This week’s lectionary gospel text features “doubting Thomas,” whose skepticism marks him as something of an archetypal 21st-century Christian. He clearly doesn’t want to be taken in by some sort of hoax or wishful thinking on the part of his colleagues, and so Thomas maintains that he won’t believe his fellow disciples’ account about Jesus unless he can experience it for himself. When he does encounter Jesus, Jesus’ response is to simply have Thomas touch his scars -- and when that happens, all of Thomas’s skepticism melts away. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin suggests that this passage provides an important lesson for us -- namely, that the most powerful Christian witness we can offer, as Nadia Bolz-Weber once put it, is to “preach from our scars.” Showing one’s scars can be extremely moving testimony -- and Mary points to numerous examples of that paradigm in the stories of victims from last year’s Boston Marathon bombing. Many of the survivors returned for this year’s marathon, as if on a pilgrimage to demonstrate how they’re still standing tall despite the blows they absorbed to body and soul. Mary reminds us that Jesus offers not only the grace to heal our own scars, but also the strength to share them with others and to assist in their healing as well.
Team member Leah Lonsbury shares some additional thoughts on the locked doors and fearful atmosphere of the disciples in the gospel text. Jesus repeatedly says “Peace be with you” when he meets the disciples -- yet we are told that the doors were “locked for fear of the Jews.” Was their fear justified, or were they overreacting? The disciples’ wary stance is certainly one we can relate to, as the news is full of stories like the mass kidnapping of Nigerian girls (and numerous others closer to home that Leah cites) that shake our sense of safety and security. But there is a difference between a rational amount of caution and an irrational amount of fear -- and Leah points out that we are all interconnected, so Jesus’ charge for us to share his peace with one another requires us to overcome our fear and venture out from behind locked doors.
Show Me the Marks
by Mary Austin
John 20:19-31
The Boston Marathon is for the fit, the strong, and the prepared. Only elite runners can qualify (based on their times in other, approved races), and so it has its own mystique. This year, though, Boston belongs to the scarred.
A year after the bombings that killed three and injured hundreds, people who lost limbs in the bombing are returning to reclaim Boston as a place of recovery. Survivors have been open about their injuries, recovery, scars, and prosthetic limbs, and all of that mix of human limitation and transformation was evident this week on marathon day 2014.
In the News
About 36,000 people registered to run the 2014 Boston Marathon, the second largest field in history, with many coming to show support for the race and the city. Runners who were stopped before the finish line last year were allowed to return. According to the Associated Press: “Race organizers expanded the field from its recent cap of 27,000 to 36,000 to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims, and for those who made the case that they were ‘profoundly impacted’ by the attack.”
For runners, the day came with a mixture of emotions as they ran a course heavy with police and security, including National Guard soldiers who walked the entire course before the race began, and National Guard helicopters flying the course. The FBI and state police were also there. “I can’t imagine the number of emotions that are going to be there,” said Katie O’Donnell, who was running the marathon last year and made it 25½ miles before she was stopped less than a mile from the finish line when the twin bombs exploded. “I think I’m going to start crying at the starting line and I’m not sure I’ll stop until I cross the finish line.” The city set up a drop-in counseling area for runners and spectators in need of support on such an emotional day.
Normally marathons, like ballroom dancing, are for the strong and fit. This year Boston was full of people with scars. Professional ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis spent the year recovering and learning to use a prosthetic foot, after being injured in the blast last year. Haslet-Davis had help from Hugh Herr, who specializes in prosthetic limbs, a passion he developed after losing his own legs in a climbing accident. In the words of ABC News: “Haslet-Davis teamed up with MIT bionic limb wizard Hugh Herr to waltz her back to the dance floor. Herr became a double amputee in 1982 after becoming stranded on Mount Washington for four days in minus 20 degree weather. He vowed to climb mountains again, and by developing specialized prosthetic feet, he became a better climber than he was before the accident, he wrote in an essay for the Wall Street Journal. In that essay, he pledged to help Haslet-Davis.” He worked with Haslet-Davis to develop a special foot that would work with the twists and turns involved in dancing, and Haslet-Davis debuted the foot -- and a dance -- at a TED conference this spring. She was at the marathon finish line this week with fellow survivor Jeff Bauman.
