Easter II - Thomas Moore

May the words of my mouth and the mediation of our hearts empower us to grow in knowledge and love of you, Oh, Lord, our strength and redeemer. AMEN.
DOUBT… DOUBTING THOMAS... Me, a Thomas. Is there a message in your invitation to be the guest preacher on this, today’s Gospel?
Message or not, my wife, the Reverend Helen Moore, a seminarian classmate of your rector, and I are honored to be with you here at Christ Church, and thankful for special time with Kathy and Skip. As today’s Psalm reads, “Oh, how good and pleasant it is when sisters and brothers live together in unity.” It is indeed good and pleasant to be here, Skip. Thank you.
A year ago, I became the first lay Executive Director of a 150 year old Episcopal foundation, one with an anachronistic name, The Society for the Increase of the Ministry, or S.I.M. An anachronistic name, yes, but a very relevant, significant ministry. Since 1857 S.I.M. has supported Episcopal seminarians—financially, pastorally, and by advocating for seminarians within the councils of the Church.
When initially contacted by a recruiter, my first thought was: “What an anachronistic name!” Followed by a second notion: “Scholarships for seminarians a worthy cause, certainly, but a seeming narrowly focused mission for a national organization.” Then, a more profound reflection, “Could this be of God?” I had my doubts.
In our Spiritual Journey, Helen and I have discovered that if opportunities arise, “out-of-the-blue”, we best pay attention… despite our doubts. We best be cautious about leaning unto our own understanding. As for doubts, we best use them to push us to think—spiritually think…to explore and to question our limited vision.
Prayerful examination of the S.I.M. opportunity led to a deeper “seeing”—seeing that seminarians are far more than just theological students, checking off a major obligation on the path to ordination. Seminarians are the future leaders of our Church. Seminarians thus will be shaping our Church in the future. Seminarians are critical to the future of the Church we love. Realizing S.I.M.’s potential as a catalyst with significant impact on our Church’s future made accepting this responsibility…getting beyond doubt…arriving at an “ahah” moment… somewhat like, well (not to be overdramatic), putting my hand in Jesus’ side. It was then that the idea of a call became tangible, and I could see. Then that I could believe. Then that, beyond doubt, S.I.M.’s invitation to lead as Executive Director was God’s call.
Of course, moving beyond doubt is not a once and forever victory. It’s one thing to believe and another to follow and implement. Soon this Doubting Thomas was looking for a sign—further confirmation of this call—to come from my initial fund raising letter. It came in an “out-of-the-blue,” amazing blessing. The first donation of my S.I.M. tenure was from your rector, whose gift recognized the support S.I.M. provided Miranda Hassett, your seminarian assistant here a few years ago. I can’t tell you, Skip, how much opening your letter meant… to me and to the commencement of my ministry at S.I.M.
In today’s Gospel, the doubt-plagued disciples are hiding in the Upper Room. They are a timid little band, terrified because their dream had evaporated. “We had hoped,” said they, “that Jesus was the one to redeem Israel.” Where there was once hope… now it’s “doors…doors locked for fear….” Once in the streets speaking publicly with Jesus to the countryside, now they spoke in whispers among themselves. All Hell was breaking loose around them, and in them. Surely, emotionally battered; surely, plagued with questions; surely, beleaguered by doubts…until, until they saw the Lord for themselves, and silent fear was transformed into proclamation of the Good News. But Thomas was not there.
Why was Thomas missing from the Upper Room’s first gathering? Was it fear…hopelessness…a feeling of betrayal…embarrassment that Thomas had cast all his trust on a dreamer? Or was Jesus’ brutal death was so overwhelmingly real for Thomas that he couldn’t imagine anything beyond Jesus’ crucifixion. Whatever the reason for Thomas’ absence, he would not again risk belief in the intangible.
Should we condemn Thomas…or should we bless him? Doubting Thomas speaks what we dare not. Thomas’ candor grants us permission to be as openly human as he was. Thomas manifests what it is to shrink from life’s disillusionments but ultimately move beyond doubt in search of truth. Thomas spoke the truth of his limited vision, out loud, neither claiming to understand the un-understandable, nor to believe the unbelievable. Belief in the disciple’s reports was too risky a choice for Doubting Thomas; he demanded tangible confirmation. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas’ doubt was certain, but then he did return. Ultimately, Thomas did not let doubt shut him down. Instead, doubt opened him to: not surrendering in his pursuit of truth; not quitting on God when it felt as if God had quit on him; to risk seeking the Risen Christ in new ways. Perhaps Doubting Thomas could be better understood as Searching Thomas.
Doubt is fundamental to human existence. It’s not doubt that thwarts our faith; it’s how we respond that either increases or prevents growth in faith. Doubt can be a positive change-agent. There is more potential for embodying faith in the one who faces doubt than there is in the one who glibly repeats the unexamined creeds of others. “An unexamined life is not worth living,” said Socrates. Doubt can be dynamic or doubt can be debilitating. Dynamic doubt engages one to confront the questions of life. Debilitating doubt holds God at arm’s length, eventually leading to self-absorption and stagnation. Dynamic doubt is a spiritual friend; debilitating doubt, one of Satan’s favorite tools. Author, theologian Frederick Beuchner puts it well: “How could God reveal himself in a way that leaves no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me.”
Today we have perspective unavailable to Thomas. Today we know that ultimate reconciliation took place on Calvary when the One martyred by the world forgave the world. Yet the Doubting Thomas in us still needs to know that Jesus is not a God who just stands above it all but stands with us all. Thomas teaches us not to let fear, disappointment, and uncertainties drive a wedge between God and us. Thomas shows us what it is to walk away for a moment but return for a lifetime.
God wants us, like Thomas, to move through times of doubt to moments of decision. Doubt in hand, Thomas chose to name his doubt and live into the questions arising from the seeming absence of Jesus. Getting beyond doubt and confronting life’s questions ultimately led this man called Thomas to one of the most profound confessions of faith in all the Gospels. When we feel the absence of Jesus in our lives, we’re tempted to doubt. May we, like Thomas, choose to confront our doubt, seek to find Jesus and reach that point of professing his presence: “My Lord and my God!” AMEN.

