Mark 3:20-22

Are you out  of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? It’s what your friends might say when you’re about to jump off the high dive at the pool for the first time. It’s what your friends would say as you’re about to swim across a river filled with piranha. It’s what your friends ought to say to you when you claim you can drive your car 120 miles per hour.

Are you out of your mind? One of the horses that ran in yesterday’s Kentucky Derby had the name of “Rousing Sermon”. Can you imagine what Robin would have said if I came home and hold her just before the race, “I just bet everything we have on Rousing Sermon; with a name like that I can’t possibly lose!”. You know what she would have said, don’t you? “You’re out of your mind!”

Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? I remember the time in my senior year of high school when we were skating on ice so thin that you could see it shaking as the skaters went back and forth. You couldn’t even walk out on the ice from the shore. There was open water between the shore and the ice, but someone had thrown down a plank, and we walked across it over the open water to get to the ice.

Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? One of my friends suggested that we play hockey out on that ice, it might have even been me. Were we all crazy? I think so, but in Maryland ice was hard to come by, and all of us had hockey sticks crying out to be used. So we played hockey under the bright sunshine, doing our best to ignore the fact that the ice was slowly melting. At one point two of us crashed into each other and it was definitely me who crashed right through the ice into the water. Wow, was that water cold! But I managed to jump out onto the ice again, and my friends pulled me to safety using some long tree branches. Skating on that pond that day was done, the crater I left made it unusable.

Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? I drove home – yes at 17 I was old enough to drive, but not all that smart, because I changed out of my wet clothes and then my friends and I went looking for another place to skate. The hockey craving is hard to shake. So we all drove down to the Severn River and found Round Bay, a shaded cove where there was still some ice. Here not only was there a plank to walk out to reach the ice, but the Severn River feels the effect of tide and river current, you could see the plank moving and the ice wobbling as we stepped out onto it.

Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? So we got out the hockey sticks and got the game going again. This time it wasn’t me that fell through. My friend Tom’s foot went through the ice and the skate blade was stuck. He couldn’t get it out of the hole. Meanwhile water was beginning to pour up through the hole and Tom was sitting in a pool of water. “Help!” he called out as he struggled to get his foot free. Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? So we went over to help Tom, but the weight we added on the ice made the water pour through the hole even faster. I still don’t know how we survived that but Tom’s foot got pulled free, and we carefully made our way back to shore on that plank that had very little ice left to hold it up. Finally, at that point, we agreed that we were done with hockey for the day.

Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said this to you? One day some of the people around Jesus said this about him, “He’s lost his mind!”. I’m not sure what Jesus had done to deserve this accusation. Was it something he had done? Was it something he had said? Was it because he taken up with fishermen – and everyone knows how they smell like rotted fish. Whatever it was, “He’s lost his mind”, they all said, and when his family heard what people were saying about their son, their brother, their cousin, they went to go get him, to rescue him from his craziness. But he kept at it, all the way to the Cross and the Resurrection, all the way to the present, all the way to you!

Are you out of your mind? They said that about Jesus, and now – look who’s following him – we are! I think that makes us crazy, too. Are we all out of our minds? Maybe so. Just think about some of the things we believe. That sick people can be healed. That hungry people can be fed. That hope can be born. That love reaches out. That peace works. That death is not the last word. That resurrection is real. Crazy ideas? Some think so, but not me, and not you. We’ve learned that Jesus was following the mind of God.