Also at the finish line was Heather Abbott, injured last year, who ran the last half mile with Erin Chatham, the woman who helped her after the blast. The two have become friends, and they crossed the finish line together. Abbott has a special prosthetic limb for running, in addition to one for everyday activities and one for wearing four-inch heels.
And in other news of joy emerging from the tragedy, James Costello, who was badly burned in the bombings, became engaged in December to the nurse he met while in rehab. Searching for meaning in the blast, Costello said, “the April attack was ‘one of the worst’ days of his life, and the emotional and physical pain he felt left him wondering why it happened, and the reason he was one of the victims. ‘I was transferred to Spaulding Hospital, where I was able to see my friends starting to heal, but still wondered what good could come from this tragedy.’ ” He met his now-fiancée, a traveling nurse, there, and says that he now understands the purpose of the bombing in his life.
At MIT, where campus police officer Sean Collier was killed in the aftermath of the bombing during the hunt for the suspects, the campus paid tribute to Collier last Friday. Students, wanting to honor Collier beyond the official service, asked people to make paper cranes, and set up a website with instructions on how to make the cranes. Boston Magazine reports: “What the group had hoped would be a heartfelt tribute to Collier, however, exceeded their expectations. ‘The response was overwhelming: thousands of cranes poured in from students, faculty, alumni, and friends from throughout the greater Boston area,’ according to the group behind the project. The final product was a massive collection of the miniature birds, strung together in long rows and hung high above the ground from MIT’s Gates Atrium at the Stata Center, signifying the connectedness of each member of the community that memorialized Collier’s legacy. ‘As a result, the cranes float together,’ the group said. ‘Donations of cranes came from all over, and it was exceedingly moving to see the level of care and effort from everyone who contributed.’ ”
All around Boston, the scars give evidence of grit, and grace emerging from the sorrow.
In the Scriptures
Jesus could have come back to his friends unscarred, but having healed so many other people, he chooses to leave his own body the way it is. He makes himself known to his friends through his scars. First the other disciples see the scars, and then Thomas insists that he needs to see the scars to believe. Jesus seems to understand that, returning again for Thomas.
The disciples have their own spiritual scars. The story says that the disciples were hiding in fear of the people who put Jesus to death. Elisabeth Johnson observes on workingpreacher.org:
Some years ago I read a comment (I don’t remember where or who had written it) that suggested that maybe, just maybe, the disciples were also afraid of Jesus. After all, they had failed him miserably. Peter had denied him three times, and the rest had deserted him (except for “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who had been at the cross and had taken Jesus’ mother into his home). Perhaps the last person the disciples wanted to meet on that evening was Jesus, risen from the dead to confront them with their failures. Jesus, however, will not be stopped by locked doors. He who is himself the “door” of the sheep (10:7) comes right through those locked doors and appears in the midst of his frightened sheep. He comes not to confront his disciples with their failures, but to grant them peace. His greeting, “Peace be with you,” carries the sense of the Hebrew greeting shalom, a blessing that connotes more than tranquility, but a deep and holistic sense of well-being -- the kind of peace the world cannot give (14:27).
In the midst of his own scars, Jesus comes to heal the broken places in the disciples, and to make them whole. Interestingly, the one with the scars is also the one who can confer the peace. The wounds give an even deeper authority to speak peace.
Johnson adds, “What is more, he keeps showing up. As he came back a week later for Thomas, Jesus keeps coming back week after week among his gathered disciples -- in the word, the water, the bread, and the wine -- not wanting any to miss out on the life and peace he gives. And he keeps sending us out of our safe, locked rooms, into a world that, like us, so desperately needs his gifts of life and peace.”
This is the same Jesus who offers the gift of grace for our scars too. The one who is scarred has a unique gift to offer, one that would have less impact coming from perfection. In the same way that the Boston bombing survivors draw encouragement from each other, and from other amputees, we draw grace from the scarred Redeemer.
