Trinity Episcopal Church
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
First Sunday After Easter (Easter 2)
April 15, 2007
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About the Revised Common LectionaryThe 75th General Convention in June, 2006 directed that the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) replace the Book of Common Prayer lectionary "effective the First Sunday of Advent 2007; with the provision for continued use of the previous Lectionary for purposes of orderly transition, with the permission of the ecclesiastical authority, until the First Sunday of Advent 2010." The Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray, III has indicated to the clergy of the Diocese of Mississippi that the RCL be used in this Diocese. The General Convention of 2000 which initially authorized the trial use of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) actually modified the RCL slightly to conform to Episcopal worship needs. In addition, the weekday feasts and fasts are a matter of Episcopal usage and are not supported by the RCL. |
Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 150
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 75 th General Convention of the ECUSA
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach our your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)
Blessed are the Seekers
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop
Because we are an apostolic church, I suspect that many of us imagine that there is a single historical line extending from where we are now in the church right back to the Apostles. But that is just not so. I imagine that from the very beginning of Jesus’ preaching ministry there were people who differed about what he meant. And as these people began to form nascent groups of Christians, they disagreed about nearly everything.
At the time the Gospel of John was written –about three generations after Jesus’ death – the Christian “Way” was a complicated mess of ideas about the person and nature of Jesus Christ. Different groups had different ideas about who Jesus was and what he represented and some of their written ideas eventually became the gospels. The writers of Mark, Mathew and Luke saw Jesus as a doer of great deeds by describing Jesus’ teachings about how to act in these last days before the end of time.
The writer of the gospel of John on the other hand gives us an entirely different portrait of Jesus. In John’s gospel, Jesus proclaims his own divine identity, speaking in what New Testament scholars call the “I am” sayings: “I am the way; I am the light; I am the truth; I am the vine, I am the water of life.” What John wants us to understand is that only a divine source can fulfill our deepest needs. More importantly, John tells his disciples – and us – that belief in Jesus as the one and only divine Son of God is crucial: “Believe in God; believe also in me” (Jn 15:12). The Johannine community saw Jesus as the only one who came from above. This was the Johannine community’s way of telling other sects that they were wrong if they thought that personal revelation and experience could substitute for belief in Jesus as a way to salvation. The Johannine community wanted everyone to understand that Jesus and Jesus alone had priority.
To John, Jesus descended to the world from God as an atoning sacrifice to save us from eternal damnation, and then rose bodily from the dead. To be saved, John tells us, we must be “born again of water and the spirit” (Jn 3:5), and we must nourish our baptized selves in a supernatural fashion by eating the flesh of the Son of Man and by drinking his blood. [Only] those who eat of [Jesus’] flesh and drink [of his] blood [will] have eternal life. By gathering together in community and participating in the sacred meal that celebrates Jesus’ death and resurrection, those who truly believe in Jesus will be lifted up and sustained. Only through the mystery of sacramental communion could salvation be attained.
But, according to John there was one disciple who failed to grasp this: Thomas. Mark, Matthew, and Luke mention Thomas only as one of the twelve, but John portrays him as the disciple who fails to share the same understanding of who Jesus is. We could conclude from the story that we heard today – as most Christians have for about 2000 years – that Thomas was a particularly dense and faithless disciple, because he didn’t believe the same way as the rest of the community. But, this is not a story focused on Thomas’ doubt or skepticism. It is rather a story about faith, what faith means, and how Jesus responds to us when we continue to seek understanding.[1]
Elaine Pagels, a professor of religion at Princeton University, writes that there are three reasons why Thomas has been labeled the “doubter.” First, Thomas, when hearing Jesus say that he is going to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead, does not believe in Jesus’ miraculous healing powers (Jn 11:16). Second, when Jesus tells the disciples that he will die and go ahead and prepare a place in heaven for them, it is Thomas who says that he does not know where Jesus is going or how to get there (Jn 14:5). According to John, Jesus tells Thomas what he needed to hear: That Jesus “is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 11:6).