I forget how it happened, but the folks at Camp Whitman asked me one time to direct a summer bike trip through the Finger Lakes with a group of middle and high school kids. “This is crazy”, I remember thinking at the time. It’s not like I’m an Olympic cyclist. But I did it. The first few days went pretty well. We were mostly riding flat ground along the Erie Canal bike trail and the Greenway trail that goes south. But then the day came when we faced what looked to be impossible. It was the day to climb Italy Hill. “No big deal” the kids all said. We started in Naples that morning, and had an immediate hard climb to get out of the village. “This is Italy Hill, right?”, the bikers all asked. “Not yet”, I answered. Then we had an even harder climb after that. “This must be Italy Hill” they said. “Nope, not yet!” Then at one point, one of the kids saw a glimpse of pavement off in the distance near the top of a very high hill, just below a cloud. “What’s that?” I answered, “That’s the top of Italy Hill; in a few minutes we are going to ride our bikes up that hill”. A cloud of absolute despair settled on our group. “Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? We’ll never get up that hill!” I remember two boys, Chris and Tom, who made it about 50 yards up Italy Hill before they ran out of steam. They walked the rest of the way up the hill, a mile and a half straight up to the clouds. In fact only one of the counselors made it up without stopping, and he was a skilled mountain biker. At the top of the hill as each one got there they pushed their bikes to the ground and collapsed. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done”, each of them said.

I directed the same Bike Camp the next summer. Chris and Tom, two of the ones who had complained the most about Italy Hill, were back to try again. This time as they went up Italy Hill they had to get off their bikes to rest quite a few times, but they refused to walk their bikes to the top. “This is crazy”, they said.

I directed the Bike Camp a third year, and wouldn’t you know it, Chris and Tom were back! This time they made it up to the top of Italy Hill without stopping. A full mile and a half going straight up. And they did it. As we all sat on the grass, I said, jokingly, “who wants to do it again?” Half the group jumped back on their bikes, sped back down the hill and climbed it again. The ones who remained just shook their heads, “those guys have lost their minds!”. Of course, what I saw was that at a wonderful Christian camp, we had somehow gained the ability to imagine doing the impossible. In the Letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul described himself as a fool for Christ and our camp group joined him!

Are you out of your mind? Has anyone ever said that to you? When it comes to skating on thin ice, or climbing steep hills on your bike, or swimming across the river filled with piranha … maybe they’re right, it does sound a little crazy. Yet Jesus invites us to do some things that seem crazy – feeding the hungry, healing the sick, working for peace, sharing love. Crazy? Are we out of our minds? Yes, but we have discovered the mind of God!

John 21:15-25

Part 1 – Peter’s Promise John 13:36-38

Peter: “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus: “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”

Peter: “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Jesus: “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.”

Have you ever made a promise to Jesus? When you fail to keep the promise it can feel unforgiveable. It’s because Jesus knows exactly what you promised and he knows exactly what motivated you to break your promise – greed, jealousy, anger, hatred; all those things and more. When it comes to Jesus there’s no hiding, no excuses, no pretending. He knows. So Peter promised to stand by Jesus no matter what, but in less than a day he broke that promise, and Jesus is headed to the Cross to die. It seems unforgiveable. Even after the resurrection, Peter’s betrayal is a dark cloud hanging over his life, a dark cloud that will never disappear. But that’s not the way to end a Gospel, a good news story, so John decides to add one more chapter to his Gospel, chapter 21.

You can see how the story seems to end with chapter 20, but, no, there’s more. It begins with a stranger calling out to fishermen from the shore, and in the end it’s Jesus and he’s talking with Peter on the beach.

Part 2 – Peter Denies Jesus

Woman: “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?”

Peter: “I am not.”

Someone Else: “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?”

Peter: “I am not.”

High Priest’s Slave: “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

Peter: “It wasn’t me.

Narrator: At that moment the cock crowed.

This is how it happened. This is how Peter betrayed Jesus. He couldn’t even keep his promise for one full day! I’m sure he was scared out of his wits by the soldiers, I’m sure he was frightened that he’s be arrested next, and that he would soon join Jesus on the Cross. I’m sure he felt powerless. I’m sure he felt all alone. And he denied Jesus three times.

Part 3 – Peter Restored

Jesus: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Peter: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

Jesus: “Feed my lambs.” “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

Jesus: “Tend my sheep.” “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Narrator: Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”

Peter: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Jesus: “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”

Narrator: He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.

Jesus: “Follow me.”

