Easter II

During this time of physical isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear.  We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the song links within the liturgy. Thanks this week to Olivia Lee for reading the Gospel lesson, Taye for sharing a song, and Heather for the hymns.

PRELUDE: Without His Cross (Martin)

OPENING PRAYER

You extend your hands, Lord,
and invite us to behold the wounds
that cast away doubt and fear.
You breathe new life into us:
the same life found in the empty tomb.
Speak to us, this day,
through the Holy Spirit.
Find us, this day,
in your abiding presence.
Fill us, this day,
with your breath—
to bring hope and comfort,
and lasting peace.
Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: As comes the breath of spring

As comes the breath of spring
with light and mirth and song,
so does your Spirit bring
new days brave, free, and strong.
You come with thrill of life
to chase hence winter’s breath,
to hush to peace the strife
of sin that ends in death.

You come like dawning day
with flaming truth and love,
to chase all glooms away,
to brace our wills to prove
how wise, how good to choose
the truth and its brave fight,
to prize it, win or lose,
and live on your delight.

You come like songs at morn
that fill the earth with joy,
till we, in Christ newborn,
new strength in praise employ.
You come to rouse the heart
from drifting to despair,
through high hopes to impart
life with an ampler air.

You breathe and there is health;
you move and there is power;
you whisper, there is wealth
of love, your richest dower.
Your presence is to us
like summer in the soul;
your joy shines forth and then
life blossoms to its goal.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Forgive us, God,
when we are consumed by doubt.
We see the state of the world,
and we feel only doubt:
doubt that we can manage,
doubt that we can move forward,
doubt that we can see a world
after COVID-19.
Arrest our doubts, God,
and show us the wounds of the Risen One,
that we might see resurrection,
and find new life once more.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God visits us with love and mercy,
forgiving our shortcomings and leading us home.
These are words we can trust. Amen. 

FIRST READING: Psalm 16

Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

SECOND READING: John 20.19-28

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the religious leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as the twin), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “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.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

HYMN: Jesus stand among us

Jesus, stand among us
in your risen power;
let this time of worship
be a hallowed hour.

Breathe the Holy Spirit
into every heart;
bid the fears and sorrows
from each soul depart.

Lead our hearts to wisdom
till our doubting cease,
and to all assembled
speak your word of peace.

REFLECTION

To be human is to judge.

Mostly we judge ourselves, but when we set that aside we are generally expert at judging others. It is in our nature. Moments after we left the primordial ooze we started comparing ourselves to others, and along came judgment. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with comparison, because in comparison we improve ourselves, or we improve the elements of the life we share. Innovation, progress, renewed application—all these come when we imagine a better way.

On the shadow side, we judge to make ourselves feel better. Again, comparisons are inevitable, because most people want to do the right thing. When someone is being foolish, we should name it—and at the same time acknowledge that we’re far from perfect ourselves.

So I see two problems: the first is that every time a news item says “do this” or “don’t do that,” we lapse into comparisons, yet we fail to remember that “this and that” are constantly changing. The second problem is never knowing the full context, and making comparisons without all the information. My quick example is seeing a couple at the Dollarama wearing N95 masks. For days, we were told that these were for frontline health workers only—but there they were, amid the Easter chocolate, wearing their priceless masks. My internal reaction surprised me, but then I remembered I have no context to judge—I don’t know what struggles they face that would lead them to wear these masks. So I have to try to reserve judgment.

So what about the reading Olivia shared? The first and obvious thing to note is all the judgement implied in the passage. Where was Thomas when Jesus first appeared to the others? Something more important going on? And why does he need all that proof? Can’t he just take their word for it? They are his best friends, after all. And why does he get special treatment? Surely everyone in the group had doubts, or some unique need in the face of these events.

