Jesus Keeps Showing Up
Easter 2 - April 27, 2014
Sometimes when we read these stories from the Bible, we forget that the people we are reading about were living these stories in real time. We've heard them so often (and this gospel story gets read every year on the Sunday after Easter) that we don’t always realize that Jesus’ followers didn't know how the story was going to turn out. They couldn't turn to the back of the book and read the final few pages; they couldn't go online to check out the synopsis of the film while they were watching so they wouldn't be too taken aback by what is yet to take place – not that I've ever done anything like that. No, these men and women just had to live the story moment by moment, unsure what was going to come next. And so even though Jesus had told them more than once that he had to die and then on the third day rise again, they really didn't know what was happening that first Good Friday and Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.
And so we join them on this first Easter evening, and though Mary Magdalene had come from the graveside and brought Peter and the disciple Jesus loved running to see the empty tomb, and though they had witnessed the limp grave clothes lying where a body once had been, but was no longer, and though Mary had come again rejoicing, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”, there they were that night, locked behind closed doors that for fear of the Jewish leaders, worried and afraid of what the future held in store for them.
And suddenly, despite the locked doors, Jesus himself shows up, offering them his peace, showing them his scars, breathing the gift of the Holy Spirit on them, sending them into the world on a mission.
But poor Thomas, doomed to forever be known as a doubter – he wasn't there with the rest of them that night. When he comes back, the other disciples are a-flutter with the news, overflowing with excitement – “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas doesn't believe them. He knows the old saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” He wants to see and experience it for himself. “Unless I see the mark of the nails and put my finger in the mark and my hand in his side, I will not believe,” Thomas declares.
Thomas and the other ten remaining disciples aren't the only ones who know what it is like to live locked away from the world, hiding in our fears and anxieties, drowning in our doubt, trying to make sense of the things that have happened to us, finding it impossible to believe the words of promise and hope and comfort that others try to speak to us in the midst of our personal tragedies and grief, and our dismay at the hurt of the world around us. The dreaded diagnosis. The ultrasound that reveals a life-threatening birth defect. The loss of a job. The heart-breaking break-up. The tragic car accident. The depth of depression. The abyss of addiction. Missing flights and missing children. Stories of abuse and violence. Children bullied or taken advantage of. No wonder we sometimes long to hide away and lock the world out, to hunker down with a few trusted, remaining friends or family and ride out the storm. And though some may try to tell us to trust in God, to hope in the promise of Jesus, it’s not always enough. We want to see him for ourselves. We need to experience the presence of the risen Christ in person. We need Jesus himself to show up!
But thanks be to God, that’s just what Jesus does! We see it here over and over again in John’s gospel: Jesus calling Mary’s name in the garden Easter morning, Jesus walking through the locked doors of the house on Easter night, coming back again a week later to the same place – with Thomas there that time – and Jesus reaches out to him with wounded hands – “Do not doubt, but believe.” Jesus shows up, sharing peace one more time, promising blessings yet to come on all those who have not seen and yet will come to believe. Next week, we’ll hear about Jesus showing up again to two followers on the road to Emmaus. In the middle of suffering and fear, Jesus shows up. In the face of grief and bewilderment, Jesus shows up. When people are lost and directionless, Jesus shows up. At the moment of deepest sorrow, when all hope seems lost, Jesus shows up. All throughout the gospels, Jesus keeps showing up – and he’s never stopped!
That’s the blessing of our gathering here this week, and every week, and every time and every place where we gather. Jesus keeps showing up. He’s present among those who have experienced the risen Christ, who echo the words of the disciples: “We have seen the Lord!” He’s here with those of us who have only heard tales from others and aren't sure if we can or should believe something that seems too good to be true. He shows up among us, faithful and doubting, locked behind closed doors in fear, or boldly going into the world wherever he sends us. No matter what we say or do or think, Jesus keeps showing up!
He comes to us in the stories from scripture, stories shared about ordinary, average women and men – the ones whose names we know – Mary Magdalene and Peter and Paul – and those who remain nameless – the woman at the well, the man born blind, the hemorrhaging woman, the man who pleads for an epileptic son.
Jesus shows up in the waters of baptism, cleansing us, claiming us, raising us up to new life and calling us his own. He shows up in this meal we share each week, proclaiming, “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood, shed for you.”
He shows up in our worship – in the songs that we sing and the sermons that we hear, in the peace that we share and the gifts that we offer. He shows up in the world around us – in the giving and receiving of forgiveness between family and friends, in the support and hope and love offered around a hospital bed or graveside. No matter where we are or where we've been, full of faith or full of doubt or somewhere in between, Jesus keeps showing up, and thanks be to God, he always will.
Amen.
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