Recognizing Jesus, Easter 2, April 23, 2017

Second Week of Easter (Year A)

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Sometimes we have to keep at it in order to get it. We keep talking, keep showing up in worship, keep praying, keep singing hymns, keep forgiving and receiving forgiveness, keep feeding the hungry and giving a cup of cool water in his name, keep practicing the Way of Jesus and we too will see the Risen Jesus. By our continuing dialogue with Jesus, we are trained and taught by him in how to see him. It is as if the scales slowly fall from our eyes, and one day we look up and we recognize the Risen Christ in ways and places we never had before. He was in front of our noses the whole time. 

– Kyle Childress

Theme: Recognizing Jesus

Reflection:  I can’t think of anything quite as embarrassing as the many times I’ve run into someone and was totally at a loss at who he or she was: He looks familiar – I should be able to place him. And I make conversation until it clicks, or I am forced to admit my memory isn’t what it used to be.

It never happens in the right element. When I see someone in his or her workplace, the name comes more easily. When I see a church member at my church, no problem. If the person is with his or her family, it becomes obvious. But if it is one isolated person at the grocery store, the movie theater or a concert, watch out.

“Hi, Gail,” he says. “Haven’t seen you in a while.” (Oh, boy, I think. I haven’t seen you in a while, either.)

“Hi! How have you been?” (Make it easy, I plead silently. Say something that will give me a clue.)

Some of the strangest encounters have happened in places I would never have expected to meet someone I knew. Running into a former classmate at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. And then that day at a spring training baseball game in Chandler not too long after we moved to Arizona. Who in the world would know us there? Unbelievably, a university official we knew from our days at the same college, visiting Arizona on vacation.

As soon as we recognize someone, we are no longer isolated individuals, but members of a group. Three people from the same college. Friends returning to a summer workshop. Former colleagues. Distant relatives.

Today’s lessons are tied together in our Easter season by the common thread of recognizing Jesus. Not just Jesus the Nazarene, but Jesus, who died on a cross and has been raised. Jesus, the Christ.

In today’s first lesson from Acts, Peter tells a group of Jewish people that Jesus is the real deal, the awaited Messiah. Peter speaks of today’s Psalm, in which David foresaw the birth, death and resurrection of this one of God. You know this in your heart to be true, Peter tells them. This Jesus, he is the one David was talking about, and we saw him.

In 1 Peter, the letter addresses Gentiles from one of the new Christian churches. They recognize Jesus as Lord, even though their only information is the witness of the apostles. Yet, the Spirit has grabbed hold of them and they have a strong, growing faith and a joy that comes from knowing Jesus. These are the blessed ones Jesus references in today’s Gospel. As are you and I.

What do we make of Thomas? The unfortunate apostle who missed the get-together in week 1, isolated since Good Friday, arrives a week later. Thomas, for whom “doubting” has become his identity. Cheap shot. Ten disciples saw Jesus on the day of the resurrection, and not one is remembered for his intense reaction to the risen Savior. Thomas arrives a week later, sees Jesus, recognizes him in a new and transformed way, and responds with an impassioned, “My Lord and my God!”

Pastor and author John van de Laar puts it this way: “This is the shift that happens for Thomas. I don’t know what he saw with his eyes on that day, but I do have an idea of what he saw with his heart. Where he had been looking for proof that Jesus was risen, he now discovers a whole new reality. He recognises Jesus in a way that he has not done up to this point – as Lord and God. He believes, not just in a resurrected teacher, but in an incarnate deity. And he doesn’t just believe as a kind of intellectual assent. He encounters this new reality, he experiences it, and he is changed by it. This is the kind of faith that Jesus has been seeking throughout the Gospel.”

And the question that hangs over today’s text for me is: Has this resurrection message really hit home? Is Jesus’ life, death and resurrection just an Easter story or has it transformed me? Do I see Jesus as a wise teacher as most of the disciples did, or more like Thomas, recognizing this One who came back from the dead to give me life as “My Lord and my God!”?

[Just an aside: Called the Twin (Didymus), Thomas is mentioned, but never his sibling. Did Thomas choose Jesus and his sibling reject the Lord? Or perhaps the Twin refers to Thomas’ two sides – the doubting side that required proof of everything, and the courageous believer, leading the way behind Jesus to Judea; committed missionary unto his death. Legend has it that Thomas was martyred, stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church there.]

(You always are welcome to respond with your thoughts and reflections in the comments section at the bottom of the blog post.) 

Faith App:  Sometimes the hardest way to share God’s love and resurrection message is with our voices. Don’t fear – let your hands and feet lead the way. Hands outstretched to comfort and serve, and feet moving to walk and work with others are active messages of Christ alive, in us!

HYMN/SONG SUGGESTIONS

Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing, ELW 389 (esp. v.2)

We Walk By Faith, and Not By Sight, ELW 635

We Have Seen the Lord, ELW 869

O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing, ELW 386/387

Crown Him with Many Crowns, ELW 855

Alleluia! Christ Is Arisen, ELW 375

Day of Arising, ELW 374

Bread of Life, Our Host and Meal, ELW 464

Here Is Bread, ELW 483

Open Our Eyes (We Want to See Jesus), Robert Cull

Help Me Find It, Sidewalk Prophets

Open the Eyes of My Heart, SonicFlood

Here With Me, MercyMe

Shoulders, For King & Country

Have You Seen Jesus my Lord, John Fischer

Refrain:

                C       E7      F  Ab  7

Have you seen Jesus my Lord?

C      G7        C     F C

He's here in plain view.

