Alive and Present (John 20:1-18)

 She thought he was the gardener!

Have you ever not recognized someone that you should have recognized?

It happened to me once. Actually, it happens to me all the time. But the worst, most memorable time, (I don’t know if I want to tell you this!) happened at a funeral.

This was years ago in California… A few days before the funeral, I had met with the daughter of the person who had died. She wasn’t a church member, and I had never met before, but she was the one who seemed to be organizing things for the family.

She arrived for our meeting in her jeans and a casual shirt, which was fine; and we met and talked about her parent, the one who had died; and we talked about what she and the family would like in the funeral… and then our meeting ended.

A few days later the funeral took place, and she arrived, but instead of jeans and a casual shirt, she was dressed very nicely, and she had had her hair done, and she had put makeup on…

(And, yes, in this story I do need to emphasize that she didn’t look exactly as she had the first time we met, in order to lessen my embarrassment somewhat…)

And I saw her and greeted her and welcomed her… but I did not recognize her.

And let me tell you, that was as close as I’ve ever come to a major catastrophe in my ministry.

Fortunately, after a few minutes, I realized: Oh my gosh! It’s her! The daughter! How did I not recognize her!

And I quickly replayed, in my mind, the things I said to her since she arrived, to see how badly I had embarrassed myself… but fortunately, while my tone may have come across as awkward, nothing in what I had said had revealed my utter incompetence and absent-mindedness. I was able to recover… but just barely. I think.

I wonder how Mary Magdalene felt when she realized that it was Jesus standing right in front of her, yet she had failed to recognize him.

Was she embarrassed? She had known him well. It was different from my situation at the funeral. They hadn’t just met once. They were close…

Or was her joy at seeing him alive so great, that her embarrassment at not recognizing him didn’t matter?

And how did Jesus react?

The only thing he said to her, at first, was her name. Mary.

But how did he say it? 

Did he say it with laughter? “Mary! It’s me!”

Did he say it with annoyance? “Maryyyy…”

Was he disappointed? (Imagine going through all that Jesus went through, and then not being recognized by one of your closest, dearest friends.)

Or was his voice filled with gentleness and compassion? 

I like to think it was with gentleness and compassion. Mary had been through a lot herself. She was still going through a lot. The grief. The shock. 

Jesus, at this moment, already knew that there was reason for joy and celebration, but Mary didn’t yet realize that. She was still deep in her despair. 

“Oh, Mary…”

And then, imagine her face, as she realized that the one she had come to mourn, 

was in fact alive and speaking to her! 

In fact, if you had met Mary as she made her way to the tomb, while it was still dark, and then you went off for a little bit, and returned right after Jesus had appeared to her, you probably would not recognize her as being the same person you had seen earlier. Imagine how much her countenance would have changed! Her posture, her expression, her voice—everything would be different! She would look like a whole different person!

I guess the joy and hope of Easter does make us into different people. We are weighed down by so many burdens, by personal struggles, by news headlines of war and corruption and lack of compassion and lack of justice shown to those who are poor and vulnerable…

And our bodies and our expressions reflect the weight of all we are carrying.

But on Easter morning, we are reminded that all the bad news, all the negativity, all the oppression and injustice and lack of compassion and lack of love in our world, is not the final answer. 

Because the final answer is life. The final answer is love. The final answer is joy.

And when we are full of life and full of love and full of joy, our posture improves, and our face brightens, and every word we speak becomes a song of joy.

And we have this joy even though there is still so much darkness and injustice and death in our world, because we know that hope and love and life are also present, and that they are stronger, and that life does, in the end, triumph over death and all the death-dealing ways of this world.

We know this, because of the resurrection.

Mary wasn’t the only one who didn’t recognize Jesus that day…

********

Later that day (according to Luke’s gospel), two of Jesus’s closest followers were traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, which the scripture says is about a seven mile walk. They were discussing all that had taken place during the recent Passover festival; how Jesus came to Jerusalem, flipped the tables of the sellers and money changers in the temple, got arrested, and was crucified. 

