2nd Sunday of Easter - New Beginnings Sermon
Series
Can we make things new with God?
Sermon – April 11, 2010 Paul Robinson
About a week ago, Dawn phoned to clue me in on
the direction that we were taking re the sermons. Since we were past
Easter, a logical choice was New Beginnings. Can we make things new with
God?
Immediately I responded to the title – New
Beginnings – because, in the mid 1980’s, out west, we had a terrific
weekend event for youth – mid teens – called New Beginnings. Both of our
kids attended, and I think that Wade said that he too had gone.
As I said, it was a terrific weekend, exposing
kids to a church they possibly had never experienced. The music was very
contemporary, the scripture choices were in a language that they could
understand, and the many talks and discussions were "cool".
When we picked them up, at the end of the
weekend, they were just flying and, to the credit of the program, that
"high" lasted more than just the weekend.
It was largely maintained by the connections
that they had made over the weekend. This fellowship was very important
and, to a degree, it continues today, some twenty years later.
That connection has changed – diminished – but
certainly not gone. But when you talk to them about it, there is a hint
of nostalgia. When remembering the weekend, that spiritual high is the
main memory and, for the most part, it is not there today.
Did something go wrong? What happened to the
New Beginning? To answer that, maybe it would be helpful to look at
today’s gospel. Most of us are very familiar with the story of poor
Thomas. He has received such bad publicity from this one incident, even
earning a nick-name – Doubting Thomas.
Quickly reviewing some of the points – the
disciples (minus Thomas) were gathered (huddled) in the upper room, and
Jesus appears to them. They do not appear to be overly confident. The
text says "that the doors were locked for fear of the Jews." Jesus
comes, and goes. A week later they are still huddled there – again the
text says, "the doors were shut." Jesus somehow appears and this time
Thomas is present.
Undoubtedly his apostolic brothers and sisters
had told him about Jesus’ earlier appearance, but he stubbornly refused
to believe them. "Unless I see for myself, and put my finger into the
wounds I am not going to believe that it is he." I can just see him,
chest stuck out, probably red faced, blustering away –"I am not going to
believe."
Then Jesus offers Thomas his hand, "Thomas, put
your finger here." And then comes that very misunderstood and
mistranslated passage –Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus
said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me?"
If you read our written text, you can certainly
see that this is a new beginning. Thomas’ reply is full of capital
letters and has an exclamation mark. But not so in the original Greek.
Although Greek does have upper and lower case letters, generally only
the lower case are used for the text, and that is the way it is here.
Also there is no punctuation used in the Greek.
So, what if Thomas’ reply was not "My Lord and
my God!" but "my lord and my god". Rather than an over-the-top hyperbole
of some emotional outburst, there was a sincere, quiet response – a new
beginning based on humility, and a respectful awareness of what had just
happened to him. Personally I think the latter rather than the former.
As support for my position, I ask you – Who is
Thomas, other than just the doubting character? Where is he mentioned
elsewhere in the gospel stories? Answer - Not often. - In the list of
the apostles, where he is sometimes called the Twin. - In an apostles’
list, in the opening verses of the Book of Acts, at Jesus’ Ascension.
That’s all. He is not mentioned in the letters of Paul, or elsewhere in
the New Testament as we have it. He is mentioned in the Gnostic Gospels
but, traditionally, the church has "poo-pooed" these.
Another measure of his significance is – when
is his feast day? I don’t blame you for not having the answer readily to
hand, because the church hasn’t either. If you follow the Book of Common
Prayer, his feast day is December 21st. But if you follow the
Book of Alternative Services, it is now the 3rd of July. Why
the confusion and the change? Well the 21st was too close to
Christmas and the feast day got lost, so they moved it to July. Not much
better for getting people’s attention but it does have some real
significance and that may help us in our understandings of New
Beginnings.
July the 3rd is the day that the
Syrian Church celebrated the Feast of St. Thomas. For those of us living
in Canada, from a European background, that may not have much meaning.
But if we are members of the Mar Thoma Church of India it is of prime
importance. Since their foundation as Christians, the Indo-Christian
church of Mar Thoma has believed that their founder was St. Thomas, the
self-same Thomas – Doubting Thomas – of today’s gospel.
Although there is only a little reference to
Thomas in our texts, there is a wealth of references in other texts,
notably the Gnostic gospels which are honoured by the Mar Thoma church.
(Oh, by the way, the Mar Thoma church is not some kooky branch of
Christianity. It is the official church of South India.)
Getting back to Thomas and his New Beginning –
It is important to recognize the significance of his taking the gospel
to India, and of this new understanding – his awareness of this New
Beginning. It was that humble, respectful, and sincere response, "my
lord and my god." Now, all that he had heard as he travelled with Jesus
made sense, and it took on a new meaning.
Not that it was new. Jesus’ teaching was
traditional, it was the faith of Israel, the people of God. But now, for
Thomas, it was new, a new understanding. And for him it was a New
Beginning. In whatever words he may have used, he asked himself, "Can I
make things new with God? Jesus has fulfilled his calling. Now it is up
to me. Can I make things new with God?"
Obviously he could. Because of him, awareness
of God’s presence and love spread from that locked upper room in
Jerusalem, beyond the walls of that city, all the way to India.
Was this a New Beginning? Certainly! In many
ways – Yes, but we also have to constantly remind ourselves, in other
ways – No, not really.
I would ask you to do some homework. I know
that we try to faithfully listen to the readings but, speaking for
myself, I know that my mind wanders. Sometimes the reading is overly
long and I drift off to other thoughts. That may have happened to you
this morning because the first reading was a bit long. But it is
important, particularly for our understanding of New Beginnings. It is
an excerpt from one of the psalms – the hymns of the Hebrew scriptures,
the scriptures of Jesus and of Thomas.
These were regularly sung or read in their
worship gatherings. These were the foundations of their faith, and
Thomas would have regularly heard them and, undoubtedly, Jesus would
have referred to them in his teachings. But, like us, Thomas may have
listened, but not really heard. Now, with his new under-standing, these
so familiar readings took on a new meaning, a new significance.
And when he heard - "You are my God and I will
give thanks to you, you are my God, I will extol you." (vs 28) – no
longer are they just familiar words of his worship. They are a personal
call to him, and his reply is truly – "my lord and my god."
So I am asking you – please go home and, maybe
in a quiet moment this afternoon, or tomorrow night after supper, or
whenever, but sometime this week, try to take a few moments to read
through this first reading from the psalms. (The biblical reference is
printed in today’s bulletin.) Give yourself a few moments of quiet
reflection, asking yourself, "Can I make things new with God? Do these
words quietly suggest the possibility of a new beginning for me?"
Then we will honour the Psalmist whose words
may be for us a new beginning.
"O give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his
steadfast love endures forever."
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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