Resurrection Stories
By Caroline Dean
April 7, 2013
John 20: 19-31 (From the Message)
ter on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, ‘Peace to you.' Then he showed them his hands and side.
“The disciples, seeing
Jesus with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: ‘Peace
to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.'
“Then he took a deep
breath and breathed into them. ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,' he said. ‘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?'
“But Thomas, sometimes
called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The
other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.'
“But he said, ‘Unless I
see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my
hand in his side, I won't believe it.'
“Eight days later, his
disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came
through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, ‘Peace to you.'
“Then he focused his
attention on Thomas. ‘Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and
stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe.'
“Thomas said, ‘My Lord!
My God!' Jesus said, ‘So, you believe
because you've seen with your own eyes. Blessed are those who believe without
seeing.' Jesus provided more
signs than are not written down in this book. But these are written down so you
will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of
believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.”
Loving God come
near to us, breath your Spirit upon us, that we might know your Peace. Amen.
When I was a
little girl I was certain that I witnessed two miracles. That's right, not just one but two
miracles. The first time I witnessed a
miracle, my neighbor down the street, John Micol, had two huge labs – well they
seemed huge to me at the time. One of
them was a black lab and one was a chocolate lab. One day both of his dogs got loose from their
backyard and they had been missing for a few days and all of the neighborhood
kids were upset. I had a tortoiseshell
cat named Heidi and as a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian because I loved
animals– so for me this was a big deal that our neighborhood pets were
missing! So one day on my way to piano
practice in the car – I asked my mom if we could drive around and look for John
Micol's dogs and she said that we didn't have time on the way to piano practice
but promised that on our way home we could drive around the neighborhood for a
bit and look for them. And I remember
praying a prayer (a key part of the miracle). Something simple like, “Dear God please help us find John Micol's dogs.
Amen.” And so I went to piano practice
and my mom got groceries and we reconvened in the car. “Mom can we look for John Micol's dogs?” And so when we approached our neighborhood we
circled around a few blocks, weaving in and out the cul de sacs and since this
is a miracle story I'm sure that you can see where it is heading… but I took
our mission very seriously and so I watched very keenly. And sure enough we turned a corner and there
were my dog friends – one black lab and one chocolate lab running in the
streets together like a runaway gang of two! And I yelled “MOM LOOK!” And so
we shoved the groceries to the side and I jumped out and lured them into the
car – in hindsight I'm sure it had more to do with a car full of food than a
strange little girl chasing after them. I remember the pretty brown lab she had to sit in my lap and one of my
most vivid memories is that they reeked of stinky dog smell from their life
on the streets. And I remember
delivering those dogs to my friend John Micol and being astounded that I
witnessed a true miracle.
That is what a
miracle is right? A miracle is empirical
tangible evidence that God exists. We
can reach out and touch it – Like Thomas, we can put our hand all up in God's
business. We can smell it – even if
it's a stinky dog smell. It is
measureable. The disciples counted the
extra food after the feeding of the 5,000, they saw with their own two eyes
when the lepers scales fell away and when Jesus walked on water, like a ghost,
and Thomas – he got to reach out and touch the risen body of the Christ.
But here's what
makes me mad. Thomas marches into that
locked room to his friends to discover that “they had seen Jesus” with their
own eyes, nail holes, and wounds and all, their Jesus, a true miracle. And Thomas proclaims – “I will not believe
unless I can put my finger in the holes in his hands and in the wound on his
side!” So even seeing won't be enough –
Thomas wants to reach out and touch Jesus' wounds – which is a pretty gross
image if you take it literally. And then
Jesus shows up a week later and says, “Okay Thomas – here you go – Reach out
and touch me!” And this is beautiful
scene – Thomas' childlike response of awe in the presence of Jesus. Yes, it is inspiring.
But the thing
that makes me mad is that life doesn't work like this for me. Or more specifically “faith” does not work
this way for me. Right? We declare our needs in prayer – like Thomas
– and then maybe God shows up somehow but it is certainly not in the flesh, and
it is certainly not in the exact manner that I imagined it. My faith story is a much more complicated and
confusing process of doubt and faith and mystery all mixed up. I guess if you boil it down – I am jealous
that God gave Thomas exactly what he needed to have faith. It seems too easy.
And Jesus says,
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” And so here Jesus sort of says, “okay so I
can tell that this might seem unfair – that some get to see and other
don't. And I want to say “yea right –
Thomas got to see and touch Jesus – now THAT is a miracle.”
But here's where
I want to re-imagine the word “miracle” – which according to Wikipedia is the
“perceptible interruption of the laws of nature.” What if the “miraculous” moment for Thomas
isn't about the empirical proof that God is real, that Jesus has risen indeed,
that Jesus is Lord. Yes, that is a part
of the experience of “doubting Thomas.” But what if the miracle is so much bigger than proof, and facts even the
ones that bend natural law? What if the
miracle of this moment is the miracle of ENCOUNTERING GOD? So what happens in this story that is beyond
the facts?
