Rowan and Irene LeCompte, Christ Shows Himself to Thomas
On Sunday, April 8th, we tried something a little bit different in worship. One of our members had recently started a new job, and he was nervous about that. After we heard the Scriptures, I had a public conversation with this member. We sat in front of the chancel, talk-show style, and he told us about the new job and his fears. Read on to learn more about the story and the message.
John 20:19-31; Acts
4:32-35
Pre-Exegesis
As I said, worship is going to be a
little different today. Our Gospel lesson today is a very familiar story from
the Gospel of John; it begins on a Sunday evening, the Sunday immediately
following Jesus’ resurrection. The disciples were locked inside their room,
waiting in fear. And then Jesus came in, through the locked door, and he said
to them, “Peace be with you.” The disciples’ first response was fear, not joy;
they were afraid that the people who crucified Jesus were coming for them:
The disciples display an initial
response of fear because of the Judeans. They are letting the world, rather
than the risen Jesus, control their actions and attitudes. Jesus, however,
breaks into their locked up, fearful lives and bids them peace as fulfillment
of his promises [from earlier in this gospel]. This triggers their new
resurrection response of joy.[1]
John
20:19-31
19 When it was
evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house
where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and
stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After
he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to
them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send
you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them
and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If
you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who
was called the Twin[c]),
one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So
the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them,
“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.”
26 A week later his
disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors
were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then
he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand
and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas
answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said
to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have
not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did
many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in
this book. 31 But these are written so that you may
come to believe[d] that
Jesus is the Messiah,[e] the
Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Exegesis
This is a story about
fear and the power of relationship. The disciples’ fears are relieved when they
learn that Jesus has risen from the grave and they are still in relationship
with him. Boy, someone should write a song about this: ‘twas grace that taught
my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. What do you think?
I’ve said this before,
and it bears repeating: fear interrupts faith. The disciples are afraid. They
can’t find that place of faithfulness because their fears are in the way. Fear interrupts
faith. The disciples are isolated because of their fear—that’s one of the most
dangerous things about fear; fear has the power to isolate us from one another.
When we are isolated, our fears can spin out of control; fear can take over.
That’s where the disciples were, before Jesus entered the locked room. I want
you to hold that in your mind as we go into the story from Acts and my
conversation with John Zenobi.
Acts
4:32-35
32 Now the whole group of those who believed
were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any
possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With
great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There
was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold
them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They
laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Conversation: John Zenobi
Sermon
Good morning. When pollsters ask people what they are most
afraid of, two of the most common answers are going to the dentist and public
speaking. So, John, I want to thank you for volunteering for that conversation.
I know that getting up in front of the congregation wasn’t easy for you.
I want all of you to know that if you come to me with an
issue, I won’t make you get up in front of the whole congregation. I mean,
unless you want to. All kidding aside, I wanted to have that public
conversation with John because I think it offers us a way to understand the
early Christian community that we see in the Book of Acts.
In Acts, we see a Christian community
in which the members are truly reconciled to one another. The utopian quality
of that community is an embodied witness to the power of the resurrected
Christ.[2]
That community was so alive and equipped for the work of discipleship; their
material needs were all taken care of; “the whole group of those who believed
were of one heart and soul.” This text echoes Psalm 133: “How very good and
pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”
They were so alive with the love of
Christ and so united in that love that they held all their property in common.
They sold their shared property to take care of the needs of the entire
community. Do you think we could do that here at Rehoboth? We’ve got the vendor/craft
show coming up in May. Does anyone have a car or a flat-screen tv they want to
sell? How about some jewelry?
Now of course I’m teasing. I’m not about to put my car up
for sale, either. But it begs the question: Is it easier for us to believe in
the resurrection than to believe that we could be like the community of
believers in Acts?
The uncomfortable truth is that we are all creatures of
this American culture. We all love our stuff. We all love the material things
that give us comfort and happiness, and we spend an awful lot of time and
energy chasing those things around. That includes chasing the money to buy
those things that make us happy.
This thinking infects our life inside the church. We are
concerned about getting more members, so that we have enough money to keep the
church running. We want to keep this community together, even though we don’t
love it enough to sell all our possessions. And that includes me, too. I’m not
going to buy a table at the vendor show, sell my stuff, and donate it to this
church. I’m afraid of what might happen if I did.
It’s not fair to expect all of us to just sell all of our
possessions—it’s not fair or realistic. We can’t turn Rehoboth Church into the
community from Acts, and we certainly can’t do it overnight. But we are called
to build that sort of community; it’s a goal that we must strive for.
How do we get there?
I think the place to start might be here in worship, where
we can share our burdens with one another. Now yes, by all means, if you are
anxious about a new job or your current job, come and share that burden with
me. Share it with God in prayer. And also, share it with as much of this
community as you can. As we see in our lesson from the Gospel of John, the
antidote to fear and anxiety is relationship. If fear interrupts faith, then
relationship strengthens and sustains faith. Faith is lived in and through
relationship.
When the disciples encountered the risen
Christ, they were afraid; Thomas wouldn’t accept the news of the resurrection
without some evidence. The disciples were filled with fear and loss and yes,
even doubt. Jesus met them in their room, their bunker. Jesus took away their
fears and he poured out his Holy Spirit upon them. Filled with the Spirit, the
disciples became the first apostles. They left their locked room and went out
to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. They built the beautiful community
that we saw in this morning’s reading from Acts. All of that grew out of their
relationships with Christ and with one another.
The community that we see in Acts was so radically
different from the rest of the world in the first century. People who weren’t
part of that community could see the early Christians living in and sharing the
love of Christ and they wanted to be part of what they saw from the outside.
The communities were small, but they grew. Even in the face
of official persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire, they grew. They were
equipped with the Holy Spirit, and they grew.
Beloved, we are also equipped with the Holy Spirit. We are
also filled with the love of Christ. We can love one another more fully and we
can work toward more complete reconciliation within this congregation, so that
this community can be transformed; so that this community can be less like the
world around us and more like the beloved community in Acts. Let us begin by
sharing our burdens more completely with one another. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Benediction
Now, beloved, as you depart from this place, remember that
we are called to be the Church, the body of Christ in the world today. Go forth
and be instruments of God’s love and peace and reconciliation. Remember that
reconciliation begins here in this congregation. Let us begin by sharing our
burdens. Do not return evil for evil to any person, but know that we are all
loved by God, and that we are called to reflect that love to everyone we meet. Go
forth and be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In the name of
Jesus Christ, our Lord, Let all God’s children say, Amen!
[1]
Richard Carlson, “Commentary on John 20:19-31,” retrieved from: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=295
[2]
Troy Troftgruben. “Commentary on Acts 4:32-35,” retrieved from: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2387
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