Sunday, April 24, 2022
/Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:27-32; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31
The Rev. Jeff Bohanski
Pray with me. Risen Christ, give us the grace to believe, like Thomas you know each of us by name. Give us the grace to be open to your love as we are today. Give us the grace to allow you to transform us into loving, sharing disciples of you. Amen.
I will always remember the first time I had a senior moment in public. I was at the 7:45 morning Service at Memorial Episcopal Church reading the Prayers of the People. At that Service we had a custom of not only praying for the bishops by name, but we also prayed for our clergy by name. This one morning I got all the bishops’ names right, but unfortunately, I got only most of the clergy’s names. I can still remember that cold fear I felt when I drew a complete blank on our deacon’s name. That same deacon who was standing right there next me. After what felt like an eternity, by the grace of God, I managed to feebly refer to her as, “Our beloved deacon.”
In the Gospel that was read a few moments ago, we heard two stories. First, we have the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples in a locked room without Thomas on the day of resurrection. The second story happens, presumably in the same room, a week later. This time Thomas is there.
In the first story the doors are locked, and the disciples are in fear of the authorities. Thomas is not there. Three days earlier, Jesus had been crucified, he died, and he was buried. Now, on the third day, reports have come in of women seeing and speaking with the resurrected Jesus, holes, and all. Suddenly, that same Jesus appeared. He is alive! The crucified one was standing right in front of them! And what does Jesus do? He met the disciples exactly where they were, in their fear. He says, “Peace be with you.” With these words, the resurrected Jesus transformed the disciples, he empowered them, and he gave them a commission of ministry. Where once there were fearful disciples, now there are peace filled, transformed, and empowered disciples.
In the second story, Thomas is there. Jesus appears, again he extends his peace. Then he turns and called Thomas by name. Jesus comes to Thomas in his doubt, turns Thomas’ own words on him and invites him to put his finger in the holes in his hands and his own hand in Jesus’ side. Like with the disciples, Jesus met Thomas exactly where he was. In his doubt. Where once there was a doubt filled Thomas, now there is a faith filled, worshiping Thomas.
Both these stories are transformative stories. The resurrected Jesus transformed the disciples’ fear into peace and strength. Thomas’ doubt was transformed into faith and belief. In both stories Jesus met the ones to be transformed where they were, not in a public worship place, not in a beautiful lily filled church, but where they were; in a room with closed doors where fear and doubt was found. Jesus transformed their fear into peace, and their doubt into faith. My friends, this resurrected Jesus is alive today and continues to call us by our names and invites us all to be transformed by his love.
Lately I’ve had some conversations with people who don’t like to watch the news anymore because it makes them anxious and depressed. I hear people tell me they find themselves binge watching something on a streaming service to escape the bad news to feel better. I understand. Many days I feel the same. There is a lot of bad news out there. There is the war in Ukraine, there is the unrest in the middle east, a news item we seem to have forgotten, inflation, the deaminizing of the other side of the political aisle, and the putting down of our gay, lesbian, and transgender siblings in our human community to name but a few issues.
I’ve come to wonder if perhaps this is what the world wants. I wonder if the world wants us, out of fear, to stop watching the news so we don’t know what is happening to our fellow human beings and we stop praying for them and the world. I wonder if the world doesn’t want us to know each other’s names so fear can fester, grow, and spread so it can be used against us.
I wonder what the world would look like if we lived life like we embraced and bore witness to a resurrected Jesus who calls us each by our name and offers his transformative love.
So, how can we bear witness to this love of the resurrected Jesus? Perhaps, the first thing we could do is to pray. Pray for God’s help. Then I would invite us to pray and ponder the stories we heard in today’s Gospel. Imagine you are in that room with the disciples and the resurrected Jesus suddenly appears to you, holes, and all. Where he meets you exactly where you are, in your doubt, fear, sadness, anger, or wherever you are and calls you by your name and says, “Peace be with you. Believe in me. Believe in my transforming love.” What a sight that would be!
Then we could pray for one another and those whom we encounter in our lives. Pray for other as they are not as we wish they were. Pray for the grace to see the person we are having difficulty with as one who Jesus also calls by name, who Jesus also invites into a transformational loving relationship.
My prayer for each of us is as we go forth from this place today is that we remember that the risen Jesus is alive. Like Thomas, he knows each of us by name. The risen Jesus comes to us all where we are and invites us to be transformed by his love. This risen Jesus then asks us to share that love with others and the world around us. Amen.