Sunday, April 16, 2023

Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:29-42
Psalm 148
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh from the heavens! Praise him in the heights!

Many people thought Easter ended on Sunday with worship and baskets full of chocolate. Lent is over, the fasting is finished, but the Easter season has just begun. This week is what is called the Octave of Easter, eight days of celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Greeks saw the humor of the resurrection. The devil thought he won, but Christ rose from the dead. The week following Easter were called the “days of joy and laughter.” They held parties and played practical jokes on one another. The joyous week culminated in “Bright Sunday” or “Holy Humor Sunday.” The custom came from the thoughts of early church theologians like Augustine that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. The theologians called it “Risus paschalis: the Easter laugh.”

The crucifixion is a very real and central part of our faith; we will continue to experience the pain of the crucifixion as we go forth into all the world being witnesses for Jesus Christ. Being a Christian isn’t all sunshine and roses. However, in the midst of that truth, we are also reminded that being Easter people means to trust in God, to live in faith, and to be joyful through the pain because our perseverance will bring us to the time of seeing our salvation in its fullness, enjoying the benefits of eternal life.

Despite the doubt, fear, and uncertainty, the disciples knew joy. Peter preached that even though these things were done to Jesus, it was by God’s hand, and it was so that we could live in the assurance of hope in His promises. In his letter, Peter wrote that even though they would suffer trials, they would come through the fire with a faith that though tested would result in joy as Jesus is revealed with praise and glory and honor. John wrote the story of Jesus’ appearance and the rest of his Gospel so “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

The joy of Easter can be expressed in laughter and revelry, even if being Easter people means hardship. Early Christian theologians recognized the humor in the way God chose to bring redemption to the world. They called the resurrection of Jesus, “a practical joke on the devil.” They said that Easter was the supreme joke played on death. Because of this Bright Sunday was a time for joking and laughter. The people played practical jokes on their priests and the priests told jokes in their sermons. It was a day of joy and laughter. Eastern Orthodox priests have even been known to gather together during the week after Easter to smoke cigars, drink brandy, and tell jokes.

Besides the joy of knowing Jesus was alive, the disciples were given an incredible gift: peace and forgiveness. Real peace is not the absence of conflict but an unassailable trust in God. The world outside our door is not conducive to that feeling of peace that we long for today. As a matter of fact, we face grief, fear, and doubt every day. But Christ comes to us and says, “Peace be with you.” He is saying, “Trust in me and trust in my Father. His promises are true, and He is faithful. Whatever you face, do so with faith, knowing that everything is already finished. Live in the forgiveness I have obtained for you and take it out the door into the world for others.” This is the life we are called to live.

British dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse has this to say about the obedience of dogs. “In a dog’s mind, a master or mistress to love, honor and obey is an absolute necessity. The love is dormant in the dog until brought into full bloom by an understanding owner. Thousands of dogs appear to love their owners, they welcome them home with enthusiastic wagging of the tail and jumping up, they follow them about their houses happily and, to the normal person seeing the dog, the affection is true and deep. But to the experienced dog trainer this outward show is not enough. The true test of real love takes place when the dog has got the opportunity to go out on its own as soon as the door is left open by mistake and it goes off and often doesn’t return home for hours. That dog loves only its home comforts and the attention it gets from its family; it doesn’t truly love the master or mistress as they fondly think. True love in dogs is apparent when a door is left open and the dog still stays happily within earshot of its owner. For the owner must be the be-all and end-all of a dog’s life.”

This is the kind of obedience that is called for by Christ. This is not to say that we are dogs to our Master, but that we are meant to be willing to stand firm with Him even though we are given the freedom to wander. Some would like to think that we are able to do whatever we want because Christ forgives our waywardness. While it is true that we are forgiven, we are not given new life in Christ to run rampant around our neighborhood like the dog who has taken advantage of his master’s grace.