Easter - Skip Windsor

1 Cor. 15:1-11; John 20:1-18
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
We come to church this morning braver than we think. We gather this Easter confounded with many thoughts. Some may be thinking about how their Easter Dinner is going to go with family and friends today. For others, they may be thinking about how the story of the Empty Tomb relates to their own empty 401 (k) Plans. Still others may be remembering someone that they have lost who is near and dear to them. And, still for others, who are pondering more immediate things, are thinking, “Maybe I should time how long this sermon is going to be?”
Easter is all about God’s action for the World. This may be surprising to many since we like to think that we do everything ourselves; but, the Christian experience should tell us otherwise: the more we think about it the more we come to realize that it is all God’s doing – God’s work – We did not make up the Easter Story. We received it. So, you and I are invited by God in Jesus Christ to share in his victory over death. We are invited to “come and see.” We are offered a new way of being in relationship with God and of forming a new community of living in the belief that death has been overcome, that death itself is dead.
If you want to see beyond the vale of death to see the promise of eternal life, if you want to believe that there is more to this present life than what you know, and if want to be brave enough to step away from the conditioned coordinates of the world, then you have come to the right place. This is the moment to “come and see.”
The first thing to know about Easter is that it is not easy for poets and writers, for scientists and theologians, or for you and me to unravel with any certainty the mystery of the resurrection. One of the best examples of the problem is contained in the well-known Easter poem “Seven Stanzas at Easter “ by John Updike. Updike identifies the issue of the bodily resurrection of Jesus head-on in the first lines,

Make no mistake: If he rose at all
It was as his body;
If the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
Reknit, the amino acids rekindle
The Church will fall.

