Blessed are Those who See and Believe

April 11, 2010
Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 5
John 20
Blessed are those who see and believe
Year C


What did Jesus say when he arose from the grave? Tada!
Resurrection was God’s great joke on the devil. A trick that he played- when he wanted to the devil to know that no matter what was tried, he could never win. He would never have the final word. That God has the power to triumph in the midst of even the worst situation. On the cross even though we heard Christ in agony and suffering, he was in on the joke – what else was there for him to say – but tada. It worked in spite of it all.

Easter is not a day – Easter is a season. It takes us awhile to get on board and to let the joke settle in for us. It takes several appearances, several sermons, several life experiences before we finally get the joke and are willing to laugh.
This second Sunday of easter is Holy humor Sunday – the day we get to laugh and sing and dance, and settle into what Easter means for us and for the world.
So in honor of holy humor Sunday, I want to give you a short test of faith. Answer whether you think these things are true or false….
Would you believe that:
Most lipstick contains fish scales. (T)
More real money is printed in the world than Monopoly money each year. (F)
No piece of square paper can be folded more than seven times. (T)
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds. (T)
The Kea bird from New Zealand likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows. (T)
The weight of all the termites in the world is 10 times heavier than the weight of all the world's humans put together. (T)
The longest bout of hiccups lasted ten years. (F. Charles Osborne had them for 69 years!)
A cockroach can live several weeks without a head - afterwards it will die of starvation. (T)
Toenails grow faster than fingernails. (F) fingernails grow 4 X's as fast as toenails.
The world's oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9000 years old. (T)


The themes for today are doubt, belief and witness. I plan for us to focus on the lessons of acts and John for the year – and those are the themes of the day. Doubt, belief and witness.
The gospel lesson for today is always focuses on the story of Thomas. Some call him doubting Thomas – because he did not believe that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead- until he had proof for himself. The nails in his hands, the hole in his side. All of which Jesus was able to provide for him. But the word for this story that we interpret as doubt actually means more distrust. He didn’t doubt that Jesus had risen from the dead, he just want not able to accept that fact right off, without some further understanding. Sort of like I would need to believe that no square piece of paper can be folded for more than 8 times. That might actually be true – but I will have to try that for myself in order to really believe that is it true.
Jesus days that blessed are those who believe but have not seen. He is not criticizing Thomas for asking for proof. He is saying that there will be times when we will have to answer whether something is true or false- and we wont have time to look at the encyclopedia – we will just have to use what we have to answer the question.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead – true or false. Do you believe that was the greatest trick that God could have played ? True of false. How do you know your answer is true or not?
It all comes down to what you believe about Christ. In researching this sermon - I came across this question – what do you think is the greatest joke that God ever played on us. It is a yahoo question, and people recorded their answers. Some people said to make everything that we enjoy a sin. Someone else said making us all different colors, races and believing in different religions. Someone else said George Bush. I think that the greatest joke that God every played on us is Easter. Forcing us to believe in the impossible, forcing us to celebrate a phenonmen that we don’t understand. Asking us to believe something that we will never see. Did Christ really conquer death and come back to life. We will never get the chance to see the nails and the hole. We cant see – we can only believe. We can only trust the witness of Thomas, Mary and Peter.
Easter is not about what happened to Jesus, it is about how those who saw what happened responded. In Each Easter appearance Jesus gives them the holy spirit and they respond. When Thomas receives the spirit he declares that Jesus is his lord and his God
During the seven weeks of Easter – we read from the book of acts – the book of what the holy spirit did. Usually it is stories of how the church grew, but this year it is stories of how individuals were affected when they came in contact with the holy spirit.
After Jesus was crucified, the disciples were told that they were to forget all about this man and what he did (as if that were really possible), yet they needed to be witnesses for the spirit an tell others what they saw. So they were jailed. When questioned their defense was that they were doing what God told them to do and they had to do what God said and not what man said. One lone Jewish leader – Gemeliail defended them, saying that if what they were doing was from God, then who could stop them, if it was not then it would stop itself. An angel freed them and they continued to be witnesses for God. Telling others that jesus was alive. God demands that task of all of us – to be witnesses of the Easter Jesus. To doubt Easter, to believe Easter and to witness Easter- tell the world what we saw when Jesus appeared to us in Easter.
My favorite story of easter and how it affects us is the story of the families of the coal miners in West Virginia. I remember in 2006, watching the tv constantly for word of what was happening to the miners. I was there when they announced that the had been found alive, and I was awake at two in the morning when the story broke tht they had been found dead. The nation went into mourning. This time there was not the same emotional coverage as there was then, but they did keep us up to date on what was going on. All day Friday they told us what they were doing to look for the 4 miners who may be still alive. The told us when they were going on and how they were going to do it. I was not near a tv when they finally announced that they had found the 4 and they they were not alive. I could imagine the roller coaster ride of all of the families, as they had not told who was dead and who was alive. And now hope was gone – they were all gone. The governor’s emotional words – we were hoping for a miracle – and it did not happen. The journey has ended and now the healing must begin.
That is what easter is all about – is being able to find hope in the deepest darkest moment and knowing that God has demanded that life must go on. Even in a tradgedy – the living Christ is there – and is saying tada – death does not get to have the final word. Because the holy spirit has a job to do. To be a witness of what God can do. God can turn darkness into light, despair into joy, a bad moment into a good, hopelessness into hope. Just as God bought jesus back to life, god does all of the work – but someone has to testify and witness that they saw the work done.
What about you – what is your easter story ? as you look for the green grass, the growing flowers, the budding trees – how do you see God at work? At play? Telling jokes, some of them funny – all of them joyful. Remember – some of god’s greatest miracles start out in the form of a question, an occasion for distrust, an opportunity to ask God how are you going to work that one out – a chance not to nessarily doubt god – but to distrust what your senses are showing you. You know jesus is alive in that situation – when you believe – believe that your lord and your savior is speaking to you, and asking for a witness that the holy spirit is at work in your and in the world – bringing about a transformation. A change- a new risen savior. Let us pray….