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This Month Archive
St. Mark's Lutheran Church

 

  2014

 Sermons



Dez 28 - Outsiders

Dez 28 - The Costly Gift

Dez 24 - In the Flesh in Particular

Dez 21 - More "Rejoice" than "Hello"

Dez 14 - Word in the Darkness

Dez 7 - Life in a Construction Zone

Dez 2 - Accountability

Nov 30 - Rend the Heavens

Nov 23 - The Shepherd-King

Nov 16 - Everything he had

Nov 9 - Preparations

Nov 2 - Is Now and Ever Will Be

Okt 25 - Free?

Okt 19 - It is about faith and love

Okt 12 - Trouble at the Banquet

Okt 5 - Trouble in the Vineyard

Sep 28 - At the edge

Sep 21 - At the Right Time

Sep 14 - We Proclaim Christ Crucified

Sep 7 - Responsibility

Aug 31 - Extreme Living

Aug 27 - One Who Cares

Aug 24 - A Nobody, but God's Somebody

Aug 17 - Faithful God

Aug 8 - With singing

Aug 3 - Extravagant Gifts of God

Aug 2 - Yes and No

Jul 27 - A treasure indeed

Jul 27 - God's Love and Care

Jul 20 - Life in a Messy Garden

Jul 13 - Waste and Grace

Jun 8 - The Conversation

Jun 1 - For the Times In-between

Mai 25 - Joining the Conversation

Mai 18 - Living Stones

Mai 11 - Become the Gospel!

Mai 6 - Wilderness Food

Mai 4 - Freedom

Apr 27 - Faith despite our self-made handicaps

Apr 20 - New

Apr 19 - Blessed be God

Apr 18 - Jesus and the Soldiers

Apr 18 - Who is in charge?

Apr 17 - For You!

Apr 13 - Kenosis

Apr 9 - Mark 6: Opposition Mounts

Apr 6 - Dry Bones?

Apr 2 - Mark 5: Trading Fear for Faith

Mrz 30 - Choosing the Little One

Mrz 26 - The Life of Following Jesus

Mrz 23 - Surprise!

Mrz 19 - Mark 3: The Life of Following Jesus

Mrz 16 - Darkness and Light

Mrz 12 - Mark 2: Calling All Sinners

Mrz 10 - Where are the demons?

Mrz 9 - Sin or not sin

Mrz 8 - Remembering

Mrz 5 - Mark 1: Good News in a Troubled World

Mrz 3 - For the Love of God

Feb 28 - Fresh Every Morning

Feb 27 - Using Time Well

Feb 23 - Worrying

Feb 16 - Even more offensive

Feb 9 - Salt and Light

Feb 2 - Presenting Samuel, Jesus, and Ourselves

Jan 26 - Catching or being caught

Jan 19 - Strengthened by the Word

Jan 12 - Who are you?

Jan 9 - Because God....

Jan 5 - By another way


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Faith despite our self-made handicaps

Read: John 20:19-31

 
Second Sunday of Easter - April 27, 2014

The Rev. Kenneth R. Elkin

 

The disciples Thomas is always on stage on the Second Sunday of Easter.

Thomas, “doubting Thomas” we call him, and look down our noses in disdain.

Yet who among us will claim perfect, clear, untroubled, unquestioned faith?  How silly!

For every day, in a multitude of ways, rebellion against God, doubt, and self-centeredness are being brewed up in each of us.

We are closer to Thomas than we sometimes want to admit.

 

Notice that this Thomas whom we are so quick to criticize is the one who is privileged to be the first to confess the true nature of the risen Christ in the Gospel of John: “My Lord and my God.”

The others had used many alternative titles: Rabbi, Messiah, Prophet, King, Son of God,

but Thomas addresses him as “God.”

 

A pastor of the last generation Richard Hoeffler once pointed out that better than calling him “doubting Thomas” would be to call him “demanding Thomas.”

Let's explore what difference that name change would make.

The Bible of course does not give us information for a full personality study, but let's look at the hints that have been given.