In the Sermon
The sermon might look at the scars we all carry -- physical, mental, or emotional -- and how they are transformed into gifts in our lives. By grace and hard work, our scars become our greatest wisdom, if we’re willing to allow the change. The transformation involves a long process of letting go of the past, and softening into our new reality. How do we work with God to let our own resurrections happen?
And what happens when we don’t? There are plenty of inspirational stories from this year’s Boston marathon, but we don’t get to read about the people who are still angry, sitting on the couch, refusing to move forward. What happens when we let our wounds define us?
The sermon might also look at spiritual scars. Have people been damaged by abusive churches or troublesome theology? How do we work with those scars?
The sermon might also look at the question of the wisdom or authority that comes with the scars. Spiritual leaders like Desmond Tutu and Bishop V. Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Church have a unique authority which grows from the experience of facing hate and malice. Can we grow in faith without acquiring any scars, or are they a necessary part of our spiritual journey?
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Leah Lonsbury
John 20:19-31
Easter is over. Many of you will be off this Sunday. If it was a particularly full Holy Week this year, that in itself can feel like a resurrection.
Those of us who remain in the pulpit this Sunday are joined by Thomas. Last week Jesus overcame death so that we might have new life -- so naturally, this Sunday we return to our doubt. Or at least Thomas’s.
Then again, maybe not. Thomas and his doubt get a lot of attention -- but what stands out in a week (like many weeks before it) when so much of the news makes us want to lock the doors of our house against our fear and draw near to the small circle of those we love and trust is Jesus’ repeated “Peace be with you.”
“Peace be with you” when it takes a catchy headline like “36 People Were Shot in 36 Hours in Chicago” to get this heartland city’s struggles with gun violence back on our radar. Shontell Brown, mother of 17-year-old gunshot victim Gakirah Barnes, told the Chicago Tribune recently that her daughter was just the latest casualty of the “ongoing war” being waged on Chicago’s streets. “This is something that has become all too normal to everybody, and it needs to stop,” says Brown.
“Peace be with you” when Atlanta-area parents and students are being warned by the school district to be on guard after four attempted kidnappings occurred near schools in three weeks’ time. Members of a group called 360 Movement have been canvassing the streets and handing out flyers. “Some people in the community can’t wait until a tragedy happens,” canvasser Islord Shasun told a local reporter. “We have to be proactive to prevent this to save our children. There are crazy, sick people out there.”
“Peace be with you” when a white supremacist opens fire on a Jewish community center and retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas, and kills a grandfather, his 14-year-old grandson, and a woman visiting her elderly mother. The shooting happened on Palm Sunday, which was also the eve of Passover. The rabbi who presided over the interfaith memorial service for the victims called them “lovers of life,” and Attorney General Eric Holder promised justice to those in attendance. “Every alleged hate crime, no matter who the intended target, is an affront to who we are... both as a country and as people. These acts cannot be ignored,” Holder said.
It just doesn’t sound smart to ignore any of these acts. That’s why our natural reflex is often to draw our loved ones close and lock the doors in fear. But that’s not the kind of peace Jesus was intending for the disciples.
Jesus wasn’t passing the peace as just a friendly greeting. In terms of our own usage of this phrase in worship, think of it less as a greeting of familiar faces hunkered down in their familiar spots in our familiar pews and more as a benediction that sends us out into the unknown of Monday through Saturday. Remember the very next thing Jesus says? “As Abba God sent me, so I’m sending you” (The Inclusive Bible, v. 21).
Jesus sends his disciples, but he also equips them. He breathes on them, so that the Holy Spirit can inspire his kind of reconciling life and love in his disciples and in us. They are sent, equipped, and tasked with carrying out no less than God’s work in the world. So are we.
Hiding out behind locked doors could make this difficult. Something has to change.
