Reflections...

 A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Second Sunday of Easter 24 April 2022, by Rev. Judy Chan. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 118:14-29, John 20:19-31. 

Good morning!

The Second Sunday of Easter is sometimes called “Low Sunday”.  It may have come from the practice of the early church. Those newly baptized on Easter Day wore bright white robes for 8 days to signify their new life in Christ. Then on Low Sunday, they took them off and became ordinary Christians like the rest of us.

But it’s anything but low at KUC since we are finally back to worshipping in person. And it’s still the season of Easter, so let’s say “Hallelujah!”

Today’s Gospel reading is from the twentieth chapter of John. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright considers John 20 one of the most magnificent passages in Scripture. To the point, when he was a bishop, he would ask those interviewing for church jobs, what’s your favorite Bible passage? But he told them, you can’t choose John 20 or Romans 8. That’s too easy. If you can’t quite remember what Romans 8 is about, you can look it up later (but preferably after my sermon).

After last week’s story about the Resurrection, we continue with more surprise appearances by the Risen Lord, the first to the 12 in the Upper Room, minus Judas and Thomas. Then a week later, another appearance when Thomas is there. So, let’s go to the Upper Room to see just what makes this passage so magnificent.

The disciples are hiding out behind locked doors. They’re utterly devastated over what’s happened to their leader. Will the authorities come after them too? Then, all of a sudden, that late lamented leader appears right in front of them, alive not dead, somehow bypassing the doorbell and the door itself. They’re astonished. Terrified. It must be a ghost! But instead of yelling “Boo”, what does Jesus say? Exactly what they need to hear: “Peace be with you” – the traditional Hebrew greeting ‘Shalom Aleichem’ but in a totally new context.

Remember what Jesus had promised in the Upper Room in John 14 before his Crucifixion? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Peace be with you.

So once the disciples get over their fear, Jesus shows them exactly what they need to see: his nail-scarred hands and pierced side. What better proof that he’s the same Jesus they had loved and followed for three years? The same Jesus who was crucified, dead and buried. Now risen from the grave, among them, never to die again.

Of course, they believe and are overjoyed.  And if that wasn’t enough to take in on one visit, John says Jesus not only gives them God’s peace. He appoints them as his ambassadors, empowers them with the Holy Spirit, and gives them authority to forgive sins. What more could you ask for? This was a day they would never forget.

Then he’s gone. And in comes Thomas. The disciples are bursting with the incredible news: We’ve just seen the Lord, or put another way, you’ve just missed seeing the Lord!

Now put yourself in Thomas’s shoes. If someone told me they had seen a person I knew to be dead and buried, I’d have my doubts too. Even if my deepest desire was that it be true, I know that just doesn’t happen in this world, sorry.

I remember when I was growing up, my younger sister once asked me about a baby brother who had died in infancy. She never knew him. His name was Joseph, he would have been 2 years younger than me and 7 years older than her. We were in bed late one night, and my sister who was very little then, said, “Judy, if Joseph ever comes back when I’m asleep, be sure to wake me up.” I was so touched, I didn’t have the heart to tell her it would never happen, at least on this side of eternity.

And that’s just where Thomas knew he was too, on this side of eternity. We might think, in the ancient unscientific world, maybe people believed these things could happen. There were occasional claims of resuscitated corpses in Greco-Roman culture and even Judaism itself. But resurrection of the dead in Jewish teaching happened to the righteous at the end of time. So, for sure, there was no expectation that the Messiah would be crucified as a criminal and then come back to this life.

So, Thomas’s doubt about their story is not so hard to understand, is it?  History tends to judge him harshly for demanding concrete evidence.

But Episcopal preacher Barbara Brown Taylor gave me another insight about Thomas. In a sermon she preached on John 20, she said, remember,

He wasn’t there in the house with the others that night, wasn’t there when Jesus came and stood among them, wasn’t there when he gave them his peace, showed them his wounds, gave them power over sin, and bid them receive the Holy Spirit—basically everything he had to bring his little church back to life.[1]

So, we call him ‘Doubting Thomas’. But, in reality, he was only asking for what the other disciples got without having to ask.

It might seem then Thomas was the most unlucky guy in the room at that moment. If the Resurrection were true, he had just missed a chance of a lifetime. If it weren’t true, he was stuck hiding out with 10 crazy friends in a locked room. Either way, things didn’t look good.

