John 20:19-31                                                 2nd Sunday of Easter

 How many people believed little Davidson College would make it to the elite eight in the NCAA basketball tournament? There were many doubters. You may not have seen the Sarasota paper, but the article opened like this: “On the red trim at the bottom of his shoes, Stephen Curry, (star shooter) has written in black marker, ‘I can do all things’” What the Associated Press writer did not mention is that he is quoting part of Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You have to see it to believe it, this little college with 1700 students (one of them our daughter Emily), this little David-son going up against great basketball Goliaths, and winning, not with three smooth stones, but with smooth 3 pointers. You have to see it to believe it, like doubting Thomas had to see Jesus himself, to see his scars, to believe that he was really alive. Thomas had to wait a week, but it happened for him. Jesus appeared to him. He did not express any disappointment in Thomas, but gave him what he needed, and then said, “Do not doubt but believe.” And Jesus then says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Hear now the story of Doubting Thomas and Peace-giving Jesus.
 

 ^NRS John 20:19  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 Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."  ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  ²¹ Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."  ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."  ²⁴ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  ²⁵ 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."  ²⁶ 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."  ²⁷ 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."  ²⁸ Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"  ²⁹ 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." ³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹ 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.
 

 It was Easter night, and if we stay with John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene is the only one claiming to have seen the risen Lord and talked to him. Meanwhile, the scared out of their minds disciples were hiding in a room behind locked doors. They had to protect themselves from the crowd of religious leaders and their supporters who might recognize them as followers, and kill them too. Not only were the disciples grieving the death of Jesus and likely ashamed of their own failure to stand with him to the end, but now this woman was making the most ridiculous claim – that Jesus was alive again. Could it be so? Could their failure and loss possibly be transformed? Could they have hope again? Those are the questions of grieving disciples, of grieving people.

 Gathered in fear and confusion, they locked the doors, and waited. And suddenly there he was, in their midst. What were his first words? "Peace be with you." No scolding. No turmoil. Peace. Those words that we say to each other every week. I hope that’s what you say to each other, instead of “Good morning. How’re you doing?” No “Peace be with you.” It is a powerful statement. I hope when you say it to a friend, to a spouse, to a newcomer, to a person who irritates you, I hope you are saying it with every fiber of your being. I hope you are saying it not just for our relationships, but I hope you are saying it for Jews and Palestinians, for Sunnis and Shiahs, for warring tribes in Darfur, for everyone. It is our name – Peace. We should be like Christ walking into a room of hopelessness and despair, offering people the gift Christ gives to the world,“Peace be with you.” We’re not saying, “I give you peace, but Christ gives you peace.” We’re saying, “Let’s be united in the peace of Christ.”

 And then (since this is John, not Luke) Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples. It was their commissioning to go out and be peace and love and justice for the world. We can hear in this breath the echo of Genesis and “God's breathing life into creatures at the beginning of the world (Gen. 2:7). Easter tell us that we are recreated through Christ's resurrection...a current and continual experience of new life in Christ available to all” (O. Wesley Allen, New Proclamation 2008).

 Jesus then talked about that difficult subject – forgiveness. Eugene Peterson's casual translation of Jesus’ words provide a very different way of seeing the gift of forgiveness and grace: “If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” (The Message). Oh, what a beautiful witness to God’s love when we let go of the bitterness and forgive those who have wronged us or those we love. Sometimes we retain more anger on behalf of others, than we do for ourselves. I expect the disciples were livid toward those who had punished and executed Jesus for no good reason. They were surely furious at Judas for the betrayal. When we hold tightly to anger at others, it occupies entirely too much of our soul, leaving less room for gratitude and joy and love and peace. Anger and fear go hand-in-hand, and Jesus says, “Peace be with you. Release it.”

 This text tells us that "We cannot keep the Spirit to ourselves. We are gifted with it for the sake of others. God gives the church the spiritual gift of resurrection life so that the church will bring it to bear on the world." (O. Wesley Allen) A personal, private faith while significant, is not the ultimate goal. Jesus intends us to have a vibrant faith and be a Spirit-filled church as a gift to the world. And you are that gift. You are growing in your faith. I hope you are learning to talk about your faith. I see you are acting on your faith, living it out in your mission by meeting human need. When you meet human need by caring for people, you are saying by your deeds, “Peace be with you.”

 John’s Gospel is always interested in “seeing” in the vision of Christ’s people. Mary Magdalene said, “I have seen the Lord.” Thomas says, “I will not believe until I see for myself.” He not only wanted to see. He wanted to touch. We church folks have been rather judgmental of "Doubting Thomas." After all, the disciples have all seen Jesus and the marks on his hands and side. But once Thomas "sees" and even touches the wounds of Jesus, he believes, too. Don’t we all need to see, and to feel it ourselves – in order to believe? We cannot just accept what someone else tells us. I can stand here and say to you that Christ is alive and real, but until that truth dawns in your soul, it does not become a reality that you can affirm. Each of us wants to hear for ourselves the words of Christ, “Peace be with you. Do not doubt, but believe.” And though we cannot see and touch like Thomas and the disciples, Jesus calls us the blessed for believing without seeing.

 But we are not blind to the Risen Christ. For we can see the marvelous and wonderful ways the risen Christ is bringing new life, providing healing and grace, forgiveness and new hope. Relationships repaired and renewed, health restored after suffering and illness, delight in life after long grief, people growing in faith. All these point to the one who was raised from the dead. Especially in the life of the church, we see resurrection and experience new life, see and hear and touch the Risen Jesus, the Body of Christ alive and in love with this beautiful though often troubled world. We see, and we believe. Resurrection isn't something that happened a long time ago, something that we simply commemorate each Easter. In our day-to-day lives as the church in ministry, we put our hands on the wounds of this broken world, and we also witness to the hope that sustains us in knowing that we are going to rise again, that everything is going to be all right in the end.

 William Sloane Coffin, great prophetic preacher, who died several years ago during Holy Week, once said: “As I see it, the primary religious task these days is to try to think straight...You can't think straight with a heart full of fear, for fear seeks safety, not truth. If your heart's a stone, you can't have decent thoughts – either about personal relations or about international ones. A heart full of love, on the other hand, has a limbering effect on the mind.”

 “Whenever we're afraid and hiding out, all locked up, God comes to us in the midst of our fear and says, "Peace be with you." Whatever doubts churn in our minds, whatever sins trouble our consciences, whatever pain and worry bind us up, whatever walls we have put up or doors we have locked securely, God comes to us and says, "Peace be with you." Whatever hunger and need we feel deep in our souls, God calls us to the table, feeds us well, and sends us out into the world to be justice and peace, salt and light, hope for the world. We can do it, if we keep our eyes open, our minds limber, and our hearts soft and willing to love. As God sent Jesus, God sends us, this day. Do not doubt but believe. Receive the Holy Spirit. Forgive each other. Be at Peace.”
 

 Many of the thoughts of this sermon are borrowed from Karen Matthews Huey from www.textweek.com’s link to www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/march-22-2008-holy.