The Second Sunday of Easter (Year C), April 15, 2007

BCP: Acts 5:12a, 17-22, 25-29 or Job 42:1-6; Psalm 111 or 118:19-24; Rev. 1:(1-8)9-19 or Acts 5:12a, 17-22, 25-29; John 20:19-31

RCL: Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150; Rev. 1:4-8; John 20:19-31

Frightened men and women huddle together behind locked doors. They are filled with grief. The One in whom they had placed all of their hopes is dead — gone. These disciples are also filled with guilt, because they know that each of them was also involved in betrayal of this holy man. Suddenly, Jesus appears before the disciples. The first words out of his mouth are, “Peace be with you.” Words of healing, words of love, words of forgiveness.

Would anyone have ever believed in the risen Lord and Savior if he had not appeared? In light of Jesus’ words and actions with the gathered disciples, and later with Thomas, we see how God understands our need for that which is tangible. We are provided tangible evidence of God’s presence in our lives, if only we have eyes to see. Sometimes grace comes to us through others, special folk who are God-like, with skin. When we are ill or distressed, they look at us with compassion. We feel their gentle arms around us in a caring yet firm embrace. The touch of another person holding our hand or stroking our forehead gives us hope. We pray that we might be like God with skin for another person.

Grounded in an Easter faith, confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior and led by the Holy Spirit, we can provide a powerful witness, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ just like the first disciples must have done when they burst out of the Upper Room a forgiven and renewed people. As others search for a tangible sign that Jesus is alive in the midst of struggles, we can be for them that sign of hope, that presence of help. Perhaps by seeing Jesus reflected in us, they will believe.

The book of Revelation is like an exclamation point on the stories of Eastertide, intensifying and placing them on the larger canvas of the struggle between good and evil and ultimate victory. The message of John, the writer of Revelation, is that it is better to be too broad rather than too narrow in the way that we hear and understand the scope of Christ’s victory over sin and death. For those individuals who compromise with the world and its values, its message is all the more uncompromising; their fate is “the burning pool ... which is the second death” (22:8). For those who see with the eyes of abundant faith and who hold fast to Christ Jesus, it is a message of consolation, hope, and joy, the good news of a new heaven and a new earth.

Look It Up

The liturgy for The Reconciliation of a Penitent (BCP, pp. 447-452), is an often overlooked opportunity for an Upper Room experience.

Think About It

When Jesus offers his body to Thomas for immediate contact, there probably are legitimate eucharistic analogies to be drawn, especially given the almost immediate liturgical allusion that follows; Jesus blesses.

Next Sunday

The Third Sunday of Easter (Year C), April 22, 2007

BCP: Acts 9:1-19a or Jer. 32:36-41; Psalm 33 or 33:1-11; Rev. 5:6-14 or Acts 9:1-19a; John 21:1-14

RCL: Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Psalm 30; Rev. 5:11-14; John 21:1-19