Sermon for the Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist, Capitola,

given by Rev. Stu Fitch, April 15, 2007

  The Episcopal Church of Saint John the Baptist welcomes all to worship God and to share

Christ's love in the world.  We are a parish family committed to provide liturgy, Bible study, music, counseling, and Christian education for children, youth, and adults, and to equip all our members for life and for service to other

Sermon

First Sunday of Easter

  I think sometimes we consider the first disciples as a bunch of Saints with a capital S inspite of all evidence that they were just folks like us. They had hopes and fears and blindness in their search for Truth. So often  they didn¹t get it, which is often our case too.

  So let¹s step into the disciples' sandals for a while. There has been so much going on: Jesus' ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowd shouting "Hosanna" The supper in the upper room and the puzzling words "This is my body, this is my blood" and the Master washing our feet. The betrayal by Judas and the Master's arrest and trial.  Much of the same crowd  who shouted "Hosanna"  are now shouting "Crucify him".  Then that painful crucifixion.  Most of us (save John) stood on the fringes and didn't want to be identified or involved.  Too risky.  Where would  we stand? Then the alarming news of the empty tomb.  Mary Magdalene approached the gardener.  When he called her by name, she realized it was Jesus.   The strange encounter of two followers on the Road to Emmaus, not recognizeng the stranger was Jesus  until the breaking of the bread.

  And now the ten (Thomas is not here) gathered in the upper room trying to figure it all out, to connect the dots and make sense of the death and the reports of the Master's Risen  Presence.  Then, though the doors are locked, Jesus appears with the greeting "Peace be with you"---that is, Shalom and the fullness of life be yours.  He then charges us to go forth  doing  the Kingdom work just as the Father had sent him forth."How?"  We had depended on Jesus to do most of the work--we've been a rag tag army of followers at best  Then again Jesus says "Peace be with you" and breathes into us his Spirit, his continuing presence , not out there, but within--closer than hands and feet, closer than breath..A presence that is, and of  which we  will become aware. The indwelling Holy Spirit answers our "how." We  will go forth without a road map or itineray  trusting the moment by moment guiding of the Holy Spirit. Our old ideas will  no longer hold. The Spirit loves us into new life and God's presence companions us as we enter the mystery of what will be.

  Then Jesus charges us to forgive, a primary need as Kingdom  life proceeds to unfold.  A life that will be  full of mistakes, ours and others, and our perception of what is, which may not be the reality of what is!!   

  The next time  we are in the upper room  Jesus appears again. Thomas is now present wanting proof.  It¹s hard not to judge him,  "I mean, after all Thomas! ". It's hard to hear his skepticism . The indwelling Christ Presence takes time to get rooted in our lives and hearts.  We¹ll always be in process. Jesus grants Thomas his wish to touch  his hands and side.  Then Thomas believes. "My Lord and my God."   Although we¹'ve dubbed him Doubting Thomas in a sort of negative way,  Jesus acknowledges our freedom and  need to doubt.  It's okay not to understand and to seek answers and look for proof.

   I know of some  modern day  people who  have seen the Risen Lord.  Most of us haven't and we don¹t have Thomas' gift of Jesus' bodily presence, but if we are aware and open, we can experience the Christ Presence in every person and every situation in life. Those situations we find painful and  people we find difficult  are our best teachers. They help us discover within ourselves  the Christ Presence in the painful situations.      In connecting  with difficult people, ask ever deeper, "What is that person feeling.?  What is their need?" and relate to them on that level.   It also helps  to find  situations similar to theirs in our lives,. I call them "like untos" This  helps us  develop empathy with those out there we find difficult. We can come to know in whatever the situation:  "There but by the Grace of God go I."  It is humbling to realize that what we see in others most often reflects our hidden ego self---selves Jesus forgives. 

