2 Easter Yr A

We have told the ancient stories of our faith, we have lit the new fire of Easter, we have baptized, we have proclaimed the Alleluias! and we, the remnant, the faithful ones come here today in confidence that the Christian life is more than the high of resurrection. We come here today in expectation that there is more to the story, that God’s glory is not just at the mountaintop, but God's glory is encountered along the way as well. Now is the reality of the Christian journey, now is the time we live in fear and in hope. To borrow another journey metaphor, now is when the rubber meets the road. If indeed we are people of story, which I do believe we are, how are we resurrected and how are we agents of resurrection? How then is the Easter story being written into our lives? We are now invited to live a whole new life, what is that story about?

Jesus takes all of the guilt, the shame, blame, anxiety, all of the pain and suffering, all of the isolation and alienation onto himself. Our new life begins with the sure and certain truth that we are loved. That in spite of whatever has gone horribly wrong deep in our hearts and has spread to every corner of the world, in spite of our missing the mark, in spite of our failures, rebellion, and hard hearts, in spite of what's been done to us or what we've done, God has made peace with us. As Jesus said, "It is finished."

This is the work that Jesus does on the cross, and in the resurrection, new life begins. So Thomas, the twin, reflects all our humanity, all of that doubt, all of that need for clarity and certainty. Thomas needs to see, to feel, to touch, Thomas just can't take his friends' word for it. Thomas' story is our story too, at least Thomas' story is much like my story. Jesus comes and stands among them. Jesus says, see me, feel me, touch me, this is real. All of these wounds are your wounds, they are the wounds of humanity, they are the wounds perpetrated by all the lying, the apathy, the greed, the mistrust. We heard that story during our amazing worship of Holy Week and Easter, beginning with the disturbing music of the Service of Darkness, as we passed by the unusual passion story of Good Friday, and as we traced the ancient stories of our faith during the Easter Vigil. The reality is that Jesus takes all of that out with him, and leaves us with new life, hope, grace, peace.

Imagine Jesus' friends huddled in that locked room that day, they were afraid. Fear prevents people from seeing. Fear moves us to grasp for the secure rather than reach for the real. And what is real in this story? Jesus' presence is real. Jesus' wounds are real. Jesus' peace is real. And Jesus leaves us with the real presence of the Spirit. Do not be afraid, we heard at the incarnation and at the resurrection, be filled with the spirit. The spirit that teaches us about forgiveness.

How is this Easter story being written into your life? This story that teaches us about what is real. This story that shows us that what looks like loss and failure to the world is counted as victory in the kingdom. This story that we do not need to live in fear, this story in which love wins.

You see, this Easter story, being written into each of our lives is the real story. Through Thomas each of us gets to see, to feel, to touch what is real, and what is real is the amazing love that God has for each and every one of us, and for all of us together. Sometimes we succumb to the lie that this life is about getting as much as we want, or doing as we please, without any thought on the effect that has on those around us, or even on the living, moving, breathing earth upon which we live. No, reality is that we are all connected, we are all related. Reality is that what I do, what you do, affects the web that surrounds us. That is where the rubber meets the road. That is where we are agents of resurrection. That is where the Easter story continues to be written.

What God does in the resurrection matters. And it matters because of Thomas, we do indeed encounter Jesus at every turn. You show forth the reality that Love wins. You show forth the reality that death does not have the final word. What you do matters to the world and to the kingdom. What you do, what we do has an effect on the world about us, what we do has an effect on the people around us. Like Thomas, we see, feel, touch the pain and suffering of Jesus in our midst. We see our brothers and sisters suffering as the result of natural disasters, tornados and tsunamis. We witness the pain and suffering in our community as the result of poverty. We accompany our friends as they sit with family in hospital and in homes and await death and await healing. We are accompanied by friends who sit in vigil with us. We may be afraid, but instead of being immobilized by that fear, we proclaim by word and example that Jesus is in our midst and that Love wins, that new life is possible now. That's the story we write. That's the story that's true.

Love wins. God brings wholeness and healing to all of creation, including Thomas, and you, and me. God re-members us. God puts us back together. God reconciles us. God restores us. Even when it looks like and feels like everything is falling apart, even when it looks like and feels like failure. Peace be with you is what Jesus says to those gathered in that room. Peace be with you, you are now reconciled, you have new life.

The story we write is the story that says yes to God. Because, when we say yes to God, when we open ourselves to Jesus' living, giving action the cross, we enter into a way of life. God is the source, the strength, the example, and the assurance that the story of death and rebirth, new life, is the way into the only kind of life that actually sustains and inspires. Loose your life to find it.

Let your life, let your Easter story show the world that Love wins. Each time you put your finger into the wound of another, be the agent of resurrection, be the bringing of hope, of new life. Each time you see the pain in the world, be the the one who responds with mercy, compassion, and love. Each time you hear words of derision, words that bully and hurt, speak instead words of mercy, of compassion and of love. Each time you encounter fear, fear of death, fear of change, fear of the other, fear of not having enough, remember that Love wins over fear every time.