Sunday Sermon - Rev. Adelyn Tyler-Williams

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sam. [00:00:52] Speaker B: The holy gospel of our savior jesus christ according to john. When 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 Judean authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord Jesus. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. But Thomas, who was called the twin, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came. So 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. A 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. Then 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. Thomas answered him. My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But 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. The Gospel of the Lord. [00:03:51] Speaker A: Children ages 3 through 10 are invited to follow Katie for a time of story, prayer and music through the written word and the spoken word. God help us to hear your living word, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. I have to name my bias up front. I am a Thomas apologist. Thomas is one of many biblical characters who has a bad rap based on one interaction. I will not endorse the doubting Thomas narrative disclaimers. Out of the way. Let's talk about our dear Thomas. In the practice of sacred imagination, one prayerfully imagines what is not written in the text. It is a process of co creation with God and with scripture, a conversation and expansion in my sacred imagination of our Gospel passage. I am always left wondering where Thomas was while the disciples were all gathered. This is the story I have About Thomas. The text tells us that the disciples were all gathered in a locked room for fear of the Judean authorities. That's fair. Their teacher has just been killed. They're probably wondering if they are next. Now this is anachronistic, but I think Thomas was the only one brave enough to go get the takeout. I imagine that Thomas was not there because he was trying to ensure the nourishment of this tired and scared ragtag bunch of disciples. Thomas saw a hungry group of his friends and went for pizza. Carrying pizza for that many people is no small task. And this was before they had nice insulated pizza shaped carry bags. It was also before they had pizza. But nevertheless. I am of course being a little playful with this, but I do genuinely believe that Thomas was out doing the work of caring and nourishing his community. Where else would he be? What else would be important enough to leave his chosen family in the midst of grief, shock and fear? I cannot imagine what would have demanded his time other than an act of care. So Thomas misses the big moment. The other disciples see the risen Jesus. They see Jesus wounds, they believe and they rejoice. And Thomas wants to see the same thing they did. He wants to share in this experience. He wants to see his teacher and his friend raised from the dead. That makes sense. Thus, as stated, I am a Thomas apologist. I've recently been pondering whether the disciples, including Thomas, might still be in general disbelief about all that has happened. Not just the resurrection. Might they also be questioning the details of Jesus conviction and execution? Do the authorities really do all that to him? Our brains try to protect us from danger and as a consequence, sometimes our brains distort traumatic memories. Perhaps the disciples need to see the wounds in Jesus hands to confirm yes, the soldiers really drove nails through them. Or perhaps they need to see the wound in his side to confirm. Yes, even after he was dead, his body was pierced. This violence really did happen. The disciples really did see was as brutal and as gruesome as they remember. Then I start to wonder about similar disbeliefs of my own. Do I have to directly see the brutality of war to know that it is death dealing? Do I have to see photos of destroyed buildings and bloodied bodies to know that something is wrong in our world, in this war torn world? What do I need to see or want to see in order to believe that extreme violence is not the way of God? Do I need to see evidence? Or can I simply believe that the death of my global neighbor is tragic and something to be mourned how much bloodshed and terror do we need to see? To believe that we must act, to believe that more war does not create more peace. I'm not a politician. I am not a diplomat. I am not in the room as treaties are negotiated. I do not claim that there are easy answers to these questions or that it is easy work. It's incredibly hard work. But I do claim Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as my savior. So I trust that there must be a better way. There must be a better way. I do not know the exact path to peace, but I believe fiercely that God hopes for our flourishing, for the flourishing of each and every person. And I know that flourishing is not possible while war and violence tear our world apart. I believe that God wants each and every one of her children to know peace, joy, love and hope, to know flourishing and fulfillment, to know all that is possible in this glorious world. To use the name of God in defense of or in celebration of war is to use God's name in vain. I do not believe that God celebrates senseless killing. I do not believe that God rejoices in military triumph. I do believe that God is glad when wars end, when people return home to safety, when resolution comes. I believe that God delights in neighbors caring for neighbors, in outpourings of love, in peace filling our communities. Just a couple weeks ago, on Palm Sunday, Hillary reminded us of two parades, one of empire, power and military might, and one of Jesus riding on a donkey as palms are spread before him. There was a parade of earthly and empirical power, and there was a parade of peace and godly power. We believe in a God who knows the pain of violence. Our God saw the pain of her people and came to Earth to live this reality with us. The very same God in the person of Jesus knew the pain of crucifixion. And yet our God saw it fit for resurrection to be part of that story. Our God knows the pain of violence and presents the possibility of resurrection. The resurrected Jesus came to the disciples in the upper room to offer a visual sign of both the violence he bore and the resurrection life he brings us all. And Jesus tells the disciples, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe. We might not gather in the upper room as the disciples did, but we believe in the witness of their stories. We can still believe that the resurrected Jesus appeared to them and that Jesus lives among us through the centuries. Can we believe in true, genuine global peace, even if we have not seen it? Speaking of Peace. Here I consider the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Peace is not merely the absence of some negative force, war, tensions and confusion, but it is the presence of some positive force, justice, goodwill and the power of the kingdom of God. Or the more often quoted, peace is not merely the absence of tension, but the presence of justice. Can we believe that resurrection power can manifest itself as peace? True peace, positive peace? Blessed are we who can believe in the peace of God that passes all understanding, even if we have not seen global peace with our own eyes. My friends, what does it cost us to believe in the possibility of peace? Truly, what does it cost us? Even if you think it is naive or far fetched, it costs us nothing to believe in the possibility of peace. We can act as though peace is possible and see how that changes us, how it changes our hearts, how it changes the world. Easter season is, after all, a time to believe in what once seemed impossible. As I try to believe in the possibility of peace, I pray for both warmongers and peacemakers. Will you pray with me, Prince of Peace? Lord of Love, be present with us and present in this world. For those who incite war and violence, we pray for wisdom and good judgment, for a spirit of mercy and care. For peacemakers, we pray for courage and resilience, for steadfastness and strength. For members of the military, we pray for physical, emotional and spiritual wellness. For the complacent, we pray for the ability to bear witness. For the complicit, we pray for the courage to enact change. For the wounded, we pray for care and healing, for strength and peace. For the widowed and orphaned, we pray for love and comfort, for space to grieve and lament. For all who live in fear, we pray for safety, dignity and encouragement. For all who have died, we pray for rest eternal for us all. I pray for our ability to believe in peace and to have the courage to act for peace, knowing that God created us for love and companionship, knowing that God suffered pain and death, and knowing that God surrounds us in all times, in all places. Amen.