And while they were talking and discussing these things, another traveler came near and started walking with them. It was Jesus himself, and yet… they did not recognize him.

Between them and Mary, I’m really starting to feel not-so-bad about my embarrassing moment at that funeral…

Anyway, Jesus says: “What are you guys talking about?”

And at first, they don’t know how to respond, and then one of them says: “Are you the only person who doesn’t know what happened? How Jesus of Nazareth, a mighty prophet, was handed over to Rome by the chief priests, and was crucified? We had thought he was the one to set Israel free. 

“Yet some of the women…” [for, in Luke’s gospel, Mary did not go to the tomb alone] “some of the women went to the tomb this morning and came back claiming that Jesus was alive.”

And then Jesus said, “Don’t you get it?” And he started going through the scriptures with them… 

It says he started with Moses, which is too bad. I would have loved for Jesus to have gone back even further, and to start talking to them about Joseph and his brothers, and how the brothers came to Egypt and met with the prince of Egypt, not realizing that it was actually Joseph himself they were meeting with… for they did not recognize him.

Wouldn’t that be funny?

But he didn’t. And the two disciples he was traveling with still didn’t recognize him. 

And when they reached Emmaus, those two travelers extended hospitality to Jesus, who they still thought was just some random stranger who had joined them on their journey. They offered him dinner and a place to stay for the night. 

And while they were eating, when Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and offered it to them, then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. 

And they ran back to Jerusalem, rejoicing, to tell the other disciples what had happened.

Now, maybe these stories made you chuckle: my story of not recognizing someone, Mary’s story of mistaking Jesus for the gardener, or the story of the two disciples not recognizing the traveler journeying with them as Jesus.

But how often do you forget that Jesus is alive, today, and that he dwells among us? How often do you remember to look for Jesus? How often have you encountered Jesus, and failed to recognize him?

How often have you failed to recognize our risen Lord?

******

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells his disciples that when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. And he will say to those who are righteous: “Come, you who are blessed by my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; I was naked and you gave me clothing; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.”

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”

And they will be told, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”

We have a hard time recognizing Jesus in the hungry, in the thirsty, in the immigrant, in the sick, in those who are in prison. We have a hard time recognizing Jesus in the least of these, those who are most vulnerable in our society.

But when we treat them with compassion, with mercy, with empathy, with love, and with hospitality, our eyes will be opened, and we will see the risen Christ in our very midst, and we will then understand that he has been with us all along.

Christ is risen. Christ is risen, indeed!

And he dwells among us, in the people we sometimes overlook… the people we sometimes cast aside…

But when we serve them, and minister to them, and work with them to create a community where all are able to live lives of wholeness and abundance…

Then we will know that not only is Jesus alive… but that he lives right here among us; and when we serve the least of these among us, then our eyes will be opened, and we, like Mary, will be able to announce to those around us: “We have seen the Lord!”

A Very Short Sermon on Disciples History (John 20:19-31)

 This is one of those stories where, when we hear it, we imagine what it would have been like to have been there, with the disciples, in that locked room. 

The story takes place on the day of resurrection. Early that morning, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene, but (according to John’s gospel) no one else had yet seen the risen Lord.

So the disciples were in varying states of belief and disbelief. They wanted to believe, yet were afraid to believe; afraid to get their hopes up; afraid of being disappointed yet again; afraid that those who killed Jesus might now come for them, since they were Jesus’ closest followers.

But then: Jesus himself appeared among them. It was true! He was alive!

After this, Jesus appeared to the disciples several more times, mostly to reassure them that he would always be with them, even to the end of time.

And then, the disciples—filled with the Holy Spirit—began a movement in Jesus’s name that would eventually become the largest religion in the world.

I don’t have much time today, so let’s quickly fast-forward to the turn of the 19th century. I was asked to talk today a little about the history of our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). 

At that time (a little over 200 years ago) in the Ohio River Valley region, life was still mostly rural. Each small town could support only one or maybe two Christian congregations, and, in those days, the dividing walls between denominations were sharp.