These two episodes reinforce the message of the importance of Jesus to the Johannine community: Jesus alone is of God, and true believers were to obey Jesus, and confess him and him alone as God’s only son. John’s community wanted everyone to revere Jesus as God in person. This was especially important in the early days of the church, when rival Christian groups were making claims about the divinity or lack of divinity of the person of Jesus. I think that Thomas was conflicted in his beliefs about Jesus, and he was grappling with trying to understand the resurrection. But – and this is important – Thomas did not quit trying to figure it all out. He kept seeking.
That is seen in the third episode which especially marks Thomas as the unbelieving outsider of the apostles. When the resurrected Jesus first appeared to the ten disciples, Thomas was not present. This is a crucial point, because it was at that first meeting that Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon them and delegated to them his authority to forgive sins or retain them. The implication is clear: Thomas was not present when the others were granted apostolic authority. Thomas is undoubtedly aware of all of the claims that have been made about Jesus and he is just not sure what to think – including whether the words of faith from the insiders of his own church were valid.
He said that “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.[2] But there is definitely something stirring in his heart because he stayed on the seeker’s path. A week later when Thomas and the other Apostles gathered, Thomas was still not convinced of the implications of was being said about Jesus.
But then Jesus appeared among them. With a tone of compassion in his voice, Jesus gently said to Thomas, “Do not be faithless, but believe.” And that encounter finally prompted him to stammer out his confession, “My Lord and my God.” And he never had to actually touch Jesus’ wounds at all.
At the heart of this story is the generous offer Jesus made to Thomas to let Thomas see and touch his wounds. [3] From his place outside of the inner circle of the apostles, Thomas established the conditions that had to be met for him to believe: he had to see and touch Jesus’ wounds. And Jesus provided what Thomas needed for his faith. Jesus knew that Thomas was struggling in his search. Jesus heard Thomas’ prayer, and understood the depth of his seeking. And there he stood, before Thomas, offering himself once again so that Thomas could come to believe in his own unique way.
“The one thing that Jesus didn’t do was to chastise or punish or shame or patronize Thomas. Unfortunately, Christians can sometimes be anything but charitable when it comes to doubters. When we hear people questioning God, we act more like Job’s friends than Jesus’ friends. We congratulate those who share our understanding, but exclude or denigrate those who are honestly engaging God or wrestling with their understanding of Jesus. Unlike us, God reaches out to those who lacking in faith, to those who are seeking.
“Remember the story from Matthew when Jesus calmed the storm (Mt 8:23-27)? The disciples and Jesus were in a boat when a huge storm arose. The scared disciples awoke the sleeping Jesus, and Jesus said to them, “You of little faith, why are you afraid?” That’s a severe thing for Jesus to have said, but, according to Matthew, he said it. Yes, Jesus was harsh; but notice what he didn’t say. He didn’t say, “Hey, you faithless disciples leave me alone! Come back when your faith is strong, and when you really believe, and then maybe I’ll help you out.” He didn’t say that. Instead, after reminding them that they ad room to grow in their faith journey, he came to their rescue and rebuked the winds.” [4]
The limitless love and abundant grace of Jesus are available to everyone; in all times, and in all places. Remember, Thomas did not achieve a coming to faith. Belief was something that the risen Christ brought to Thomas.
Keep questioning. Keep praying. And keep seeking! God’s grace is there for us all, and it will come in the form it needs to for us to recognize and respond to. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
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When the temple police had brought the apostles, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us" But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple; *
praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts; *
praise him for his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the blast of the ram's-horn; *
praise him with lyre and harp.
4 Praise him with timbrel and dance; *
praise him with strings and pipe.
5 Praise him with resounding cymbals; *
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath *
praise the LORD.
Hallelujah!
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach our your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Gail R. O’Day. “The Gospel of John.” The New Interpreters Bible, Vol IX. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 850.
[2] Pagels, 71.
[3] O’Day, 852.
[4] This section of the sermon was adapted from Timothy F. Merrill (Ex. Ed.). “What if…?” Homiletics19(2):59, 2007.
The Mission of Trinity Episcopal Church is to be an open and diverse Christian family dedicated to serving God and all creation by fostering spiritual growth through worship, prayer, education, service, stewardship, and celebration. |
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Copyright © 2007, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
12 April 2007
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