Today's Scripture Readings
Acts 5:27-32 (NRSV)
Psalm 118 (BCP., p. 761)
Revelation 1:4-8 (NRSV)
John 20:19-31 (NRSV)
Blog Reflection
The Apostles in Acts find themselves being questioned by the council about their activities. They had apparently not accepted the authorities request that they stop speaking in the Name of the Risen Christ. Their words have brought happiness to those who have received the message of salvation joyfully. As for those who were not so impressed, they are becoming a nuisance. The work of the Apostles is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. St. Luke as the author of Acts, quotes from Deuteronomy 21: 22 in which Jesus was "hung on a tree." Peter appropriately states that he and the other Apostles are witnesses to Jesus' death and resurrection as is the Holy Spirit who has given them God's work to accomplish.
I think among the things we can take from the reading from Acts is that the work of the Gospel is the occupation of all who believe in the Name of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and risen from the dead. Though society and even the Church may become disillusioned about how the Gospel is proclaimed, it is the work of those of us who have witnessed the power of the Paschal Mystery in our Baptism, Holy Communion and our every day lives. The Easter Mystery that we have been celebrating these past eight days, and for the next forty-two becomes visible as we become the Risen Christ for others. The power of the Resurrection gains even more ground when we take the time and opportunity to recognize the Risen Christ in each other. Especially, but not limited to, those who are different from ourselves.
Among the many reasons why the Christian Faith suffers so badly, is because of how Christians have limited the Gospel to our circles of privileged persons. As Christianity spread and became part of the European culture, and eventually the culture of the America's, many other religions, cultures and races became subjected to oppression and violence. Violence in the Name of Christ, is zeal that has been directed by error, not truth or conviction. When conviction becomes an excuse for a lack of basic Christian Charity, the message behind the conviction becomes a weapon of mass destruction. Not a ministry of evangelization and conversion. As a result, the Easter event of the Resurrection becomes a fairy tale to those who are not privileged. Not the message of salvation for the whole world.
As we turn from Acts to the reading from St. John's Gospel, we see that Jesus had a tremendous amount of compassion. Especially for those who ran while He was crucified on Good Friday. The Resurrected Jesus appears to the Apostles, those cowardly men and said "Peace be with you." Jesus' message sounds very much like the Father receiving the Prodigal Son from the parable in Luke 15: 11b-32. Jesus, who is God's perfect Revelation of Self, comes and greets those men with peace and the breath of the Holy Spirit, so that they can do the work of forgiveness and reconciliation on His behalf.
I am ever so glad that over the years there has been a progression away from seeing St. Thomas' disbelief as making him weak. The "doubting Thomas" idea has been adopted by many who feel that unless they see it in its physical reality, they just cannot believe. To totally condemn this idea, is to flip the bird in total ignorance to what Jesus does with Thomas' situation. Thomas' doubt opens the door for faith, that becomes the greatest of proclamations. "My Lord, My God" says Thomas. Thomas' faith is strengthened not by the fact that he originally doubted, but that Jesus met his doubt, and Thomas grew in faith and trust in God's work of redemption in Jesus Christ. Jesus then completes his work by saying in the words of the Common English Bible: "No more doubting. Believe!" Jesus tells Thomas and us to learn from this example and to put our trust in Him to lead us to a closer relationship with God and one another. Jesus accomplishes this by God's ministry of hospitality and reconciliation with those who are afraid, weak, and becoming their every reason to find their strength in the joy of the Lord.
Every one of us finds our faith in the Risen Christ shaken from time to time. We see Christians continuing to use the religion as a means for power, domination and the spreading of hate, wealth and prestige. In today's Gospel, Jesus turns the weakness of faith in the Apostles into a moment of spreading peace, joy and hope. The Church needs to continue that work in today's world. We must not cling to doctrine only at the expense of lively faith, Charity, service and mission. We ought to be inspired to be open to being servants to everyone, without exception out of thanksgiving to God for all God has accomplished on our behalf. We must bring hope to women who continue to be marginalized and victimized by a male privileged society. We must end the religious based bigotry towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people. There is a whole mission field that we can all participate in by calling for the end of injustices such as: President Obama's chained CPI cuts to Social Security, the sequester that is reeking havoc on the lives of cancer patients nation wide, and the abuses of the oil industry.
St. Anselm of Canterbury once wrote: “For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe-that unless I believe I shall not understand.”
If we are to demonstrate belief in the Resurrection, so that we and others may understand what Easter means, then we need to be willing to live as Easter Christians. Thomas like so many of us, need the community of others around us to point us to the Risen Christ in the world. The community of society and the Church needs all of us who believe, to do the same.
May the song of Easter with Alleluia's ringing out like there is no tomorrow, be our trumpet call to live the Resurrection story in our lives.
Amen.
Prayers
Acts 5:27-32 (NRSV)
When the temple police had brought the apostles, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."