So if you were, say, a Presbyterian, in a town that only had a Methodist church, what could you do? They might let you attend, but they wouldn’t allow you to participate in the full life of the congregation, and they certainly wouldn’t allow you to receive communion.

This didn’t sit well with a number of people. Among them: Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander.

I’ve spoken before about Alexander’s frustration with having to present a token in worship in order to receive communion. He believed that participation in the Lord’s Supper shouldn’t be limited to only those of a certain denomination or congregation; it should be open to all Christians.

Here’s a quote by Alexander Campbell, which actually appears on page 338 of our hymnal: “But who is a Christian? I answer, everyone that believes in one’s heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the son of God; repents of one’s sins, and obeys him in all things according to one’s measure of knowledge of his will.”

Everyone who believes in Jesus and commits their life to him is a Christian; therefore everyone who believes in Jesus and commits their life to him should be welcome in the church, and welcome to participate in the Lord’s Supper—regardless of denominational background.

Alexander believed in this so strongly, that he helped start a group that aimed to be non-denominational: they called themselves “Disciples,” the most generic, non-denominational-sounding name they could think of.

Meanwhile, not too far away, a man named Barton Stone was entertaining similar thoughts. Stone gained prominence at a revival that took place in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, and later started his own movement. 

Like Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone wanted his movement to be one that welcomed all Christians. Along with a few other ministers, he formed a new presbytery in response to disagreements with the larger denomination they were a part of, but later they dissolved that new presbytery, because they feared that it would become its own denomination… They didn’t want that.

They wrote a document called “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery,” 

which said "we will that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large." That’s what they wanted: no denominations; just the body of Christ.

And they started calling themselves, simply, “Christians”--- the most generic, non-denominational-sounding name they could think of.

In 1832, these “Christians,” and Campbell’s “Disciples” came together. Their goal was not to start yet another denomination, for there were already too many of those.

Instead, they wanted a non-denominational church that simply followed the way modeled by Jesus’s disciples in the New Testament, in those years after the resurrection.

It was only five years after that historic, 1832 gathering of Stone’s followers and Campbell’s followers that William T. Major founded First Christian Church of Bloomington, something we’ll hear more about next week.

Needless to say, our movement did slowly and eventually evolve into a denomination, despite the intentions of our early founders. But we remain a denomination focused on Christian unity… and a denomination that welcomes everyone to the Lord’s Supper. “Christian Unity is our polar star,” as our early founders liked to say, and since they believed that creeds more often than not were used to exclude people, we have never recited creeds in worship nor used creeds as a test of fellowship.

A lot has changed over the past 200 years. We still look for inspiration to the New Testament and the acts of the apostles. But we also recognize that God’s spirit continues to work in us and among us, today, making us into a church for the modern age. We have grown and evolved theologically over the years, and we continue to grow and evolve and learn.

But one thing that hasn't changed is our desire to be a church that welcomes all who seek to follow Christ. And we continue to carry out our ministry, so that—as today’s scripture says—people may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing, may have life in his name.

Guided by Doubts and Questions (John 20: 19-31)

There are some people in the Bible who I wish I could just go back in time, and talk to. They’re the ones whose stories have captivated me, and I want to know more. I want to ask them some questions. I want more information. The Bible doesn’t tell me enough. I want to know what was going through their head, what they were feeling, and why they said or did what they said or did.

Thomas is one of those people.

He’s been given a nickname: “Doubting Thomas.” He doubted that one time… and the name stuck. 

It’s like in the movie Big Hero 6, when Tadashi is introducing his brother Hiro to all his friends… and when Tadashi introduces his friend Wasabi, Hiro makes a funny face and says, “Wasabi?”

And Wasabi says, “I spilled wasabi on my shirt one time, people! One time!!!”

Well, Thomas doubted one time, people! Yet he is known, now and forever, as Doubting Thomas.