We know it doesn’t happen immediately for the disciples. Our text for today tells us that “A week later his disciples were again in the house,” and that’s after Jesus’ first appearance to them there. But Jesus doesn’t let their hesitancy and fear get in the way of his call to them. He is persistent.
He is persistent with us as well.
A day after the shootings in Overland Park, Central Baptist Seminary’s president Molly Marshall wrote a piece for Ethics Daily offering a wider view of what she calls our “fall to violence,” using Marjorie Suchocki’s work in a book that takes its title from that phrase. Our fall to violence -- to repeated shootings, to violations of childhood innocence, to hate crimes, but also to fear, locked doors, exclusion of the other, and a suspicious approach to anyone outside our small circles -- is our original and central sin, according to Marshall. It is “the primal expression of rebellion against God and the refusal to live in community with others.”
This refusal to be connected drives us from each other and from our own humanity, because we were created for one another in the love of God. Jesus has just overcome death to show us the power of that connection, that “life in his name” (v. 31). Marshall describes it as God’s unending desire for intimacy with all of humanity. Surely fear and locked doors do more to impede rather than welcome intimacy and life-giving connection.
Marjorie Suchocki’s framework for thinking about our connectedness uses the metaphor of a web so that the way that each of us moves on our individual silken strand has reverberations and implications for all of creation. She invites a change in our thinking and our acting toward reconciliation and solidarity to prevent a fall to violence or disconnection that ultimately damages the web in which we all live.
Suchocki is inviting caution -- rational, reconciliatory change. She is calling us away from fear of the other and what lies behind our locked doors. It is all one anyway, and it’s biblical. How many times do we read in both the Hebrew and New Testaments about a call from our fear out into God’s world? The violence, the breaks in our web in Chicago, in Atlanta, in Overland Park, and in our churches, homes, and hearts, happen because we forget that truth and enact damage. This is our fall to violence and fear that the resurrected Jesus has come to address with his “Peace be with you.”
Jesus gives us peace, Spirit, and purpose for the weaving and reweaving of our web. He comes in (uninvited even!) when our doors are shut and locked in fear. He calls repeatedly and gives us glimpses of a changed body/Body/web to shore up our faith and embolden our witness. “My Savior and my God!” says doubting Thomas. He is taking his first step toward the locked door, key in hand. May we head there with him.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Influential Acts
Peter’s bold declaration of faith was a profound witness. It was an influential act that led to the early church’s dramatic growth. But it was just one speech, one action arising nearly spontaneously. In most churches today, it seems impossible that our acts of witness could ever lead to such dramatic changes. It’s important to remember that sometimes even small acts are influential -- which is what environmental advocates have been saying for decades. This year, Earth Day was April 22, but its message is meant for every day. Jon Whitmore, CEO of the Iowa-based ACT educational testing program, notes just how “little things” matter and have been influential in ACT’s sustainability efforts:
In the last few years at ACT, we’ve set “two-sided” as the default on our printers. Our cafeteria uses compostable plates, cups, and napkins. We’ve replaced non-native plants that required lots of water with indigenous plantings that can survive Iowa winters and Iowa summers.
As Whitmore suggests, and Peter understood, being a witness means testifying to the things that lead to life in the big and small aspects of life.
*****
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Witnessing to Life
With bold confidence, Peter is a witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He stands with the apostles, boldly proclaiming their testimony to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Peter declares that God “freed Jesus from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” Peter’s witness is born out of the experiences of what he has seen, heard, and experienced.
In Boston, Kevin Brown is making a similar statement. In the days following last year’s Boston Marathon bombing, Brown was moved to tend a makeshift memorial that appeared at Copley Square, not far from the Boylston Street bombing site. The site was a place for people to go to express their grief and pain. Tributes included handwritten notes, angels, teddy bears, balloons, medals, and more.
Brown makes a two-hour journey to the site every day, standing watch from 10:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. In the course of a year, he believes his heart has grown as he has observed the public’s grief. Maintaining the vigil has changed Brown, who is witnessing to what he has seen, heard, and experienced.
Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham details Brown’s witness:
The memorial gave him strength, and solace. A year later, it still does.
