EASTER HOPE
April 19, 2020
We gather again on Zoom today, to worship and be with one another… on this 2nd Sunday of Easter, only one week in, to the Great 50 days of the Easter season.
Last Sunday, on Easter Day, we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that was only the beginning. The beginning of what I called, “Easter Hope”, in my sermon last week.
Let me explain a bit more, about what I mean by that, this week…as we continue in our season of Easter
This past week, the daily scripture readings in this first week of Easter… gave us a glimpse, into the encounters of Jesus and his closest followers, in the early days following His Resurrection…
Most of the encounters with Jesus in the scriptures this past week, highlighted similar elements in each of the gospel stories…there were grieving disciples who were just trying to make sense of what had just happened, they were just plodding along, trying to get back to some normalcy in their lives and in the midst of trying to just keep on living, after the death of Jesus, he takes them completely off guard, and surprises them, by not only showing up, wherever they were, but he showed up in the flesh, he spoke to them, and invited them to look at his hands and feet, to touch him and see…
He broke bread, blessed bread and shared it with them, he sat down and ate with them, he showed up on the beach, and invited the fisherman to come ashore and have breakfast with him, he comforted them, and assured them…that it was indeed Him…he had risen...and they were witness to that…and they believed…and they went to tell others…
And in today’s gospel reading, we have yet another story, of the disciples’ encounter with Jesus… they run to tell Thomas, who wasn’t with them at the time, that they had seen the Lord…Thomas didn’t believe them at first…When Jesus shows up again, and stands among them, Thomas, finally has his own encounter with Jesus…a moment, that makes his heart skip a beat…and he exclaims, “My Lord, and my God!”
Yes…they all had their moments of seeing Jesus and they believed…but I don’t think it was just what they saw, that made them believe… there had to be something more… How could it really be Jesus, standing among them right now…for they all knew that Jesus died, they were witness to his death on the cross….how could a dead person, be alive again…walking and talking and eating with them…
Perhaps, it was their underlying faith, a hope, planted deep in their hearts by the love of God, that was coming to life in them, through the breath of Jesus pouring out the Holy Spirit upon them… a seed planted in death…that was now bursting forth as a new creation, a new life, a new faith, a new hope…
An Easter Hope.
How could this be?
God. Love. God’s love. God’s love and compassion, for all of humanity.
And By God’s great mercy, God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
A living hope…an Easter Hope...that walks with us, even now…and especially now.
Even now, as we walk in the shadow of death, and suffering, and illness, and in the midst of all the uncertainties that mark our daily lives now, in this season of the COVID-19 pandemic… We are witnesses now, in this time and in this place, to a living hope…an Easter Hope…an Easter joy….that spreads among God’s people…when we share this hope and moments of joy with one another…in our daily encounters with one another… whether we gather online for worship services, or through phone calls, letters, emails, make masks, deliver meals, walk past each other at the store, or on the sidewalk, from a distance…but with a loving glance and an assuring smile…
Some days, we are going to be the ones feeling left behind, and out of energy or any idea of how we will get through the day…And it will be, because of the actions and outpouring of love, from our neighbors, and family and friends…that we will get through it, together…It will be you and I together, at different times, who will be the ones to lift up that beacon of hope for others to grasp hold of, even when they can’t quite see it yet…or even dare to believe it…
That’s how hope continues to live, and thrive among us…because we share our personal witness to where, when, and how, we have seen the love of God, the hope of God, and the joy of seeing how God is at work in the world among us now….especially now…
Take heart…God knows our weariness…God understands our moments of unbelief.
God loves each, and every one of us. God cares for each, and every one of us.
And By God’s great mercy, God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
A living hope…an Easter Hope...that calls us to walk by faith…knowing that we have a savior who walks with us….in death..and in life…
Be on the lookout this week, for signs of Easter Hope…and when you see them...believe…..believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
And then, Go! Go and tell the others…share your Easter Hope and your Easter joy, so that others may share in that Easter hope and that Easter joy, too!
Let us commit ourselves to walk together, with faith and with hope…an Easter Hope!
Instrumental Hymn after sermon: 1982 Hymnal #209 We walk by faith, and not by sight
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska
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