But lo and behold, what happens one week later? Jesus comes back – back to the same room, to the same disciples plus one, bringing the same greeting of peace. And this time, it’s even better especially for Thomas. Not just because he’s there. But because this time Jesus came expressly to see him. This time Thomas responds, not just with joy and belief like the others, but with the greatest Christological confession in the New Testament: “My Lord and my God.” My Lord and my God. This is stunning confirmation of what was written in the Prologue, John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God; it is God the only Son, ever at the Father's side, who has revealed Him.” My Lord and my God. Who would have thought this would come from the lips of Thomas, ‘the spokesman of apostolic doubt’? [2] Magnificent, indeed.

Yet, as I reflected on this profound event, I had to ask, “Then what about us?” How does Easter become real to you and me today? If Thomas needed to see it with his own eyes, how can we be expected to believe the Resurrection 2000 years on? Are we not at a distinct disadvantage?

It may seem so. Until we realize that seeing and hearing and touching the Risen Lord was only the first way the disciples knew the Resurrection was true. The first way but not the only way. We can still personally experience the Resurrection here and now. And how that does happen? When we allow Jesus to give us his peace. When we allow Jesus to show us his wounds in the world. When we allow Jesus to give us power over sin and open our lives to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Easter Story becomes real to you and me when we let Jesus give us everything he has – to bring our little church, our fragile selves, and this big planet back to life. What more could we ask for? And all we have to do, like Thomas, is say Yes. My Lord and my God.

So far from being at a disadvantage compared to the first disciples, we are blessed, maybe even more so than those who were eyewitnesses. Why? Because John 20 not only tells their story, it tells our story. Actually, we’re in that Upper Room too in a way. For what did Jesus say to Thomas? “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. That’s a beatitude in case you didn’t notice. And we’re included in that blessing along with everyone else who has come to faith in Christ since that first Easter 2000 years ago. Isn’t that magnificent? So, if you want to make John 20 your new favorite Scripture, it’s OK with me.

Nonetheless… I’m guessing there are some sitting here today, if they were honest, still have doubts. That’s OK. Because, did you know there are times when even the most faithful, if they were honest, have doubts too? That’s right. Especially when we’re facing unimaginably painful and difficult situations, our own cross to bear in this life. And we wonder, where are you God? So, let me leave you with a story for all of us.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his child, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, though, was flame, smoke, and darkness. As you can imagine, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father shouted back, "But I can see you and that's all that matters now."

 God can see you and me and that’s all that matters now. Amen. Hallelujah!

 A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Easter 17 April 2022, by Rev.  Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 24:1-12. 

Happy Easter dear friends, sisters and brothers in Christ!

This year we did not have the luck like last year that we were able to celebrate Easter in church by having in-person worship. Our worship today is a  pre-recorded service brought to the congregation through Facebook livestreaming. In the midst of limitations, we are thankful that with the support of advanced technology, we are able to worship together at the same time and proclaim “Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia”! 

In the gospel reading taken from Luke 24, the gospel story of Jesus rising from the dead was shared. When the women went to look for Jesus’s dead body, they saw only an empty tomb and two men clothed in dizzying white. 

These two men, believed to be angels or messengers sent by God, announced the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection before these courageous women. 

In the dialogue, these two men asked the first question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?

This is a profound question that invites us today to reflect on the meaning of Jesus’s resurrection. 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour of the world, is a fundamental faith to Christians. 

 “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” 

This question reminded me of some people that I have known who always go visit  the tomb where dead persons stayed. I said this not in a literal sense. What I am trying to say is I would think of the tomb as people’s lives of the past. 

When people continue to visit their past life, they cannot go on with their lives with a new start. The past is dead. Life is meaningful and fresh only when it is lived in the present. 

The empty tomb that revealed Jesus’ resurrection reminded the women in the graveyard and us today – we have to be mindful not to go back or attach ourselves to the past as we move on to a new life. Our past, good or bad, could be a hinderance for our life ahead.

