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And Yet, Jesus Persisted - The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel's sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter.
Today's readings are:
Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 133
John 20:19-31
Readings may be found on LectionaryPage.net
Transcript:
Please join me in a spirit of prayer. Lord Christ, in your risen, wounded body, in your Holy Spirit, you give us all that we need to follow in your way. We thank you for this gift and we pray your grace, that we may follow. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. Please be seated.
I want to begin with a word of thanks to our quartet who are operating without our Director of Music, Tyrone Whiting who's under the weather. So love to you, thank you. We are grateful as always. Boy, so good that music.
Here we are, one week later, and the disciples are still in the house. The Beloved Disciple and Peter brought a report of an empty tomb. Mary of Magdala met the Risen Christ and brought the good news to the disciples. The Risen Christ himself appears. One week ago, in the house where the disciples huddle, Jesus shows himself, displays his wounds, grants them the gift of peace, breathes the Holy Spirit on them and gives them a command to go forth.
One week later, they're still in the house.
Like the cat in the song and the postman who rings twice, the Risen Christ keeps coming back. The one who said keep knocking on God's door until God pays attention, knocks on our door persistently and repeatedly until we begin to respond.
What God has done, God has finished. Jesus is risen from the dead. Peace is secure between humanity and God the stone is rolled away, the gate is open, Alleluia Alleluia. Now, the ongoing drama is in the souls of the disciples, the students of Jesus, and the ongoing drama is in our souls, as students of Jesus. As we slowly wake up to what is now possible for us, as we slowly wake up to what risen life means for us.
In relation to this good news of risen life that I struggle to take in, I sometimes see my soul as a big chunk of ice thrown onto the embers of a winter fire. On one side, I'm melting, I'm warm, I'm starting to steam a little, and on the other, I'm still hard and cold. The human soul has a density a defensiveness well learned and sometimes necessary, so it seems that it takes repeated exposures and reassurances from God for most of us to melt into His life.
So Jesus persists each time he appears, he speaks peace to the frightened disciples in the house "peace be with you." He says it three times in this chapter of John. He is ministering to them. They are not at peace. He is bringing them a gift that they need, and we can easily imagine why. This room they're in is swirling with feelings: guilt, shame, fear, trauma. These souls are full of conflicting feelings, keenly aware of their shortcomings, their betrayal, cowardice, and the guilt and shame that go with it, agitated to their core in their fear of the Roman Authorities, the temple authorities, and not to mention their fear of God. How will they stand before God when he appears? What will that encounter be like when the one who vacated the tomb comes to visit? Agitated as well by the tension between disbelief, and perhaps even more dangerously, belief.
If I believe in this Risen One, what are the wild implications for my life? Their world is topsy-turvy. They are spiritually seasick. They need love and reassurance to rebalance, find their keel, find themselves in this new life they've been given. They need time to process. Our human minds and souls are narrow and short-sighted. This is a lot to take in.
If anyone could judge them for their failures, it would be Jesus, or could be Jesus. Jesus does not. Jesus raises no word of judgment. Instead, Jesus ministers to the guilt and the shame and the fear and the nausea by saying "peace." Like he calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, he is calming the storm of fretful souls in his community. "Peace be with you."
"Peace be with you," which is to say we are not at war, we are not in conflict, you are okay with me, we are working together and we're on the same side. "Peace be with you," which is to say you will need this peace, this peace that passes all understanding, because I'm giving you everything you need to leave this house of fear and confront the same forces that crucified me.
He shows his wounds. He allows the wounds to be inspected. Those marks are his calling card, and what holds the disciples in fear is represented by the wounds. He is showing them the marks of what they fear, and he is showing that he has defeated what they fear. Those terrifying marks of God rejecting violence are now surrounded by the living body of their gentle loving Lord. He is victorious, he is vindicated, he is teaching them once again by saying "peace be with you, I am your passport across the border of fear and guilt and shame that keeps you stuck in this house."
How are we stuck? How are you stuck? How were you stuck and are not stuck anymore, and are rejoicing for it? What fears are confining us to a smaller life, huddled and timid when God is calling us to so much more? Why are we holding on to turmoil, agitation, and guilt when God has made peace with us? The drama going forward is in our souls. God has made peace with us and accepting that gift is our spiritual life. Accepting that gift comes with the next gift: purpose, mission, for each one of us, a mission to go out, to serve in Christ's name and Christ's love, confronting all the forces that marked his body with torture and death. Going out in service, going forth in faith that his risen life has already overcome and overwhelmed everything that opposes God. Thanks be to God.
Just for a moment--you thought i was done, psych! You wish I was done. Just for a moment (maybe I should be done), just for a moment, take that room where the disciples are huddled and hold it in tension with the reading from the Acts of the Apostles: how they go from that place stuck in fear to this beloved community of sharing all goods in common. Referencing our own souls, think about all that had to be overcome to get from there to here. Referencing our own souls, what transformation was made possible by this resurrection, to go from stuck in fear to selling everything for the good of your fellow community member. And you get a sense of the power of the gift that's been given to us, what it can do in our lives.
The Risen One comes back again and again, persistent and repeatedly, equipping us, resourcing us encouraging us, showing us that the way he calls us to, the way he sends us out to live is the way of life, abundant life, a way of life fully animated by the Holy Spirit, to confront all crucifying forces with courage, faithfulness and peace. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Video, photographs, and graphics by the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Episcopal Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 8000 St. Martin's Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118. 215.247.7466. https://www.stmartinec.org
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By St. Martin-in-the-FieldsThe Rev. Jarrett Kerbel's sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter.