This morning I want to talk about jumping. That's what Peter did when he saw Jesus walking on the beach that morning long ago. He threw off his heavy work clothes and jumped into the water - he was so fired up to see Jesus alive, the one everyone thought dead! Christian faith is found in many ways. For some, belief in Jesus Christ comes through long study and prayer. For others it involves a lot of talking with other Christians. For others, still, it is found in feeding the hungry, offering refuge to the homeless, comforting the victims of violence. But today I want to talk about how faith can be found by jumping. Maybe this is your day to jump! Before I get started, I want to make sure most of you are capable of jumping. Let’s try. Jump!

Jumping. What comes to mind? Let's think about it. Jumping is the first thing I do each day, when I jump out of bed, hit the floor, get into the shower, and take on a new day. I should be a little more honest than that; I imagine that I jump out of bed, but I really drag myself out of bed very slowly. Jumping jacks? Remember them, it's the exercise you learned in gym class. They're easy to do. Jump up and down an flap your arms as you do it. How about jump rope? Everybody's seen this. It looks easy, but takes a lot of practice. In the Guinness Book of World Records, if you look up jumping rope, you'll find that someone somewhere jumped 10,000 times without missing a step. I'd be lucky to skip the rope five times before getting completely tangled up! Remember Howard Kosell, the ABC sports announcer? "Howad Ko-sell" I once heard him say that the greatest moment in sports was in 1968, at the Olympics in Mexico City, when an unknown American named Bob Beaman stunned the sporting world by jumping 29 feet, soaring two feet past the previous record. As you know world records are set by a tenth or hundredth of a second, or a quarter or half an inch at a time. Beaman's explosive jump two feet past the old mark was an incredible accomplishment. It was a record that stood for more than 20 years.

There's another sport that involves jumping ... with skis. When I used to ski I liked to jump. I didn't set Olympic records, but it was a lot of fun. I reached my limit one day on a mountain in Vermont, where I pulled up short and thought long and hard about a jump off a rock. I finally decided that it was better to be a coward with two healthy legs than a hot dog on crutches. But if I was in a burning building, I wouldn't have to think to too hard about jumping to save my life. With flames and smoke all around me, I wouldn't waste a second. Out the window. I'd rather be alive with broken legs, then dead. When it's a matter of life and death, you jump ... out of a burning building, out of the way of a speeding truck, jumping up to grab a branch of a tree to escape a hungry bear ... you jump!

Peter jumped in the water because for him it was a matter of life and death. He had been to the edge of hell, and here was his chance to find his way back to life. In the hours before Jesus was arrested, Peter promised to stand by Jesus no matter what. Instead of praising Peter for his fortitude, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times before sunrise, when the rooster crowed. Sure, enough, after Jesus was arrested, three people spotted Peter and asked him if he was one of Jesus’ friends. “Not me.” Three times he said it. “Not me”. Then the rooster crowed at dawn, and Peter collapsed in utter defeat, crying his heart out. He had betrayed Jesus!

So on that morning days or maybe even weeks after the resurrection, the disciples have gone back fishing. Out in their boat, they hear a stranger calling out to them from the shore. “Try fishing over there”. And when they do, they catch so many fish that the net nearly breaks. It is then that Peter realizes who had called out to them from the beach. Jesus! It was a second chance. And Peter didn't want to lose that second chance. The boat was going too slow, so he jumped in and swam, waded, thrashed his way to shore. It was a matter of life and death, because his guilt would kill him, and meeting Jesus again, alive not dead, was his chance to live.