  Self revelation, seeing  similars and ourselves as we are, makes up much of the cross we are to bear, the cross which leads to transformation.   We always need to ask, "What are you trying to tell me Lord?"   Let Jesus call you by name, and  reveal himself in the breaking of the bread .Seek and serve the Christ in all persons including ourselves.  We may not have seen the Risen Christ  but we can experience the Christ Presence and be blessed    

  For all disciples it takes the experience of Pentecost to fully awaken us to the Spirit Presence that Christ has given us, and to be willing  to forgive  Forgive Thomas for doubting and realize he merely out pictures the unspoken questions we often have within ourselves.  Forgive Judas,who thought he was forcing Jesus' hand to declare himself and restore Isreal by driving out the Roman oppressors and establishing an earthly kingdom under  the reign of God.  We¹d all like that  kind of kingdom in these disturbing times in which we live.

  Judas did repent and returned the 30 pieces of silver, then  in ignorance went out and hanged himself.  It is said Mary Magdalene  remarked, "Poor Judas, he didn¹t have to do that."  lnstead of returning the pieces of silver, with true repentance  he could have returned to Jesus, the compassionate  forgiver.  How forgetful all of us can be of the forgiving, receiving, includng nature of God.  In many denominations, including our own,  are those who judge and label those different from themselves,  seemly blind to  that piece of the Good News which proclaims love, acceptance, forgiveness and inclusion. 

  It's almost second nature to judge (you may be doing it right now) and to hold resentments . and to rationalize our grievence story.  Yet Jesus still says "forgive"  He knows the healing nature  of forgiveness and the wasted energy spent in holding a grudge, energy that could be spent in loving. And we must forgive ourselves in order to be forgiving persons.

  We who have not seen may have our doubts and questions.  Jesus says that's okay.  We can  continue to seek and find, to be open to the Holy spirit within who opens ours eyes and ears and reveals all Truth. It is  the  Pentecost  experience which more fully  awakens us  to the Spirit's various gifts within us, waiting  to be manifest  through  our lives.

   Perhaps wisdom is the primary gift as it helps us use the other gifts wisely.-  Knowledge, to see our strengths and our weaknesses, our limitations and our gifts.  Faith, to  remember God's track record in our lives. Healing and the  working of miracles,  tapping into a higher Law or Truth as Jesus did, accepting his Oneness with God and living out of the power of  that Oneness.  Jesus also said,"Greater things than this shall you do," a challenge to our potential to live from our Oneness in  God. ...Prophecy, seeing what is and God¹s will  working in what is.   Discermment of spirits, noticing when God is at work in people and situations, as well as where God's work is being impeded by ego or False Self opinions and judgments.  Various kinds of tongues and the interpration  of tongues, a break through from the normal, Not rational but; not irrational.  None of the gifts are  for the grandizement of individuals, but to further and serve the community and make us One in God and all of creation.

   From this Oneness we are enabled to bear the fruits of the Spirit., the very attitudes and drivng forces needed to hold in tension the diversity that makes up our community under the reign of God. We can become  our True Selves communicating  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  We know from the Master, as Paul reports, the greatest ot these is Love.  It is Love that sets us on the path to transformation, the presence of God in every cell and fiber of our bodies, guiding us in the spirals of growth that  are our life process.

  It is the Holy Spirit within who invites us to cultivate a  conscious relationship with God, making it vital and personal, through taking time for  silence,  emptiness , stopping the mind chatter and listening to the silence., being open to  what God may have to reveal. This time with God  Mike Evans, our Order of St. Luke conference speaker, calls "Hangng out with God."  I like that expression  as we become like those  with whom we spend the most time,    That time fills us with Christ Presence,  self-forgiveness and Love enabling us to go forth sharing the reign of God with that  forgiveness and love "not only with our llps but in our lives."

 

God's reign  is both personal and communal.  We are each unique and gifted and are called to live in love with forgiveness for ourselves  and all other unique children of God. The Church is not a museum of Saints but a hospital for sinners.. Sinners who so often miss the mark of our potential, but are in the process of becoming holy through forgiveness 70 x 7 and always through Love.