Acts 4.32-35, Ps 133, 1Jn 1.1-2.2, John 20.19-31
Yesterday was my sister's 40th
birthday party. It was fun - a casual drop-in at a local restaurant that has a
private room. Easy-peasy. After getting home, my phone invited me to review the
venue. It's one of those things, one of many, if we're honest, where even
Google says it needs human help.
So I answered a bunch of questions: is
there a parking structure, is it kid-friendly, is it expensive, that sort of
thing. This isn't normally the type of thing that I do, but we'd had such a
good experience with the whole day - the venue, the staff, the food, everything
- that I thought "why not?" A good review is always a good thing. And
it's because of other people filling out these types of questions for Google,
that I have benefitted in the past - learning if a place is the type of place I
want to go.
We all tend to do that - we want to
know a bit about a place or an event before we venture out. And, we are quicker
to receive recommendations from a human than some commercial or advertisement.
Whether it's a coffee shop or winery tour or new movie - what people say about
things influences us. When I hear "this is the best book I've read this
year!" I head to the library; when I hear "meh, it was OK, I
guess" I'm less inclined to rush out. And, if someone says "you have
GOT to see this!" - well, I think for any of us, that catches our
attention.
And when we're in that space, we want
to see for ourselves - because we want to be able to offer our own review,
based on our own experience. Our opinion needs to be authentic, so it needs to
be truly ours.
I imagine that's how Thomas was
feeling, when he hears his friends and fellow disciples saying they have seen
the resurrected Jesus joining them in the locked room. Now, these disciples
have all heard from Mary that she has seen the Lord, risen, ALLELUIA! And I'm
sure they were thinking - we want to see him, too! And, they do. And they
tell Thomas all about it - how they have seen Jesus, they have connected with
him, conversed with him, communed with him. He has overcome physical boundaries
to appear to them, and offered them peace, and showed them his earthly wounds,
and commissioned them to do God's work, and breathed on them the Holy Spirit -
before Pentecost, take note! - and he has granted them forgiveness and
encouraged them to do the same.
WOW. What an experience. It's no wonder
Thomas is saying "I want to see that, too. I want to hear his voice and
bask in his physical presence and delight in the grace being lavished upon
me!"
So how beautiful and shocking when
Thomas' wish is granted; when his utmost desire is met. He sees Jesus. He sees
the wounds, he is invited to touch them. He is affirmed in his faith, confirmed
in his humanness, commissioned in his discipleship.
As are they all: they are all reminded
that being a disciple does not mean sitting in a locked room, by themselves, in
fear. Blessed are those who were there who saw and believed! And Blessed are
those who have not seen, yet have come to believe.
They have come to believe, because they
have seen the testimony of the disciples. They have come to be disciples
themselves, demonstrating to the world that the Risen Christ makes a world of
difference.
So, by extension, blessed are those who
practice discipleship. Those whose belief is stronger than their doubts; those
whose faith is stronger than their fear, those whose passion for God is
stronger than their desire for earthly gains, those whose efforts for what is
holy is stronger than for what is popular or easy.
Blessed are those who are actively
practicing discipleship: those who know it's not about getting it perfect all
the time: after all, Peter was a denier,
James and John were famous for their short tempers, Simon was primarily a
politician, Thaddeus had multiple aliases, and of course Thomas with his
"let me see it for myself to believe."
Even more
shocking were the members of the first church - the first ones to carry the
good news of the Gospel of the Risen Christ: the women at the tomb, who until
they shared their good news with the apostles, WERE the entirety of the church.
Women: who at the time were ostracised by culture for their gender - yet chosen
by God to start telling the world the astonishingly good news: "BELIEVE in
the resurrection - I have seen the Lord! Let me tell you all about it."
So if the good news can be passed down
by these folks, as unlikely and unseemly and imperfect as they are: the
invitation stands for ourselves then to continue the journey. To remember whose
discipleship brought us to faith, to celebrate those whose discipleship
nurtured and fostered our faith, to be thankful for those whose discipleship
helped us to grow in the full stature of Christ. These disciples helped us to
come to that moment when faith overcame any obstacle, and we could stand before
Jesus and say I BELIEVE!
And, of course, the invitation extends to
those who now see us as disciples to them: those who see the good news
in what we say and do; who learn to believe by how we witness to the world,
those who have come to know Jesus and believe, because we have demonstrated our
knowledge and belief in Jesus.
So it is up to us: as it has been up to
every generation before us. To be disciples of God, carrying the message of the
resurrection to those we love, those we encounter, those we haven't met yet.
It's up to us to give a review of the faith in such a meaningful way that
people will want to encounter it for themselves. It's up to us to share the good news of God
in Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit - trusting that through God's
grace and mercy, our witness will invite others to also declare "My Lord
and My God!"
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