Rev. Peter Hofstra
Two guys are sitting in a prison
yard. One asks the other, “Why are you
in here?” The other replies, “I was
going to church.”
That is a political cartoon
commenting on the enforcement of quarantine during these days of Covid 19. We are not done with this pandemic yet, but
people are beginning to clamor that we ‘open up the economy’ once again. And what are they doing? Gathering in large groups, exactly what will
cause this thing to spike once again!
Unless you are from Connecticut.
I watched a protest up there on the news. They were calling for the reopening of the
state as they drove around the state house in protest. Open the economy, but they are staying in
their cars…just in case.
As usual, Christianity is in the
middle of the ongoing political fights.
We, theologically, in this church, are enforcing the rules of the state
of emergency, along with the PCUSA, because we believe it contravenes the love
of neighbor to put them at risk without proper precautions. And yet we are getting painted with the same
broad brushstrokes of ‘betraying our civil liberties’ and being, I kid you not,
‘communist’ in our attitudes because of social distancing and
quarantining.
Our
text this morning is still set on Easter.
Jesus shows himself first to the disciples, then to Thomas, the Doubter,
a week later. The Bible tells us they
saw the holes in his hands, the saw the wound in his side, and they rejoiced
that Jesus was back among them (yes, it is reported that Thomas would not
believe until he put his fingers through those holes and touched the wound, but
it seems that he believed sooner).
If we follow the timeline of
Easter, Jesus is risen indeed. That is
first on the list. He has appeared to
the women and a couple disciples have gone back to, at the very least, see the
empty tomb. Some saw angels. The disciples on their walk to Emmaus have
met up with Jesus-although they didn’t know it-until he broke bread with
them. Now, apparently, they are on their
way back to Jerusalem, where the disciples will reveal that Jesus has seen them
as well. So it looks like they have not
yet arrived.
Is this critical to the
story? Only in so far as we see a
progress of revelation in what is happening.
In his first appearance, Jesus simply affirms the fact that HE IS RISEN
INDEED. On the road to Emmaus, he not
only confirms that, but he lays out for those two disciples how it was
predicted from the very beginning, and he walks them through the Bible to
understand why this is all a part of God’s plan. Now he has appeared to the disciples (minus
Thomas) and laid before them the task that they have to undertake.
The language throughout the
gospel of John is about the flow of divinity from God down to the
disciples. From John 1, where the Word,
Jesus was with God and was God, through his discussions of how “I and the
Father are one”, to this passage where the Father sent Jesus and Jesus is
sending them. John records that they
were blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, which, according to John 14, is
whom the Father is going to send to be with them after the Son has gone on to
heaven. Now the extent of their mission
is revealed.
Jesus died for us and rose for
us to save us from our sins. Now the
disciples will have the power to declare sins forgiven or not. They can look to the behavior of “Christians”
and decide who is worthy of what Jesus has shared with the whole world. The very magnitude of that authority and the
potential for its abuse, those implications just blow my mind. Is it any wonder that Jesus tells the
disciples on more than one occasion, judge not, lest ye be judged?
I wonder if Jesus is face palming
right now as he looks at our nation and what we are doing with these
instructions given to the disciples. Is
Jesus looking down on us from on high and thinking to himself, “I came back to
my disciples, resurrected for their sins.
They saw the wounds, they rejoiced.
This is the truth of our faith.
This is what they are called upon to share with the world. And this is how things are playing out in the
United States? The language of faith and
forgiveness and condemnation are now part of the political debate? Again?”
To be fair, this is not new, not
by any stretch of the imagination.
People of faith used political power to get Jesus executed in the first
place.
I guess what is different now is
that usually the toxicity of political infighting that corrupts Christianity is
not so broadly life and death. But right
now, Covid 19 is very much life and death.
everyday behavior.
So here we are, Easter on the
one hand (and we will be in this Season till Pentecost), and politics as usual on
the other. Except that the politics are
jacked up a few notches in their implications due to the pandemic.
What I am struggling with is
seeking renewal in this Holy Season, especially now that we are all effectively
shut in’s when it comes to matters of church, knowing that its going to be
political nonsense infesting everything that is going to be all that most
people hear about Christianity in this time of emergency. What do we do about that?
There is a part of me that wants
to engage with them. Lay out how the
political agenda that surrounds the little touchpoints of Christianity is one
that breeds greed and corruption on a grand scale and how good Christians have
to buy into the whole sordid package to get their voices heard on individual,
targeted social issues. The church has a
blog, we have a voice, we could shake things up some. But honestly, I don’t want to set mired in
the same tar. I would be just one more
voice shouting in the crowd. I don’t
even know who is listening anymore
Ignoring it is another
option. We could gather remotely and
reflect on the wonder of the resurrection of Jesus and simply tune out the news
and the nonsense, let them make their noises, but no bother to us. But how many political talking heads out
there are claiming, essentially, that they are talking for Jesus? That what they say IS the faith? When it is most assuredly NOT the faith. And when I tune out, who is tuning in and
fading away from Jesus all together because the nonsense is just too much to
bear?
Look at what Jesus tells Thomas
at the end there. Thomas has seen the
wounds. He has believed. He has confessed, “My Lord and My God.” Jesus told him, “You have seen and you have
believed. Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet believe.” That includes us.
But to turn this into a fight
about who has the authority to speak for Jesus over matters of sin, in this
time of quarantine, or whenever, it misses the most important message that
Jesus brought to the disciples in this passage, the most important task He
brings to us. He was not out to make
them judges, deciding whose sins were forgiven and whose were not. Their task was not simply as evangelist,
being sent by God to share the Good News of the Gospel. What was the first thing Jesus said when he
greeted the disciples, and the first thing again a week later when Thomas was
with them?
He said “Peace be with
you.”
It is SO easy to mistake that
for a Jesus-ie way of saying Hello. Like
in our culture, a greeting is more often “how are you” or “how is it going”
than simply “hello”.
But Peace is the reason for the
whole Easter mission. Jesus died and
rose that all God’s children might know forgiveness and be at peace in the
knowledge that eternal life was theirs.
And unlike the polarized political fights where each side practically
accuses the other of being in league with Satan, when Jesus gave the apostles
the authority to forgive sin or not, it was to the end of achieving peace, of
granting to those in doubt the sure and certain knowledge of Jesus’ love for
them, and to serve as a reality check for those who continued to defy the law
of loving God and loving neighbor.
What does that mean right
now? What does the peace of Jesus look
like in this pandemic? It means being
safe, first and foremost. That’s why we
have these rules in place. Peace means
taking care of those who have been affected by the pandemic, aid for those who
have lost their jobs. Peace means being
there for those who lose people in this time, especially to the pandemic. It means caring for our neighbors and not
accusing them of being communist because some political cause is trying to take
over the Christian agenda.
What it means is that we
continue to gather, even remotely, to worship the Lord, to look into God’s Holy
Word to find comfort and answers even-maybe especially-in these difficult
times. It means prayer without ceasing
for those in need. It means continuing
the work of our faith community.
Peace is knowing Jesus’ love is
without ceasing. Peace is knowing that
whatever we have done, whatever sin we have committed, Jesus gave himself for
us that we may know forgiveness and eternal life. Peace is knowing that we can come to the
throne of grace whenever we need to in prayer and supplication. Peace is knowing that whatever happens out
there, whatever people are yelling about or protesting over or condemning
others for, peace is knowing the Jesus is in control and will shelter us from
the storm, physical, viral, or political.
Would you join me to say together,
“Peace be with you” Amen.
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