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!