Psalm 118 (BCP., p. 761)
Revelation 1:4-8 (NRSV)
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
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." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, 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."
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 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."
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." 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." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 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."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Blog Reflection
The Apostles in Acts find themselves being questioned by the council about their activities. They had apparently not accepted the authorities request that they stop speaking in the Name of the Risen Christ. Their words have brought happiness to those who have received the message of salvation joyfully. As for those who were not so impressed, they are becoming a nuisance. The work of the Apostles is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. St. Luke as the author of Acts, quotes from Deuteronomy 21: 22 in which Jesus was "hung on a tree." Peter appropriately states that he and the other Apostles are witnesses to Jesus' death and resurrection as is the Holy Spirit who has given them God's work to accomplish.
I think among the things we can take from the reading from Acts is that the work of the Gospel is the occupation of all who believe in the Name of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and risen from the dead. Though society and even the Church may become disillusioned about how the Gospel is proclaimed, it is the work of those of us who have witnessed the power of the Paschal Mystery in our Baptism, Holy Communion and our every day lives. The Easter Mystery that we have been celebrating these past eight days, and for the next forty-two becomes visible as we become the Risen Christ for others. The power of the Resurrection gains even more ground when we take the time and opportunity to recognize the Risen Christ in each other. Especially, but not limited to, those who are different from ourselves.
Among the many reasons why the Christian Faith suffers so badly, is because of how Christians have limited the Gospel to our circles of privileged persons. As Christianity spread and became part of the European culture, and eventually the culture of the America's, many other religions, cultures and races became subjected to oppression and violence. Violence in the Name of Christ, is zeal that has been directed by error, not truth or conviction. When conviction becomes an excuse for a lack of basic Christian Charity, the message behind the conviction becomes a weapon of mass destruction. Not a ministry of evangelization and conversion. As a result, the Easter event of the Resurrection becomes a fairy tale to those who are not privileged. Not the message of salvation for the whole world.
As we turn from Acts to the reading from St. John's Gospel, we see that Jesus had a tremendous amount of compassion. Especially for those who ran while He was crucified on Good Friday. The Resurrected Jesus appears to the Apostles, those cowardly men and said "Peace be with you." Jesus' message sounds very much like the Father receiving the Prodigal Son from the parable in Luke 15: 11b-32. Jesus, who is God's perfect Revelation of Self, comes and greets those men with peace and the breath of the Holy Spirit, so that they can do the work of forgiveness and reconciliation on His behalf.
I am ever so glad that over the years there has been a progression away from seeing St. Thomas' disbelief as making him weak. The "doubting Thomas" idea has been adopted by many who feel that unless they see it in its physical reality, they just cannot believe. To totally condemn this idea, is to flip the bird in total ignorance to what Jesus does with Thomas' situation. Thomas' doubt opens the door for faith, that becomes the greatest of proclamations. "My Lord, My God" says Thomas. Thomas' faith is strengthened not by the fact that he originally doubted, but that Jesus met his doubt, and Thomas grew in faith and trust in God's work of redemption in Jesus Christ. Jesus then completes his work by saying in the words of the Common English Bible: "No more doubting. Believe!" Jesus tells Thomas and us to learn from this example and to put our trust in Him to lead us to a closer relationship with God and one another. Jesus accomplishes this by God's ministry of hospitality and reconciliation with those who are afraid, weak, and becoming their every reason to find their strength in the joy of the Lord.
Every one of us finds our faith in the Risen Christ shaken from time to time. We see Christians continuing to use the religion as a means for power, domination and the spreading of hate, wealth and prestige. In today's Gospel, Jesus turns the weakness of faith in the Apostles into a moment of spreading peace, joy and hope. The Church needs to continue that work in today's world. We must not cling to doctrine only at the expense of lively faith, Charity, service and mission. We ought to be inspired to be open to being servants to everyone, without exception out of thanksgiving to God for all God has accomplished on our behalf. We must bring hope to women who continue to be marginalized and victimized by a male privileged society. We must end the religious based bigotry towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people. There is a whole mission field that we can all participate in by calling for the end of injustices such as: President Obama's chained CPI cuts to Social Security, the sequester that is reeking havoc on the lives of cancer patients nation wide, and the abuses of the oil industry.
St. Anselm of Canterbury once wrote: “For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe-that unless I believe I shall not understand.”
If we are to demonstrate belief in the Resurrection, so that we and others may understand what Easter means, then we need to be willing to live as Easter Christians. Thomas like so many of us, need the community of others around us to point us to the Risen Christ in the world. The community of society and the Church needs all of us who believe, to do the same.
May the song of Easter with Alleluia's ringing out like there is no tomorrow, be our trumpet call to live the Resurrection story in our lives.
Amen.
Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery
established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all
who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body
may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday in Easter, Book of Common Prayer, p.224).
O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior,
the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away
all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body
and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith,
one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all
of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth
and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and
one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (Prayer for the Mission of the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p.818).
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, p.823).
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