2 Easter Sunday April 19, 2020
Acts 2:14a,22-32 Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31
Lectionary Link
I love the Doubting Thomas Story which we always read on Low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. It is full of too much to preach on in one occasion.
I find it interesting that the writer is shamelessly promotional about the author's own writing and, in fact, uses the Doubting Thomas story to validate Gospel writing as a significant means of making Christ present. "These things are written so that you may believe...."
Writing is a Word product. It is a technology of memory. If Jesus is gone and if all of the eyewitnesses to Jesus have passed away. And if there is a broken line of community transmission of oral traditions about Jesus, how does Jesus remain in the world? Through his appearance in written text. But can written text really be a valid stand-in for Christ, an alter Christus, as another valid presence of Christ?
This pandemic has required that we practice social distancing and not be present to each other. If we don't see each other, do we still exist? Do we still believe in each other? Are we still persuaded about the validity and viability of our parish community?
Word has morphed and created many products beyond text. Human being speak, but then wrote "picture words," which became writing. We have artistic representations in pictures. Then came photography, and telegraphs, and telephones, and video, and now we have the mass promulgation of "live" and recorded video on television. And on the the internet, we have all of the Word products that give us proof to believe in each other and be validly present to each other. We might say that all of these alternative ways of connection are not substitute for actually being together, but they suffice during this time of pandemic. We should not minimize these connection; they may actually intensify and appreciate each other better than if we were gathering.
One can remember the proverbial letters from home to the soldier who in the written letter experiences an intense intense sense of his loved one being with him. But then on the return to the home of his loved one, he soon takes being present so much for granted that his loved one seems to be absent.
The Doubting Thomas, highlights the differences in the how the presence of the Risen Christ was experienced in the early churches.
The eyewitnesses of Jesus and his post-resurrection appearance may be placed on such a pedestal that their experience of Christ might be regarded to be superior to anyone who did not walk and talk with Jesus. As eyewitnesses were dying out, how could the experience of Christ be regarded to be authentic?
How many times have we thought, well, I can be excused for my faith, because I did not have the privilege of walking and talking with Jesus. And I haven't had the same kind of experience that St. Paul had; I was not knocked off my horse on a trip to San Diego and blinded by a bright light from heaven; so there is no reason to think that my experience of Christ is as valid and as authentic as St. Thomas' or St. Paul's.
Can we appreciate how the Doubting Thomas Story is the oracle of Christ in the early church invoked to deal with the inferiority complex of second generation Christians who were not eyewitness of Jesus and who did not even know an eyewitness of Jesus?
Can we see this Doubting Thomas Story as witness to the fact that Risen Christ is confirming blessing and validity upon your experience and my experience of the Risen Christ?
The Doubting Thomas was a good scientist. "Jesus still lives, if and only if, I can verify his existence according to the standards of science which is empirical verification. If Jesus is alive, show me. Demonstrate it to me. Let me see you Jesus so that you can prove your Risen Life to me."
If Thomas's empirical method was the standard for faith, then there would have been only a few valid Christians. And not even St. Paul would have qualified as a Christian, if he had demanded the type of Risen Christ experience which Thomas did. St. Paul had a visionary experience of the Risen Christ.
If Thomas's standard for valid faith is the norm, there would be no Christian faith. There would be no-transhistorical transmission of the Gospel.
The early church included people who were having many different kinds of experiences giving them proof that Christ was still alive, and such experiences were not eyewitness experiences. So how could the experiences of all of the people who were not eyewitnesses to Jesus or his post-resurrection appearances be valid and trusted experiences? How could the early church leader convince the followers of Jesus that they had valid experiences of the Risen Christ.
If we understand this dilemma, then we can understand the writing purpose of the Doubting Thomas event. This Gospel story is the oracle of the Risen Christ conferring blessing upon the experiences of those who were not eyewitnesses to Jesus of Nazareth.
But the Gospel writer gives us clues about how we can know the presence of the Risen Christ in our lives. First there is peace. Jesus said, "Peace be with you." This is part of our weekly liturgy. We pass the peace to bear witness to the presence of the Risen Christ. Another sign is God's Spirit. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said," Receive the Spirit." Jesus also said that His word were Spirit and that they were life. We have the Spirit and Words of Jesus with us to validate the Risen Christ in our midst. Jesus said told his disciple to forgive sins, even though they could retain them if they so chose. The presence of Risen Christ is known and validated in a community which does not retain sins, but practices forgiveness.
In direct contrast to Thomas' demand for empirical evidence of the Risen Christ, Jesus said, "Thomas, I'm glad that you see and believe, you are blessed. But what about all of the people who do not see and touch and yet still believe. Truly they are blessed." Here we see Jesus conferring blessing and validity upon your experiences of the Risen Christ and my experiences of the Risen Christ. We do not have to have inferiority complexes about our experiences of the Risen Christ. Accept your versions of the Risen Christ that have come to you this day as valid, especially if they include peace, forgiveness and the Holy Spirit.
And don't forget about Words. Words of all sorts. The writer of the Gospel of John said that you could know the Risen Christ by reading his Gospel words. And he wrote this directly, "Readers, I wrote this Gospel so that you might believe in Jesus as Son of God and Messiah and that in believing you might have life in his name." In other words, just by having these Gospel words rearrange your inner lives toward Spirit, Peace and forgiveness, your experience of the Risen Christ is just as valid and blessed as the Doubting Thomas.
Friends, you and I are invited to accept the blessing and the validity of our experiences of the Risen Christ today. Let us not doubt the confirming blessing of Jesus Christ upon our experiences of the Risen Christ today. Amen.ca
Acts 2:14a,22-32 Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31
Lectionary Link
I love the Doubting Thomas Story which we always read on Low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. It is full of too much to preach on in one occasion.
