Acts 5:27-32

Psalm 150

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

Mt. Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC

15 April 2007

The Colors We Fly

 

          Well, it’s the Sunday after Easter Sunday.  I know that my family that came to visit has returned safely home.  The household is less hectic.  There were certainly fewer worship services to plan and participate in this week.  I think that I’ve snacked on all the chocolate I care to for awhile.  I’m back to eating meat during the week and Cathy is back to drinking coffee – These were the things we fasted from during Lent.  I guess its back to the “same ole’, same ole’.”  Or is it?  Did you notice something in my opening statement?  I said, “Well, it’s the Sunday after Easter Sunday.”  I didn’t say, “Well, it’s the Sunday after Easter.”  And look at your bulletin.  You’ll notice that today is called, “The 2nd Sunday of Easter.”  Easter’s not over at all!  Why, the Church celebrates Easter until May 27th this year.  We’re still just in the beginning of the celebration!  In much the same way that Christmas is an entire season - starting on Christmas Day and not simply a single day, Easter too is an entire season.  The Easter Season, or Eastertide, is a 50 day season that ends on Pentecost, which is May 27th this year.  So, we’ve got 43 more days of celebrating our risen Lord – and yes, Easter Egg hunts are still appropriate throughout this season (the eggs and candy are also all on sale now too – see, there’s some advantage to observing the Church’s seasons besides the spiritual implications).

          So, exactly what do we focus on during these Sundays of Eastertide?  We focus on the resurrected Christ.  Although we celebrated the resurrection last Sunday, that’s only a part of the resurrected Christ.  During worship over the next few weeks, we will be reflecting on the events that occurred after the resurrection.  This morning we come face to face with fear and doubt in our reading from Saint John’s Gospel. 

          We find the disciples in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday evening.  They locked themselves in a house because they were afraid [John 20:19].  I think they had good reason to be afraid: their leader and teacher was just executed by the Roman authorities under strong influence by most of the local community and earlier that day, they were told that Jesus’ body was now missing, and on top of all that, Mary Magdalene might be a little out of her head – she’s claiming that she spoke to a living Jesus at his grave just that morning [John 20:1-18]!  Something’s just not right here and it’s just safer to gather together and lock the doors.  Then, in walks Jesus…

          OK, there are a few things that are simply wrong with this picture.  First, the doors of the house are locked.  Nobody can get in or out without the disciples knowing and Jesus just waltzes into the room.  Two, Jesus is supposed to be dead.  Yes, Mary Magdalene said that she saw Jesus alive at the tomb, but she was the only one to see him and she was pretty hysterical when Peter and the other disciple left [John 20:1-11].  On top of all this, the Jesus they saw was not simply a spirit – he showed the disciples his bodily wounds [John 20:20].  Of course, the story goes on to talk about how the disciple Thomas was not there when Jesus appeared to the disciples that day.  Thomas was with the disciples in that room a week later when Jesus appeared to them again [John 20:26].  In this encounter, Jesus gives Thomas what he needs in order to believe.  It can be so easy to see the encounter between Jesus and Thomas as Jesus rebuking Thomas for his unbelief, but instead Jesus shows Thomas his wounds just as he did for the other disciples, and tells Thomas to doubt no more [John20:20, 27]. 

          Thomas seemed to be filled with faith from then on.  Actually, early Church legend describes Saint Thomas as journeying to India to spread the Gospel.  This really isn’t as far-fetched as it may initially seem.  When the Portuguese first arrived on the shores of India in the 16th century they were greeted by native Christians who claimed to be descendents of people converted to Christianity by this same Thomas.1

          It’s hard not to talk about faith and fear and doubts when this passage is discussed.  Actually, faith, fear, and doubt should be discussed in the light of this passage.  However, there’s much more to this passage than simply a message of believing that Jesus Christ rose from death to eternal life.  Within this belief, there are implications in our lives because of this belief.  One of the biggest implications is forgiveness.  This forgiveness is not simply God forgiving sin; it’s also about us forgiving each other.

          When Jesus first appeared to the disciples in the room, scriptures say, “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” [John 20:22b-23].  This event is very much like a commissioning; Jesus is granting them the power of forgiveness.  In granting such power, Jesus is making the disciples a very large part of God’s plan of reconciliation for the world.  The disciples are not to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ by simply telling the story; they are to also participate in the story through forgiveness.  They are to be a forgiving people just as their God is forgiving.

          This tradition of forgiveness and the power to forgive is a tradition that we are very much a part of.  We are the successors of the disciples.  We carry on their tradition and mission; a mission that was given to them by Jesus Christ and so is given to us under the same authority.  We are a forgiven people who show our own forgiveness in the forgiving of others.  However, just as Thomas at first doubted the risen Christ, do we doubt the validity of forgiveness?  We all doubt at one time in our lives or another.  It’s not uncommon to doubt that God has truly forgiven us for our sin.  Sometime we think back on the not-so-proud-things that we’ve done and wonder, really wonder if God forgives us.  Where does this doubt come from?  Certainly a lack of faith… But sometimes the lack of faith comes from a source that we’re not expecting.  Sometimes the lack of faith is not simply in an individual, but instead is located in the community.

          Earlier I said, “We are a forgiven people who show our own forgiveness in the forgiving of others.”  I’ve defined us a particular community; a forgiven people.  I’ve also described what we do; we show our forgiveness in the forgiving of others.  But what happens to our faith when we stop forgiving others?  What happens when we stop doing the very things that we claim to be?  Growing up, I remember my grandfather using the phrase, “They’ll show their true colors.”  This is actually a nautical phrase that goes back to the early days of seafaring.  In those days ships would fly different countries’ flags in order to disguise themselves or to confuse enemy ships.  However, at the onset of battle, a ship was required to run-up its real flag, the flag of their country; its true colors.  When someone shows their true colors, they’re showing who they really are as a person.  They leave no doubt to themselves or to others who they truly are.  As a forgiven and reconciled people, our true color is forgiveness; forgiveness from God and forgiveness towards others. 

We cannot show forgiveness from God, but we can show forgiveness towards each other.  If we cease to show forgiveness to each other, does it truly exists?  This is a doubt… and a valid one at that.  More often than not, our actions speak louder than any words we may say.  When we claim to be a forgiven people who forgive but we really don’t forgive; not only do we cast a shadow of doubt on others about who we really are, we also foster doubt within our own selves.  If we don’t forgive, do we really believe in forgiveness?

What I find interesting about our reading from the Gospel of St. John is that regardless of Thomas’ or anyone else’s doubts, Jesus Christ is still risen.  There’s validity with that like no other.  It means that God’s promise in Jesus Christ is always good.  It means that there is forgiveness for those who would receive.  Even Thomas was given the opportunity to believe and to be filled with faith.  Thomas’ response to this opportunity was to believe and be faithful.  Thomas’ true colors were not colors of doubt, but instead they were colors of faith.  What colors do you fly in regards to forgiveness?  What colors of forgiveness do we fly as a congregation?  Do the colors of forgiveness we fly inspire doubt about God’s forgiveness in ourselves and others?  Or are the colors we fly colors of true forgiveness from God and forgiveness for others? 

          SDG

 

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[1] Leonard Fernando and G. Gispert-Sauch, Christianity in India: two thousand years of faith.  (New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA), 2004), 72-73.