Sermon 4/15 thomas

Life and light pervade Easter life. At the start in Genesis, God is shown to be the God of life. Now in the midst of this new creation God demonstrates not only organizing life from nothingness, but from death itself.I John starts with this affirmation, that the word, the message of life was and is present in jesus, the Healing, Teaching, Crucified and Risen One. We get a glimpse of early Christian life. Part of the resurrection life was one of sharing the fulness of life with each other. Is it possible to live a life such as the story in Acts? Still, even if it a utopian vision, it is a Christian Utopian vision, or is it?.We would be tempted to call this a cult, not a community. Easter life is life in community, in this world and the world to come. Along with I John, our gospel reading shows us that the early church was filled with troubles in its early Easter life. Was the resurrection real, or an illusion born of desperate grief and hope? Thomas is disbelieving more than doubting-in my experience doubting is bad in the Christian ethos, as it seems to mean undue skepticism or even wondering about the goodness of God. Doubt is seen to be the opposite of a blind faith, and it can turn sullen and angry when it tries to shut down our questions, our struggles, and wrestling with the faith. Jesus maintains the scars-I usually call them scars, but John depicts them as open wounds. they are the emblem that it really is the Crucified One, the suffering servant of all. As Carrie Newcomer sang of the wants and wounds of the human race-those were still visible in the resurrected Jesus before his friends in this new form. William Temple calls the wounds of Christ credentials before humanity. The resurrected Jesus is the pioneer of our heavenly expectations, I think. Jesus is recognizable, but he can appear through locked doors. The life he lived is carried with him into that next chapter of existence. Maybe even in heaven, it takes some time for healing to be complete. Those wounds are an open prayer for us and to God. Part of Easter life for us here is learning to live with our wounds, allowing them to heal, but not letting us define us. No life can be encapsulated with one story, one incident, one victory, or one wound. When I moved my mother to an assisted living center, some of the ladies found out that I was a minister. They asked me, well coerced me, to offer a class on heaven. they were worried that they would not be recognized by their loved ones and wanted some biblical proofs. they were disappointed that I could offer none, but they did go along with me in looking carefully at the resurrection accounts as a guideline into the resurrected life. Jesus does not castigate Thomas. indeed, he offers him what he said he wanted. Johnny Cash was a religious person with his struggles. in Meet Me in Heaven, with the Carter family, he answered some of our questions and fears about the afterlife. In TV we talk about breaking the wall when a performer winks at the audience or speaks directly to us. here John breaks the wall when Jesus say blessed are those who do not see but believe. Jesus steps out of frame and speaks directly to us. Yes, Scripture always speaks to us, but it is good to hear something directed right at us from the misty past into Eastertide 2012. Every day of our lives is set in Easter light, the hope of the dawn. may we live in that light.