Gospel text for Pentecost 31 May 2020

John 20:19-23          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.” 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.”

Reflection        What does it mean to reveal our wounds to someone? I believe it means being vulnerable, admitting we have been bruised, injured, possibly disabled and in Jesus’ case, killed. It means we are essentially damaged goods, not idealized specimens of humanity. This is not the picture of ourselves that we want to show the world. We would rather put on airs or armor striving to appear whole and healthy, undamaged and strong, anything but vulnerable.

So we cover our bodies and lock the doors of our hearts hoping against hope to hide our wounds.  We fear that if we reveal them, someone might poke their fingers into them and our fragile armor will crumble. And there we will stand before God and all of creation, stripped of our fig leaf, exposed and defenseless. Who wants to go there? 

But Jesus punctuates the revelation of his wounds with breathy bookends. “Peace be with you. Peace be with you.” God’s peace is with us before we are wounded. God’s peace is with us after we are wounded. There is never a time when God’s peace is not with us because with his next breath, Jesus breathes on the disciples and us saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

How are we to understand the Holy Spirit? There are three sphere of action for the Holy Spirit; in creation and the unfolding of history (the Spirit has always been present), in the Christ event revealed through Jesus (this singular moment), and continuing in the world at large (omnipresent and ongoing). Here is the thing. All three spheres of the divine, sweeping, all-embracing and ecumenical action of the Holy Spirit lean toward one thing;  the transformation of our consciousness and community into the peaceable kingdom of God, inside and out. 

Which brings us to Jesus’ next acclamation. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”Here we note that forgiveness is not solely about being magnanimous toward the person we believe has offended, bruised, damaged or disabled us physically or emotionally.  Forgiveness is above all about its effect on us. For as long as we cling to the sin of others, we are locked in a room defending our wounds which means we lose access to the deep transforming peace of the Spirit of God with us. 

For as long as we lock our doors to cover up the negative emotions associated with our wounds (anger, shame, resentment, hatred, jealousy, outrage), like an infection that refuses to heal, the emotions fester and chafe inside us. But when we reveal our wounds, like a skin leison exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays produces vitamin D that enhances healing, when we reveal our wounds the outreaching, intercessory and unifying power of the  Spirit of God is  released from within us renewing our life and restoring our relationships which of course frees us to experience the peaceable kingdom of God, inside and out.

I believe the life changing success of 12 Step recovery programs that Bill Wilson and his physician, Bob Smith began in 1935 is largely due to the insistence that participants examine themselves and expose the exact nature of their wounds and wrongs. Exposing our wounds to light, releases the power of the Holy Spirit to conceive the peaceable kingdom of God, inside and out. At Pentecost Jesus shows us the way to be at peace with our wounds and receive the Holy Spirit. 

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Gospel text for 2nd Sunday of Easter: Liturgy for Home Use

As we the people of God continue our time of Holy Waiting in Diaspora, I invite you to set some time aside each day to ponder the puzzles of our faith story. 

A prayer to begin each day of Holy Waiting.

O God, bless my Holy Waiting. Look with compassion upon me and my addictions to my food, my health, my habits and my way of doing things. Free me to rest in the assurance of your unfailing mercy, remove from me the fears that beset me, strengthen me in my work to recover my best self and to be patient and generous in my care and provision for the needs of others. AMEN. 

Take time to listen to  Messiaen's  "Three Small Liturgies of Divine Presence." 

Messiaen Trois Petits Liturgies de la Presence Divine

While listening you may want to ponder Caravaggio's painting

                                      

   "The Incredulity of St. Thomas."

Having missed the appearance of Jesus to the other disciples, Thomas said, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where  the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20.25) The following week Jesus appears to Thomas as depicted by Carravagio. 

Thomas had to "touch" Jesus wounds, his suffering, with his own hands in order to believe. 

As we the people of God continue our time of Holy Waiting, what wounds, what suffering are you touching? Fear, anxiety, feverishness, coughing, boredom, whatever???  How much suffering must you touch in order to believe that we, the people of God, are meant to offer our lives to free prisoners and the oppressed? nourish the hungry? and dignify all people?

 Like prisoners or elders confined to their small quarters, are you touching the wound of isolation?

                                

As a person with special dietary needs or preferences are you touching the wounds of food scarcity?

                                 

As a person accustomed to finding your income or your sense of worth in work or volunteering, are you touching the wounds of the unemployed and undignified?

                                     

As a healthcare, grocery, gas station, public safety, plumbing, teaching, electrical or other essential worker, are you touching the wounds of those who sacrifice themselves for the good of others every day?

                                       

How are you like Thomas?

What do you need to turn your skepticism into belief?

What do you need to turn your wonder into amazement?

For an entirely different kind of music and reflection than we began with, please listen to "The Many," a contemporary Christian Music Group's performance of "Waiting for You."  

Waiting For You by The Many

For Holy Waiting during the First Week of Easter:

A prayer to conclude each night.

O God, bless my Holy Waiting. Look with compassion upon me and my addictions to my food, my health, my habits and my way of doing things. Free me to rest in the assurance of your unfailing mercy, remove from me the fears that beset me, strengthen me in my work to recover my best self and to be patient and generous in my care and provision for the needs of others. AMEN. 

Please let me know your experience with Holy Waiting. 

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Gospel text for Sunday, 27 April 2014

John 20:19-31        When it was evening on the day of Resurrection, 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.

Reflection       Don't you want to ‘see’ Jesus as did Mary Magdalene in the garden? Don’t you want Jesus to find you when you are locked into your own fear (as were the disciples in the upper room)? Don’t you want to feel Jesus breathe on you and receive his peace? Don’t you want to have your own experience of the risen Christ? Like Peter, don’t you want to put your fingers in Jesus’ wounds but wonder if perhaps you have shown up too late? 

For most of us, seeing is believing. So the question is, what are we looking for? If we insist on ‘seeing’ the physical body of Jesus and demand to put our fingers into his bloody wounds there is every chance we will be disappointed. But if we open the eyes of our hearts to see beyond the veil of flesh we will confess resurrection life abounds around us. 

You see, Easter services are not mere memorials of a singular resurrection event that happened two thousand years ago. Easter celebrates our whole new reality; we are Easter people. We live resurrection life now.   What does it mean to live out of this new reality? I believe Thomas puts his finger on it when he responds to the risen Jesus saying, “My Lord and my God!” The pivotal word  in that sentence is “my.”  Thomas is claiming his relationship, his very personal relationship with the risen Jesus. He takes possession of Jesus. Jesus is his Lord, his God. It is all about relationship and relationship is here and now, embodied in the life of people who claim God as their own. 

Every time we experience healing or forgiveness, peace in the midst of fear or uncertainty, hope in the face of grave news, restored relationships, revived churches, a glimmer of light in the midst of a dark, dark night, we experience resurrection life. Resurrection life is now. Every time we reach out and put our fingers into our own wounds, our loved ones wounds, the wounds of our communities and our world and offer peace, comfort or hope we are embodying resurrection life. Alleluia, Christ is risen, in every generation. Resurrection life is eternally now.

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