How does Jesus become that moment in your life in which you jump? Because waiting, hesitating, delaying, procrastinating, which normally seem the easier course, all of the sudden look like a dead end. It's not the 29 foot long jump, or 10,000 skips of the rope, or the jump to grab a tree branch to escape the hungry bear. It's the jump that Peter took, not wanting to miss his second chance for life. It's the jump that Paul took, from torturing Christians to becoming one. It's the jump that any one of us might take when we took an honest look in the mirror in the morning and realize something needs to change. It's the jump that Tricia and Ellie will take next week with Ellie’s baptism, and Tricia joining the church. It's the jump that any one of us make away from hell and towards heaven. For Peter it was his second chance, and he took it, and jumped right in, head first, feet first, belly flop, it doesn't matter. He jumped, he splashed, and he swam, waded and thrashed his way to the shore where Jesus was waiting for him ... and for you. And, finally, it’s not a word of condemnation, it’s the invitation again, Follow me!” Jump! It’s the way John ends the story of resurrection in his Gospel. Jump! Today, it’s the beginning of your story of resurrection, it’s the beginning of your Gospel! Jump!

John 21:1-14

What a great story! This is what I love about the Bible, great stories like this. Here’s how it begins: The greatest thing imaginable has happened, Jesus is not dead but alive, not buried but risen, not defeated but victorious. Mary found him walking in the garden and she ran to tell the disciples. The disciples, though, are scared, locked in a room, but Jesus appears before them, and Thomas utters a profound testimony upon touching the holes in Jesus hands and side, “My Lord and my God”. The world has changed forever. That’s where the story should conclude, “The End”. The world has changed forever.

Or maybe it hasn’t. Because look what happens next. John has more to tell about the resurrection. The disciples leave Jerusalem, not to carry the wonderful story of resurrection out into the world, but to go fishing. I’m not talking about the kind of fishing that some of you like to do when you’re on vacation or taking a day off. The disciples have gone back home, they’ve packed up, left Jerusalem, and now they’re back doing what they used to do before they met Jesus. The greatest thing in the history of the world has happened, and they go back to their everyday lives as if nothing has really changed. This is how the second ending of John’s Gospel begins. The disciples have gone back home, and Jesus needs to find them, get them back on track, get them fired up again.

Did you ever feel like Jesus needs to find you a second time? There was that first time, of course, the first time you heard about Jesus from a Sunday School teacher, or maybe it was the time when you were baptized, or maybe it was when you stood up here and shared a story about your faith, or maybe it was when you were serving lunch to someone in a soup kitchen and realized you were seeing the face of Jesus, or maybe it was a time when you prayed and you realized you were in the middle of a huge God moment, or maybe it was a song that touched your heart and helped you find words of faith that fit you?

There are lots of ways that Jesus might find you. But sometimes he needs to find you again. You get distracted, you get busy with other things, you get lost, you run into things that overwhelm your faith, or you find yourself with a group of friends who aren’t very encouraging about faith. Whatever it is, you realize that the Jesus you thought was a big part of your life … well, you haven’t seen him in a while.

What I love about this story is that the disciples have gone back to what they used to be, before they met Jesus. And so Jesus looks for them again. He finds them right where he found them in the first place, at the seashore. They’re out in their boats, having a bad night of fishing. So he shouts out across the water, “how’s the fishing, have you caught anything?” Maybe because of the distance, maybe because it’s still dark, maybe there’s some early morning fog, but they don’t know who’s shouting at them from the beach. So they answer, “We haven’t caught a thing!” So Jesus says, “Try throwing your net over there.” With nothing to lose, they give it a try and they catch a lot of fish. When John finally sees that it’s Jesus, Peter jumps in the water and quickly wades back to shore ahead of the boat to meet Jesus.

Can’t you just picture Peter jumping into the water and splashing his way ashore his lungs pulling in the air as he labors through the water, and his heart pulling in a new Spirit of love and hope! Peter’s heart soars, and our hearts soar, too, when we discover how eager Jesus is to find people like us, sometimes taking two tries, three tries, and even more, to find you again. What a great story!

Yet there’s a challenging conundrum about this story. It has to do with context. You see, the story of the miraculous catch of fish is found in two of the Gospels. There’s this story in John, and then there’s a similar story of a miraculous catch in Luke. Well, OK, that happens a lot, a story about Jesus appearing in more than one of the Gospels. There are even a few of them that appear in all four Gospels. But the versions in Luke and John have a very unusual difference.

