Sermon 27th April 2014
Here we are at the end of Easter, back to work, back to
school and back to normal life
And amongst all the exciting things that have happened over
our Lent period and our Palm Sunday and Easter weekend, such as the opening of
the new St Paul’s - we have been using art to help us meditate and pray over
the season of Easter and so I would like
to indulge us once more if I may and use Art as a way to introduce the theme of
doubting Thomas to help us conclude our Easter worship and to take us to the
next stage God has prepared for us!
When I was a young man, I fortunate enough to be able to take
one year studying fine art and figure drawing in the Chelsea Institute.
One of the key aspects to art learning was that of using contrast.
That is, understanding how an artist manipulates contrast to
create artwork.
So if I say circle you say…
And if I say rough you say…
And if I say black you say…
And finally if I say dark you say…
(be prepared for abstract answers here)!
So we have the basic contrasts of tone, colour, shape and
texture…
And now to apply them …if you are painting a landscape then
your foreground images should be rich in texture, colour and tone - then tone, colour
and texture fade gradually to become sharp dark silhouettes in the background. This
simple technique should give the landscape distance and depth.
Then using Contrasting shapes such as angles and curves will help
you form interest and a balanced composition and so on.
So the art masters deftly manage contrasts of tone, colour,
shape and texture in a creative way to make their wonderful images. That is the
end of my lesson today!
(And if you happen to be studying art at GCSE or A level -
then it is your understanding of these techniques that your examiner is looking
for in your work and commentaries) Helpful hints are us!
And today’s passage is similarly about contrasts!
How is it that you might ask?
Well I believe that there are three contrasts all centered
around the cross!
The first contrast is before the crucifixion and
resurrection the world was under the yoke of law and the power of the priests –
now post Easter
…we are all under grace and love and we now have but one
great High priest Jesus Christ who by giving up his body on the cross rent the
temple curtain from top to bottom meaning all can now enter into God’s love
through Jesus Christ…which gives powerful meaning to his words I am the way the
truth and the light!
The second contrast is the change in the disciples from
being scared to being brave. In our story you have the disciples hiding behind
locked doors -Then by the power of the Holy Spirit - breathed upon them by
Jesus – they are transformed and become courageous - the founding fathers of
the world wide church
And the third and last contrast is the one that is within
us…the difference and change that Christ performs in our lives…the forgiveness
of our sins and the transformation by the Holy Spirit
So in this sermon I want to go through these three contrast
as a way of helping us better understand our faith and to help us in our doubts
So the first contrast
So before the crucifixion and resurrection people were under
law….and now post resurrection we are now under grace!
Where our Good Friday situation is hopeless…our post
resurrection is hopeful!
And what wonderful news is that…give me grace rather than
law anyday…grace is free , its positive it forgives and it build up…and it
means that you do not need priests or Pharisees…teachers and ministers yes but
not priests! Their role is redundant under Grace. That is what the Caiaphas and
the Pharisees were so desperately clinging to…the end of their world because
they knew who Jesus really was and did so from the time that Jesus raised
Lazarus, but decided to kill him rather than give up their power!
So this first contrast is very big news for the world and
for us. Law verses love. Law verses grace! I know what I prefer and it is that
grace that proceeds from the love of the Father that gave his only son to die
on the cross is what we have signed up for in to by deciding to be a Christian.
And it is Grace and love and the fruits of that grace and love that we need to
share with the world. Law is for the lawless, grace is for the loving.
And now the second contrast
The disciples in this locked upper room you see - this not only contrasts with the Maundy
Thursday last supper (it might have been the same room) but it is the contrast
of a group of men who are helpless and scared and then
becoming confident and courageous. Here they are in our story, afraid of those
in power, scared of the law makers the Pharisees in the temple- everything that had occurred when Jesus was
alive on earth is gone…all the miracles, the amazing teaching, and the absolute joy off being around Jesus
hour by hour – had ended. And tragically
and violently ended! There are scared that the same will happen to them. That
they will be crucified! And they are also confused as well! Because most confusingly
Jesus’ tomb was empty! And normal people do not resurrect!
