April 7, 2024 Sermon
Sermon title: "The Upper Room"
Scripture: John 20:19-31
(Other lectionary suggestions include Acts 4:32-35, Psalm 133, and I John 1:1-2:2.)
John 20:19-31
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
19When 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." 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Jesus and Thomas
24But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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." 26A 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." 27Then 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." 28Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
The Purpose of This Book
30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But 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.
This past Thursday Harlane and I attended the funeral of her cousin Don, who died at age 86. His death was expected, but still sad, nonetheless. Many nice things were said about him, and all 12 of his grandchildren were there! I liked him. He was a funny and decent guy, and he also had a great sense of humor. At our family breakfasts, he used to like to play the guy who was "tight" with money, sort of like a modern-day Jack Benny, if you remember him. One day when his check arrived, he noticed that there was no place that he could check off 3% for the tip!
The real reason I'm telling you this story is to tell you the quote from Isaiah that was at the front of the chapel at Hillside, a Jewish cemetery in West L.A. It was from Isaiah 25:8: "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces...." Someplace in Revelation is that same quote, and the writer of Revelation was purposely quoting Isaiah, in my opinion. Here it is from Revelation 21:4: "he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more...."
The sermon title is "The Upper Room", but it could just have easily been "Doubting Thomas". I think the account is in the Gospel of John to say again, "It's okay to doubt." Says the minister Mark Hall of River Falls, Wisconsin, "The doubt of Thomas....makes room for others who follow Jesus to have doubts as well. Thankfully, Jesus does not turn away from Thomas, nor does Jesus turn away from us when we are filled with doubt."
The pastor Mark Hall goes on to quote something written by Thomas Long, who is a seminary professor whom I have met, believe it or not! (He teaches at Emory, I think, in Atlanta, and he was in California for a United Church of Christ meeting that I attended in San Diego or thereabouts.) In one of his books, "Long looks at the parable of the wheat and tares {{as mentioned in Matthew 13}} and notices that the first reaction of the field hands to the discovery of weeds {{symbolizing evil}} in the field is doubt, the impulse to call into question the trustworthiness of the landowner (God). Doubt, according to Long, is the natural, often helpful first response to tragedy and evil. It is not the last response, not the only thing we have to say, but if we don't make room for our doubt it's unlikely we can come to believe or share our faith with authenticity."
If you were here on Good Friday, you may recall that I quoted Diana Butler Bass and her realization that where the disciples were in today's Scripture reading is the SAME PLACE where they had celebrated the Passover with Jesus. The disciples felt SAFE here, and that's where Jesus goes to meet them! So, while we could criticize Thomas for not being there, and while we could upbraid the disciples for huddling there together, Jesus does not! In fact, what are his first words, and remember, this is that first Sunday when his body was discovered MISSING from the tomb! He says, "Peace be with you." And then he says the same words again: "Peace be with you." Isn't that great? He is not critical of the disciples, but he moves toward them in peace! He meets them where they are in their faith.
"Even though Thomas had a heavy dose of doubt mixed in with his faith," says Rev. Mark Hall, "Jesus does not reject him or cut him off. In fact, Jesus does just the opposite." Later -in fact, 8 days later - Jesus came through those locked doors again and walked right up to Thomas, inviting him to put his fingers in the holes made by those nails that crucified him.
Says Rev. Mark, "Jesus' mission is a mission of moving toward us - toward the world God loved - in order to redeem and restore. The mission of our Lord is coming full circle here in this encounter with Thomas: from the incarnation - the Word becoming flesh - to the crucifixion and resurrection; the bodily resurrection of Jesus the incarnate word of God, incorporating all creation in God's redeeming mission, including Thomas and us."
As Pastor Mark Hall says, "God, in Jesus, knows Thomas' darkness and doubt from within. God, in Jesus, knows our darkness and doubt from within. When Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds, Jesus confirms for Thomas, and for all of us {{And I must say, I had never thought of this before!}}, that the life-changing resurrection drew up the wounds and weariness that Thomas and all people carry."
Did you ever think about that before? Because God was in Christ, because God came to earth as the Incarnate Word, he felt the way we do, suffered the way we do, and because of his suffering, not only understood our pain but also took it upon himself.
Thomas suddenly realized all that when Jesus entered that locked Upper Room. Says Rev. Mark, "Thomas could have already concluded....that his faith struggles, his distance, his doubt would keep him outside of the resurrection community, the body of Christ. But Jesus' words and his blessing of peace communicated otherwise".
What Mark Hall is saying is that Jesus is ALWAYS moving toward us, "overcoming the distance, restoring us, and fulfilling the promise spoken by the prophet Isaiah", which I mentioned at the beginning of my sermon: God "will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth." (That's Isaiah 25:7-8.) Amen.
Pastor Skip