Luke tells about the fishermen having a bad day fishing and Jesus appearing on the shore and suggesting a better spot to fish, and the miraculous catch of fish that follows, so many fish that the net nearly breaks. In his telling, the story of the miraculous catch happens at the beginning of Jesus’ story. For it is after the miraculous catch that the fisherman become disciples in the first place. But John’s story of the miraculous catch of fish takes place after the resurrection. It’s nearly the last story in John’s Gospel. The context in Luke’s version is the start of the story. But in John’s version the context is the story is resurrection, the conclusion of the story of Jesus.

How does “context” affect our understanding of these similar stories? Luke’s version of the “Miraculous Catch” comes at the beginning of Jesus’ story, as he is setting forth his vision and gathering disciples from among the fishermen to help further the vision. John’s version of the story comes after the resurrection, perhaps to emphasize that the disciples scattered and lost in the crucifixion have been re-gathered by Jesus … and that the vision is very much alive, is not defeated, and will continue through people like us!

So this story can be all about your faith journey, how there are times when Jesus has needed to find you again. It is a story that also be connected to churches. At the beginning of our church there were people fired up in faith enough to start a church in this frontier territory. Jesus found them and they were so excited by the story that they began a new community of faith. But I can guarantee that Jesus has had to make a return visit or two over the nearly two hundred years we’ve been here, maybe lots of visits.

Gospel Parallels: the Miraculous Catch (Luke & John)

Luke 5:1-11:

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

John 21:1-14

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John 20:19-31

Where does the resurrection story end? Last week we read the end of Mark’s Gospel, only to find out that there are three of four different endings there, but the oldest complete copy of Mark that they’ve found, dated 350 AD, ends with the women looking into an empty tomb. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus does not appear after the resurrection. Each believer is challenged to find the risen Jesus for him or herself.

Where does the resurrection story end? In John’s Gospel there are two endings. One ends in chapter 20, and the other ends in chapter 21. Today we’re going to look at the first ending in John. As John tells the story, Mary meets a stranger in the garden on Easter morning, and only when he calls out her name “Mary” does she realize that it’s Jesus! She runs to tell the other disciples. Even with this incredible good news, the disciples are still scared. On Easter night they are hiding behind locked doors. But even with the doors locked, Jesus appears to them. There’s no doubt, as John tells the story, because Jesus shows them the wound in his side where he was lanced by one of the Roman soldiers, and also his hands that show the holes of the nails from the cross. It is a very personal moment between Jesus and his disciples, and the first part of today’s reading ends with Jesus giving them the gift of the Spirit. When Jesus returns to God, the Spirit will continue to empower them in their faith and witness. The story could end right there. Jesus alive, and offering them (and all of us) the gift of the Spirit for all the days to come.

I wish John had chosen to write more about this scene. One of the most astounding statements I’ve found in any Gospel is verse 30, where John writes that “Jesus did many other signs which are not written in this book”. Really! If you were writing a Gospel that included the resurrection, wouldn’t you try to include every single sentence about it, and wouldn’t you buy some extra paper if you needed more room? This scene from the locked room, for example - wouldn’t you expect the disciples to ask Jesus a million questions about the resurrection? But not a single question, not a single answer is recorded in this Gospel. So I picture the scene with a room full of frightened disciples, scared out of their wits in fear that they would be crucified next, and then confronted with Jesus alive. Maybe John has it right – that were on such an emotional roller-coaster that all they could do was gape with amazement.

But there’s a loose end. Where was Thomas? When Jesus was arrested on Thursday night, all of the disciples scattered, but on Sunday night Thomas was still missing. If Thomas was missing, he may have had good reason for it, a mixture of disappointment in Jesus who should have done more to protect himself, anger at the authorities who arrested him, frustration with the crowds whose opinions about Jesus changed so quickly from praise to condemnation, criticism of the faults easily found in the other disciples. Maybe he was off somewhere stewing. And if you’ve ever stewed about something, you know what I mean! You just isolate yourself, and fume away, “I’ll show them!”. It took the other disciples a full week to find Thomas.