--He is not trained as a rabbi.

--Probably he has little formal education.

--He wants direct action on the basis of what he has seen and heard for himself.

 

The two other incidents about Thomas in the Gospel of John show him as one who interrupts the flow of events to demand that things be done his way.

--When Jesus wants to go to the dying Lazarus, the other disciples urge Jesus to forget it, since they would be going near Jerusalem where the religious authorities were determined to put an end to Jesus.

Thomas says “Let us go, that we may die with him.”

This is hardly the word of a doubter, but indeed the word of a demander.

He has weighed the consequences and has decided on direct action.

--Later, when Jesus talks with his disciples about the impending cross, Thomas interrupts with “Lord, we know not where you are going: how can we know the way?”

Again, not a doubt, but a demand for more information about what is ahead.

 

So also in this resurrection story, Thomas is direct: “If I don't see the marks, I will not believe.”

But whom is he doubting?

He is not doubting that God has the power to do this new thing.

He is not doubting the promise of Jesus.

It is his fellow disciples whom he finds incredible.

He wants to be sure that they have not been hoodwinked in some way, and so he demands more than the other experienced: he demands to touch Jesus.

He would be willing to believe Jesus, but he is not so sure about trusting the word of his fellow disciples!

 

Thomas has made it hard for himself;

his own tough nature has made a handicap for faith.

What is the Good News in this situation?

Just this: that Jesus does not regard even Thomas's demands as too difficult to meet and defeat.

Jesus consents to what Thomas demands.

Jesus does not rebuke Thomas's insolence.

Jesus, who is Lord of life and all creation, humbled himself to the demands of a man and thought it not too difficult a thing to do.

It is amazing and wonderful that the Lord Jesus stoops down even to the most menial task, to an inconvenient “show and tell” demand, and still loves Thomas, and us.

Thomas knows that he does not deserve this kind of treatment from Jesus.

Thomas knows that he has created a barrier between himself and God, a barrier which Jesus is willing to tear down and defeat.

Thomas sees now that Jesus loves him even more than Thomas loves himself; Jesus lets nothing stop his determination to reach Thomas.

Only God who is pure love could be so bold as to bow before such blatant disrespect as was shown by Thomas.

Thomas now recognizes that he is standing in the presence of God.

 

The story shows that we can be our own worst enemy.

We can set up all sorts of roadblocks to faith, and one of those roadblocks is our unwillingness to trust those persons whom God has sent to us.

How could this or that person be carrying a true message from God?

I've known him/her for so many years; I know his/her faults, weaknesses, and failings.

God is using him/her?

What we have is an unbroken line of witnesses stretching all the way back to Thomas and the other disciples.

Yes, God has used and will continue to use all sorts of people to carry his message:

those of high position, and low,

young and old, male and female,

those whose faults are glaringly obvious, and those whose faults are hidden from view.

All have carried the richest word that the world can ever hear.

 

And now this word has come to us, and still it does not rest.

For no sooner have they received the message of peace because of the victory of Christ than they are being directed by Jesus, “Even so, I send you...”

Each Sunday we share the news with each other here;

each day of the week we share it by what we say and do, and how we do it.

 

Through the year we have been sharing this word in The Way group, and thinking and exploring together the implications of this wonder;

 that God uses our actions of pouring and blessing together with the element of water and his holy word of promise, as well as our actions of taking, blessing, breaking and sharing the bread and wine together with the same word of promise, thereby transforming our lives with his promise that lasts forever.

We come to realize that no handicap of ours, whether self-made or from birth, shall stand in his way!

 

The story of Thomas makes it clear that God is willing to work with our doubts and deal gently with our demands.

But how much easier it would be if we would gladly receive his gifts by the hand and word of the witnesses who speak in the love of God through all the generations.

 

How wonderful it is when we discover that this word becomes a promise that re-organizes our lives, and enables us to confess with Thomas “My Lord and my God.,” and in turn to share this word with others.

How glad we are as faith is stirred up in us.

How happy we shall be, all because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Amen.

 

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.