I would like to share a story about a man. I will call him James. James has been suffering from psychosomatic problems for a number of years. His ill health has been paining him. But what makes his life bitter and miserable is he always revisit the tomb, the darkness in his past. Whenever he feels pain in his body, he will then complain that he did not take good care of himself when he was young. He missed the chance to get married and so he is living alone now. Because of what he did and he did not do in the past, he thinks there is nothing he can do to make himself better. This thought makes him very depressed and and feeling he finds no hope.

There is another story about a lady called Phoenix. She suffered from heart attack and was once at the brink of death. After the operation, she realized how she had ignored the signs from her body and the food that she took for a number of years was not good for her blood vessels. She has since then started to be more aware of her body condition and try to have more control in her intake of food that may affect her health. She realized how God has saved her life and restored her strength after the heart operation. She then lives a happier and joyful life. She trusts in God and knows that the living Christ, who is resurrected from the dead, is always with her. So she becomes very relaxed and fearless in facing death. Phoenix is my eldest sister. I have been very impressed by her testimony and thus would like to share with you so that we can be encouraged by her as well. I have shared more details of her story in my Easter Message which has been uploaded as a video through the church Facebook and other social media channels. You are welcome to watch it. 

A life of resurrection means “don’t visit the tomb as we cannot find the living from the death”. To translate it to our daily life, here are my recommendations:

1. Stop regretting for the past and for what we have done or undone;

2. Stop complaining about the suffering or even the trauma that we have gone through; 

3. Stop attaching to past glory and success that we have treasured;

4. Stop adhering to old habits and fixed belief that have served us in a certain period of time but are no longer helpful…

All these seem hard, but it is the way to go!

The dead person and the tomb could exist in our lives in different forms. We are all different. But what is important is -  if we are willing to live a life of resurrection that brings us and others new life, hope and joy, we need to make a change.

Resurrection is about change and transformation. 

From death to life. 

From darkness to light.

From sorrow to joy.

From despair to peace.

From hatred to love.

But we all know change and transformation take time.

Let us look at the resurrection story again.

After the two men asked the women the question - “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen”, they further said to them : “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” (v6-7)

 

From the conversation, the women were reminded of Jesus’s word. Today we are reminded too Jesus’s rising from the dead must come after suffering. Resurrection is not something like magic and it comes all of sudden. Before Jesus’s resurrection from the death, he had gone through pain and suffering in the darkness. It’s not an easy path.  It’s a tough and rocky road for him to suffer physical pain with his body nailed on the cross, psychological pain when his beloved disciples betrayed and denied him, spiritual pain during a time he felt God’s absence. 

Resurrection is like a woman giving birth to a new born baby.  Both the mother and the baby have to go through the dark and bear the pain before new life is received. 

Resurrection is like a coin of two sides that entails life and death, light and darkness. The one who is resurrected must go through suffering. It is part of the course. No one can escape from it. Even for Jesus who is the son of God, coming to the world, he had to drink this cup of suffering before he was risen. There is an idiom – no pain no gain. This phrase is a good description for resurrection. 

Not only that – witnessing the empty tomb and hearing someone with special power tell you about Jesus’s resurrection is not the end of the story. The women who received the good news about Jesus being risen did not immediately live a happy life thereafter. 

 

No, not at all. When these courageous women to whom Jesus chose to reveal his resurrection went to tell about this wonderful and amazing news to the disciples, the disciples refused to believe them except Peter, who tried to go to the tomb and fact check. The women were accused of making up a story by other disciples. 

The disciples who later affirmed Jesus’s resurrection after they encountered the risen Lord directly had a very tough life in their journey of following Jesus as his faithful disciples. Many of them like Peter were martyred.

What does this teach us then?

We should never simply take Jesus’s resurrection as a fairy tale. Resurrection is grace through darkness. It is costly and no one should take it lightly.

Resurrection is grace from God that has promised to all who believe in him that new life will be unfolded and new hope will blossom. Resurrection is grace from God that gives to the faithful courage, perseverance and strength to go through darkness and to overcome death. 

In our risen Christ, who is the son of Man, the son of God revealed one important truth - God has the ultimate victory over death. God who is the life eternal will live forever. No tomb, no darkness and no death contain Him. 

Today, on Easter Sunday, we are here to receive the grace from Jesus who had journeyed through the darkness and was risen. With joy we celebrate the eternal life and hope that Jesus brings. 

With strong faith and gratitude for Jesus’ powerful love that overcomes death, let us proclaim: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!