I find it interesting that the writer is shamelessly promotional about the author's own writing and, in fact, uses the Doubting Thomas story to validate Gospel writing as a significant means of making Christ present. "These things are written so that you may believe...."
Writing is a Word product. It is a technology of memory. If Jesus is gone and if all of the eyewitnesses to Jesus have passed away. And if there is a broken line of community transmission of oral traditions about Jesus, how does Jesus remain in the world? Through his appearance in written text. But can written text really be a valid stand-in for Christ, an alter Christus, as another valid presence of Christ?
This pandemic has required that we practice social distancing and not be present to each other. If we don't see each other, do we still exist? Do we still believe in each other? Are we still persuaded about the validity and viability of our parish community?
Word has morphed and created many products beyond text. Human being speak, but then wrote "picture words," which became writing. We have artistic representations in pictures. Then came photography, and telegraphs, and telephones, and video, and now we have the mass promulgation of "live" and recorded video on television. And on the the internet, we have all of the Word products that give us proof to believe in each other and be validly present to each other. We might say that all of these alternative ways of connection are not substitute for actually being together, but they suffice during this time of pandemic. We should not minimize these connection; they may actually intensify and appreciate each other better than if we were gathering.
One can remember the proverbial letters from home to the soldier who in the written letter experiences an intense intense sense of his loved one being with him. But then on the return to the home of his loved one, he soon takes being present so much for granted that his loved one seems to be absent.
The Doubting Thomas, highlights the differences in the how the presence of the Risen Christ was experienced in the early churches.
The eyewitnesses of Jesus and his post-resurrection appearance may be placed on such a pedestal that their experience of Christ might be regarded to be superior to anyone who did not walk and talk with Jesus. As eyewitnesses were dying out, how could the experience of Christ be regarded to be authentic?
How many times have we thought, well, I can be excused for my faith, because I did not have the privilege of walking and talking with Jesus. And I haven't had the same kind of experience that St. Paul had; I was not knocked off my horse on a trip to San Diego and blinded by a bright light from heaven; so there is no reason to think that my experience of Christ is as valid and as authentic as St. Thomas' or St. Paul's.
Can we appreciate how the Doubting Thomas Story is the oracle of Christ in the early church invoked to deal with the inferiority complex of second generation Christians who were not eyewitness of Jesus and who did not even know an eyewitness of Jesus?
Can we see this Doubting Thomas Story as witness to the fact that Risen Christ is confirming blessing and validity upon your experience and my experience of the Risen Christ?
The Doubting Thomas was a good scientist. "Jesus still lives, if and only if, I can verify his existence according to the standards of science which is empirical verification. If Jesus is alive, show me. Demonstrate it to me. Let me see you Jesus so that you can prove your Risen Life to me."
If Thomas's empirical method was the standard for faith, then there would have been only a few valid Christians. And not even St. Paul would have qualified as a Christian, if he had demanded the type of Risen Christ experience which Thomas did. St. Paul had a visionary experience of the Risen Christ.
If Thomas's standard for valid faith is the norm, there would be no Christian faith. There would be no-transhistorical transmission of the Gospel.
The early church included people who were having many different kinds of experiences giving them proof that Christ was still alive, and such experiences were not eyewitness experiences. So how could the experiences of all of the people who were not eyewitnesses to Jesus or his post-resurrection appearances be valid and trusted experiences? How could the early church leader convince the followers of Jesus that they had valid experiences of the Risen Christ.
If we understand this dilemma, then we can understand the writing purpose of the Doubting Thomas event. This Gospel story is the oracle of the Risen Christ conferring blessing upon the experiences of those who were not eyewitnesses to Jesus of Nazareth.
But the Gospel writer gives us clues about how we can know the presence of the Risen Christ in our lives. First there is peace. Jesus said, "Peace be with you." This is part of our weekly liturgy. We pass the peace to bear witness to the presence of the Risen Christ. Another sign is God's Spirit. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said," Receive the Spirit." Jesus also said that His word were Spirit and that they were life. We have the Spirit and Words of Jesus with us to validate the Risen Christ in our midst. Jesus said told his disciple to forgive sins, even though they could retain them if they so chose. The presence of Risen Christ is known and validated in a community which does not retain sins, but practices forgiveness.
In direct contrast to Thomas' demand for empirical evidence of the Risen Christ, Jesus said, "Thomas, I'm glad that you see and believe, you are blessed. But what about all of the people who do not see and touch and yet still believe. Truly they are blessed." Here we see Jesus conferring blessing and validity upon your experiences of the Risen Christ and my experiences of the Risen Christ. We do not have to have inferiority complexes about our experiences of the Risen Christ. Accept your versions of the Risen Christ that have come to you this day as valid, especially if they include peace, forgiveness and the Holy Spirit.
And don't forget about Words. Words of all sorts. The writer of the Gospel of John said that you could know the Risen Christ by reading his Gospel words. And he wrote this directly, "Readers, I wrote this Gospel so that you might believe in Jesus as Son of God and Messiah and that in believing you might have life in his name." In other words, just by having these Gospel words rearrange your inner lives toward Spirit, Peace and forgiveness, your experience of the Risen Christ is just as valid and blessed as the Doubting Thomas.
Friends, you and I are invited to accept the blessing and the validity of our experiences of the Risen Christ today. Let us not doubt the confirming blessing of Jesus Christ upon our experiences of the Risen Christ today. Amen.ca
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