The Risen Christ Is Not Neutral--Easter 2

Sermon for SMHP, Year B, Easter 2, April 28, 2019, Cross of Glory, Derby, KS

John 20:19-31

               ¹⁹When 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.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So 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.”

               ²⁶A 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.” ²⁷Then 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.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” ³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But 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.

          This is a painting of an event.  Want to guess what?

          This is the fifteenth station of the cross at St. Mary’s Basilica, Minneapolis, MN.

          If you know it’s resurrection, you can see it…maybe…

          One of the things that John’s gospel in particular makes clear is that it can be difficult to see and comprehend the Risen Christ.  On Easter Sunday, you probably heard the text which precedes this one, in which Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb.  What happened when she saw Jesus?

          The tomb was empty.  So she assumed NOT that he had risen from the dead…but that someone had stolen his body.

          Then she saw two angels…and assumed they had taken Jesus.

          Then she saw Jesus himself…and assumed he was…the…gardener.

          Finally he called her name and she realized who he was—it was Jesus, her rabbi, the one who had taught her so much.  And she was really excited.

          But it took a while…

          Later that day, Jesus appeared to his disciples.  He appeared in the room with them—a room that was locked, John tells us.  Appeared and greeted them in the way of Middle Eastern peoples:  “Peace be with you.” In Hebrew: Shalom ala CHEM.  In Arabic, As-Salaam alaykum.  This is still the standard greeting for speakers of both languages.

          Jesus appeared inside a locked room and announced peace.  Then he showed them his hands and his side.  And it was then—John tells us—that they recognized him.  When they told Thomas about it later—Thomas, the one brave enough to actually leave the room—he too demanded to see the marks before he would recognize Jesus.

         

          How do you think we would do if we were in that room?  Would we recognize him? 

          Do we believe that he dwells among us today? 

          Do you believe there are signs of the risen Christ around us today?

          Our text teaches that there are some ways to recognize Christ. 

          Christ bears wounds.  The risen Christ appears before us with wounds, often inflicted by systems that dole out power and resources unequally.

          Christ announces peace.  The risen Christ does not rule by the sword.  The risen Christ in our midst will always be one who lives by peace, not violence, or bullying, or demanding to be right.

         

          We may not always see Christ in our midst. 

          And we may see him, but avoid him.  You know what I’m talking about.  We careen around the wounded ones in our midst, fearful that they will want us to address their wounds, to help them heal.

          We discount the ones who announce peace, too, because they might ask us to be “announcers of peace.”  They might ask us to live the nonviolent way of Jesus, which runs quite counter to our culture, especially at this time in our history.  Not everyone likes “announcers of peace.”  Or “announcers of justice.”  Just look at the story of pretty much any prophet.

          If we are to be People of Resurrection, and as Christians, we can do no other, we need to understand this important fact: the risen Christ in our midst is not a neutral being.  The risen Christ in our midst demands that we be “announcers” of peace.  That we work to heal what is broken in our world, our neighborhood, our church, ourselves.  Because the risen Christ bears the wounds of misunderstanding which have been inflicted by every generation.

          And why is it so important for us to know how to see the risen Christ in our midst?

          Because people are looking for us to be the risen Christ in their midst.  More and more, people don’t know Jesus.  They’re not raised in the church, or if they are, they are leaving as kids.  Their window into Christianity, into the gospel of Jesus Christ…

          …is us.

          When they want to understand what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus means, they are looking at us.

          If it has made a difference in our lives, then perhaps it will make a difference in theirs. 

          If we are sharing our woundedness with the world, and willing to accept—and even try to heal—the woundedness of the people around us…well then this Christian church thing might be worth a look.  Might even be worth an investment.

          If we are people who share peace wherever we go, who rise about the troubled discourse of our time, then maybe this Jesus is for real.

          All around us is a generation of Thomases.  They want to believe in the risen Christ, but they need to see something.  They need to hear something…something that makes them believe. 

          They need to see people who are not afraid to show their wounds to the world.  People who are not afraid to be vulnerable, to speak a word of love and grace.

          They need to hear the announcement that there can be peace, that in our churches especially is a peace and love that is sadly lacking in so many other places.

          If we can be that, and do that, then people will see Christ in us.  People will be able to believe that we follow a God with the power to raise us up out of the tombs in which we find ourselves:  tombs of despair, frustration, pain.

          That’s a God people want to know.  That’s a Jesus people want to see.  They always have.

          And we have the power to show it to them.