So finally they were all together in the Upper Room again. And Thomas, having heard them say they have seen Jesus alive in this world, sets a high standard of proof: “Unless I see the mark of nails in his hands, and the wound in his side, and actually touch those wounds with my hand, I won’t believe it!” Jesus shows the holes in his hands and Thomas is convinced! “My Lord, and my God”, he exclaims. Thomas gets a bad reputation from this story, and a strong tradition in the Christian church refers to him - and anyone else who has strong doubts - as a “Doubting Thomas”. But, in fact, at the end of this story Thomas makes a powerful statement of faith that gives all of the other disciples something to think about.

I’m sure I’ve told this story before. It concerns Mary John, a woman from India, who attended my Bible Study class in New York City. Knowing that people in India primarily practice Hinduism or Islam, I asked her when she became a Christian, perhaps when she moved to New York City? She looked at me like I was the world’s biggest fool: “Don’t they teach you anything at seminary? Everyone knows that the Apostle Thomas himself visited India after the resurrection and my family have been believers since then. Later, I read up on it. There’s an ancient community of Christians in the southern part of India, and they call themselves the Church of Saint Thomas. Probably the furthest-traveled of any of the disciples, even further than Paul. Thomas didn’t go far away to get away from it all. He eventually went far away to spread the resurrection story to as many people as possible!

Does Christian faith it depend on physical evidence? Do you need to meet Jesus in the Garden, like Mary? Do you need to see the mark of the nails, like Thomas? During the Crusades, nearly a thousand years ago, one of the crusaders claimed to have found the spear that pierced Jesus in the side. Upon seeing that spear, the starving, desperate Crusader army gave a mighty shout and chased off an army of foes ten times greater in size than their own. Would seeing that spear prove something to you, would it give you power like that? There are Churches all over Europe claiming to have splinters of wood from what they claim is the true cross. So many churches claimed to possess a piece of the cross, that John Calvin is said to have remarked that there was enough wood in them to fill a ship. Some believe that an old piece of fabric called the Shroud of Turin, is Jesus’ burial cloth, and that if you examine it closely you will see an image on it of the risen Christ. Would that convince you? Do you need proof?

In fact there is almost no solid proof at all in my understanding of Christian faith. I have faith in Christ because an unbelievable story of life after death ultimately moves me more than a story of destruction and defeat. My faith is based a radical sense of risk, that I would rather dream for the impossible, than settle for the probable. My faith is based upon the soaring power of prayer and music, that connects my faith to the faith of many others. My faith is brightly colored mural upon which are painted all the dreams of people near and far. More than anything else, my faith is based upon the stories that I’ve seen and heard. Stories like this one about Thomas. And also the stories you have all told me, about your spiritual encounters, “God Moments”, in which something happened to you that convinced you of the truth of the Gospel. Upon meeting Jesus in that locked room, and feeling the mark of the nail with his own hand, Thomas blurts out “My Lord and My God”, not the words of a doubter, but of a believer. Out of beliefs like this the resurrection church begins.

We are the people who see far beyond the next up or down. We see far enough, we feel deep enough, we believe strong enough that life is not up to chance, that there is a purpose, that God has something great in mind for us. Mary had seen Jesus in the garden, and ran to tell the disciples the wonderful, unbelievable news: HE'S ALIVE! But the disciples were hiding! The greatest news in the whole world ... and they're hiding! Resurrection was not enough, he went to them, right into the locked room where they were hiding, because resurrection is nothing if it doesn’t reach the people who need it, if it doesn’t reach you. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you”. After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As God has sent me, so I send you”. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Spirit”. Take a deep, deep breath! The story hasn’t ended yet!