Easter 2A, April 27, 2014; The Rev Pamela L. Werntz

O God of grace, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We have a tradition in Christianity of congregations receiving pastoral letters, written by a bishop (in those variations of Christianity that have bishops). Some of the earliest pastoral letters came to be known as Holy Scripture in our Bible. When a bishop sends a pastoral letter, it customarily contains admonition, instruction, directions or consolation, and it is intended to be read out loud in parishes and missions on an appointed day.

In our Episcopal Church tradition, a bishop is not our boss, she or he is our chief pastor, elected through a most democratic process and then consecrated, or set apart, and charged with the gargantuan task of being our guardian. In our case that means watching over almost 200 congregations in eastern Massachusetts. When we refer to the Diocese of Massachusetts what we are talking about is not the bishop’s staff, but about 65,000 Episcopalians of all sorts and conditions! Our Diocesan Bishop, Tom Shaw, is about to retire after being our Bishop for 20 years. He has sent a pastoral letter to be read today. It’s not a letter of admonition, instruction, directions, or consolation. It’s a letter of gratitude – his gratitude for all of us – as he nears the end of his time as our bishop. I hope you will take the opportunity to respond to him with your own words of gratefulness in a book that will be available for that purpose in the parish hall after church today and for the next few weeks.

And now, by way of a homily, I’m going to say a few things about today’s Gospel reading. For any of you who heard the Easter Gospel of John proclaimed last week, today’s Gospel reading is a little like watching episodes of a tv show where the story leaves off at the end of one episode and picks up a moment later the following week. This passage begins, “later on the same day” – the same day that the tomb was found empty, the same day that Mary had mistaken the risen Lord for the gardener. The same day Jesus made Mary Magdalene the apostles to the apostles. And the Gospel says that she did go and tell the others that Jesus had said these things to her. That didn’t seem to do anything to assuage their fears because later on the same day, the disciples were hiding behind locked doors because they were afraid.

The Gospel text actually says that they were afraid of the Jews – but of course, they were the Jews, so that doesn’t make any sense at all to me, unless they were afraid of their own shadows! It’s probably better to translate the Greek word as Judeans – people from Judea where Jerusalem was. Jesus’ followers were from the Galilee (to the north), rather than from Judea (in the south), but let’s be clear that Jesus and all of the people in this story were all Jewish – all people of the Torah. (Our first reading from Acts, which was most likely written a decade before John, betrays the development of the split in the Jewish community when Peter is quoted as saying that the Israelites (of which Peter was one) crucified and killed Jesus by the hands of those outside the law – that is, the Roman soldiers, as if by a Star Wars Jedi mind trick.

We often concentrate our attention in this story on Thomas – the twin, the doubter. And I often want to preach in his defense. But today, I want to point out three things about Jesus and the other disciples that we can miss if we rush to the points of Thomas’ insistence that he see for himself and Jesus’ blessing on those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

The first thing to think about: Jesus entered the place where the disciples were gathered and said, “Peace be with you.” Then they rejoice. And again Jesus says, “Peace.” Peace be with you. And a week later, when he re-appears, Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” It appears three times in this reading. That means that Jesus really meant it! Peace. Think of “Peace be with you” as an instruction and not just as another way to say hello. One of the things about scripture that we know is that if an instruction is written down, it’s because it needs to happen – and it’s probably not happening. If Jesus is saying Peace be with you – over and over, there probably isn’t much peace happening with them. Come to think of it, that’s how it often is with us. Think of that the next time you pass the peace – think of “Peace be with you” as an instruction from Jesus speaking through you to a friend or acquaintance or a stranger – and when that person replies, “and also with you.” That is an instruction from Jesus too. Peace. Peace be within you, peace be around you, peace be in the world. Within you be peace. Within you all, be peace. Peace.

The second thing to think about: Jesus showed them his hands and his side. The resurrected Jesus still had holes in his hands and in his side. The holes in his hands and in his side were a part of how he was known to the disciples. The resurrection had not taken them back to the good old days before the crucifixion. The peace that Jesus was offering was not the nostalgia of before the crucifixion – before the nails went into his hands and feet and before the sword went into his side. The resurrection is compelling them forward to a new kind of peace with evidence of the wounds still extremely visible. This is important – it is Jesus’ woundedness that identifies him. Come to think of it, it is often our woundedness that identifies us to others, whether we realize it or not.

Many of us think we can hide our wounds (especially the ones on the inside) – because we are too proud or too ashamed or too hurt or too afraid – and I’m here to tell you, it is no way to live. The resurrected Lord appears with wounds and shows them, rather than trying to hide them. God has made something of the horror of the crucifixion and God is making something of the wounds – the wounds become the way that the disciples recognize Jesus. If God can do that with a crucifixion, God can make something of our wounds too.

The third thing to think about: Jesus said, “As I have been sent, so I send you.” Breathe in the Holy Spirit – in other words – get inspired — and get moving. They had come to this room for protection – grief and fear had seized them and now Jesus is sending them back out. Jesus tells them to get out from behind the closed doors and sends them out even though they are afraid. Not once does our text indicate that they are no longer afraid. Come to think of it, Jesus is demonstrating that no matter what makes us lock up and hide in fear – the only remedy is more love – out there. The Peace of God is not passive and it’s not about staying safe or quiet. God is sending us out from our various hiding places into treacherous territories.

Believing in resurrection is not about thinking that a corpse has been resuscitated. It’s about something completely different. Believing in resurrection is about commitment to Peace –Peace in our hearts, Peace in our lives, Peace in our world. Believing in resurrection is about faith that God can make something useful and even beautiful from the ugly wounds that we have sustained. Believing in the resurrection is about knowing that we can’t stay hidden — we are sent out to do the work that Jesus was sent out to do – of feeding and healing and freeing and forgiving and forgiving and forgiving, and serving the other – even the enemy. That’s why I often say that beloving is a good substitute for the word believing. It’s through beloving that we may have life in Jesus’ name.
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