Everything hinges on the word “if.” What if it did happen? What if it did not happen? The tension in our gospel lesson for today is whether Mary saw the dead, and now alive, Jesus and believed; or whether she believed it and then saw the Risen Christ.
The earliest known Christian writing on the resurrection comes from The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. According to Paul, we can trust with confidence at least four truths: Peter and some other disciples found an empty tomb. Secondly, Peter and the other apostles came to believe that after Jesus’ death they had encountered him alive and well. Thirdly, days and months later, Jesus appeared to as many as 500 followers. And finally, Paul personally believed he encountered the Risen Christ.
In all these events, it is recorded that these once frightened and beleaguered disciples were changed – transformed -- into a brave and resolute community of faithful men and women who would risk their lives to share with Jew and Gentile, men and women, slave and free, rich and poor, the good news of Jesus Christ.
I am reminded of the story of a group of miners who were part of the California Gold Rush of 1849. They found a large deposit of the precious metal, but wanted to keep the discovery to themselves. They pledged that none of them would share their secret when they returned to town to get their supplies. And they kept their promise. Not one of them said a word about their find. But when they set out for their claim a few days later, they were surprised by a large group of people following them. “How did you know we had struck pay-dirt?” they asked. “No one said a thing,” they were told, “but you all used to be such a grouchy group when you came to town, and this time all of you were smiling.”
Evidence in the Resurrection is not simply whether Jesus came back from the dead but how his presence affected those whose lives were inalterably changed from fear to joy. This change is exquisitely revealed through Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus in the garden. Their give and take conversation in John’s Gospel is instructive for us: He calls her woman. He calls her sir. He responds by saying her name Mary. She reacts with joy saying Rabbouni. He asks her to share with her brothers the good news. She goes to the disciples and announces to them: “I have seen the Lord!”
The conversation between Mary and Jesus in the garden forms an outline of how the Christian faith can work. At first, we may understand Jesus as an historic figure who was a healer and a teacher. We come to learn The Lord’s Prayer and to appreciate The Sermon on the Mount. Reading the New Testament, we can see how Jesus affected people, how he healed and taught and how he stood up against the principalities and powers.
Like all wise prophets, we can appreciate Jesus as a wisdom teacher. Over time, perhaps through prayer, through proximity to the sacraments, we come to develop a desire to know Jesus more deeply in a personal way as friend and companion. This closeness leads to an intimacy where we feel we are known by name. The feeling, “I am not alone,” is more than re-assuring. It forms the ground of our being.
This sense of being known – truly known – leads more deeply to an open heart and a ready mind to see how Jesus’ life, death and resurrection holds a profound and abiding truth about healing, forgiveness, and redemption.
Then, there comes a moment –unbidden- when we know that Jesus, our friend, is more than just a friend. We come to know him as our Savior.
Easter means there are many things we cannot see or fully comprehend. We see glimpses. The tip of an iceberg is just that, the tip. I know there is another side of the moon even though I have never seen it. You may watch a baseball game and see the nine players on the diamond. Each is ready for the pitch; and the ball is struck by the batter that forms into a triple play that transcends the game into a thing of beauty. We only see a glimpse of what is truly there. Music and art have the same transcending arc when one hears Bach’s St. Matthew Passion or views the paintings of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” or Jackson Pollack’s “Summertime.” Easter confirms for us those intimations of deeper realities. Faith means that we see only the tip of glory.
The mystery of Easter is faith first, miracles second. It is by assent that one comes to see the meaning of the resurrection for our own lives. If Mary was transformed, if Paul was transformed and if John was transformed then we, too, can be transformed. The resurrection is not merely about eternal life but about sharing in that life right now. The resurrection is about a new life and a new world made up of both the living and the dead. It is also a world of the brave yet to be born who already carry within them the seeds of love planted long ago by God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I once knew a young woman in hospice. And I would call her brave. She was cancer-ridden with not much time left to live. Her family stayed by her side. They told her how much they loved her and how much God loved her and that there would come a time when she would soon see God and know the absolute fullness of God’s love. She responded that she knew she was surrounded by love. Not too much later, she fell into a coma.
Days later, her parents were beside her bed and in the very last lingering moments of her earthly life, she suddenly came out of her coma, opened her eyes to a bright sunny day, looked outside of her room onto a beautiful garden, and smiled.
Some of you may ask is there a God like that who is our friend and not a stranger? It is a fair question in our day and age. So I have to answer you the best I can: I believe so. I know that the God who raised Jesus from the dead, who is the Savior of my life, will not let those we love ever go from His presence either in this life or in the next.
And now to God we give the praise, the honor, and the glory. Amen.