Brown doesn’t have much. It all fits in his small attic room. On the wall above his bed are two crosses and a bald eagle sculpture, rosary beads hanging from its neck. His collection of hand-carved canes rests against the wall. A half-dozen shirts and jackets -- all red, white, and blue -- rest on hooks.
It’s a simple existence, and, you might think, a narrow one. But tending to the memorial has enlarged Brown’s world, far beyond his garret’s four blue walls. He feels connected to people in a way he never had before.
“My heart is bigger,” he says.
Kevin Brown’s heart was plenty big last April. And how the city needed it.
*****
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Not Abandoned to Hades
Randy Stacey was tired of seeing homeless persons abandoned. Instead, for the past 25 years he’s dedicated himself to making known the ways of life to homeless persons in need of medical care, clothing, and most importantly, human dignity. With his nurse practitioner wife, Stacey has run Helping Hands in Gainesville, Florida. Throughout the years, he’s witnessed thousands of people come through the clinic’s doors. Often, the patients only need a compassionate ear.
“They’re human beings,” Stacey says. “You’ve got to give people a chance and then a second chance.”
*****
John 20:19-31
Seeking Healing, Seeking Peace
Unlike Jesus’ scars, the emotional scars of victims of trauma are less easily detected. As an example, survivors of the April 20, 1999, Columbine High School shooting still struggle with the aftermath of that massacre. Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis, who is retiring at the end of this school year, has been known for his desire to help the community seek healing and peace. Yet DeAngelis’ own scars emerged in the struggle. Devoting himself to the work of healing the community following the shootings was demanding, and led to the breakup of his first marriage.
Today, DeAngelis’ office is lined with photos and visual reminders of those who stood alongside with him in the years following the tragedy. In one sense, the images are a display of scars, but are also indications of healing. Recently, he showed his “1999 wall” to a visiting reporter.
“Even though there are things up here that represent sorrow,” said DeAngelis, “it also represents strength.”
Leading the school toward healing sent DeAngelis toward counselors specialized in healing trauma. He committed himself to being a visible presence in the school. He made public commitments to remain at the high school until all children who were enrolled in Columbine area schools at the time of the shooting had graduated. The tragedy forced the school community to turn toward each other in order to discover healing and peace. Journalist K. Annabelle Smith recently described a tour of Columbine she recently took with DeAngelis:
...as we enter the main hall, Mr. D. points to the ceiling. There are about 1,600 linked carabiners up there, one for each student. “What makes Columbine strong is when you connect all of the links,” he says. “I don’t care how bad of a day you’ve had -- when you look up, you know that you’re connected to someone else.”
*****
John 20:19-31
Vulnerable Heroes
Director Steven Soderbergh’s new dramatic production The Library has been hailed as “at once a fictional work and, sadly, a reflection on a trend that shows no sign of abating.” The play follows the struggle of a 16-year-old survivor of a school shooting. Writer Scott Z. Burns’ play explores neither the politics of gun violence nor the particular reasons for such senseless acts. Rather, he is intent in studying the aftereffects of such events, and the conflicts faced by the survivors. In a sense, these vulnerable heroes are much like the apostles -- locked in rooms of fear, yearning for peace, and desperate for healing.
*****
John 20:19-31
Overcoming Trauma
Witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion would have been a traumatic event for the disciples, though their experience of his resurrection also brought comfort, hope, and peace. Overcoming trauma takes time. Research suggests that the brain is able learn new ways of surviving, even thriving following traumatic events, particularly if trauma is recognized as a critical health issue. Researcher Carolyn Lunsford Mears, author of A Columbine Study: Giving Voice, Hearing Meaning, is founder of the Sandy Hook-Columbine Cooperative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to trauma recovery. She notes:
Life after tragedy can bring a deeper sense of purpose and heightened appreciation for living. A former Columbine student I had first interviewed for Reclaiming School in the Aftermath of Trauma: Advice Based on Experience and again later for another study said, “I used to think I was a totally different person after Columbine. That there is no way I could have emerged without being radically altered. And trust me, I was. But what I realize now is that at my core, at my very center, there continues the essence of who I was before, and maybe more importantly, who I was meant to be.”
