Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
The disciples have been in that room all day. Doors locked.
Lights out. No talking. There is a sinister movement right outside
their door. The religious leaders have
succeeded in killing Jesus of Nazareth.
They want to be sure the whole rebellious group is quieted. And stays that way. They are coming for them. Or at least, that
is what the disciples believe.
That morning Peter and the beloved disciple were in the empty
tomb. But now, they have entombed
themselves in this room. Death’s power
has been shattered. But not for
them. They cannot see what has
happened. They cannot see what has come
of this horrifying death. They cannot
see what has come of the abandoned tomb.
No, they feel abandoned. They
were not prepared for this, though Jesus told them what would happen. Here they sit, in the dark. Not seeing the big picture. Not seeing what it all means.
And then The Light slips in.
The locks cannot keep it out.
Even this heavy, oppressive darkness cannot out-weigh The Light. The Light has a power that cuts through
darkness. No matter how much darkness
there is, it cannot extinguish the light.
The disciples of Jesus, hiding in the dark, look up and see
the light. The body and blood of Jesus
stands before them. The living
resurrected flesh of the man they saw die in the darkness, is visible before
them and they can see… a little bit.
They hold onto the power of the darkness, it is just too hard
to believe. To hard to see that they can
let go of it. But Jesus is coming to
show them what God’s power is really like.
This is what they have been asking for, “Show us the Father” they have said.
But “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is
close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
For he is “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we
have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and
truth.”
These are the disciples who invited each other to “Come and
See.” These are the disciples who were
there when Nicodemus came in the cover of darkness to figure out how to “See
the kingdom.” These are the people who
heard the woman run from the well exclaiming, “Come see the man who has told me
everything I have ever done!” They saw
the man blind from birth have his SIGHT HEALED at the pool called SENT.
They have seen the signs.
They have heard the proclamation – have they seen? Have they used their eyes and their hearts
and their minds to See what is really going on here?
“In him was life and the life was the light of all people”
(John 1:3). God’s primary work is to create Life
and Light. Jesus carried this Light and Life into the
world, he was and is and forever will be Life and Light for us! Can they see it? Can we?
They keep hiding. In
the dark. For 7 days.
They are afraid. There
might be an angry mob outside their door, ready to lynch them.
Jesus comes into the darkness in which they are hiding, not
once, but twice. He comes again for
Thomas, and all of them, who are still
locked in. Jesus comes to bring the
light, to give them life…so they can finally,
See.
This should be comforting for anyone who has trouble Seeing
Jesus. It took the people who lived with
him for three years and did ministry with him two visits from the resurrected
Jesus to just walk out the door.
When Thomas asked for the experience, the comfort, the
reality of seeing Jesus for himself, Jesus didn’t say. “Come on, guys! I have been telling you this for three
years!!” He just showed up again,
shining a light that cuts through the darkness of their fears, their doubts,
their confusion.
And Jesus does that for us.
Today, Jesus shows up in the baptism of this baby Grace. This Amazing Grace in Seth and Amy’s lives,
who witnesses to all of us that God’s amazing grace keeps showing up. Keeps lighting a candle of hope. Keeps embracing us as God’s children. Keeps inviting us into this hope-filled work
of letting Christ’s light shine.
Here at Bethlehem we are Shining
the Light of God’s love. We are
shining it through the trees and into our community. Each of us with our own unique gifts, God can
use us. God wants to use our open eyes
and hearts to shed light for those who cannot yet see.
CS Lewis says, “I believe in Jesus as I believe in the sun,
not because I See it but because by it I see everything else.”
How are you called to See by the Light of Jesus? And to help others see by that same light?
I know God calls me to see injustice and to respond to it. It
is part of our baptismal vocation, our baptismal calling, to work for justice
and peace in all the earth. Each
person’s life of faith will look different depending upon with what God has
given them to work. But there is no
question we are gifted. And no question
that God will use anything and everything, even a horrifying death on the
cross, for God’s purposes. So how is God
shining a light through you? How is God
nudging, or shoving, you to share the amazing grace we have been given – the
light of Christ?
Can you see it? I can.
Thanks be to God! Amen. P: Alleluia! Christ
is Risen! C: He is risen Indeed! Alleluia!
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