Today's readings are:
Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 133
John 20:19-31
Readings may be found on LectionaryPage.net
Transcript:
Please join me in a spirit of prayer. Lord Christ, in your risen, wounded body, in your Holy Spirit, you give us all that we need to follow in your way. We thank you for this gift and we pray your grace, that we may follow. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. Please be seated.
I want to begin with a word of thanks to our quartet who are operating without our Director of Music, Tyrone Whiting who's under the weather. So love to you, thank you. We are grateful as always. Boy, so good that music.
Here we are, one week later, and the disciples are still in the house. The Beloved Disciple and Peter brought a report of an empty tomb. Mary of Magdala met the Risen Christ and brought the good news to the disciples. The Risen Christ himself appears. One week ago, in the house where the disciples huddle, Jesus shows himself, displays his wounds, grants them the gift of peace, breathes the Holy Spirit on them and gives them a command to go forth.
One week later, they're still in the house.
Like the cat in the song and the postman who rings twice, the Risen Christ keeps coming back. The one who said keep knocking on God's door until God pays attention, knocks on our door persistently and repeatedly until we begin to respond.
What God has done, God has finished. Jesus is risen from the dead. Peace is secure between humanity and God the stone is rolled away, the gate is open, Alleluia Alleluia. Now, the ongoing drama is in the souls of the disciples, the students of Jesus, and the ongoing drama is in our souls, as students of Jesus. As we slowly wake up to what is now possible for us, as we slowly wake up to what risen life means for us.
In relation to this good news of risen life that I struggle to take in, I sometimes see my soul as a big chunk of ice thrown onto the embers of a winter fire. On one side, I'm melting, I'm warm, I'm starting to steam a little, and on the other, I'm still hard and cold. The human soul has a density a defensiveness well learned and sometimes necessary, so it seems that it takes repeated exposures and reassurances from God for most of us to melt into His life.
So Jesus persists each time he appears, he speaks peace to the frightened disciples in the house "peace be with you." He says it three times in this chapter of John. He is ministering to them. They are not at peace. He is bringing them a gift that they need, and we can easily imagine why. This room they're in is swirling with feelings: guilt, shame, fear, trauma. These souls are full of conflicting feelings, keenly aware of their shortcomings, their betrayal, cowardice, and the guilt and shame that go with it, agitated to their core in their fear of the Roman Authorities, the temple authorities, and not to mention their fear of God. How will they stand before God when he appears? What will that encounter be like when the one who vacated the tomb comes to visit? Agitated as well by the tension between disbelief, and perhaps even more dangerously, belief.
If I believe in this Risen One, what are the wild implications for my life? Their world is topsy-turvy. They are spiritually seasick. They need love and reassurance to rebalance, find their keel, find themselves in this new life they've been given. They need time to process. Our human minds and souls are narrow and short-sighted. This is a lot to take in.
If anyone could judge them for their failures, it would be Jesus, or could be Jesus. Jesus does not. Jesus raises no word of judgment. Instead, Jesus ministers to the guilt and the shame and the fear and the nausea by saying "peace." Like he calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, he is calming the storm of fretful souls in his community. "Peace be with you."
"Peace be with you," which is to say we are not at war, we are not in conflict, you are okay with me, we are working together and we're on the same side. "Peace be with you," which is to say you will need this peace, this peace that passes all understanding, because I'm giving you everything you need to leave this house of fear and confront the same forces that crucified me.
He shows his wounds. He allows the wounds to be inspected. Those marks are his calling card, and what holds the disciples in fear is represented by the wounds. He is showing them the marks of what they fear, and he is showing that he has defeated what they fear. Those terrifying marks of God rejecting violence are now surrounded by the living body of their gentle loving Lord. He is victorious, he is vindicated, he is teaching them once again by saying "peace be with you, I am your passport across the border of fear and guilt and shame that keeps you stuck in this house."
How are we stuck? How are you stuck? How were you stuck and are not stuck anymore, and are rejoicing for it? What fears are confining us to a smaller life, huddled and timid when God is calling us to so much more? Why are we holding on to turmoil, agitation, and guilt when God has made peace with us? The drama going forward is in our souls. God has made peace with us and accepting that gift is our spiritual life. Accepting that gift comes with the next gift: purpose, mission, for each one of us, a mission to go out, to serve in Christ's name and Christ's love, confronting all the forces that marked his body with torture and death. Going out in service, going forth in faith that his risen life has already overcome and overwhelmed everything that opposes God. Thanks be to God.
Just for a moment--you thought i was done, psych! You wish I was done. Just for a moment (maybe I should be done), just for a moment, take that room where the disciples are huddled and hold it in tension with the reading from the Acts of the Apostles: how they go from that place stuck in fear to this beloved community of sharing all goods in common. Referencing our own souls, think about all that had to be overcome to get from there to here. Referencing our own souls, what transformation was made possible by this resurrection, to go from stuck in fear to selling everything for the good of your fellow community member. And you get a sense of the power of the gift that's been given to us, what it can do in our lives.
The Risen One comes back again and again, persistent and repeatedly, equipping us, resourcing us encouraging us, showing us that the way he calls us to, the way he sends us out to live is the way of life, abundant life, a way of life fully animated by the Holy Spirit, to confront all crucifying forces with courage, faithfulness and peace. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Video, photographs, and graphics by the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Episcopal Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 8000 St. Martin's Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118. 215.247.7466. https://www.stmartinec.org