Lael Murphy Sermons

The Old South Church in Boston

“Wait Till You Hear About This!”

Sermon by Lael P. Murphy
John 20: 19 - 31*
April 22, 2001

One night, years ago when my husband was a little boy he was startled out of sleep.His father shook Matthew awake with excitement and pulled him out of bed.One-by-one he roused the whole family, shouting, “Come quickly!Get in the car!”It was very strange, not only because of the time of the night but also because Mack was usually a very quiet and mild-mannered man.Naturally, Matthew did what he was told right along with his mother and sister and brother.They shuffled quickly out to the car, still in their pajamas, as Mack urged them along.

Once on the road Matthew’s father explained what was going on.He told them that driving down the local highway just a half and hour earlier, he had seen a strange object following along next to his car.He’d been returning from a nearby convention with his manager when all of a sudden they noticed a huge glowing sphere flying beside them.It was about the size of a small house, enveloped in a glowing haze that was filled with strangely pulsing lights.Mack talked as fast as he was driving and little Matthew listened, as surprised to see his father so energized and excited as he was to hear such an incredible story.“I’ve got to show you this thing!” his father kept saying to them.“You’ve never seen anything like it!”

It turns out they never did.The glowing sphere that followed Mack and his manager as they sped along at seventy, eighty miles an hour was gone.They’d seen it pull away and shoot skyward after traveling beside them for nearly a mile and apparently it wasn’t going to return to that section of the two-lane road in Southern Ohio.All Matthew and his family had from this strange night were their father’s words and the excitement with which he shared them.“It was no weather balloon, I’ll tell you that,” Mack kept saying. He figured it was some kind of U.F.O. and when he called the state police later he was relieved to hear there’d been several similar sightings throughout the county that very night.

As you can imagine, Matthew has never forgotten that adventure.Up until his father’s death in 1985 he kept asking questions about the evening, still fascinated to hear the story told over and over again.To this day if there’s a TV special on U.F.O.’s or some other type of extraterrestrial phenomenon Matthew’s the first to tune in to watch it.We even have books on the subject on our shelves at home, and while I never gave this kind of thing much thought in the past I admit that now I find myself quite open to this kind of far-out experience.Having never heard Mack himself tell the story, I’ve been affected by Matthew’s description of it.That “close encounter” in Southern Ohio still lives on.

So why do I share this with you?Why reveal such a bizarre piece of Murphy family folklore the week after Easter?

Well, I’ll tell you:this extraordinary event always reminds me of the experiences of the early apostles.Those first encounters with the resurrected Christ were so strange and surreal after all.To us today the words “resurrection” and “risen Lord” are commonplace, but from the perspective of those first disciples they were life-shattering events, nearly too wild to begin to comprehend or explain.From the women’s experience of the empty tomb to the conversation between Christ and two of the disciples on road to Emmaus, to the incredible appearances in the Upper Room that lie before us today, these were awesome times, mind boggling and earth shattering.Like my father-in-law Mack dragging his family out of bed to see something that was out of this world, these men and women were radically changed by their experiences and had to share them with others.They’d seen their crucified Lord alive again and they were shouting, “Wait till you hear about this!”

That’s what we witness in our Scripture reading this morning:there’s a lot of excited shouting going on.As Thomas rejoins the group of disciples we can imagine that he’s met with heated exclamations:“Tom, you’re not going to believe what happened!You should have been here!Listen to this!”Ten against one they tell him about Jesus showing up by walking through the wall, showing them his wounds and blessing their efforts to minister in his name.As we know, Thomas just stands there still stuck in his grief, as the others had been just a few hours before.He hears their words, can sense their excitement, but it’s not enough to shake him out of disbelief and despair.As we know, all he can say is, “Sorry guys, but I’ve got to see it for myself.”

Good old Thomas.We contemplate this Easter story nearly every year and each time he gets the bum rap.Does he deserve it?Can’t we all relate to Thomas – even just a little bit?

Members of John’s community certainly could.Back there at the close of the first century other men and women were having a hard time believing what they heard.On the one side there were those who had faith that Christ was the risen Messiah and on the other was a crowd of confused and dejected disciples who didn’t know which way to turn.A rupture was growing and everyone knew something needed to be done about it.For the author of the Gospel of John the answer was simple.He knew he had to get the word out.He recognized the need to tell the story in the most powerful way possible.And so we read this passage describing the disciples’ incredible encounter and then Thomas’ experience of the risen Christ.We hear the final verses that Rose read just a moment ago:“These [words] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”Yes, John worked hard to keep the Christian faith alive.Just as he was led to experience the love of God through the ministry of earlier apostles so he spread the good news to others.Like his predecessors, Mark and Matthew and Luke, John played his part in keeping the Christian story intact by writing his gospel, a unique work addressed to the unique needs of his community in about 90 AD.He shared his incredible experiences so that they could change lives in future generations just as he had been so dramatically converted.He was, truly, an evangelist.