I want to know why Thomas doubted, and what he thinks about us calling him “Doubting Thomas,” and whether he thinks that’s fair, and why he wasn’t with the disciples the first time Jesus appeared.

So: I used my imagination to go back in time, and ask him.

My first question to Thomas was why he wasn't with the other disciples the first time the risen Jesus appeared to them…had the other disciples sent him out to get pizza for everyone, or Chinese food?

When I asked him, Thomas said, “Well, not exactly. See, we were all still terrified that the Romans were going to hunt us all down. Turns out that, since Jesus had taught us to be nonviolent, Rome was content to just get Jesus. If we had armed ourselves, Rome would have gone after us all. I guess that’s one way Jesus protected us: by teaching us to be nonviolent.

But we weren’t sure. We were still afraid. And things were so confusing. And I knew the disciples were gathering, but I got mixed up on the time and the place—I think I was told the wrong time and place, although the others think I just heard it wrong—and, anyway, I wasn’t there.”

“OK,” I said. “It happens.

“So, when the disciples told you that Jesus had appeared to them, what did you think? Why didn’t you believe them?”

Thomas looked at me a moment, and I could tell this answer was going to take a few minutes… Thomas said: “You know, several of the other disciples are fishermen, and one of them—Peter—told me once about a guy who went around selling this most amazing musical instrument, a horn of some sort, that was very rare, and if you sounded that horn from your boat, it would draw all the fish, and the fish would just leap out of the water and into the boat, and you’d have the biggest catch of your life…

“So Peter paid a lot of money—I think he said it was about what he’d earn in a week of fishing—for that instrument. But when he went out on the water and blew it, no fish came. In fact, he said it was the worst day of fishing he’d ever had. Turns out, the sound of that horn sent all the fish away!

“Peter said he learned an expensive lesson that day.

“So you can imagine how Peter reacted, when Jesus appeared, and started giving him fishing advice… ‘Go out into the deep water… cast your nets on the other side of the boat…’ and so on and so forth.

“Well, Peter had never forgotten his earlier experience with the horn, so when Jesus appeared and started giving fishing advice, Peter rolled his eyes. Besides, what does a carpenter know about fishing? Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, we’ve been fishing all night long, and haven’t caught a thing; now it’s the middle of the day, and fish don’t bite in the middle of the day’…In that moment, he doubted Jesus, he was skeptical that he’d catch any fish that day… and yet, no one calls him ‘Doubting Peter,” or, ‘Skeptical Peter.”

I told Thomas he had a good point. 

Thomas said: “Thank you!”

Then Thomas went on. He said: “One time, we were with Jesus, and this woman came up to Jesus who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.

“See, that person who sold Peter the horn wasn’t the only scammer around. There were many physicians and doctors around who would take your money, promise a cure, but do nothing. Their potions, their remedies, were all fake. Yet they kept convincing people to hand over their hard-earned money.”

Thomas looked more intently at me, as if he was trying to figure me out, and then he said: “I don’t know what it’s like in your time, but back in my time, you just can’t trust everyone. It’s good to be a little skeptical. It’s good to have a little doubt. There are people out to take advantage of you, all kinds of scammers and frauds, and you gotta be careful.

“But, I guess you don’t have that in the 21st century.”

As soon as Thomas said that, I thought of the many times I’ve seen friends post something on facebook, something about how, tomorrow, a new Facebook rule starts that allows Facebook to use your photos, or start charging you, or something, but that if you post this message on Facebook, saying that you do not authorize Facebook to use your photos, your data, whatever, then you’ll be protected.

And, it’s all bogus. I don’t know who made that up, but it does nothing.

And I thought of friends of mine who have received frantic phone calls from someone who they thought was their grandchild; the voice says, “Grandma, I’m in jail,” and it sounds just like their grandchild, and they say, “How come you’re in jail?” 

And they say,  “I was drunk and they picked me up and I need $3,000 right away.” And they give instructions for sending them $3,000. 

And a lot of people who receive such phone calls do send the money, because, after all, their grandchild needs help… except it’s not really their grandchild. It’s a scammer, someone who is very good at making people believe that they are who they pretend to be.

