Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] April 16, 2023 “A Real Life” John 20: 19-30 – The Message Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side. 20-21 The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were awestruck. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.” 22-23 Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” 24-25 But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” 27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” 28 Thomas said, “My Master! My God!” 29 Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” 30-31 Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it. For our siblings in Eastern Orthodox churches today, Happy Easter! Either we were a week early or they are a week late. Naturally, of course, we ask, why is Easter on a different day – although, to add a twist, on rare occasions, they are the same day – like in 2017 and again in 2034. Well, for the first 300 years of Christianity, churches celebrated the resurrection any day they wanted. In 325, the Council of Nicaea sought to bring uniformity and proclaimed that Easter is on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, but also always, and only, after Passover. Got it? To avoid confusion, the vernal equinox was set as March 21. This system would guarantee that all churches would forevermore celebrate Easter on the same day. Except. There’s always an except… In the year 1054, “The Great Schism” split Christianity into eastern and western churches – Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. “Why” is a whole other very complicated story and depends on who is doing the telling. Even so, for the next 500 years, Easter remained on the same day, but in the 1500s, the Western church started following the Gregorian calendar while the East stayed on the Julian calendar. Plus, the Western church decided that Easter didn’t have to follow Passover. And ever since then, we celebrate Easter on different days, except occasionally. In any case, we both proclaim that Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed! Except that in some Orthodox communities, they add a third phrase. Christ is Risen! Christ in Risen Indeed! I can see him in your face.” Nice addition. But to say “Christ is Risen” still means the same thing, right? Of course not! What “Christ is Risen” means in western and eastern churches is fundamentally different. Like, totally different. In western churches, the resurrection happened to Jesus as an individual. (see picture below) In eastern churches, the resurrection of Jesus is an act that involves all of humanity all the way back to Adam and Eve. (see picture above) Think of Western Christianity as more of a “me and Jesus” kind of thing. Individuals. For example, how often have we heard it said: Jesus saved me. In Eastern Christianity, however, Jesus saves us – the whole of humankind. In western art that depicts the resurrection, Jesus is often slightly elevated, surrounded by light, arms spread open – a lone individual looking down. Alone. In the artwork of eastern churches – from Turkey and Greece and Russia and Egypt – icons of the resurrection often depict Jesus grasping the hands of Adam and Eve, often with prophets on either side. These icons portray the act of resurrection as Jesus rising up from the dead and taking everyone with him. Universal resurrection. No one is left behind. What difference does it make? In the gospel reading today, after the story of “doubting Thomas,” John completes the chapter by saying, “Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, you will have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.” You will have real life. What is that? And in 1st Peter, “Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now! The Day is coming when you’ll have it all – life healed and whole.” And the future starts now. So, I was curious. What is a real life? And instead of trying to answer it for you, I asked the question during my daily connections on Facebook Live this week. Plus, I emailed a few people and asked participants at Lunch and Lectionary. I got more answers than I can possibly share but here is some of the wisdom you shared. Danielle said, “A real life is a life with purpose and meaning, a life which has a positive impact on others.” Carol said, “I would define a real life as one where your life counts for something and you do something that makes the world a better place for others.” She adds, “hopefully a real life is a blend of both doing things for sheer enjoyment but also doing things to help improve the world in whatever way you can.” Danielle expanded her statement about purpose and meaning to say, “A real life is a life lived with authenticity, with courage to be your true self, and the full scope of human emotion (excitement and fear, joy and sorrow). It’s not always safe or easy, but it is fully worth living.” That’s very true. And Lois explained how. “A real life is living one day at a time. It is surrendering to God what we cannot control, giving to and helping others in need, having gratitude for all that we have, and finding peace and joy in our hearts even in a broken world.” Pondering my question further, Carol asked, “is a real life synonymous with a good life or a life well lived? Or is a real life closer in meaning to an authentic life? Day to day life so often involves presenting ourselves to others or acting a certain way to fit into what society expects of us. It seems to me that a real life is one where you present your authentic and honest self to others and, to perhaps use a cliché, live your own truth. And if one is fortunate, your close friends and family accept and love you as you are.” That was true for others too. Several spoke of what it feels like to be accepted and understood. And how especially important it is to understand and accept ourselves. John shared, “I was diagnosed at age 62 with Autism and some dyslexia. Suddenly, like completing a puzzle, my life events started to fall into place – why I survived a suicide attempt, why I was provided business mentors at the right time and found a loving and understanding husband. The toughest part has been learning to understand God’s timing is sometimes different than mine.” Rachel described a real life as living an examined life. And, similar to others, shared the difficulty of understanding grace and accepting forgiveness, adding that accepting forgiveness is hard work. Pat agreed. It’s hard to accept that yes, God has forgiven me but I have to forgive myself too. Sometimes I act as though I know better than God. In fact, as Rachel added, we often act as though we have higher standards than God. Why would God forgive me? In a real life, we’re OK with our shortcomings which allows us to embrace our strengths. And back to the gospel reading, real life is showing up with our scars, like Jesus to Thomas, showing our vulnerabilities, because in them, something good, at least in our group’s shared experiences, something good has always come. We discover this as stages, passages from one part of our life to the next. Not to be feared. And even death. Death is not a failure. It’s simply the next stage. As a group, we acknowledged that we are blessed with the wisdom of age. How can we tell someone without the gift of age? Well, by showing up with our scars and sharing with honesty and vulnerability, we can let people know that some of the worst times in life have been the very things that have led to the best times in life. They have prepared us for what is next – just like the resurrection. However, Laurie reminds us, “for most people in the world, real life is unfair. The zip code or country where we are born can make all the difference in how difficult or easy our lives may be. Real life is truly a mix of tribulation, sorrow, joy, and comfort, yet always having the presence of God with us to share in the good times and sustain us through the hard times. Yet even if our lives are going relatively smoothly, we hurt for those whose lives are a struggle. Therefore, real life involves following the Spirit’s leading to help make the lives of others better.” It is all related. We are all related. I really resonate with the idea of a universal resurrection in the Eastern tradition. A rising with Jesus and the rest of humankind, for the sake of humankind. A real life doesn’t make sense if anyone is left behind – at least, it doesn’t make sense as a belief within Christianity. This life, as Jesus personally revealed it, is about all of us together, not a few winning some game in some afterlife. The future is now. So, a real life is:
Those are a few of the things that constitute a real life, from the experience of our congregation, revealed by the life of Jesus. What else would you add? One more thing. The wisdom of Marla. When she fell and broke her hip, she didn’t ask, why me. She asked, “What is the gift in this?” A gift she could then share with others. That’s how humanity rises together.
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