And then there is a whole other layer in the passage. Why were they so fearful of the religious leaders? As far as the Romans and their allies were concerned, the threat had been neutralized. And why does Jesus need to share this homily on forgiveness? What’s that about? You can bet we’ll come back to that question. Then, a week later, the doors are locked again! Jesus was both clear and generous (in week one): “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” If you have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and you have been commissioned by the Risen Christ to reenter the world, what on earth are you doing behind locked doors?

I’m not going to attempt to answer all these questions. But they will be here, resting online, for you to ponder all week. Since this week belongs to Thomas, we should begin there. In preaching class, they taught us to never psychologize Jesus, but the rest of the people in the story are fair game. So Thomas. He is the guy who needs that extra layer of proof, that extra bit of convincing before he can accept the truth. But we don’t know his background. We don’t know what losses he suffered, or his experience of death before this moment. How can we know? And it is for this reason we step back.

Thomas, like the rest of his companions, understood that death was final. “You are dust,” God said, “and to the dust you shall return.” Formed of dust, we are animated by the breath of God. But when that breath leaves us, we die. Thomas and the others understood that the dead were ‘gathered to their people’ (Gen 49) or ‘descended into Sheol’ (Ps 139)—somewhat vague descriptions that do not undermine the static nature of the death. Yes, there were equally vague references to the resurrection of the dead, and there were metaphorical resurrections in the Valley of Dry Bones, but these did not erase the finality of death.*

So this left three options for Thomas: either his friends were wrong, or Jesus was temporarily resuscitated like Lazarus, or resurrection was possible. Taken together, the last option seemed the least likely, since Thomas knew the first two options were very possible, and the last was just a vague hope. So we forgive him his doubt, and we applaud the fact that he immediately stopped his doubting and believed.

The other reason Thomas gets a pass in this story is the general misunderstanding that comes with resurrection. The other disciples were likely feeling all smug and judgy, when it’s obvious that they didn’t believe in resurrection either. The first clue is the locked door, but there is more to it than that. When they describe resurrection to Thomas they do so in the most prosaic way they can: “We have seen the Lord.” And what they do say only highlights their lack of understanding, a lack of understanding based on what they could have said: ‘We have been resurrected by the Lord.”

Consider: like the Valley of Dry Bones, God (in Jesus) has breathed life into them, said “receive the Holy Spirit,” and resurrected them to new life in Christ. They were no longer witnesses to the resurrection, they were resurrected themselves! St. Paul understood, having been resurrected on the Road to Damascus: “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Rom 14) Paul had the benefit of high drama, but the disciples would need more convincing. Nevertheless, that day, and for all time, both the living and the dead are resurrected, alive forevermore!

And just when we’re tired out from thinking about those that need proof, and the slow to comprehend, and those who remain behind locked doors, Jesus has a word for us: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

We shelter in place, but the doors of our hearts are not locked. We struggle to understand God’s grace, but it’s still freely given. And we practice forgiveness: for the proof-seekers, the quick-to-judgers, and even ourselves. We are resurrection people, and the resurrection is our own, alive with Christ, now and always, Amen.

*Walter Brueggemann, Reverberations, p. 47.

SPECIAL MUSIC: Home “The Arms of God” (Sorenson)

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

This prayer, in the form of a poem, was written by Marg “Bunny” Todman.

God, give me patience
That I will not rush
The hours of the day
For each hour has a gift to give.

God, give me understanding
That I may be able
To understand the troubles of others
For each solution can be beneficial to many.

God, give me appreciation
For the many different things
That come my way
For everything enters our lives for reason.

God, give me common sense
That I may see past the pretenses of people
And be able to assist them
In their time of need.

And God, give me time
Time for people,
Time for prayer
And particularly time for you.

HYMN: Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks

Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks to the risen Christ;
hallelujah, hallelujah!
Give praise to God’s name.

Jesus is Lord of all the earth,
firstborn of all creation. R

Spread the good news o’er all the earth:
Jesus has died and is risen. R

We have been crucified with Christ,
now we shall live for ever. R

Come let us praise the living God,
joyfully sing to our Saviour. R

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.