John 20:19-31
All or most of you have received the letter I mailed this
week saying that I will be moving to Montana. If the Post Office sent yours to Nebraska or you recycled it
without opening it, as I do with much of my mail, there are copies on the
information tables. The decision
to go was both a very easy decision and a very hard decision. Easy because there is no question it is
the right thing for me at this time.
Hard, because it means leaving all of you.
My last Sunday here will be June 18. So we have 8 weeks to reflect and share
stories together. Clergy in the
church, apparently, have found that that is the “right” amount of time.
I’ve already been reflecting. And I want to share one statistic with you. A statistic, a number. In my mind, at least, it’s connected to
today’s Gospel reading.
We heard the familiar story from John’s Gospel of doubting
Thomas. The day of Jesus’
resurrection, the disciples were huddled together in fear in a room with the
doors locked. Jesus came to them
to be with them in that room. Never
mind the locked doors. Thomas
wasn’t there and was reluctant to believe the other disciples’ story. John tells us that a week later the
disciples were again (still?) hiding in a locked room. Thomas was with them. And again Jesus came to with them in
that room.
The statistic I want to share with you is the number of times
since I have been here that we have gathered in this room to celebrate communion: 2,265. I didn’t count each one. We average about 170/year these days, multiplied by 13 ¼
years. We have gathered in this
room to celebrate the Holy Eucharist 2,265 times.
And Jesus has come to be with us in this room each and every
one of those times.
This is not the only place that Jesus meets of course. Nor is Communion the only occasion when
we know him.
But, as Christians in a sacramental tradition, we affirm
that he is always here in the
breaking of the bread. Always. In this room when we gather around his
table to break the bread and share the cup, he is with us. Always. When we participate in the sacrament of the New Covenant he
shares himself with us.
In John’s account, Jesus walking through walls or Thomas touching
his wounds is usually taken as “proof” of his resurrection and resurrected
presence.
But for us today, I’m more interested in the walls and locked
door as a metaphor. Jesus came to
be with the disciples despite the barriers they had put up. Why were they hiding behind locked
doors? John says they were
afraid. Afraid that the situation
that crucified Jesus was also a threat to them. Were they maybe also trying to keep Jesus out? Afraid of what his presence with them
might mean for their lives? In
John, being enclosed and in darkness is a symbol for turning away from
God.
Regardless of why they were afraid, they put up what they
hoped or imagined were impenetrable barriers. And Jesus walked right through and came to them anyway. Bringing light and life and peace.
We put up all sorts of barriers to keep Jesus out of our
hearts and our lives. And Jesus
walks right through and comes to us anyway.
David Lose writes:
we gather so that we might… be encountered by the Risen
Christ one more time and be caught up in faith so that we may experience God’s
abundant life. We gather in
this room at this table to be encountered by the Risen Christ. Today for the 2,266 and 2,267th
times.
He comes to be with us in this room, bringing abundant life
and peace, oblivious to any barriers we may have put up. He brings peace. He says it over and over and over again. Peace be with you. My own peace I leave with you.
Thomas models for us the faithful response. My Lord and My God!