*****
John 20:19-31
Knock, Knock... It’s Jesus!
For many Christians in the Eastern Orthodox church, the week following Easter has been known as “Bright Week,” a time of joyous reading of scripture, suspension of fasting, and joyful singing. Many American churches have resurrected this custom, adopting the typically-lesser attended Sunday after Easter as “Holy Humor” Sunday. It’s a time of telling light-hearted stories, recalling in particular the joy of Jesus’ gift of peace which he shared with the apostles as he offered them the Holy Spirit.
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
John 20:19-31
Worth Fighting For
In his autobiographical novel Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful, South African writer and political activist Alan Paton tells of his experiences as the founder and president of the anti-apartheid Liberal Party in the 1950s and ’60s. Openly opposing apartheid was a dangerous thing to do in those days, and anyone who did so could be arrested, tortured, even killed.
One day a little old black man wearing a large cowboy hat walked into the Liberal Party office and volunteered to help. The staff, worried about his advanced years and his diminutive size, asked him to reconsider. This work could be dangerous, they said. But he insisted on helping.
Asked why he was so determined, he answered: “One day I will stand before my maker and He will ask to see my scars. And if I say to him that I have no scars, he will say to me, ‘Why? Was there nothing worth fighting for?’ ”
*****
John 20:19-31
A Famous Scar
Probably, no scar is seen more than the one on the famous chin of actor Harrison Ford. The scar is the result of an automobile accident he had when he lost control of his car and ran into a pole at the age of 20. Instead of trying to cover it up with makeup, however, Ford has used it as a sort of personal signature.
Interestingly, the scar actually played a role in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In the film, a young Indiana Jones finds himself in a train car with a lion. Taking a whip off the wall of the car, Jones tries to keep the lion at bay by cracking the whip. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know how to crack a whip and ends up snapping himself on the chin, cutting him and leaving the scar.
*****
John 20:19-31
Hiding Out
Janez Rus was a young shoemaker in Germany when the Nazis came to power, and like many Germans he was sympathetic with their agenda. He remained so, and supported the Nazis throughout World War II.
When the war ended, however, Rus worried that people who had cooperated with the Nazis, as he had, would be punished. So he hid in his sister’s house and refused to come out for 32 years. Afraid he would be discovered, he simply did nothing but sit in the window and watch life in the village below. He later reported that he would cry when he heard people laughing.
Eventually, he came out of the house to go to the store and buy bread. Someone at the store recognized him, and when nothing bad happened, he realized that it was safe to emerge from his hiding place.
(Today in the World, October 17, 1993)
*****
John 20:19-31
They’ll Never Find Me Here
Fred Craddock tells of the time when he was a little boy playing hide-and-seek with his sisters. He discovered that part of the lattice which skirted the family’s back porch had come lose enough for him to crawl through the gap and into the darkness under the porch.
As he watched his sisters walking back and forth looking for him, he said to himself, “They’ll never find me here. They’ll never find me here.” And then, with a sudden and fearful realization, “They’ll never find me here!”
Eventually he began making little noises so that his sisters could find him, because, he says, being found is much more important than being well hidden.
*****
1 Peter 1:3-9
A Clean Slate
James Blain spent 35 years in a Florida prison before he was cleared by DNA evidence. He was released in October of last year.
Rodney Roberts was confined for 17 years on a charge of rape and kidnapping. He was released on March 14 after being exonerated by DNA evidence.
Glenn Ford spent 26 years on death row in Louisiana. He was exonerated and released on March 11 of this year.
Johnathan Flemming spent 25 years of a life sentence in New York prison. He was exonerated and released on April 8 of this year.
Since 1989 the Innocence Project has exonerated 315 convicted prisoners using DNA evidence, 18 of which have spent at least part of their sentences on death row.
