked about the forgiveness of sin part of this passage, saying that while it is God alone who forgives sin, sin is retained if we don’t forgive. When someone else’s sin is retained, they don’t retain it, we retain it ourselves. By retaining someone else’s sin, we are damaged.

Every time a sermon is written and heard, the goal is to make the gospel reading new again, like we’re hearing it again for the first time. This passage and this reading of it are no different. And when I read this passage this time, these things didn’t impress me at all.

What rang out when I read this passage was when the narrator reported, Jesus “showed them his hands and his side.”

When the disciples saw his wounds, when they saw where the nails secured his hands and where the spear pierced his side; I imagine they were able to see the remnants of pain, the torture, the horror that God incarnate knew upon the cross. I think they were beginning to come to grips with the price of his sacrifice.

Jesus was betrayed by one of his own. He is interrogated by Annas and tried before Pilate. The Jews in the street could have cried for his freedom, instead they cried for the death of Jesus and the freedom of the bandit Barabbas. His clothes were taken and split among the guards who led him to his death. He was hung from a tree, taunted. Only one of his disciples was addressed from the cross, John. Whether the others were there or not, the Gospel is silent, but our reading begins with the eleven in hiding so I would be inclined to guess they were nowhere close.

Jesus had taken on the greatest pain and humiliation the kingdom of humanity could heap upon another, crucifixion. Death by crucifixion is particularly gruesome. It is a slow death. Placed on a pole in the mid day sun, the body will begin to burn like a day at the worst beach on earth. Breathing becomes difficult and only when the victim stands, in Jesus’ case on impaled feet, can a full breath be taken. The pain of the piercings is almost negligible compared to the rest of the torture. Ultimately, when unable to stand, the body’s weight is supported by its outstretched arms, and breathing becomes impossible. Blood loss and dehydration are just little additions to steady drum beat of asphyxiation.

After this trial, after this deceit, after this horror; Jesus comes and stands among them and says, “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 says to them again, “Peace be with you.”

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life and humanity inflicts its worst upon its Lord and God. Still Jesus offers humanity his peace.

An old story…

One day a young man was standing in the middle of town proclaiming he had the most beautiful heart in the valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart—for it was perfect.

There was not a mark or flaw on it. Yes, they all agreed—it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said “Why your heart is not near as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old mans heart… it was beating strongly, yet full of scars. It had places where pieces were removed and other pieces put in but they didn't fit quite right—and there were jagged edges. In fact in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared… “How could he say his heart was more beautiful?” they thought.

The young man looked at the state of the old man's heart—and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare my heart with yours. Yours is filled with scars and tears.” “Yes,” said the old man. “Yours is perfect looking, but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love—I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty space in my heart. Because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish because they remind me of the love we shared.

“Sometimes I have given away a piece of my heart and the person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges— giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open and remind me of the love I have for these people too—and I hope some day they return and fill the space I have waiting.

“So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his young perfect heart and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering—placed it in his heart and then took a piece of his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, not perfectly as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked down at his heart, not perfect anymore—but more beautiful than ever since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.

They embraced and walked away side by side.[1]

Jesus Christ entered into the place where his disciples had gathered in fear of the Jews, their hearts cowering in the darkness. 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.” He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus gives them his peace, and shows them his scars and there is great rejoicing when they recognize him. Jesus offers them his peace and then his spirit, and he offers these same things to us who continue in their stead today.

The scars on his hands and side are for his love for all of creation. And by taking these wounds he has done what is necessary to make us well. I beg now ask you, are we willing to make the same sacrifice for Jesus and for others Jesus made for us? Will we offer the Lord a piece of our heart to fill the void left when he took the shame of crucifixion? Will we give our hearts to him as he gave to us? Will we give to one another as he gave to us?

This sacrifice is difficult. This sacrifice can only be made out of love, the perfect love Jesus makes available to us through his sacrifice. We can never make this sacrifice for ourselves; we can only make this sacrifice to give glory to God.

Will there be gouges left where others fail to return your giving? Surely there will. Will there be pain? Yes, after all, we can only be hurt by those we love. People we don’t love don’t have the power to take a piece of our heart. But with the Lord as our example, when we give our lives for others in the name of Jesus Christ, there is life eternal.

[1] This is an old story; I don’t remember where I read it first. This version was found on line at http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/npd/53426/385254 in a discussion thread on narcissism.