Welcome to the second week of Easter! (In traditional churches, including the Methodist and Anglican churches, the Easter season lasts until Pentecost – so we can keep on celebrating!) And rightfully so! How often do we get to rejoice over somebody walking out of the grave? There will come a time when people walking out of graves won’t be an unusual thing, but for right now, it’s a marvel, and it’s a taste of things to come.
My theme for today is Filled with Joy – which fits the Easter season. Our scripture readings from Revelation and from John both talk about joy-full things. In Revelation we hear about God’s all-encompassing love for us; and in John we hear about the gentle love of Jesus even for those of us who doubt sometimes.
And these two passages go together like donuts and crème filling: the gospel of John is like the sweet creamy filling, and Revelation is like the donut that wraps around it. So we have a double helping of joy today.
Boston Creme Donut
Let’s start with Revelation. The book of Revelation was written to churches facing persecution, in order to encourage them; and given the persecution Christians and people of other faiths are suffering today in various parts of the world, these words are as good for our time as they were back then.
The author of Revelation begins with the words “grace to you and peace”. Grace and peace are two words we hear frequently in scripture so often we’re tempted to brush right past them and move on to the next idea. But these two common words have uncommon meanings. Grace: a gift of God, related to the Hebrew concept of hesed which speaks of God’s overflowing lovingkindness, mercy, and faithfulness toward us. And with that – peace, which relates to the Hebrew word shalom – which goes beyond lack of conflict and speaks of the health and well-being that comes from God’s image being restored in us.
So all of that is included in those two words grace and peace – to you! – from the one who is and who was and who is to come, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness.
And again the author packs so much into these few words. “The one who is” – literally, “from the I AM” – that is, using God’s name – AND who was, AND who is to come. God covers all the bases. There is no time in which God does not exist. There is no place in which God does not exist. We are surrounded by God both in time and in space. As scripture says, “in Him we live and move and have our being.”
The writer continues: “…and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and ruler of the kings of the earth.” The kings of the earth may not realize this yet, but there is a King of kings and a Lord of lords they will answer to one day. This Jesus is the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.
The king of kings – the Lord of all creation – loves you and me. Present tense. Right now. And he freed us from bondage to sin and death – past tense – that is, the work is done, and nothing more needs to happen. We have been freed, like slaves being set free. It puts me in mind of an old spiritual called O Mary Don’t You Weep. It was recorded by Bruce Springsteen not too long ago and I recommend it. It’s an African-American song of freedom: a song of slaves whose chains have been broken, and it draws a parallel between resurrection and Moses leading the people out of Egypt. This is our song too because all of us have been slaves to sin and death… but Jesus, who loves us, has set us free, and the work is done.
And there’s more! Not only are we free, but Jesus has also made us priests in the service of his God and Father. All of us are priests, not just the ones with collars on, and this begins now, not in the next life.
So what do we do as priests? In our world today, when you say the word ‘priest’ most people think of Roman Catholic clergy, or people wearing collars, but that’s not what John is talking about here. (In the early church there were no priests: they had bishops and deacons, and these were not as formal a thing as they are today.) But John is talking about people who will teach others about God’s glory and kingdom and power, and invite others into a saving relationship with God, and set an example of what it means to be a holy people, to live lives pleasing to God. These priests are called from every nation and race and tribe and tongue around the world – anyone who loves Jesus.
So the joy of Revelation is that Jesus, who has set us free from sin and death, sends us grace and peace and love, and gives us the privilege and honor of calling us into God’s service. That’s the donut. Here’s the filling:
In the Gospel of John, we read the story of what happened the evening of Easter day. Earlier that day, in the morning, Mary Magdalene had seen the risen Jesus, and had told the disciples he was alive, but they didn’t believe her.
So that night the disciples were gathered together, indoors, with the doors locked because they were afraid: John’s gospel says ‘for fear of the Jews,’ but of course the disciples were Jewish as well; what John means is they were afraid of the Jewish religious authorities – the ones who had arrested Jesus and would be more than happy to arrest Jesus’ followers as well.
And then suddenly Jesus walks in… right through a locked door! Apparently resurrection bodies are different than the bodies we have now. Luke tells us in his gospel that the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost; and seeing Jesus walk through those doors might make a person think that. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus asks the disciples for something to eat, and sits down to a fish dinner, which is proof that he’s not a ghost, because ghosts can’t eat (so they tell me).
John writes: Jesus stood among them and said, “Peace be with you” and he showed them the scars in his hands and in his side. And the disciples were filled with joy.
We all have experienced the joy of being reunited with a loved one. It pales by comparison to seeing someone who was dead, alive again. The disciples had believed with all their hearts that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, but then they’d seen him beaten, tortured, and murdered. The loss of Jesus was a loss of faith, a loss of hope. They had seen him taken down from the cross. They had heard the laughter of the religious leaders. And as they banded together for safety and for friendship, suddenly… there was Jesus, alive! Talking with them, eating with them, showing them the scars. Faith is restored, and hope is alive again.
And then Jesus gives them an assignment. He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And he adds: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
This verse has gotten the church in a lot of trouble over the years so I’d like to clarify it a little. Many people when they hear these words think of the Roman Catholic practice of going to confession, but that’s a limited understanding, and not particularly helpful in this passage. We need to keep Jesus’ words in context. Jesus is commissioning the disciples into God’s service – all of the disciples being laypeople at this point.
Their mission is to make more disciples; to spread the good news. So the forgiveness of sins Jesus is talking about has to do with bringing people into God’s kingdom. In other words, ‘sin’ in this verse is defined as rejecting Jesus. So basically what Jesus is saying is, ‘if you recognize a person as a fellow believer, then they are. And if you believe someone doesn’t really know me yet, then they don’t’. This is not as subjective as it may sound, because Jesus has given the disciples the ability to discern, through the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, where people stand. However this is still a HUGE responsibility, not one to be taken lightly. I could preach a whole other sermon on just this one verse, but for today it’s enough to say this gift of forgiveness of sins has to do with preaching the gospel and making disciples and bringing people into the fellowship of believers and into God’s kingdom.
Meanwhile, while all this was going on, someone was missing: Thomas, one of the twelve disciples. When he returned from wherever he’d been the other disciples immediately shared the good news, but Thomas doubted. Thomas didn’t come right out and say “I don’t believe you”; but he made his belief conditional. He said, essentially, “IF I see the mark of the nails and put my hand in his side, THEN I will believe.” (One theologian jokes that he should be called ‘conditional Thomas’.)
Thomas sounds to me like the kind of person who (1) is deeply aware of the human capacity for wishful thinking, and (2) has had some experience with fake news. Which, by the way, made me wonder if indeed Thomas was familiar with fake news. So I did a little digging and found out the ancient Romans were the inventors of newspapers. Granted their newspapers weren’t on paper: sometimes they were on papyrus, sometimes on a thin piece of metal or stone. But around 100 years before Jesus was born, the Romans began publication of the Acta Diurna, or “Daily Events” of the empire, which were posted in public areas like marketplaces and public baths. And they kept people informed on things like weddings, births, deaths, criminal trials, gossip about the Imperial family, love stories of the rich and famous, results of the gladiator contests, and of course military and political news.
Things haven’t changed much in 2000 years! And of course the emperors knew how to use these communications to manipulate public opinion; in fact it’s said Julius Caesar was a master at it. So yes – Thomas would have been all too familiar with propaganda. So skepticism was a very reasonable reaction.
A week later, the disciples were again hiding behind locked doors. (Even though they had seen Jesus alive they still weren’t feeling very courageous.) But this time Thomas was with them. And again Jesus walks through locked doors. And he says to Thomas the exact same thing he said to the other disciples: “put your finger here and see my hands; reach out your hand and put in my side.”
And Thomas exclaims: “My Lord and My God!”
There is no joy greater than the moment we see Jesus as he is, and know that he is who he said he is, the Son of God, the one who loves us with his life. It’s the greatest joy in the universe. And the second is like it: the joy of sharing this experience. And so Jesus commissions us to share his joy as priests of God the Father.
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” As people who fit this description, we may wonder why Jesus says our place is more blessed than Thomas’. I think all of us would love to meet Jesus face to face on this side of eternity. But scripture tells us – all through the Old and New Testaments – that faith comes not by sight, but by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Earlier this week I was reading Ezekiel and came across the story of the dry bones. You remember the story: God shows Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones, and asks Ezekiel “can these bones live?” And Ezekiel answers “Lord only you know.” And God says, “prophesy to the bones.” And Ezekiel does, and the bones come alive.
This valley of dry bones represents all the people in the world whose lives are spiritually dry and dead: who sense a lack of purpose, a lack of meaning, a lack of vision or inspiration… who lack life. As priests of our God, our commission is to speak God’s words to dry bones. God’s words carry within them the power of life, kind of the same way seeds carry within them the life of a plant. In Genesis chapter one when God said “let there be birds, let there be animals” – living things appeared on the earth. God’s words have life in them. And as we speak God’s words we share in that life-giving ministry.
And so, like Thomas, we are filled with joy at Jesus’ resurrection. We are filled with joy that no power in heaven or on earth can stop Jesus, not even death itself; and we are filled with joy that we are called into God’s kingdom and God’s service. Let us share that joy with those around us. And may God’s grace and peace be with us as we go. AMEN
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“Filled With Joy” – Preached at Fairhaven, Spencer, and Incarnation, 4/28/19
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Revelation 1:4-8 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, 5 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, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 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. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
John 20:19-31 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 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 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.”
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.” 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 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.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 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.
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