Exoneration is no guarantee of a clean slate, however. Having a convicted person’s record expunged can take as long as three years while they wait -- unable to get a job, rent an apartment, or have anything like a normal life.
According to Peter, the grace of God in Jesus Christ not only exonerates us from sin, it wipes the slate clean.
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From team member Ron Love:
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
For the first time on a children’s TV channel, a young couple is going to become engaged. The show Jessie, seen on the Disney Channel, will have 22-year-old Jessie Prescott become engaged to her 25-year-old heartthrob Brooks. The series has 2.9 million viewers, focusing on ages 6 to 11. Adam Bonnett, a spokesperson for Disney, said the relationship was always handled chastely and the engagement will focus on commitment.
Application: We can only hope that the message presented by Jessie will have the same positive impact and interpretation as the one presented by Peter.
*****
John 20:19-31
Peyton Manning, in his first interview since his Denver Broncos’ devastating 43-8 playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, declared that the disappointing defeat will only motivate the team for the coming season. In preparation for the coming games, Manning said: “...and now it’s up to the players to put in the hard work in the weight room, the film room, and on the practice field to try to be a better team this year, and that all starts Monday” (the starting date for the team’s official offseason workouts).
Application: After the disciples encountered Jesus in the Upper Room, they realized their work had just begun.
*****
John 20:19-31
Pope Francis recently attended a conference where he said that human trafficking “is a crime against humanity.” Present at the conference was Ronald Noble, who is Interpol’s secretary-general. Noble said, “Our strategy must work across all borders, languages, cultures, and religious beliefs. The ‘merchants’ do not care about these differences, indeed they thrive on them, as they have done for years.”
Application: As sin knows no boundaries, neither can we when it comes to sharing the resurrection message.
*****
John 20:19-31
The debate about climate change continues, with believers and non-believers hurling accusations and presenting selected facts. Dr. Charles Trant offered valuable insight into the present debate in South Carolina’s Florence Morning News, observing that in fact the climate is changing faster than many would accept. Dr. Trant reported that every 10,000 years the world’s carbon monoxide level does change, causing a significant change in the climate. The problem we confront today is the Second Industrial Revolution, which began 200 years ago. With the increase of industry and the use of fossil fuels we have accelerated the rate at which carbon emissions are emitted into the atmosphere. This has accelerated a once natural cycle of climate change.
Application: Unlike Dr. Trant’s factual understanding of our current climate change, we will never know the facts of the resurrection -- but we will always know the truth and the change it brought about.
*****
John 20:19-31
Bubba Watson recently won his second Masters tournament. When he won his first Masters in 2012, he wore the winner’s iconic green jacket everywhere he went, only to be astonished by how well it was recognized and the attention it brought. It was then he decided to hang it in his closet. On doing so he said: “I left it in the closet. Right or wrong, out of respect for the tournament and what it means, I didn’t take it out too much. Didn’t let my friends see it. Didn’t let them touch it. It’s a coveted trophy. It’s a big deal. And I know what kind of hard work it takes to get it.”
Application: Let us always have the same respect for the symbols of Holy Week.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Protect us, O God, for in you we take refuge.
People: You are our God; we have no good apart from you.
Leader: God is our chosen portion and our cup.
People: The boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places.
Leader: We have a goodly heritage.
People: We bless God who gives us counsel.
OR
Leader: Come with all your doubts and your questions.
People: Our faith is small but we want to trust more.
Leader: Come with your fears and your failures.
People: Sometimes we are overwhelmed with life.
Leader: Come and find in God one whom you can truly trust.