Churches are not immune to scams. I had only been here a few weeks when one of you told me you had received a fake email from someone claiming to be me, your pastor, asking you to help me out (or to help the church out) by buying and sending gift cards… It wasn’t me. It was a scammer, pretending to be me.

I didn’t feel the need to tell Thomas all this… Instead, I just said, “I do think I’m starting to understand why you might have been a little skeptical to believe, at first, the news that Jesus was alive.”

In fact, I’m pretty sure I would have been just as skeptical as Thomas. And the more I got to know Thomas (through this imaginary conversation), the more I began to sympathize with him.

After all, Thomas was not some sort of weak-faith, second-class disciple. Oh, no! Back when Jesus announced his intention to go to Jerusalem, and all the other disciples complained that Jerusalem was too dangerous, that there were people there who had it in for Jesus, who wanted to stone him to death…and they all tried to discourage Jesus from going to Jerusalem…

…it was Thomas who said, “If Jesus is going to Jerusalem, then let us go with him. If Jesus is going to die, then let us die with him.” These words of Thomas demonstrate his incredible faith and loyalty and courage; Thomas’ statement gave courage to the other disciples, and they stopped their whining and recommitted to following Jesus, no matter where Jesus led them. 

In that story, Thomas’ faith outshined the faith of all the other disciples! Because of Thomas’ strong faith, all the other disciples had their own faith renewed.

So we can’t just label Thomas as a doubter of weak faith, and leave it at that!

And, given the prevalence of scams and fake news and conspiracy theories, I think it’s a good thing to come with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Furthermore, I find it easier to believe in the resurrection because of Thomas’ initial reluctance to believe. Thomas’ doubt and skepticism are a sign to me that it’s OK to have doubts, that doubt is not incompatible with faith, that the two can and often do go together.

It makes me think of Rachel Held Evans, a great, great theologian and writer who tragically died at a way-too-young age a few years ago; she had this phrase that she would use when she would share some of her thoughts on faith… She liked to say, “On the days when I believe, this is what I believe.” 

“On the days when I believe…” That prefatory phrase implies that faith isn’t always easy, that faith is sometimes a struggle, that there will be days when it is hard to believe… and that that’s OK…

It lets me know that it’s OK to doubt, to wonder, to ask questions…

And I also recognize how, when the disciples told Thomas about Jesus, they were trying to encourage Thomas; but earlier, when Jesus said he was going to Jerusalem, it was Thomas who encouraged the other disciples…

And faith is like that, too; isn’t it? Some days, we’re strong in faith, and we can be a person someone else can lean on when their faith is weak; and other days, it is our own faith that is weak, and then we lean on the faith of others.

That’s one of the reasons we gather together as a church: sometimes we come, and we’re a little lost, or a little discouraged, in faith; but we come, and the faith of those around us lifts us up and helps us carry on.

It’s like when that group of friends brought a paralyzed man to Jesus, but couldn’t get in through the front door because there were so many people there; so they carried their paralyzed friend up to the roof, and dug through the roof and lowered him into the house…

And Jesus looked at them through the hole in the roof, and saw their faith, the faith of the friends… and Jesus said that it was because of their faith, the faith of the friends, that the paralyzed man was healed. 

There may come a time when my faith is weak, and yours is strong, and you can help carry me through that difficult time; and there may come a time when you’re struggling in faith, and you need my faith or the faith of your church community, to help carry you through.

That’s why it is so good that we come together for worship, why worship in the community of faith is an essential part of one’s spiritual journey.

So I’m not afraid of a little doubt. Sometimes, a little doubt can be a good thing. It helps keep us humble, and gives us the opportunity to rely on the faith of others, to lean on each other, to be a true community of faith.

And I also know that a little doubt isn’t what defines my faith. A little doubt isn’t what should define Thomas’ faith, either. Because all the disciples doubted at one time or another. And all of them were strong in faith at other times; they all became models of faith for generations of Christians to come.