So confused and scared - they are also probably deeply ashamed.
Why?
For Peter it must have been especially bad as he had
denounced Jesus in the hour of trial….The other disciples either ran or slunk
away when Jesus was arrested. And those recent memories of shame would have
been in their heads and hearts –so afraid and uncertain of their futures and
desperately mourning the loss of their God and King. Feeling rubbish about
themselves.
But then as we heard, Jesus appears to and breathes the Holy
Spirit on them. Like he does with us, Jesus also seems to concentrate on their good
behavior and ignores the bad once we have been forgiven! He doesn’t begin the passage with a
counseling session, or some kind of remark about them running away! Instead he
says peace be you! And so these broken disciples when breathed on by the breath
of God , become are transformed and the Christian church begins and grows and
spreads to where we are today!
Again Jesus said, “Peace
be with you! As the Father has sent me, I
am sending you.” 22 And
with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23 If
you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven.”
And
do you notice what happens here? The authority to forgive sins is removed from
the old law of sacrifice, priest and temple and is given by Christ as a new
order to the common people – the disciples.
But then poor old Thomas is not there. He misses the event
and must have been so desperately disappointed when the others tell him about
meeting Jesus again…and so he says ‘unless I put my fingers in Jesus’ scars and
side I cannot believe you’!
And faithful as Jesus is…he comes back a second time, in
some ways especially for Thomas (be careful what you say when the Lord’s
around)!! And he allows Thomas to fulfill his wish.
And role of Thomas in
all this?
Well in many ways the disciples mirror who we are. They are
human and like us they have doubts and are afraid, they are inconsistent and
unsure. They wobble and they get the wrong end of the stick! Take any point in any
gospel and we can say we are either one
in part or all of the characters that we
meet!
Peter the enthusiast, John the reflector, Andrew the
diligent and doubting Thomas!
So doubting Thomas - as the apostle has become known - He is
no different to the others, flawed and human. Put your hand up if you have
never doubted your faith? I have, and still have many doubts and will certainly
have more to come as life tests and trials unfold! Doubt is a reality of Christian
faith and nothing to be ashamed of. Doubt is only dangerous if we forget to lay
our doubts at the foot of the cross. And we always need to remember that even
when we doubt God – God never doubts us!
Thomas as are the other disciples are human and that
reassures me!
And Jesus also uses this story of Thomas and his doubt to
prove some important facts about his resurrection.
What Thomas unwittingly proves in asking to place his
fingers in the actual scars on Christ body shows that Jesus was not a Ghost or apparition?
Jesus allows Thomas to perform this important proof to show us that Jesus’s
body was the same that was hung upon the cross and it is the same body that
was bruised and scarred by the violence of crucifixion. And it must have been a
very significant wound for Thomas to be able to place his whole hand into the
body of Christ!
Jesus is not a ghost or a projected image but a real same body
who later ate food and walked and talked with the disciples by the Sea of
Galilee.
Also this action of Thomas fulfills the prophesy in
Isaiah - that by his stripes and scars
we are healed. If Jesus had been reshelled or re skinned like a stolen car,
then he could not of died for our own sufferings and scars. That is the point…when
we call upon Christ in our own sufferings it is by his suffering evident in the
scars in his hands, upon his feet and in his side that gives him the authority
to represent us in our own afflictions. That is what sacrifices means. Or to
put it another way….soldiers only follows their leaders into battle! You only learn
from someone who is prepared to do what they are asking of you. By wearing the scars
of his sacrifice Jesus is able to carry ours!
So Thomas - yes he is doubting but it is a really important
role that he plays in the story of Easter and the beginnings of the Church.
And now I want to look at the third contrast…and the third
contrast is to think about our own conversions.
In many ways despite all the time that the disciples have
had in Jesus’ company you could say that up until this point they never quite
got it! When Jesus breathes on them in
this room a t that point their full and useful conversion takes place and comes
of age.
And Jesus says towards the end of the passage:
“Because you have seen me, you have
believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
And we are that blessed aren’t we, because we believe but haven’t seen! That is
very reassuring too? I feel blessed by that!
