To listen to Fr. Nesbit's sermon from the 7:30 am service click here. (Text below.)
To listen to Fr. Nesbit's sermon from the 9:00 am service click here.
To listen to the sermon preached by Jess Elfring, Director of Formation from St. John's Episcopal Church in Chicago (and former member). Please note: There was some technical difficulty so the recording begins 2 minutes into Ms. Elfring's sermon. click here.
St. Charles Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL
The Second Sunday of Easter - Easter 2 RCL – Year C
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Acts 5:27-32 – Psalm 150 – Revelation 1:4-8 – John 20:19-31
Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Starting today and continuing for the next five weeks (what we like to call the Great Fifty Days) we will be hearing readings from the Acts of the Apostles, that will tell of the beginnings of the Church; from The Revelation to John, that will speak of heaven and the end of time; and from the Gospel of John, that will tell of the apostles experience of the resurrection. During the Great fifty Days we in the Church celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and how it changed the world, but more importantly how it changes us.
This week the focus of our readings is reconciliation, on of the great gifts given to us through the resurrection. I know what you are thinking... “I thought it was doubting Thomas?” Well, Tom gets a bad rap. John is using him to make a very different point, but just like the disciples did, we miss it. The heart of our Gospel this morning goes like this.“ ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When He had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins, they are retained.’” With these words, and with this breath, Jesus confers authority to those in the new church he is building. It is a model of authority that is different from most of the types we are used to. Very different! And then in the repetition of this amazing encounter for just one missing apostle, you remember...Thomas, we see the lengths to which God is willing to go to make the point. Just one more example of the incredible lengths to which God goes for the love of us all the time.
But what is this authority that is granted to us? It is the power to retain or to forgive sins, the most powerful force in the world. If one does not read carefully, one might be apt to get carried away. This power, though great, does have limits. Some things are expressly excluded. We do not receive the power to name sins. We do not receive the power to condemn sins or to shun sinners. We are granted the power only to retain sins, that is, merely maintain the status quo. The real power we receive in this encounter is the power to forgive sins. Now there is real power; power as Christ sees it. It is a power that Jesus not only confers, but also models right in the midst of the encounter. The scene opens with the disciples locked in the upper room in fear for their lives. They have abandoned their teacher in terror as the authorities captured, tortured, and killed him. When Jesus appears in their midst, even though the doors were locked, he bears the fresh wounds of his crucifixion and death. He stands before those who abandoned him to the cross, the tears in his flesh silently convicting them of their betrayal. He has every right to be, at least miffed by their weakness, of which he has been a victim. The first words out of Jesus’ mouth are, “Peace be with you.” There is no finger pointing or reproachful looks or standoffishness. Jesus just says, “Peace” and moves right in among them. He does not separate or shun; he does not wait for their mumbled apologies; but he engages. There is no condemnation. There is only reconciliation. Jesus does not even name their sins in the act of his forgiveness. We have not been given the right to judgement, only the power to forgive.
How does this awesome power come to us. Again, the writer of the Fourth Gospel helps us by repeating the process in the story. The power to forgive comes from belief in the crucified Christ risen from the dead. In our own experience of and encounters with the crucified and resurrected Christ we receive the strength needed to forgive those who sin against God and against us. And in that forgiveness we gain freedom from the power their sin has over us. In this simple, though difficult act of forgiveness we restore the broken relationships with God and each other that lie at the root of all sin. When it gets right down to it, we don’t forgive them because they need or deserve it, we forgive them because we need to do it; for our own spiritual health and well-being.
Our Gospel this morning ends with “these are written so that you may come to believe,” a further reminder of the importance the author of the Fourth Gospel placed on believing; indeed he names it as the purpose of the whole Gospel. Later today we are going to do something a little unusual. I hope it will help you come to believe. It was only last week that we renewed our baptismal vows, but that was at the 6 am service of the Great Vigil and many of you weren’t there, so today we are going to do it again. We’re doing it today because later on, at the 10:45 service, we will be baptizing little Caeden Meade, Liz’s 1st Grandson. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t think there is anything that helps a parent believe in God more than a baby...at least when they’re behaving. (When they’re not behaving, that’s when they’re helping grandparents believe in God!!)
Anyway, to get back to my point, as we renew our baptismal vows, and say again all the things we strive for in our faith, I remind you again to start your journey along the Great Fifty Days of Easter by finding someone to forgive; not for them, but for you. Let’s shine a little everlasting light on the shadows of our lives. Let’s be the people of God the way God intended. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” May it ever be so. Amen.