The disciples
ENCOUNTER God's “peace” that transcends understanding (empirical
evidence/fact); peace picks the lock and breaks in on the disciples huddling in
fear and despair. If you think about it
the disciples are terrified. First they
most definitely fear losing their own life, being tortured, and humiliated just
as Jesus was. So their fear conditions
them to expect the worst - death. Secondly they are grappling with their own shame – the shame of abandoning
and betraying Jesus. Perhaps when Jesus
first appears the disciples expect judgment, some sort of “you should have done
better speech” since each disciple betrayed Jesus in his greatest moment
need. And lastly the disciples are
grappling with failure. Their fear says
to them – not only has Jesus died, but also the whole mission, and vision of
Jesus' life it died with him. And
perhaps in their despair they wonder, “what could I have done to stop Jesus'
death.” So the worst-case scenario –
which is where we all go when we lock ourselves in secret rooms of fear – the
worst-case scenario is that they have failed, they will live with the shame of
betraying Jesus and will eventually be tortured to death for their association
with him. Pretty bleak.
And so maybe the
miracle of Thomas' encounter here is that Jesus says to him “PEACE.” Peace over your greatest fears. In one word Jesus says, “I forgive you” –
“You are not a failure!” And even in
their fear of death and pain, Jesus comes from the other side of death and
extreme suffering and says “PEACE.” This
doesn't undermine Jesus' experience of the cross – which I think the wounds
that Jesus carries in this story are powerful. If you think about Jesus could have come back with shiny, new, sculpted
divine body that shows us hope beyond death but instead Jesus still carries his
wounds, to show us that he is human. And
Jesus' wounds are one way of say “Look it's really me!” but they are also a way
that God says to us “I know – I get it.” “Sometimes life hurts and believe me I get it.” Those wounds that Jesus carries allow him to
say to us “I see you, I hear you.” He
walked and suffered in the flesh.
Thomas'
encounter gives us hope that there are realities that are more true than fear
and death and despair. There is
something on the other side – that at the end of the road there is something
that we can hope in – that there is love at the center – we find God in the
end.
Maybe the true
miracle of Jesus encounter with the disciples is that Jesus gave them peace and
maybe the other miracle is that Jesus gave them a mission. He says, “As the Father has sent me so I am
sending you.” And in Thomas' case
according to tradition – he took that pretty literally and he made it all the
way to India!
When I used to
imagine the disciples running around town and around the world telling people
about the resurrection, I used to think that they told the facts – there was
this guy Jesus, he died to save the world, he rose again, yadda yadda. And then people would line up to be
Christians. And this image is not very
comforting or engaging to me. And it
isn't comforting or engaging because it's transactional, as if we just agreed
to all of the facts about Jesus, faith would be easy.
And then when I
think about it a little harder I imagine the scene of the disciples telling
this story quite differently. If I
couldn't actually be with Jesus on that day in the upper room seeing his hands
and feet I would love to be in the crowd of folks who heard about it second
hand from Thomas. Not because of the
facts and proof factor. But I imagine
the sparkle in Thomas' eyes, the way that this experience truly changed him,
the peace that Thomas exuded in this stories that surely must have be from the
Christ. The disciples didn't just tell
the story of Jesus – they took the story on, they wore it, they embodied and it
changed them – These same disciples who were once huddled in fear and despair
had courage to face their fears. Thomas'
mission wasn't simply to tell people the facts of the resurrection story. Thomas' mission is to be the peace of Christ,
to embody the resurrection, to bring forth new life out of death and bring hope
out of despair – that is a story that I would listen to with open ears.
Here is where
the rubber actually hits the road. What
are your resurrection stories? And I
don't mean that they have to be some ecstatic experience of God standing before
you in the flesh or some empirically prove-able legit miracle that goes against
the laws of nature – I believe that those kind of miracles do happen
sometimes! But what I really want to
hear about are the moments that changed you. I want to hear the stories that put a sparkle in your eye. I want to hear about encounters that revealed
something true or beautiful or hopeful or loving to you from the other side,
from the divine. I want to hear how God
breaths peace into your dark, locked room filled with despair and suffering.
And don't get me
wrong this is tough work! Why are we
fearful of our own stories of transformation – because they might seem overly
sentimental – people might think that we are trying to proselytize – or that
pressure someone – but when you tell stories of vulnerable encounter – people
listen…
The branding
team is visioning about a beautiful idea called the Christ Church Storytelling
Project. We are hoping to get some folks
together who are willing to tell their stories about how Christ Church as a
beloved community of faith has changed them. How Christ Church has become a place where we truly encounter each other
and encounter God.
So, this day I challenge you, to think of the
miraculous moments of encounter in your life, the moments that propelled you,
that shifted your spirit. I challenge you to tell your story. Because when we
tell our stories and listen to the stories of others it helps to remember who
we are as a church – and this is the most important thing – when we tell
stories of faith, hope and love – it actually helps us to EMBODY those stories.
I challenge you to live that story, to embody the forgiveness offered you, to
live out the mission, the passion that drives you. – so that passing the peace on Sunday
mornings isn't just a metaphor – we become a people who are peace makers,
knocking on doors of fear and shame and proclaiming God's peace.
I want to close
with a quote from Steven Garnaas Holmes blog (www.unfoldinglight.net)
Whatever transforms you is resurrection.
Whatever mystery makes you let go of the old life
and makes you more loving, more joyful,
more hopeful, trusting and grateful,
is the power of God. It is all you need.
Whoever forgives you, whoever bears you over
is the risen Christ.
Stop trying to get an ID, to get a picture,
to explain, analyze, dissect it.
Let it be the wondrous mystery that it is.
Blessed are they who have not seen
and yet who have come to believe.
Amen.