Some of you it may have been a sudden Damascus road type of conversion
‘wham bam type of thing’, for others it may have been like’ faith osmosis’ where
your faith grows steadily over the years and then one day you say to yourself in
the mirror…you know what, I actually believe…all very English and Church of
England! Either was in my view they both count!
But however you think about your own conversion do ask
yourself the question from time to time: Before I knew Jesus as my Lord and
Saviour - what was my life like ! Empty and pointless perhaps? Look closely at
the contrast between your old life and new and I bet you will see changes
And if you have doubts and you get angry with God don’t
worry these are the growing pains of faith and usually the times when God is
holding onto you. And as a Christian the hardships and trials do remain …and we
are not usually preserved from those as many of you know and live now. But would you live any differently? I couldn’t!
I could not go back to the past. The contrast is immense, the changes
permanent! And as time rolls by …I look at my old self then as a different
person now. A person that I once knew who was not so nice and mercifully is now
gradually fading from the photographs of the memory. The contrast is all Jesus and
his gentle transforming breath on my life. Perhaps you feel that breath on you
too? If so, let the wind blow- it is something that I recommend!
And that friends and fellow Christians – by your conversion
to Christ, you become the people making the difference to our world. Your
conversion and the conversions of the many who make up The church is and will
remain a very powerful force in history and in my view – the only hope for the nations.
And like these stuttering and fearful Galilean disciples,
locked in their room - through the
breath of Christ on their lives they become the beginnings of the new world order
that has grown and spread from that small locked room down through the ages to the here and now today at this very point in
time now. Our service today in this church building being directly linked to
that small locked room back then is an amazing thing to think about. And despite the atheists and media criticism and
any worse persecution you might endure, Christianity will continue to grow
until the world and Universe is completely redeemed through Christ. We do have
a job to do!
And that is the real power of
church ….a group of desperate, seemingly incompetent individuals that Jesus
called to be his followers…Peter, Andrew, Simon, Mary, John, Thomas, Nicodemas
and then later Stephen, Paul and Silas, Lydia etc and all those people in your
own lives that have gone before you that you can name and thank and bless God
for in helping you in your journey of faith. Thousands of faithful people have
all contributed in their small way to the ongoing transformation of the world.
Your conversion, your prayers, your faith your belief make up the tiny stitches
that robe the bride of Christ! Your smallest acts in Christ are vitally
important to the redemption of this world so never give up or lose heart doing
them!
So to end our Eastertide …before all was lost…now - all is
gained and it does not end there. Because Jesus promises the coming of the Holy
Spirit for everyone - which we will celebrate soon at Whitsun. This advocate,
the glorious word, the Holy Ghost, Spirit of Truth and Logos the true lover,
the wind, the breath and real mother - whatever name that History has given to
God’s spirit - and the third part of the
Holy Trinity…The Holy Spirit is promised to all believers to empower the Church
and do God’s bidding. And that is the force that has been unleashed by Christ’s
death and resurrection on the cross and it is why the universe and time pivot
on Calvary.
CS Lewis says ‘The cat is out of the bag because neither
death nor the grave could hold him”
So Easter has ended- Whitsun and Trinity will begin soon.
I am going to end this sermon with a practical illustration
and one which I think appropriate for our parish cyclists!
I usually use a wheel
to illustrate the Holy Trinity but today I plan to give our whoosh cyclists
something to ponder as they travel up and down dale next weekend
So here goes
The axles is the cross of Christ….which the world and
universe rotate around
The spokes are all the different churches…independent but
interdependent!
And they as you know are attached to the hub…if one breaks
the others weaken and go out of true
The rim is the Bible and prayer and the tyre is us
As the tyre we are in contact with the world taking the hard
knocks as we travel along the road of life
The centrifugal force working throughout the wheel is the
Holy Spirit which by its constant moving helps us keep our balance!
There you go not perfect but not bad!
Now we can pray for the cyclists!
posted by Sharren Taylor at 1:39 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home