Easter didn’t end on Sunday. As a matter of fact, it has just begun. It is a season that lasts fifty days. During these days Jesus continued to walk with His disciples, to teach them everything they needed to know to continue the work Jesus began. The teaching continued for forty days, and then Jesus ascended into heaven. The disciples waited ten days until the Day of Pentecost when they received the Holy Spirit. The Gospel lessons for the next seven Sundays will reveal Jesus to us again and again as the Lord of our life, beginning with His appearances to His disciples following His resurrection.

Our Gospel lesson begins that first Easter night and ends eight days later. The disciples gathered together had no hope. They’d heard the stories: the women saw Jesus in the Garden. The disciples met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It was crazy and impossible. It was frightening. There may have been rumors of body stealing, and though they knew they didn’t take His body, they may have been afraid that they would be arrested anyway. If Jesus, who was so good and righteous, so gifted and devout, could be put to death, what would stop the religious leaders from destroying them, too? Thomas was so frightened; he wasn’t even with the other disciples. They had glimmers of the possibility, but it was all so extraordinary that even Jesus’ closest friends had trouble believing. They were afraid; they didn’t know what to expect. They did not yet have the Holy Spirit to give them strength.

Has anyone ever told you a story that made you say, “Wow, I wish I had been there”? You don’t just want to hear about it; you want to experience it, too. I’m sure Thomas felt the same way; he probably felt bad that he wasn’t with the disciples on that first night. He abandoned them, and thus abandoned Jesus. In those days following the crucifixion, I’m sure that the disciples questioned everything Jesus said and did during His ministry, trying to figure out what it meant. They were probably recalling those statements about suffering and rebuilding. They may have been in denial about His death. They knew about the ones Jesus raised, but could they have ever imagined He could raise Himself?

We always read this story about Thomas on the Sunday after Easter, but the story begins on that first Easter day. The first time Jesus appeared before them, the disciples were sad, grieving, confused, doubtful, and afraid. After Jesus appeared, their attitude must have changed. Their tears turned to laughter. But can you imagine walking into a room full of laughing disciples when all you can think of is your dead Master? Thomas must have thought they were crazy. “How can you be laughing at a time like this?” They were laughing because they were in on the joke. Jesus beat the devil.

We pick on Thomas, but can we really blame him? After all, we would probably have felt the same way if we had been out of the loop. We would have had difficulty believing the testimonies of those who were those first witnesses. Instead of recalling the sadness and of the disciples after Good Friday, which Thomas was still feeling on that first Sunday, we are invited to join in the joy of the week after Jesus’ first appearance to His disciples.

We live a long way from the resurrection, not only in distance but in time. The eyewitnesses are long gone, only their stories remain. It is easy for us to assume that there is exaggeration in the records, that it couldn’t possibly be real. It is easier to doubt than it is to believe. So, is it any wonder that Thomas was uncertain? Thomas was not among the disciples at that first meeting according to John. Where was he? Did he even hear that Jesus had been raised? I don’t think Thomas’s doubt suggests a lack of trust or love, but the story they told is impossible.

The disciples were not able to believe in Jesus without the power He gives them to believe. The breath He breaths into all believers is the Holy Spirit, and it is by the power of that Spirit that they have faith. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to deny His power, to reject Him.

In that first appearance, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” This was like a down payment of what was to come: the Holy Spirit that would anoint them at Pentecost. In the days between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus taught the disciples everything they needed to know, but even then, it would not be enough. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit could the disciples ever believe and do the work God was calling them to do.

Many will reject the word we speak. They will not believe us. Some believe their sin is too great for even God to forgive. They can’t accept that there is mercy that can overcome. Others do not think we are credible witnesses, like the women who were ignored on that first resurrection day. What have we seen that we can really report? There are others who do not believe they need to be forgiven. The worst reason the Word is rejected is that we do not reveal our own need for forgiveness. We wear a mask that tells the world that we are good Christians, and they see our calls for repentance as judgment and condemnation. Or they see us as hypocrites because we say one thing, but they see our flaws too clearly. They do not believe that we speak the Gospel because we know we are sinners in need of a Savior. They think we see ourselves as their savior. There are yet others who simply need to see something tangible to believe, no words will ever be enough.