People: We place our trust in God and give up our fears.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“God of Grace and God of Glory”
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594, 595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
W&P: 569
AMEC: 62
STLT: 115
Renew: 301
“Give to the Winds Thy Fears”
found in:
UMH: 129
PH: 286
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
found in:
UMH: 117
H82: 680
PH: 210
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELA: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 61
STLT: 281
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Be Still, My Soul”
found in:
UMH: 534
AAHH: 135
NNBH: 263
NCH: 488
CH: 566
W&P: 451
AMEC: 426
“Hymn of Promise”
found in:
UMH: 707
NCH: 433
CH: 638
W&P: 515
“Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me”
found in:
UMH: 361
H82: 685
PH: 438
AAHH: 559
NNBH: 254
NCH: 596
CH: 214
LBW: 327
ELA: 623
W&P: 384
AMEC: 328
“’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”
found in:
UMH: 462
AAHH: 368
NNBH: 292
AMEC: 440
“The Steadfast Love of the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
“Our God Reigns”
found in:
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who comes to cast out all fear: Grant us the grace to place our faith in you, that we may live without fear and follow the Way boldly; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We worship you, O God, for you come to chase fear from our lives. Help us as we praise you and listen for your voice, that we may give up our fears and live boldly as disciples of Jesus. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we allow our fears to dominate our lives and rob us of our joy.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. Our faith is small and our fears are large. We want to trust you, but we are afraid that our doubts and questions will displease you. Receive us as we are, broken and afraid, and give us the faith to trust you with our lives in all their complexity. Amen.
Leader: God welcomes us with our doubts and questions so that we can find faith, joy, and life eternal.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
All glory, honor, and praise are yours, O God, for in you there is no shadow of doubt or fear.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. Our faith is small and our fears are large. We want to trust you, but we are afraid that our doubts and questions will displease you. Receive us as we are, broken and afraid, and give us the faith to trust you with our lives in all their complexity.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you show your love for us. We thank you that you accept us with all our sins, our doubts, and our fears. We thank you for the gift of faith that cast out our fears.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those whose fears bind them to a joyless existence. We pray that we may offer witness to them of your great love so that they may find faith and be released from their prisons of fear.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Sometimes when we are learning to swim we’re so afraid that we can’t let go and discover the water will really let us float. We don’t have the faith in the water to hold us up. But if there is someone there like a parent, we have enough trust in them that we know they won’t let us sink -- and so we try and find out we really can learn to swim. Then our fear turns to joy. When we learn to trust God, we find we are not so fearful and we can find joy.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Scars Tell a Story
John 20:19-31
Object: scars -- your scars and the children’s scars
Today we read from the Bible about a special meeting between Jesus, who had been resurrected a week earlier, and his disciples. All of the disciples believed the resurrection except Thomas, who had not been in the room when Jesus met with the disciples a week earlier. Thomas had heard about it, but didn’t believe. He said that unless he saw for himself the wounds in the hands and side of Jesus, he would not believe.
Have you ever had a wound? (let the children answer) Do you have any scars? (let them answer) I have some scars. (if you have any scars, show them to the children) Can you see them? (let the children answer) Let me see your scars. A lot of people have scars from when they fell or cut themselves. Tell me how you got your scars. (let the children talk about their scars)
Thomas wanted to see the scars on Jesus’ body. He knew that Jesus had been crucified with nails and a spear. Someone who was pretending to be Jesus would not have those scars, and Thomas thought that the other disciples had been fooled by a pretender. How could a person have been crucified with nails driven though his hands and a spear thrown through his side, and still be living? Thomas wanted to see the scars.
If you told me you had fallen off of your bike and landed on your face and scraped your knees and hands, would you have scars? If you did not have any scars from your bike wreck, I would think you were telling me a story.
Thomas came to the room where all of the other disciples were staying. They did not know when Jesus was coming again, but the other disciples believed Jesus was resurrected. All at once, before they even noticed it, there was Jesus standing in front of them. They didn’t hear the door open. He was just there. When Jesus saw Thomas, he invited Thomas to put his fingers in the wounds on his hands and side. Thomas almost fainted. There were the marks of the nails and the spear. They looked awful, but Jesus was alive, very much alive, and he wanted Thomas to believe.
Thomas fell down on his knees and worshiped Jesus. Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.” The scars convinced him, and he never doubted again.
Maybe the next time you take a look at one of your scars you will remember the day that Thomas saw the scars of Jesus and believed in him as his God.
The Immediate Word, April 27, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
