Revelation 1:4-8, John 20:19-31

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

Something You Can Believe In

Easter 2

April 11, 2010

The Lord has risen!

He has risen indeed!

As Christians, we confess that Christ has risen.  We believe that He has risen and lives in our hearts — but we also believe that He has truly and physically risen.

We confess that the tomb of Christ is empty.

We confess that the power of death has been broken – broken for Jesus and broken for us.

We also confess that Jesus is at work in the world through us and changes the world through what we say and do as we reach out to others in His name and with His love.

But – does our confession of the resurrection of Christ change us and really make a difference in how we live?

Does our belief in the risen Christ – and our belief that Christ is at work in the world and changing the world through what we say and do – really make a difference in how we live?

Does our belief in the risen Christ change how we live – and does it give us something to believe in – especially at those times in our lives when situations try to  rob us of hope and take away everything we thought was secure?

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in.

Friends — we can believe in and have faith in the risen Christ.

We can believe in and have faith in the fact that He is active and is making a difference in the world through us.

We can let the risen Christ change us and take the change He is making in us into the world as we proclaim in word and deed that He has risen – that our lives have been changed – and the world can be changed – because Christ has risen.

The resurrection of Christ and His power in our lives and our world is indeed something we can believe in.

In our Gospel text for today – the story immediately following John’s version of the Resurrection of Christ – the disciples were looking for something to believe in – some sure sign of hope – something they could trust and have faith in.

Can’t you imagine how the disciples felt that first Easter night?

One by one they may have crept back to the upper room where they’d last eaten together with Jesus only 3 nights before. The aroma of Passover lamb and bitter herbs may have still lingered in the air.

They must have been a sorry, scared, and pitiful lot.

Some women may have been weeping in one corner.\

Mary may have stared down at her own hands and shuddered – wishing she’d held on to Him that morning — despite what He’d said.

Peter and John may have been sitting back from the others, lost in their thoughts.  Along with Mary, they’d been the first to go out that morning – and they had been the first to run back — incoherent with shock and grief and hope and a crazed rant about an empty tomb.  No one had believed them of course.  They hardly believed it themselves.

Others may have crouched by the wall near the locked door – flinching at every sound on the stairs outside.  It was not unheard of for a condemned man’s followers to be rounded up and executed also. The Romans were efficient at that sort of thing.

Maybe one whispered: “We can’t stay here — this is the first place they’ll look!”

Peter may have thought of the sword he’d struck one of the Roman soldiers with – then the fact he had denied Christ 3 times!

Others may have sat under the window and shuttered every time a sound came from the street below.

All of them probably sat in silence, unwilling to give voice yet to just how angry and deserted and ashamed they each felt.  They had loved Him.  They had trusted Him. But now – even though Mary told a wild tale of seeing Him and Peter and John a wild tale of an empty tomb – they could not bring themselves to believe that He had risen.

Some were missing from the room.

Judas had betrayed Jesus – and they had heard that he had hung himself.

Thomas was gone also.  Maybe he was seeking out the news in the streets –– were they being accused of robbing his body from the grave?  Were the gates being watched?  Had the two from Emmaus gotten through or were they already being held and questioned?

Then – a gentle breeze ruffled the air.  Suddenly the one they all were thinking of was standing in the room before them.

“Shalom,” He said — which means, “Peace be with you.”

He didn’t say: “Where were you?” or “How could you abandon me just when I need you most?” but He said: “Peace be with you.  Peace be with you.”

He said, “The work our Father gave me I now give to you.  Go out among my people.  What you forgive will be forgiven.  What you do not forgive will stay unforgiven.”

He said, “Don’t be afraid.  I’m not sending you out alone.  I’m coming with you.”

And He breathed on them all and they were filled with wonder and inarticulate joy — and the He disappeared — and maybe that’s when Thomas knocked on the door.

Maybe Thomas felt that he was stepping into a room in chaos.  The men shouting and the women wailing and everyone’s arms waving – some of them might have even snatched at his sleeve to snatch at his attention.