Thomas was one of those guys who needed to see to believe. Eight days after the first appearance, the disciples were still hiding behind the closed doors. This time Thomas was with them, unwilling to believe their word. Imagine how they must have felt about his rejection. Thomas was like a brother, having traveled with them for nearly three years. He heard the same stories; he learned the same lessons. He was given the same prophecies and promises. If he did not believe them, who would? How could they possibly share their message with outsiders? I imagine they were hurt, there may have even been discord among the disciples. When Jesus appeared the second time, He spoke the words of peace again. “Peace be with you.”

In this greeting, Jesus touched on the greatest problem within the Church even today. For the disciples to do the work they were called to do, there must be peace among them. How can they take the message of the Gospel out into a world if there is no reconciliation between brothers? Whatever was going on behind those closed doors during the week between the first and second appearance, Jesus pointed them in a new direction. Once Thomas was given the same experience, there was nothing to keep the disciples divided.

We pick on Thomas, but can we really blame him? After all, we would probably have felt the same way if we had been out of the loop. He didn’t get the joke. We would not have gotten the joke either. We would have had difficulty believing the testimonies of those who were those first witnesses. Instead of recalling the sadness and of the disciples after Good Friday, which Thomas was still feeling on that first Sunday, we are invited to join in the joy of the week after Jesus’ first appearance to His disciples. Jesus said to the disciples, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.” This reprimand was given to all the disciples, not just Thomas. They had an advantage: they saw the Risen Lord. They lived with Him and learned from Him for another miraculous forty days. But the Church would grow out of faith in the word heard, not seen. The blessed ones would be those who would believe when they heard their testimony.

Viktor Frankl experienced Auschwitz and Dachau. He’d been condemned to a living death, along with so many others who were devastated by the horrors of the holocaust. It was humiliating to be treated like an animal; they were stripped, whipped, shaved, and put into prison. He lost many family members through death in the camps and gas ovens. He had every right to lose hope; what did he have to look forward to? Yet, Viktor knew that the only thing that kept him alive despite the cold, fear, starvation, pain, lice and vermin, dehumanization, exhaustion, and terror was hope. Faith in the future kept him going day by day. Many prisoners just stopped living, they refused to move off their beds, wash, or dress, even when they were threatened. They no longer cared; they had no hope and so gave up. This is what Viktor called “give-up-itis.”

We can almost understand giving up under such extreme circumstances, and yet looking at those who survived we can see that God did amazing things through their lives. When we think of the stories that have been written by those who lived through the horrors, and the lessons they’ve shared, we are thankful that they never lost hope. Otherwise, we might have lost their witness, not only to the horrors of what happened at the hands of the Nazis, but also the amazing grace of God.

“Give-up-itis” is not limited to people who are in extreme circumstances. Have you ever known someone who felt there was no hope in their job or their relationships, and so they just gave up on them? They stop working to make things better. When there is no room for promotion, a worker will only do what is necessary to get through every day at the job. When there seems to be no future in a marriage, a couple will give up and stop trying to build up their relationship. Sadly, I think there are many people who are living in America today who have “give-up-it is.” They have no hope for a job or a better life, so they just give up trying. There are those who think there is no solution to our problems, so they hide ignoring the possibilities that really do exist.

It is easy for us to get caught up in the cares of the world, even those that really have no value. Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to be a disciple in those first few days after the crucifixion and resurrection? They were worried and scared, perhaps even rightly so. But Jesus came to them in the midst of that difficulty to give them peace.

We can experience the same peace if we keep our hearts and minds firm in the promises of God. He calls us to obedience. That doesn’t mean that we should be like dogs. As followers of God saved by Jesus, we are called to love God so much that we trust Him completely. Obedience means believing that the best place in the world to be is within earshot of our Master.

