2nd Sunday of Easter             April 15, 2007

It was the evening of "that day," the gospel reading tells us. In the gospel of John, "That day" is Easter Day, the day Jesus was raised from the dead to life. That day was the day the women found the empty tomb, and heard the angelic message that Jesus rose from the dead. "That day," was the dawn of God’s new day when all people, and the whole creation were being transformed by the grace and truth of Jesus’ Christ in his resurrection. It is the reason all Christians can say, “he is risen, and respond he is risen indeed.

Yet on the evening of that day, the disciples are not changed. Although some of them saw that Jesus was raised, they did not understand the implications of his resurrection. They were hiding behind locked doors in a room somewhere in the old city of Jerusalem.

I can understand their skepticism. They were afraid that the same people who killed Jesus who be out to kill them next. They did not understand that since Jesus was raised, they would be raised with him. The did not understand that this mean a new life for themselves and for the world. So they sat, huddled together in a secret place, in fear, with the doors locked.

I imagine that they said very little to each other. They probably were making plans to go back home to Galilee, back to their old jobs, and move on as they never met Jesus. They were just figuring a way to cover their losses. Too bad.

Have you ever been with a family, or with a group that just suffered such a loss? It's like the night they announced a factory closing, and everybody getting pink slips. It was like the night a beloved leader or family member was killed. It was like a congregation that had a proud history, but was now faced with closing their doors forever. In times like that there’s a feeling of confusion, blaming one another, and hopelessness. These are just a few of the feelings passing through the disciples.

Too bad, because until last Thursday night, they were still following Jesus hoping he would solve all the problems of the world. They were awestruck by his the miracles. They even saw him raise Lazarus from the dead. They loved his message of a new creation that was underway. Most importantly, they had grown to love Jesus as their friend in a way that few ever achieve. Just a few days ago, Jesus washed their feet as a demonstration of his love and gave them the power of his love. He told them to love one another as he had loved them. But them they killed him. This group had lost its leader, and suddenly everything he did was for nothing, or so they thought.

Just then, something happened they did not expect. Jesus stood among them. Even though the door was locked, Jesus came through and stood in their presence. He said, "peace be with you, shalom." The shalom of God, the same greeting they heard in worship all their lives, Jesus said, "Shalom."

Jesus sent them out. That is, he told them to go out into the world. "Just as the father had sent me, so I send you. Once again, Jesus was telling them to follow his example. What Jesus wanted to do was nothing more but nothing less than he had done during his earthly ministry. Jesus gave them the power to continue his work in the world.

Jesus breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. Again he said, “Peace be with you.” That’s why we greet each other in worship saying, peace be with you. By this same Holy Spirit, we are called, we are gathered, and we are enlightened at our baptism. Then he gave them the power to forgive sins. Notice that he did not give the power to condemn sinners, even those who do not repent. Sinners who do not repent condemn themselves.

It was a moment these disciples would never forget. Now they knew that following Jesus meant changing the world. To those who suffered from violence, they had a message of peace. To the world where different people were divided against other people, the had a message of peace. And the power to forgive sins.

This is of course, the same power we have. The power of the Holy Sprit works wherever God’s peace is given, and the forgiveness of sins takes place.

Today we hear mostly about the violence, the bombings, those who are out for revenge. Check the headlines from Iraq, Iran, Israel, Somalia, Darfur, people are dying, killing each other. Jesus gave us the power of his peace, and the power to forgive sins. He has called us to be his agents of peace and forgiveness.

I know there are skeptics. It will never work, they say. Thomas was one of those skeptics. Can we blame him? There are many who are saying, where is your God when innocent children, men and women are being slaughtered like sheep at the packing house. I hear a growing number of young people are skeptical. No wonder about 70% of them are not on the roles of any church!

Some call us hypocrites because we say one thing on Sunday in church, and then do things that are opposed to the power Jesus gave us. I have given considerable thought to this, and I think they are really asking us if we believe that the resurrection of Christ make any difference. Does the peace of God and the power to forgive sins show up in what we say and do as people who a baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ?

In a way, who could blame the skeptics like Thomas. Thomas didn’t even want to be around the other disciples. He was no where to be found when Jesus made that first appearance. Who would have anticipated what Jesus just did? Thomas was out in the world, no doubt making plans to get on with his life when all of this happened. When they told Thomas that Jesus was alive, he did not believe them. He let them know he had a very different point of view. He said, I won't believe your story until I can touch him right where they pieced him with a spear and drove nails into his hands and feet.

One week later, Thomas was with them. Even though he disagreed with all the rest of them, the did not cut him off or throw him out. The other disciples accepted him, even though he had a very different point of view, and he was sitting in the same room at the same table with the other disciples. That is remarkable, but I think I know why.

I believe the reason is that the disciples did learn who to love one another. They had learned that true love accepts people because they are different, and have different points of view. These disciples had learned this from Jesus. They would talk about Jesus saying things like, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.... "

Just then, Jesus stood among them, just like he did the week before, and Thomas was there to see him. Jesus did not blame Thomas. He just invited Thomas to put his fingers on his wounds in his side, his hands and his feet. With that, Thomas said, "My Lord and My God." Now Thomas was making a declaration that none of the others were prepared to make. He was making a statement that went beyond what he had seen with his eyes. Jesus saw his faith, and asked, "Have you believed because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet come to believe."

In that verse, Jesus was blessing us, for we believe what we have not seen. Our faith has been passed down to us from those apostles to us, from one generation to another. According to the legend, Tomas went to India to tell others what he had seen. He taught them he message f the peace and forgiveness that comes when we believe the resurrection.

Do you remember the famous explorer, Marco Polo? He was the first European to lead an expedition to China in the 15th century. On his way to China he passed through India. Lo and behold, he found that there was already a Christian community and many churches in India. They told him that they were started by Thomas over a thousand years before.

The lesson is this. When a skeptic like Thomas does come to believe in the risen Jesus, they can have to power of the Holy Spirit to bring the message of God’s peace and the forgiveness of sins. Today we hear a great deal about faith being a personal decision. Maybe so, but the decision cannot be based on empirical evidence. I can't prove that Jesus was raised from the dead. All I can say is that the tomb was empty, and that those apostles saw that God rased him from the dead.

How do I know that? My faith was passed down to me. I received it from those who went before me. It didn't just come from my family; it came from a community, from those faithful people in the churches that raised me in faith. The church I remember welcomed me, even when I was different form the others. That love is transmitted like DNA through the cloud of witnesses that remember the love that Jesus showed us.

We say He is risen. You believe that Jesus has forgiven us. Now we are called to go out and to be his ambassadors of peace with the power to forgive sins. We are called to go into out to our families, our communities, even to the world. Now we sent out to tell others are called to we can give a new generation the testimony that was given to us, the peace of Christ and the power to forgive those who sin against us.

This weekend, I met Rolf Berg- from Sherman Texas. He’s a distributor for Culligan Water, a “Culligan man.” He said in his business, the day has passed when he can sit in his office and wait for the phone to ring. He needs to take his product to the people. So, he did a mass mailing, and he says the results have been fantastic.

Now we cannot wait for people to come to us. We are called to go to them. What webring them is Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins and his peace to the world. Now by the power of the Holy spirit, let us bring the message of God’s peace to all the skeptics that are among us. Amen