“Silence!” he may have shouted — then he may have shouted “You’re mad!” – and he may have added  ”You’re as mad as the women this morning!” and flung himself into the far corner to stare at the others in amazement.

Thomas had been a faithful follower of Jesus – in fact he had been one of the first to follow Him.  He’d been ready to lay down his life for Him.  He was faithful — he just wasn’t fanciful. He wasn’t going to pretend to believe in something just because he wished it were so.  He shook his head. They needed to get on with their lives if they were going to survive this — not open their wounds all over again with hysteria.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he may have whispered.

He may have desperately wanted something to believe in – but this wild tale of Jesus being raised from the dead was just too much for him to believe.

Well, a week passed.

The room was silent and airless.  They still huddled in fear behind the locked door.  Thomas may have now been thinking that it was a pity that what the others  had said was true a week ago so obviously wasn’t.  None of them had begun to do the work they claimed their Lord had given them to do.  None of them had gone outside to heal or to preach or even to feed a hungry child.  None of them stood straight and tall and confident like they really believed what they said they’d seen.  They looked the same sorry, scared and pitiful lot they’d been a week ago.

Thomas may have sighed.

But then – a gentle breeze may have ruffled the air – just as it had a week ago — and suddenly Jesus was again standing in the room before them – and this time Thomas was there!

“Shalom,” He said, “peace be with you.  Thomas.”

“Touch my side.  My hands.  This is what death feels like.  But Thomas, now feel life.”

But instead of touching Him, Thomas fell to his knees, and whispered, “My Lord and my God.”  And Jesus laid his hands upon him and said, “Friend, friend, do you only believe what you experience through your eyes?  How much happier are those who believe what they experience through my spirit.”

Then Thomas knew that Jesus had risen – and that he indeed had that something to believe in he so desperately needed.

The experience with the risen Christ changed the lives of Thomas the rest of the disciples. It gave them something to believe in when they desperately needed it. – something to believe in and hope in when it seemed that all hope was gone.

Their experience of the risen Christ – and their belief in the risen Christ – changed their lives – and with the power of the risen Christ they set out to change the world.

The fact that Christ had risen was something they could believe in and have faith in. Once they saw the risen Christ and believed that Jesus was at work in the world through them and that Jesus was making a difference in the world through them their lives were changed – and the world was changed.

You know — we all are like the disciples.

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in – something that can help us keep going when the situations in our lives might dictate to us to just give up.

We all look for something to believe in when our lives seem to become much too difficult for us to handle – something to hope for when our lives seem to be hopeless.

We need something to believe in and hope for when we lose our jobs – because we know that it could happen to us at any time.

We need something to believe in and hope for when we become sick – or are diagnosed with cancer – or a loved one has a serious illness or dies.

We need something to believe in when we seem to be “swimming in debt” and don’t know how we are going to pay off all we owe.

We need something that will assure us that God is with us and we can have hope when our lives seem to be hopeless – because there are times when the situations in our lives don’t seem to give us much to hope for.

And – whether you realize it or not – others in the community are looking for something to believe in also – and might be looking at us and how we handle the times in our lives when things look hopeless to see if we or the Church has anything to offer them when they need something to believe in.

They might be looking for something they can believe in – something that they can have faith in – something that can help them keep going when the situations in their lives might dictate to them to just give up.

They might be looking for something to believe in when their lives seem to become much too difficult for them to handle – something to hope for when their lives seem to be hopeless.

They might be looking for something to believe in when they lose their jobs –or when they become sick – or are diagnosed with cancer – or a loved one has a serious illness or dies.

They might be looking for something to believe in when they seem to be “swimming in debt” and don’t know how they are going to pay off all they owe.

They might be looking for something that will assure them that God is with them and they can have hope when their lives seem to be hopeless.

Friends – it was the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives that changed the lives of the disciples and gave them something to hope for and believe in.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives us that can change our lives and give us something to believe in.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He offers that can change the lives of those around us and give them something to believe in.

You can believe in the power of the risen Christ — experience it for yourself — and share it with others.

You can believe in the power of the risen Christ and let it change your life – and let it give you something you can believe in and hope for when your life seems to be hopeless. Then, you can share your hope and the difference Christ makes in your life with others – and help Christ make a difference in their lives.

Before the disciples really experienced the risen Christ and His power in their lives they let the situations in their lives fill them with despair.  After they experienced the risen Christ they were brave followers of Christ and worked to change the world with His power and love. That group that was huddling behind closed doors on Easter night and even a week after Easter was changed by their experience with the risen Christ. Once they experienced the risen Christ  the disciples became brave followers and brave witnesses to the world of the power of Christ – and did not let any threats against them stop them from witnessing about Christ or believing in His power in their lives.

Have you ever heard how the disciples died?

The Bible doesn’t really tell us about how most of them died – but legends have grown around the deaths of each of them.

The only apostle whose death the Bible records is James – who in Acts 12 King Herod has “put to death with the sword,” likely a reference to beheading.

Legend tells us that Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Legend has it that John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome but was miraculously delivered from death then sentenced to the island of Patmos where he wrote his book of Revelation on Patmos. He was later freed and returned to what is now modern-day Turkey and died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

James, the brother of Jesus, who was not officially a disciple, was the leader of the church in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. Legend has it that he was thrown from the southeast pinnacle of the temple (over a hundred feet down) when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a club.

Legend has it that Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia and witnessed in present-day Turkey – and was finally killed for his preaching.

Andrew, legend has it, was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Greece.

Thomas, legend has it, was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church there.

Legend has it that Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the Judas, was stoned and then beheaded.

Peter, according to legend, was allowed to be crucified upside down because he refused to be crucified in the same manner Christ was.

The group of scared individuals became brave followers of Christ when they experienced the risen Lord. Their experience with the risen Lord gave them something they could believe in and hope for when their lives seemed to be hopeless – and gave them a message of hope that they proclaimed for the rest of their lives.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives us that can change our lives and give us something to believe in.

But – you might ask – what it the best way for me to truly experience the risen Christ and the hope He offers?

The only way to experience the risen Christ and the hope He offers is to take Him at His word and believe Him. We can’t see the risen Lord as Thomas and the others did, but we can still believe Him.  We can take Him at His word and let Him change our lives so that we can have the hope and faith we need when the situations in our lives seem to lead us to hopelessness and despair. We can ask Him to be our Lord and Savior and ask Him to change our lives so we can be bold witnesses to Him and the hope He gives us.

The only way to experience the risen Christ and the hope we can believe in when we need it the most in our lives is by taking Him at His word and remembering His hope for our lives when the situations in our lives might dive us to hopelessness and despair.

The only way to experience the new life of hope the risen Christ offers is to live it. The only way for Christ to change you is for you to let Him change you. The only way to know the promises of Christ in your life is for you to take Him up on that promise and let Him show you His hope that you can believe in when situations in your life might try to dictate that everything is hopeless.

Active involvement in the work of Christ in the world is the best way I know of to find the hope Christ offers you for your life. Being actively involved in the worship, study, fellowship, and work of the Church is the best way to discover the new life and hope Christ offers.

Active involvement in the work of the Christ and living the life Christ calls you to live is also the best way to let others know the hope the risen Christ offers you and offers them.

John Chrysostom – one of the early Church leaders – once wrote:

“Let us astound them by our way of life.  This is the unanswerable argument.  Though we give 10,000 precepts in words, if we do not exhibit a far better life, we gain nothing.  It is not what is said that draws their attention, but what we do.  Let us win them therefore by our life.”

The resurrection of Christ and His power in our lives and our world is indeed something you can believe in.  When you find the situations in our life try to fill you with doubt and despair, you can let the risen Christ fill you with hope and faith. Like Thomas and the other disciples you can experience the life changing hope of the risen Christ by being involved in His work in the world — and you can share His life changing, hope-filled love with others.

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in – something that can help us keep going when the situations in our lives might dictate to us to just give up.

It is indeed the life changing love of Christ that gives us something – in fact the only thing – we can truly believe in and share with others.  Amen.