2 Easter/Year B
April 11, 2021
Psalm 133; 1 John 1:1-2:2; John 20:19-31 (GNT)
Invite listeners to close their eyes…I invite you to “see” what the gospel is saying to you today, as you listen to it through your ears, in your heart, and in your body and in your spirit…
John 20:19-31: Good News Translation
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus and Thomas
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me!”
The Purpose of This Book
In his disciples' presence Jesus performed many other miracles which are not written down in this book. But these have been written in order that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you may have life. (end of the gospel reading)
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Can you think of any times in your life when you didn't believe something at first? Something that others had told you about, but you didn’t see it for yourself? Can you remember what it felt like to finally "see" something or experience something with your own eyes?
When I say “see something”…I also mean, those times when you finally “saw something” when you heard it with your own ears; when you “saw something” that you knew was true in your heart; when you “saw something” as you felt it in your body; when you “saw something” and you felt the spirit nudge you…to take a step forward in faith, and with hope…
The disciples into today's story, weren't expecting to see Jesus, even though they were told many times that He would have to suffer and die, and that three days later, be resurrected, and that they would see him again. Jesus knew they were scared when they first saw him, so he greeted them..."Peace be with you". And he showed them his hands and his side, and they believed him. They were filled with joy when they realized it was Jesus.
There was one disciple, named Thomas, who wasn’t with them when Jesus first appeared to them. The disciples were so excited to tell Thomas that they had seen Jesus. But Thomas didn’t believe them, because he hadn't seen Jesus himself. But later on in the week, Jesus appeared to Thomas, and he was fearful at first too...but Jesus greeted him with these words, too: "Peace be with you"...and then Thomas had his eyes opened to believe that Jesus was really there among them. And he was filled with joy too!
This past year, I'll bet we have all had some moments and some days like the disciples and Thomas in today's story.....days when we came face to face with some scary things or some things we didn’t quite understand yet...circumstances that we never could have imagined…and surely some times of weariness and doubt that things would ever get better…or would ever change….
But then right there in the midst of our unbelief, Jesus showed up…through the words or actions of another person…speaking words of peace to our anxious hearts…. “Peace be with you”….Just enough to help us see for ourselves…that indeed God is with us…God has always been with us. God will be with us…for all our days to come…Just enough to help us take a step forward in faith, and with hope…to help us come to believe, that indeed, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through our faith in him we may have life….we may have joy again!
Think back for a moment on how far we have come since the beginning of the pandemic…think about all of the new things we have come to learn and to understand and to believe in, and act upon… with hope and faith in this past year of the pandemic….
Right now, we are at a turning point of the pandemic…and some people among us are still feeling fearful and struggling in the midst of so much unrest and uncertainty…struggling to see how the actions of all of us, working together…will be for the benefit and well-being of all God’s people…and some are struggling to “see” how getting the vaccine is going to help all of us, finally see an end to this pandemic…
This is our moment now…to act once again, upon our faith and hope made known to us, in the Risen Christ…to reach out to others, our family and friends…to encourage one another to get the vaccine…this is one sign of living Hope, Easter Hope that is standing right here in front of us…speaking words of hope and peace and joy….and inviting us to take another step forward in faith and with hope….with the promise and fulfillment of joy, that we come to believe is possible, when we believe, indeed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through our faith in him we may have life….we may have joy again!
In closing this morning…I would like to share with you Bishop Mark’s reflection that went out in the diocesan newsletter this Friday…
From The Bishop: (Mark Lattime,. Episcopal Diocese of Alaska)
Get Vaccinated:
It is an Easter thing to do.
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia.
Hope is one of Easter's themes. To paraphrase 1 Peter: through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead we are given a new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). A living hope strengthens us to endure while all things are being transformed.
This time of the year hints of transformation are all around. The sun is warm on my face despite a stubborn thermometer slow to creep out of single digits. A swelling choir of avian voices sings to the dawn. Icicles grow, water drips, spruce boughs sway free from their snowy restraints, things are moving. Even the snow in all it's depth hints at defeat as it yields under foot without the defiant crunch of midwinter. Hope. Spring. Easter.
I am hopeful that soon I will be able to visit communities in person. I miss that. Throughout the winter, I have made countless trips to the East side of the airport here in Fairbanks to shovel snow clear from the Episcopal Wings' parking place. I knew I wasn't going to be able to fly, but I did the work, I made the effort in hope, wanting to be ready as soon as it was possible to go. I was investing in the hope of the dawn of the post COVID-19 day. That day is coming.
We can all invest in the hope of the dawn of the post COVID-19 day by getting vaccinated. Getting the vaccine is an Easter thing to do. I received my second vaccine during Holy Week. It was part of my spiritual and physical preparation for Easter.
I was overjoyed when the eligibility restrictions to receive the vaccine were lowered here in Fairbanks. My age and my health status put me low on the initial priority list for the vaccine. It looked like I was going to have to wait until the end of May. We are very fortunate in Alaska to have sufficient quantities of the vaccine that now nearly everyone can get vaccinated.
I strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated.
Suzanne, Lynnette, Melissa, all of us at the Diocesan Office have been vaccinated. While we still follow our COVID-19 mitigation protocols for public space, we are ready, we are hopeful that it won't be long now. What has been true throughout this pandemic remains true now, we are in this together. Won't you please join me and invest in this Easter hope? Get vaccinated.
Hymn after the sermon: We walk by faith
april 10, 2021 - created by Greta on yet another snowy spring day
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska