Sermon - 2nd Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-31  

Sent – Be Not Faithless

 

I don’t think that this Gospel lesson is about Thomas.  I think it is about something else.  Our Tuesday evening bible study looks ahead at the readings for the coming Sunday.  I told them this week that I thought there was something more pertinent in these verses than a discussion about Thomas and his request to see what the other disciples had been allowed to see – without asking.  They weren’t convinced. 

So I tried again, on Wednesday, during the Closing Eucharist, to take some of the focus off Thomas by pointing out that it is only in recent issues of the Bible that we get the reference to him as “doubting.”  Here is where I need the help of Pastor Heyer, or Pastor Slice, or Pastor Emeritus Copenhaver.  Do either of you remember how that verb in verse 27 was translated in the good ole King James Version?  It wasn’t “doubt” that Jesus discouraged; it was “faithlessness.”  In the King James, Jesus tells Thomas “Be not faithless.”   “Faithless” could be taken as “doubt,” but it can imply a whole host of other things as well.  It is in the modern era, when discoveries of ancient geological events and/or significant biological alterations among the earth’s inhabitants that the opposite of “faith” became “doubt.”  In the stories of scripture, that which is on the opposite poll of faith would be fear.  Jesus tells his disciples, “Peace be with you.”  How many times does the Easter story contain the admonition, “Do not fear”?

Even with all that, I am still not sure I was sufficiently convincing.

So I am going to try again this morning, with you.  Look again at the reading.  See how the reading begins and ends.  Sure, there is that compelling story in the middle.  But doesn’t the structure of all that we are given to read nudge us in a direction somewhat broader than how one of the followers of Jesus takes action on what it is that Jesus returns to do?

 Jesus comes and stands among them.  He “breathes” on them.  But not with just any breath; he breathes on them and tells them to “receive.”  He breathes on them and tells them to “receive the Holy Spirit.”  He had promises them earlier (the reference is John 14:16 if you want to look it up in your bible), Jesus had promised them earlier that he would send the Spirit.  In John 14 he refers to the Spirit’s role.  He tells them, “I will give you another Advocate.”  “Advocate” – sometimes translated “Helper.”  Jesus breathes on them and tells them that Advocate has arrived, that Helper is come, the Holy Spirit has entered them as assuredly as the breath he has exhaled has entered their very own lungs. 

And receive they did.

If you want to see the evidence of that breath, look at the first lesson – the reading from Acts 2.  This sermon, of Peter’s, is preached in direct response to that breath – to having received the Holy Spirit.  Remember that Luke has two books in our Bibles – Luke and Acts.  So the exchange in which the Holy Spirit comes is told in Luke’s second book – Acts. 

Acts, chapter 2, will be our prime text in 43 days, when we observe Pentecost.  In that retelling of the story, the Hebrew word which can mean breath, or wind, or spirit is spoken of as a “wind;”  Acts 2:2 says they were together, in one place and “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind.”  This wind, this breath, this spirit sweeps into the place where the disciples are gathered and “divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.” 

In Acts, there is no retelling of Thomas being absent.  In Acts, at the giving of the Holy Spirit, the disciples rush out into the street where there are devout Jews from every nation under heaven, and these disciples begin to speak, and all could hear as if in their own language.

As a result of this rushing wind, this breath - the disciples are empowered and emboldened and they begin right away to make a difference.   And the significance of that difference is real and palatable.  Jesus tells them it will be their task to forgive sins; their role to speak of sin bound so tightly to us that it is forever retained. 

Jesus comes to the disciples and he breathes on them, he tells them to receive the Holy Spirit – and then he tells them that it will be up to them and to the witness they give if any additional persons will “come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.” 

The story of Thomas is an acknowledgement (but only an acknowledge-ment) that it can be very tough for us once we realize the enormity of the task which Jesus has entrusted to us.

This is what I believe today’s reading is about.  It is about the giving of the Holy Spirit; it is about having confidence in the breath which has entered us; it is about realizing that an empty tomb only has meaning when those for whom it means something open their mouths and use the breath that is inside them to proclaim “Chris is Risen!  Christ is Risen Indeed!  Halleluiah!”

I promised Russell that if I did spend this morning trying to convince everyone that this text is about being sent into the world, that I would give some suggests as to what one is to “do” once we are sent. 

The first, and most basic answer involves making sure that we realize we have “received” all we need for this undertaking.  Shift your focus off Thomas in this story and see (maybe for the first time) the confidence of the other ten disciples.  They confidently tell Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.”  That breath, that wind, that Spirit which had entered them emboldened them to make the only affirmation that needs to be made. 

In some communities of faith, there are additional markers associated with having received the Holy Spirit.  But those markers are an addition of later practitioners.  Again, in Acts, the baptism in Jesus’ name is the only step needed for the Spirit-fed life to take root.

Breathe in.  There.  You have it.  “Be not faithless.” 

Leave this place with courage. Do not be afraid.  There are fear-producing realities out there.  Some of them rode our shoulders into this assembly hall.  Some of them are pretty darn powerful.  But the stone has been rolled away and that angel is sitting on top of it and the admonition has been issued that while there are many hurts and pains and disappointments in our future we do not have to allow those to dominate our lives.  It is more than the power of positive thinking; it is an acknowledgement that there is something greater than the forces which oppose and oppress us and that that something greater has entered our lives and transformed the way in which we will live.  We will not live in fear. 

Jesus sends his followers out, equipped with the Holy Spirit, and he empowers them to set free those who are held in bondage.  ‘When you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.’ 

I am sure that part of the reason the “sending” aspects of this text stood out to me has to do with the other activities associated with this day.  We are sending forth another group of students.  My colleague at Penn State responded to my Facebook post about “Farewell and Godspeed,” by saying “I sometimes wonder if it is doing harm to our psyches to say good-bye year after year after year.” 

It may.  But it isn’t only us.  It is every Christian community which gathers.  Every Sunday we send everyone forth.   The aim of the Christian Church isn’t to get you inside these doors; the aim is to strengthen you for what you will do the remaining 167 hours of your week.

What are you to do – as you are sent into the world?  Realize that you have been given all you need for the journey.  Jesus has breathed on you.  

What are you to do – as you are sent into the world?  Go forth – and do not be afraid.

Amen.