IT'S STILL EASTER - AND ST. THOMAS SUNDAY

 

The altar at St. John dressed for the Easter season. That's Julie, who served as crucifer today. I hope that she doesn't mind the view of her back in the picture.

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.

(John 20:19-31)

I've read, and heard it read, and heard sermons on the passage from John time and time again, but today I was quite moved by the words. I felt a frisson, especially at the words in bold text.

Our rector is on vacation for a couple of weeks, but we are fortunate to have a retired priest and his wife in our congregation, and our priest-congregant took the services today and spoke in his sermon of the diciples' experiences of Jesus' presence after the resurrection. As the priest spoke, I remembered a few of my experiences of the presence of God, which remain vivid and full of power long after they happened.

I know godly Christians, folks who are far better disciples than I, who say that they never feel the presence of God. I don't believe at all that the felt presence of God is a necessity to the Christian life, but I thank God for the experiences of God's presence in my life. People may say I'm deluded and tell me that it was not God that I was experiencing, but I believe that what I felt was real and that the presence was God's. The true test of the experiences are whether they move me to more closely follow Jesus' teachings in the Gospels and thus bear good fruit.