Rev. Kenneth M. Locke; Interim Pastor
Orchard Park Presbyterian Church; Carmel, IN
April 27, 2025; Second Sunday of Easter
Our Gospel lesson today takes place on the evening of the first Easter. Its evening of THE day of resurrection. All, almost all, of the disciples are gathered together in one place. The door is locked.
Suddenly, Jesus is standing there with them. He shows them the wounds from his crucifixion so they know it’s him. Jesus breathes on the disciples giving them the Holy Spirit and sending them out into the world. ‘Game on, guys! Get busy!’
Soon, Jesus leaves and the disciples get busy.
Remember I said ‘almost’ all the disciples were there? One was missing. That was Thomas, the Twin. The disciples tell Thomas what happened, but he doesn’t believe them. How do you think that conversation went? “Thomas, we seen have the Lord! He’s risen from the dead and is among us!” ‘Come on guys, don’t make jokes. This is serious business!’ “Thomas, you think we’d pull your leg about this? Of course not. This is serious business!” The conversation ends with a bit of a standoff. Thomas won’t believe until he receives the same proof the others received. He wants to see Jesus’ wounds, too.
A week later the disciples, including Thomas, are all gathered together. Once again, Jesus appears among them. “Tom, buddy, look. See? See the holes they put in me? Now do you believe?” Thomas says, “Yes. I believe. You are my Lord and my God.”
Jesus says, “I’m glad you saw me and believed. But blessed are those who don’t see me and believe.” And there’s the rub.
None of us can see Jesus in the flesh. None of us can put our fingers in his wounds. How are we to believe? How is anyone to know Jesus is our Lord and our God? How can we lead others from gray shadows into light?
In a few minutes, Pastor Trish is going to preside at the baptism of a wonderful little girl. I say she will preside because baptism is an act of the entire church. Authorized by the session, the entire church baptizes. And we, along with this girl’s parents, are going to vow to raise her in the faith. We, both her parents and the church, are going to raise her to know Jesus as he Lord and her God.
How are we going to do that? What does that look like? How are we going to lead her out of the shadows into the light of faith in God’s love?
I’m sure both her parents and we as the church are going to teach her to pray and to listen to God in prayer. We’re going to teach her the Bible stories about how much God loves us. We’re going to teach her hymns that will help her praise God. I hope we’ll send her on mission trips and teach her how to live a life of witness at school and in her neighborhood. Places where she can meet people who can both challenge her and help her grow in faith.
There’s one other way I hope she learns about God. I hope she sees us as individuals, and as a congregation, speaking truth to power. I hope she sees us speaking to the Sanhedrin of our day and telling them, ‘No. We won’t be quiet. We have to obey God, not any human authority.’
I hope and pray this little baby will someday see us standing up to the powers and principalities and saying, ‘No. This is wrong. The Bible tells us to care for the impoverished. Your policies are raising the price of food and basic commodities. You are hurting the impoverished. What you’re doing is wrong and we won’t stop denouncing it.’
I hope and pray this little baby will someday see us standing up to the powers and principalities and saying, ‘No. This is wrong. The Bible tells us there is to be one law for both the native born and the alien in our midst. What you are doing discriminates against the alien. You are creating two sets of standards. What you’re doing is wrong and we won’t stop denouncing it.’
I hope and pray this little baby will someday see us standing up to the powers and principalities and saying, ‘No. This is wrong. The Bible tells us not to seek revenge but to forgive each other. You are teaching us to hate people who hurt us and hold grudges until we can crush them like bugs. What you’re doing is wrong and we won’t stop denouncing it.’
I know it will be several years before this little one will be able to understand what we’re doing when we reject the Sanhedrin and vow to follow God rather than human authority. But we don’t need to wait. We can act now. In fact, I think we should. Who knows? We can’t lead anyone to the physical Jesus. We can’t point to his wounds. But maybe we can lead them to faith in Jesus. Maybe, by our actions, we will lead them out of the dark shadows into faith in Jesus as our Lord and our God.
By God’s grace may it be so.
Amen.
