John 20: 19-31; 1 Peter 1: 3-9
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
Second Sunday of Easter
April 23, 2017
When it was evening on that [Easter] 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.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 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 twelve, 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.
- John 20: 19-31
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - 1 Peter 1: 3-9
Each player must have a blind fold covering their eyes. The handkerchief is tied snugly with no spaces to peek. The children are turned around a few times. And then they are instructed to take a step forward to pin a mark of love.
We love to cheer on the children as they fumble and blindly reach towards the target. There is always plenty of encouragement and applause given to every player. And of course the winner gets the prize. I am always amazed at a child’s intuition to trust their instincts in the game.
Faith is like walking around with a blind fold covering our eyes. Just like the children’s game, we try to resist relying on our sight alone. Walking by faith and not by sight is hard.
God was teaching the disciples how to do this. As Easter Sunday faded into twilight, the disciples were unsettled. Easter interrupted their lives and met them in their unfinished faith, as I preached last Sunday. The disciples hid in the upper room with all their uncertainties.
According to John’s Gospel only Peter and John had seen the empty tomb. The disciples feared what all this resurrection business meant going forward. How would it actually affect them? Would they see resurrection in their lives?
And yet the Risen Christ walked through their locked doors. The peace of Christ embraced the disciples’. Our Savior breathed calm into their internal chaos of questions and fears. The Lord appeared and showed the disciples his marks of love.
The marks on his hands and his side proclaimed the promise of Emmanuel – God with us – in the highs and lows of humanity. For it is by his wounds that we know the joy of God’s salvation.
It was in the upper room that Christ created a space for the disciples to experience all this. And they rejoiced in the miracle of Easter as we did last Sunday.
But Thomas was the odd man out. He was not there when the Risen Christ first appeared. Thomas said, “Unless I see I will not believe” (John 19:25). Thomas was saying - Unless I see with my eyes the marks of love I will not be able to walk by faith.
Thomas did not have a sense of peace and he did not hesitate to voice it. Thomas gives us permission to wrestle with the blindfold of faith.
Many of us are like Thomas. In this season of Eater many of us feel like the odd man out too. Our situations seem bigger than the work God can do in them, especially when we feel we have not personally seen Jesus’ marks of love. The refrain of Easter Hallelujahs begins to fade into the places of our lives that are still restless and weary for new life.
It is hard to walk by faith and not by sight.
It is hard for our children and youth to overcome the peer pressures of school, social media and the push to academically perform. They long to be accepted for who they are; to know they are more than a snapchat thread or test score.
It is hard for our young adults to face uncertainties the future holds. They long to know the right decision to develop their talents in a sea of choices; to know who God is creating them to be.
It is hard for our families whose loved ones are tangled in situations where prayers have not yet been answered. They long to know that God is intervening; to know God will calm the chaos.
It is hard for our aging members to gracefully adapt to the changes life brings in the normal wear and tear of our bodies. They long to know their contributions are still valued; to know others still see their vibrancy and not their limitations.
Telling the truth about ourselves honors the footsteps of our faith. We all stumble and fumble to take the next right step forward. When we do not have a sense of peace then it can be hard to trust God.
But peace is not the absence of conflict or struggle. Peace is a faithful response to our unfinished places. The Risen Christ empowers and equips us with this response of peace. Jesus breathes the peace of the Holy Spirit into our lives. God’s Spirit promises to guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
Walking by faith and not by sight is hard but God is teaching us how to do this. Jesus says “Blessed are those who have not seen with their own eyes and yet have come to believe – to trust” God is at work (John 20:29). God shows us the way, the truth, and the life of believing when we have not seen.
Jesus Christ is the way. He embodies the journey of faith that is created by growing relationships with God and one another.
The Risen Lord is the truth. His ministry, death, and new life hold the spiritual reality that all things work together for the good of God’s purposes.
Our Savior is the life. He breaks through the closed doors of our faith to open our hearts and minds to experience God’s abundant mercy and grace.
As the trials of life spin us around, our faith is stretched to become more genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7). That happens in the spiritual reality of community. Just as Thomas had to come back into the fold of the disciples to see the marks of Jesus’ love in his life, so it is for us.
We need to hear the community of faith encourage our faith instincts to navigate through our unfinished places. The community helps us to spiritually see Jesus’ marks of love.
That youth who struggles to know acceptance was approached by a member after worship with the words, “You are such an amazing child of child and I am proud of you.” That youth saw Jesus’ marks of love.
That young adult who is searching for the right decision took a risk to trust another with the details of a new opportunity. Together they began to discern the nudges of the Holy Spirit. That young adult saw Jesus’ marks of love.
That family who questions if God is intervening received the gift of a friend who was willing to sit in the silence. No pat answers were given; just a shoulder to lean on and prayers that did not cease. That family saw Jesus’ marks of love.
That saint of the church who is struggling to age gracefully experienced a surprise visit from a youth. Together they sat sharing stories about the crazy teenage years. They laughed at their common bonds. They saw a wild and precious life in one another. That saint saw Jesus’ marks of love.
The marks of Jesus’ love reorient us in the affirmation that God will bring to completion the work he lovingly began in us. The scars on Jesus’ hands and side proclaim God is with us in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in life. It is by his wounds that we are receiving the joy of God’s salvation. Each step of faith is an act of resistance to rely on human sight alone.
Walking by faith and not by sight is hard but God is teaching us how to do it.
The outcome of our faith brings a growing peace as Christ marks us with genuine love. In turn God creates opportunities for us to see Jesus’ marks of love through others. This increases our trust of seeing God at work in the world and in the more intimate places of our lives. And it moves us to extend the peace of Christ to another.
Peace allows our blindfold faith to hold fast to what is good, to care for one another with mutual affection, to rejoice in hope, to be patient in suffering, to persevere in prayer, and to serve the Lord (Romans 12:-9-12). May it be so for you and for me, for we are Easter people.
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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