19. April 2020 German Church Atlanta Welcome
Song
Ich will singen dem Herrn
Old Testament Reading “Lift your eyes up to heaven and see who created all these— the one who leads out their vast array of stars by number, calling them all by name— because of his great might and his powerful strength— and not one is missing.” “Jacob, why do you say— and Israel, why do you complain— ‘My predicament is hidden from the Lord, and my cause is ignored by my God.’? Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The Lord is the eternal God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary; and his understanding cannot be fathomed. He’s the one who gives might to the faint, renewing strength for the powerless. Even boys grow tired and weary, and young men collapse and fall, but those who keep waiting for the Lord will renew their strength. Then they’ll soar on wings like eagles; they’ll run and not grow weary; they’ll walk and not grow tired.” Psalm 116 I love the Lord because he has heard my prayer for mercy; for he listens to me whenever I call. The ropes of death were wound around me and the anguish of Sheol came upon me; I encountered distress and sorrow. 1
Isaiah 40: 26-31
Then I called on the name of the Lord, “Lord, please deliver me! The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is compassionate; the Lord watches over the innocent; I was brought low, and he delivered me. Return to your resting place, my soul, for the Lord treated you generously. Indeed, you delivered my soul from death, my eyes from crying, and my feet from stumbling. I will walk in the Lord’s presence in the lands of the living. Song
Because he lives
Gospel
John 20:19-29 19
It was the evening of the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, “Peace be with you.” After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained. Thomas, one of the Twelve (called the Twin), wasn’t with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them, and put my hand into his side, I’ll never believe!” A week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he told Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told him, “Is it because you’ve seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!“ Apostles‘ Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. 2
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Children’s Devotion
Sermon
Song
I surrender all
Prayers of Intercession The Lord’s Prayer Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen Blessing
3
Sermon
Dear congregation, “Whoever believes that, will be blessed” (“A likely story”) Thomas could have thought. “As long as I have not seen it myself, and then have not examined what I see the second time, “I can’t believe it”. I need proof that I can touch. I need to know that it is really HIM, whose death at the cross we all had to suffer. And not just some phantasy figure. “Otherwise I can’t believe it”, said Thomas, one of the twelve who also is called “the twin”. In some way Thomas is our “twin”, for we also say often “A likely story” with healthy skepticism when something is in clear opposition to our usual experience. “A likely story” we especially say when somebody makes big promises to us. For we doubt they can keep them. Yes, and maybe they don’t even want to keep them. “A likely story”… We say it sarcastically or mean it ironic – and prefer to stay realistic. We keep the necessary skepticism so we don’t fall for an illusion. No, we don’t believe blindly. To just trust anybody, that is not our thing. We have had too many bad experiences. We 4
try to protect ourselves from those. What Thomas said to the other disciples, we could have easily said as well. In these days I am actually admiring and loving Thomas for his need to have scientific evidence more than ever before in my life. More than ever before do I feel like Thomas that our lives depend on true, which means scientific and factual information. Just hear say, just “believing” that things will somehow work out, no, that won’t be possible anymore during these Corona crisis times. How close I feel to Thomas these days, and how much I appreciate his need to know for sure, his need to touch, his need to reassure himself that it is actually safe to believe in a risen Christ. For the first time I want Thomas to be “my twin”, and I find his doubting a lifesaving thing. And this is why this is a story for us today. And let’s admit it: having faith is not easy! A rabbi that journeys through Palestine, preaches impressively, heals people, and yet is being killed as a person rallying up the masses – this man who died for us, was resurrected and overcame death- God’s son? How can he have significance for me 2000 years later? Hard to believe! Some say they don’t need this faith as enlightened people in the postmodern world. After make fun of those Christians who live far behind the time: “You in the church – do you need that?” And others critique the church as getting to many privileges. And us who are part of the church? We retreat often, too often, frustrated, may be injured, tentative and complaining – and in that we are not very attractive. And yet it is more important than ever that we talk about our faith, as we as Christians are called to help create and constructively aid building our world’s future. What else can we build our future than faith and reason, and we will urgently need both. And so, it is nearly comforting that John’s church community from nearly 2000 years ago was struggling with the phenomenon of doubt. The story of the doubting Thomas that is the text for today’s sermon is a good example of this. It is the encounter that helps Thomas overcome his doubts and reclaim his faith. How does this faith become possible? Maybe we can approach John’s answer as we look at the main characters of the story. There is first of all Thomas. He belongs to the close circle of disciples. He was not present when Jesus appeared the first time and sent the disciples out and authorized them to forgive or keep sins. 5
