Sunday, April 23, 2017

From Doubt to Praise / Based on John 20:19-31 / Delivered on April 23, 2017 to CCH in Hudson WI

From Doubt to Praise
Based on John 20:19-31
Delivered on April 23, 2017 to CCH in Hudson WI
Hymns: 121 Just as I Am, 85 I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, 8 To God Be the Glory

John 20:19-31
20:19 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."
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 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."
20:26 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."
20:27 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."
20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
20:29 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."
20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
20:31 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.


Good morning and happy second Sunday of Easter.  I am Darci Strutt McQuiston, a lay speaker from the United Methodist Church up on the hill.  It’s my joy to be with you on this day.  This Sunday is also nicknamed “Low Sunday” because often it is not well attended.  Pastors often choose it as a vacation day because of all the commitments over Holy Week.  But here we are together and I’ll attempt to make it anything but “low”.

The three ideas I am bringing forth from this scripture are to move:
From fear and doubt
To belief
To praise

From fear and doubt
Thomas earned the nickname “Doubting Thomas” from this bit of scripture.  If you look at it carefully, he only asked for what the other Disciples already had.  Jesus came to them when Thomas wasn’t there and wished them peace, then in verse 20:20 “After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” 

Notice the “Then” in that final line.  It was after they had seen his hands and side that they believed.  So, don’t be too hard on Thomas in verses 20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 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."

The second encounter comes a week later.  Of note to me is the fact the doors are still shut, which I interpret to mean “locked”.  The fear remains for all of them, not just Thomas.  The ten disciples had seen Jesus and yet eight days had passed and they hadn’t done what he asked in verse 21, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Is it any wonder that Thomas hadn’t believed them?  Their lives hadn’t changed.  Jesus again says, “Peace be with you.” when he first comes.  Peace can mean tranquility, calm, and quietness.  He was calming their fears. 

I feel comforted that Jesus didn’t condemn Thomas.  He reached to meet his request. 20:27 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."

To believe
And Thomas does believe!   20:29 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."
20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
20:31 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.

It was important to the disciples to have it confirmed that this was the same Jesus that had walked and talked with him.  It is what our faith is born from.  The fact that they believed.  Their lives and their deaths became a testimony to their belief.  The Apostle John was the only one of the twelve not to be martyred for his faith.  The strength of their belief is an encouragement to those of us who have not seen.

To praise
Thomas moved from doubt to praise.  20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"  Thomas understands that Jesus is not just a prophet.  He is God.  In the gospels, he is referred to as Jesus, but more often after his resurrection he is referred to as “The Christ” which is a title meaning Messiah.  His resurrection confirmed his title.  After the first visit by Jesus the ten disciples are filled with joy, but they did not move to praise during that encounter.  It took this second visit to truly sink in.

Praise is a natural response when someone does something amazing.  We feel the strong desire to say, “Well done!  You did it!”  God just completed his promise made to his people from the beginning.  When Adam and Eve experience separation from God in the garden, God responded; Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  He also promised David that one of his descendants would sit on his throne forever. 

In the companion scripture of our lectionary, Acts 2:22-32 Peter talks about this promise.  2:31 “Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’  Our scripture today describes the witnesses of the success.  Christ is risen – risen indeed.

We are all members of the group who have not seen and yet have come to believe.  We have the witness of those who did see Jesus, and have given us their testimony.  The disciples’ lives were changed in visible ways by their encounter with Christ.  We can believe based on their testimony because it is a testimony of action not just words. We also have the Holy Spirit within us and feel a stirring in our hearts.  This passage is a reminder that those looking at our lives would be more moved by seeing our changed lives than by our words alone.


I have one more gem I want to pull from this scripture.  It involves moving from seeing our struggles as negative to seeing them as precious parts of our history.

We all have times of struggle and suffering.  The scriptures tell us this suffering can increase our faith if we stand firm.  1 Peter 1:6-8 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

There is a Japanese art that involves repairing broken objects with gold dust.  They see the break as part of the history of the object rather than something they need to disguise.  The object becomes more precious after the break and repair.  It struck me as I read the scripture this week that when Jesus appeared to the disciples the holes remained in his hands and in his side, yet instead of the pain and fear of the crucifixion the wounds brought them joy because it gave evidence he had conquered the cross.  There are times I’d like to forget about my history or disguise what I’ve been through, but given this thought, I like the image of my times of struggle being transformed and seen as more precious than gold.  I pray that when I get to the other side the wounds of my history will be transformed and result in praise and joy.  Jesus’ marks remained as evidence of the power of God.  This can be true for us as well.  If we stand firm in our faith our own scars can act as evidence of God’s work in our lives.

On this second Sunday of Easter I pray the joy of resurrection morning is still pulsing though you.  Jesus is alive, God did what he promised, and you and I can have faith in promises yet to come.  We will have struggles but the victory is won.  See yourself as the repaired object with the artists’ golden repair making it more beautiful than before.  God’s love is the winner.  Because of this our adoption is confirmed.  We are children of the fourth day – resurrection day.

Amen.




  

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