Leander Keck, author of“The Church Confident,” tells us that this is exactly what we need to be as well.Describing the many ways liberal, mainline Christianity needs to break out of its shell in order to continue thriving Keck writes,

Where is the cadre of Christian communicators who can write informatively and engagingly about Christianity the way Carl Sagan does about astronomy?[…Today] what the nonchurch public knows about Christianity is an odd assortment of skewed childhood memories of Sunday School or parochial school…and what is picked up from the steadily reduced number of pieces in popular magazines or from the evening news on television…The matter is urgent, for unless mainline churches are able to communicate to the wider public who they are, what they believe, and what difference that can make; unless they are able to communicate the character and content of the Christian tradition, they will become an endangered species of interest mostly to their professional caste and historians.

Keck’s thought is a chilling reminder to us that like those first disciples in the upper room and like John in the early church we’ve got a story to tell.As individuals as well as members of a vibrant church community we need to share the power of our religious experience lest this tradition begin to fade and falter.As we’ve heard from this pulpit before, Christianity is always just a generation away from becoming extinct.What are we doing to help keep it alive?How are we sharing the impact of our religious tradition in a world seemingly numb to the Christian message of hope?

Looking at our text today we find two compelling suggestions as we seek to answer these questions.The first comes in the disciples’ encounters.They have an experience of Christ.Met by God they are witnesses to the continuing life of their Savior.Struggling through those devastating days that followed the crucifixion they didn’t give in to total despair.They waited with hope, perhaps filled with some doubt and trepidation, but they waited still for guidance and direction.Their prayers were answered by the power of God.Christ appears, opening their eyes and hearts to new understanding.

We can ask ourselves then, how are we waiting?How are we seeking God’s presence, praying for guidance, recognizing our need for inspiration and direction?Are we open to dramatic experiences of God?Or have we given up, become indifferent and afraid of what might be new and mysterious?

The pastor and teacher Lucien Deiss offers a prayer in response to this kind of concern.Appreciating the power of Christ’s appearance in our passage today he writes,

Lord Jesus,

you appeared to your apostles after the resurrection

and filled their hearts with joy when you said to them,

"Peace be with you!"

Come also into the midst of this community.

Bring it the peace of your presence,

and may your joy overflow our hearts

like the springtime sun.

Then with your apostle Thomas we will greet you

with a joyful shout:

"My Lord and my God!"

Truly this is the kind of encouragement we may hope for personally as well as when we gather here in church on Sundays or throughout the week to learn and serve together.Understanding, as in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, that “The Church is nothing but a section of humanity in which Christ has really taken form,” we may pray for renewal that God might work with us and through us.As an Easter people, living with the promise of the resurrection, we recognize our need to be continually transformed and strengthened.

For it’s then that we can trust our story will take shape, leading us to the second valuable lesson of our Scripture reading today:the natural desire to share the good news of God’s presence in our lives.As we’ve been reflecting this morning, witnessing the passionate testimony of the disciples and of John we clearly recognize the need to share the power of our faith with those around us – those nearby.Looking at the example of our text we see that we’re not asked to climb on a soapbox, not pushed into the streets to accost strangers passing by.Rather, we’re led to share the transforming power of our faith with those close to us:family, friends, others searching for God.The Spirit’s fire catches on, as we see it happen here, person-by-person, Christian community slowly growing stronger by God’s wondrous grace.As psychologist Rollo May calls passion the state of being “totally caught up in love,” so we can appreciate that’s what we’re called to be as Christians:passionate, totally caught up in the love of God and the reconciling nature of Jesus Christ.From that place, from that powerful foundation, we’re inspired to share God’s truth like those first apostles.

As we know, the challenge of Leander Keck lies clear before us:“The massive ignorance about Christianity” he writes, “will not abate unless the churches begin to assume some responsibility for informing the public about themselves and their faith.”Can we do it?Can we offer the same excitement, the same passion to our witness of God as we do to the sighting of a U.F.O. or the experience of great restaurant or movie?Can we say to someone we care about, someone living outside of the church or spiritual experience, “Wait till you hear about this!It’s out of this world”?Dare we share the stories of our faith?

By the grace of God I believe we can.By the incredible power of the living Christ I know it’s possible.How else could I be standing here, speaking to you all today?

Let us pray.

Awesome God, you turn our world upside down.You break through barriers and transform our lives.Thank you for making your presence known to us.Thank you for helping us to see and to know your loving and miraculous presence in Christ.As you give us experiences of your incredible love so we pray you may help us to share them that others in this world may come to know and love and serve you.

Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

John 20: 19 - 31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them again, “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 of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands.Reach out your hand and put it in my side.Do not doubt but believe.”Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.