Here, Have Life! Easter 2 - Ps. 16; 1 Peter 1.3-9; John 20.19-31 Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
With whom do you abide?
This is the ? Of the hour.
With whom do you abide?
For it is not doubt that Thomas is filled with, it is fear. The word is apistos, for unbelieving, which means to not abide with Jesus. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my fingers in His side..” They were all afraid. Afraid of the Jews, their compatriots in religion, ethnicity, culture, language, memory, history. Let’s stop and think about this for a moment. (Pause) Jews were afraid of other Jews. Before the Christian faith became the major club of anti-Semitic abuse and holocaust toward Jews, they were first afraid of their own. They were afraid they would be put out of the synagogue, the community, their own family. The doors locked, lights down low, whispered conversations, ‘what now? What in the world are we going to do now?’ Fresh images of Jesus on the cross; then the tomb before them. Sure, they had heard from Mary Magdalene, “I’ve seen the Lord!!!” Right, well, you know, hysterical women and all that. Disbelieving her testimony is pretty easy to do.
Then, there He is. He wasn’t there, now He is. Here, have life!!! His word of shalom, the very same word He spoke at the Last Supper: “Peace I leave with you, here, in My Presence, before I die. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.” “Take a look, here are my hands, my side. See the wounds, barely covered with new skin? Peace be with you. Believe.” For it is in this reception of the gift of life, belief happens. It is not a statement of faith, I believe, rather, a confession of relationship.
With whom do you abide? The question of the hour. Another week goes by, which John, the gospel writer, does not record. He hints, at the very end of this chapter, ‘Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.’ Well, why not? How about a little more hard evidence to substantiate this outrageous resurrection claim? Our minds reel. Every Easter we reach this same point, on this particular Sunday, Thomas’s story before us: a celebration of the biggest mystery of our faith: Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world. Jesus rose again out of the grave. It is the hardest fact of faith to claim. So, I suggest we take a little bird walk and follow the caribou instead. Maybe they can help us here.
In 2012, Caroline Van Hemert and her husband set off from Bellingham on a 4,000 mile human-powered journey to Kotzebue, Alaska, far above the Arctic Circle, almost to eastern Russia. She writes, “I’d left on this expedition not because I was looking for an escape, but because I needed to find my way home.” Hold on to that thought, find my way home. She had worked for years on a PH.D in biology, but was farther away then ever from the actual land and water of our beautiful earth. As they trekked deeper into the land of caribou, they began to use the paths and walkways these majestic creatures had created with their mass migrations every spring, here’s of 50,000 to 500,000. Hemert writes, ‘near the end of our trip, we were paddling our home made canoe on the Nosatak River where we spotted lots of brown sticks.” As they watched, the brown sticks rose up from the water, it was the Caribou. When you watch a National Geographic show of this migration, it all looks so choreographed. But Hemert says, “backstage with the dancers, instead of an orderly procession, the migration felt jumbled and jostling...like a school yard full of kindergartners.” They pulled their canoe out to wait and watch, just feet away. At the river crossing there was a bottleneck—each Caribou had to decide to jump 6 feet into the river or move to another spot upstream. She watched mother cows with calves clinging close to their side get ready to jump and at the last minute, change her mind. Other male Caribou made room for the mom and calf to try again. Never once was one shoved or pushed. Hemert’s lesson? “Grace abounded that afternoon as my husband and I sat shoulder to shoulder in awe of this migration dance. We learned something important that day—there is always a way forward; faith exists in the unknown; beauty when you least expect it; the visceral relief of bearing witness to something much larger than myself. Community is everything. She finishes, “to survive together, we must be brave. We must be compassionate. We must learn when to step forward as leaders and when to step aside so others can pass safely. I believe, we too, can find a way.” Unquote. Here, have life!
Somehow, Thomas missed the invite of the gathering as he must have been hiding some place else, in fear. When the disciples speak to him, “we have seen the Lord” he gives the same answer: ‘unless I see His wounds, I will not believe.’ In the most moving encounter of the whole story, Jesus shows up again, unexpectedly, without an open door, and says, “Thomas. Hey buddy. Here i am. See? My hands, my side?” Thomas doesn’t touch Jesus, he doesn’t sticks his hands in the still fresh wounds, 7 days healed. He makes his confession of relationship: “MY LORD AND MY GOD!” His testimony is secured in his recognition of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. This peculiar Pentecost is sealed with Jesus’ breath, the slight breeze of eternity’s magnolia brushes the skin of Thomas’s face. Here, have life!
With whom do you abide? This is the ? Of the hour. With whom do you abide?
It is a full circle we traverse in John’s gospel. His initial claim, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God..And the Word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen His glory...” is embedded in Thomas’s memorial acclamation. Incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection are a whole cloth. We are offered the privilege of accepting Jesus’ amazing words: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe..”. We stand in the circle of the great faith and we know we cannot believe on our own. The assurance we so desperately need is present in the community gathered. It is the mutual witness, the sweet little confession, “yes, I have a relationship with Jesus” that offers hope in the midst of such chaos and hatred in our broken world and our broken lives. Evidence only goes so far, its compassionate connection that sustains abiding. We know there is a way out of here, that God’s goodwill for the world has not come to an end. Even in this pandemic with grief and death all around us, God is still holding onto Her extraordinary creation. Jesus’ healing wounds, see His hands, His side, call us by name - Matt, Susan, Judy, Glenda, Luz, Buckley, everyone - to remain, to abide, to believe. Welcome home, people of God. Here, have life!!!