Dm      C       E7      F     Ab

Take a look, open your eyes,

C      G7          C   FC

He'll show it to you.

                     Am                       Em

1. Have you ever looked at the sunset

               F    G7            C

With the sky mellowing red,

              Am                               Em

And the clouds suspended like feathers

           F         Fm6     Ab

Then I say... (pause)

             C        G7         C

You've seen Jesus my Lord.

2. Have you ever stood at the ocean

with the white foam at your feet,

Felt the endless thundering motion?

Then I say...(pause)

You've seen Jesus my Lord.  (refrain)

3. Have you ever looked at the cross,

with a man hanging in pain

And the look of love in his eyes?

Then I say...(pause)

You've seen Jesus my Lord.  (refrain)

4. Have you ever stood in the family

With the Lord there in your midst

Seen the face of Christ on each other?

Then I say... (pause)

You've seen Jesus My Lord.  (refrain)

LESSONS

Acts 2:14, 22-32 Peter preaches that David foresaw the resurrection of the Messiah.

Psalm 16 “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”

1 Peter 1:3-9 “even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice...”

John 20:19-31 “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Summary of the Lessons:  Only a handful of people were fortunate enough to see Jesus in the weeks after the resurrection. All of the others would come to recognize him as “My Lord and my God,” not by sight, but by the word and the sharing of the Good News. And some would know him as David did, through prophecy and the Spirit foretelling of a Messiah who would live, die and rise again.

OPENING LITANY based on Psalm 16

L:  Christ is Risen!

C:  Christ is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

L:  Gather me close, O Lord, my safe place is with you;

C:  Good things happen when I stay connected to you.

L:  With joy, I thank my wisdom teachers and guides,

C:  The family and friends who pointed me to you,

L:  Who helped me reject false gods and fake truths,

C:  Who led me from longings that offered no life.

L:  Recognizing you, I say, “My Lord and my God!”

C:  I follow you – your ways for my life make sense.

L:  You don’t reject me or hand me over to evil ones;

C:  Joy and abundant life are mine when I’m with you.

CONFESSION

L:  Holy Week is over, and the lilies are beginning to fade,

C:  Could our Easter excitement already be dying as well?

L:  From crowded and boisterous to comfortably subdued;

C:  Trading the joyful “He Is Risen” for tame “Peace be with you.”

L:  As the world moves on, Lord, our hearts are tested –  

C:  Afraid of the rhythm of resurrection’s wild abandon,

L:  Dwelling in sorrows the world says we can’t escape,

C:  Doubting a love that death’s power cannot restrain.

L:  Through our locked doors, unshaken by injustice,

C:  Carried in our refrains, in the hopefulness of prayer,

L:  Blown by the fresh breeze of worship and service,

C:  We sense the Spirit stirring, breathing us to life.

(Silent reflection)

L:  In our confession, we pray together,

C:  Most Merciful God … refresh us daily with the vision of our Lord’s resurrection, the joy and wonder of our first gasp at our view of the empty tomb. Keep our eyes and our hearts wide open to recognize the wonder of our risen Lord every day, as we see you in acts of service and the faces of your people.

Hear this Good News:  A love so strong that death cannot hold it – that is God’s love for you. A love so powerful that it did the impossible – that, too, is God’s love for you. Blessed are you, wrestling with doubt, who come in faith to this place in hope of seeing the risen Christ.  Sense the Spirit, the breath of Jesus, alive in this place. You are forgiven from all that would keep you from this gift of grace, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

In the name of…

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L:  We pray together, 

C:  Revealing God … we pray today that you would teach us to recognize our Lord and Savior in our midst now:

•               In the patient guiding of Sunday school and confirmation teachers,

•               In the resolute action of advocates for the poor and the powerless,

•               In the gentle compassion of prayer ministers and hospice workers,

•               In the healing touch of doctors and other health-care professionals,

•               In the fresh interpretation of scripture by pastors and Bible study leaders,

•               In the call of every member to encourage disciples and to share the Good News everywhere.

Open our eyes to see you at work in the life of our congregations, our communities and our world, and help us believe so that we continue to have life in your name.  Amen.

COMMUNION BLESSING

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the new birth in this bread, the living hope in this cup.  Send us out, souls rejoicing, hearts open to your word, filled with a confident faith that recognizes and models Jesus through acts of love performed with indescribable joy. Amen. 

SENDING

L:  Even though we have not seen Jesus,

C:  We recognize Jesus at work in the world.

L:  While we will never touch his hands and side,

C:  We are touched by his new life, born in us!

L:  Go now, eyes wide open, to love and to serve the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God!

First Reading Acts 2:14a, 22-32 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: Acts of the Apostles is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke, written for new converts to the Way. Today’s passage follows the beginning of the church at Pentecost, and the Spirit of God, working through Peter's message, persuades 3,000 new believers to join the church.

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,

²² “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— ²³ this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. ²⁴ But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. ²⁵ For David says concerning him,

‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
²⁶ therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    moreover my flesh will live in hope.
²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One experience corruption.
²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

²⁹ “Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
    nor did his flesh experience corruption.’

³² This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.

Second Reading 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The First Letter of Peter was written to a group of persecuted new Christians for encouragement, possibly by a strong follower of the Apostle Peter after Peter’s death. Parts of the letter may have been intended to be read at baptisms.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, ⁷ so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Gospel John 20:19-31 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The Gospel of John draws to a close, and today’s lesson may have been the original ending. Its focus is to encourage believers to share the Good News.

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), 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 that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.