This was a most extraordinary thing that the disciples were doing. Jesus died and you would think that His death should have put an end to any movement of faith that would follow His name. And yet the stories in the book of Acts tell us that the people believed in extraordinary numbers. Three thousand were baptized on Pentecost, and the scriptures tell us that people were being added to their numbers daily. These were people who believed by the word of those apostles: they told stories and the Holy Spirit instilled faith. There is no way that the council would be able to stop the growth of The Way, even if they killed all the apostles. It didn’t take long before others were already spreading the Good News. The people who had witnessed the Pentecost miracle were traveling to the four corners of the earth with stories about Jesus.

In today’s lesson from the Book of Acts, Peter and the apostles had been arrested for preaching about Jesus in the temple. They had been warned, but answered the Sanhedrin, “We must obey God rather than men.” The movement of the followers of Christ was called The Way; it was growing daily. This made the Jews nervous and jealous. The temple leaders persecuted the disciples, having them arrested, beaten, and threatened with death. But God was with the disciples, giving them strength, peace and hope in the midst of their troubles. God even sent angels to help them at times and gave them opportunities to share the Gospel through their persecution. Nothing was going to stop them because they loved their Lord with their whole being and they were willing to stand for Him no matter what happened. The disciples didn’t mince words when facing the Sanhedrin. This made them extremely angry. They wanted to kill them.

There was one Pharisee who was a peacemaker that brought calm to the situation. He told his fellow councilmen to be patient and let God take care of the situation. “Now I tell you, withdraw from these men, and leave them alone. For if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!” This was wise advice, although I’m certain the council was hoping it would turn out much differently.

This man was named Gamaliel, and he may have had a concealed motive for speaking those wise words. We know that this Pharisee was a Jewish scholar and teacher of the Law. His most famous student was Saul of Tarsus, otherwise known as Paul. Tradition holds that Simeon, the old man in the Temple who recognized Baby Jesus as the Messiah, was Gamaliel’s father. If this is true, he most likely told his son about Jesus. Did Gamaliel know that the men standing before the Sanhedrin were followers of that baby from so long ago? It is believed that Gamaliel did become a Christian and was baptized by Peter and John, but that he kept his Christianity a secret until his death so that he could remain in the Sanhedrin and offer aid to the Christians who were being persecuted. The Jewish account of his life maintains that he remained a Pharisee until he died. But his speech at the trial of the apostles gives some credence to the possibility that he had faith.

It is easy to see the obedience of Peter and the apostles in this story as they stood up for their faith even against such a great risk. What about Gamaliel? Gamaliel was risking his own power, position, and reputation for a bunch of misfit prophets. It didn’t matter if he was a believer or not; Gamaliel was willing to trust God in this situation, and he convinced the others to trust Him, too.

In his letter, Peter tells us about the hope we have in Christ. The promise of eternal life in Him is not dependent on anything human or created, it is founded in God’s grace and love for His people. We have been given the eternal kingdom; the promise is real, and the King is faithful. We may experience hardship and trials, but through those difficulties our faith will grow and mature. Our joy rests not on the blessings we will see in the here and now, but in faith that God has assured our salvation and that we’ll share in His glory.

What is so incredible about the God we worship is that He never kept Himself above His creation, but instead came down to dwell amongst His people. The incarnation is absolutely ridiculous if we think about it in human terms; however, God does not think the way we do. His ways are higher. He stands as our helper, our guide, our hope.

That’s why the devil didn’t see the joke coming. It was outrageous and preposterous. It was unexpected. Celebrating Holy Humor Sunday might just be a way to laugh at ourselves, as perhaps Peter and Thomas and all the disciples must have laughed after they realized what had really happened to them over these amazing and outrageous weeks and years. We can tell jokes about ourselves, about our fear and our doubts and laugh in the joy of God’s forgiveness, trusting in His mercy and sharing His grace through laughter and merriment one Sunday a year, praising God for Jesus. We can be glad and rejoice because what God has done is really a great joke that has brought salvation to the world.