SERMON TITLE: Easter People, the People of the Future (II)

Preached by the Rev. John Young Jung Lee at DPUC on April 15, 2007

John 20:19-31

20:19 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."

20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

20:25 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."

20:26 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."

20:27 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."

20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

20:29 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."

20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.

20:31 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.

Easter People, the People of the Future (II)

Last Sunday we celebrated Easter –  the celebration of Easter people who live the new life through the risen Christ. What does it mean to call ourselves Easter people?  Easter people are those who believe that the risen Christ is here with us; those who search for the way of the risen Christ; those who strive to forgive, to heal, to transform and make new; those who turn around for the future life; those who prepare for the future world; those who are ready for the future world.

When we read our mission as the gathering of God's people it is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to our community; to provide people of all races and ages with the opportunity to worship and to reach out to one another and the world in faith and fellowship. This speaks that we are the Easter people, the people of the future. There are many ways we describe the Easter people. However there is the key belief of the Easter people.

That is our faith in Easter incident, the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. This is the key to our faith, and on this foundation we build our confession of faith that the risen Christ lives, works, guides, empowers us in the midst of our lives.  This is the way to our hope for the future not only for a new life in heaven when our days are done, but also for the new life here on earth and now.

At this point, I would like to ask a question. Do you really believe in the resurrection?

Do you really believe that a dead person can be alive again? If we apply a formula that says, "for God all things are possible', then Jesus was risen from dead. It is easy, and it is easy to believe. Is it the truth of our faith? Is it truly easy? Yes, in one sense, as long as we do it as a mental exercise, without our commitment, our real life that participates in the pain and passion of Jesus.

But if we really stay beside Jesus and watch all the things that have happened, and experience the pain that we cannot journey together with Jesus through all of his pain and passion, then it is not simple or not easy to believe.

Today's gospel lesson tells us about this. This story is about how Jesus appeared in their midst on the first evening of that first Sunday. After Jesus was arrested and crucified, the disciples were in fear that they will be caught and be killed like Jesus. So they were terrified. Through the locked door, Jesus appeared. They were shocked. Jesus said, "Peace be with you", but they couldn't believe. Then Jesus show them his hands and his side. Then they believed, and rejoiced for the risen Christ's being with them.

They were so shocked. They were so excited. They couldn't believe it. But they saw it.

And they believed and rejoiced.  After this incident, Thomas came and saw the excitement of his friends. It was strange. They were supposed to be afraid. But they were so excited and rejoiced. Thomas couldn't believe the stories of his friends. So he said, "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." 

Now I would like to ask you the question again. If you are in the situation of Thomas, and your friends are telling you that the risen Christ's has come and showed his hands and side, can you believe what your friends are saying?  When I read this story in the Bible, I never thought that I would have doubts about Jesus' resurrection. But when I read this story over and over again, I questioned my self,  "Can I believe this story that my friends are telling me?"

Have you believed the good news of the risen Christ that your friends, your ministers in the church, have shared? We are not much different from the disciples of Jesus, including Thomas. What I notice from this story is that all the disciples have seen the wounds of Jesus the risen Christ. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." But Jesus showed his hands and side to all his loving disciples.

What Jesus speaks to the disciples and to us is that "You must believe." If you cannot believe without seeing and touching, strive to see my hands and side, and believe. How then can we see and touch the wounds of Jesus Christ? Jesus already answered this question to us. 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Touching the wounds of the least of the people among us, and in the world, is touching Jesus' wounds.

All the disciples who touched the wounds of Jesus, believed and dedicated their whole lives for God's mission by saying "Not my will but thy will be done." All the disciples who touched the wounds of Jesus, were able to believe in the invisible God's grace among them and in the world without seeing. They are truly blessed.

Peter, Paul, Stephen, in the Bible, and John Wesley, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, in our recent Christian history, and there are many around us who strive to touch the wounds of Jesus Christ through touching the pains of the world, and they believed God's invisible grace and devoted their lives without seeing. They are blessed. Still there are many among us who say, unless I do not see and touch…It is not doubting. Seeing and touching Jesus wounds is the beginning of our faith journey to believe.

Once we see and touch, we will believe God's invisible grace. If not now, some day near future, we will see and touch the wounds of Jesus in the suffering and pains of the people in the shadowy or dark side of the world. This is why we gather as church. We want to support each other and encourage each other to touch Jesus and have Christ in us. This is gathering of God's people, the Easter people, the people of the future.

In this our journey, Spirit of Jesus Christ guides us, empowers us to see and touch Jesus and believe. This is the invitation of the risen Christ for the future life of the world, with world with eternal peace. The risen Christ comes alive in us again and again and will speak to us, "Peace be with you, receive the Holy Spirit" And we will affirm that blessed are those who believe without seeing.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

 This site is prepared by the Rev. John Young-Jung Lee,

a minister of The United Church of Canada

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Acknowledgement:

Web planning team: Marion Current, Hannah Lee

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 Art design team: Raymond NamKi Jung, Johnny Jong Hyun Jeong

Updated April 15, 2007