Self-confident they now say: “We have seen the Lord”. Thomas must have felt left out. He was not there when the most important had happened. He did not experience, when…And so Thomas doubts, or let’s say he takes the stance of a scientist: What he has not seen or experienced himself, he can’t believe. And he wants more than seeing, he wants to feel, touch. He wants to place his hand into the open wound. Thomas cannot forget the suffering he witnessed. He had witnessed it himself: Jesus suffered for real, he died hanging at the cross. The gospel writer John wants to make sure in his descriptions that the resurrected is nobody else than the earthly one, that Christ is nobody else than Jesus himself. This is deeply important for any discipleship. Yet just as Thomas cannot just take on the faith of the others, he also cannot just create his inner assurance himself. He has to wait eight days, until Sunday, the first day of the week. This time he did not miss the chance to see for himself, and to have an encounter with Jesus. What was it then that convinced him? His answer to touching the resurrected is: “My Lord and my God”. Immediate trust, the gift of faith! We know those moments also in our own life: When fear takes your breath away and suddenly, I find words to pray and my fear becomes bearable. Or a baby is being born, long awaited yet no longer quite expected, and I witness the miracle that is more than I can comprehend. Such faith moments none of us can “make”, reach or force. Such faith is a gift. And such faith also needs an open heart and open doors, attention towards God. Thomas had to wait and he hoped for this encounter. He stayed within the community and did not leave when doubt or disappointment struck. His faith questions were existentially important to him. Part of our faith is also the experience of searching, which does not allow to get distracted, even not by what makes us frustrated with the church sometimes. Faith is therefore a gift. And yet it is also prayed and hoped for as faith struggles at times with the experience of doubting. 6
Faith is based on the risk taking of trust. That is true for the disciples back then and still for us today for those who want to follow Jesus. Thomas is definitely not the only who is doubting. Also, the other disciples were only then moving forward when they had seen for themselves. It is true: Faith does not come about by seeing “proof”! It only comes about through a trusting relationship. A relationship in which I can say: “My Lord and my God”, my sister, my brother or my friend. Thomas is finding faith by Jesus showing him his wounds and his injuries. Touching a wound, sharing the pain, that is a very sensitive and intimate experience. I am only showing somebody my wounds and vulnerability whom I deeply trust. As there is no protective skin anymore. Jesus shows himself to Thomas in his vulnerability. This is how he overcomes the mistrust of Thomas and his closed heart. Thomas’ doubts dissolve, as he is able to touch in the core of the pain. In this experience of touching of the Resurrected, Thomas might have also felt something of the fear and reverence of a totally different kind of life, that reaches beyond our time and world as we know it. Whoever allows to know God and be known by God will recognize that what we see is only a fragment. And in this way Jesus shows himself as the wounded and at the same time as the one who overcame. What appeared before as a one-way street, yes, like a Dungeon, the house with the closed doors, the fear frozen disciples, suddenly gets a new direction. The prison is being opened and the disciples are being sent out to the people, liberated from their state of fear. Jesus sends them back towards life. And when he said this, he breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit” Just as the humans in the second creation story receive God’s holy breath that made them come alive, this is how the disciples now receive the Holy Spirit, godly breath, community creating power. And so, Jesus sends the disciples to others in a godly mission to forgive people’s sins. Which means also to take down the walls between people, to open up prisons and provide hope for the future. And we today experience the Resurrected Jesus in moments when an encouraging word reaches us or when we hear and see how helping and saving actions save lives. We experience the living Christ in moments when we feel connected as a congregation, even if it can only happen „symbolically” and indirectly over the 7
computer screen. And we might experience the living Jesus as the spring sun is brightening our homes, and when we feel heard in our many mini prayers throughout our days and nights, and when we experience the living Jesus in other people. Jesus, the Word became Flesh. It does not remain abstract, intellectual or a heady exercise. And Faith grows out of hearing the Word, yet then it also needs to become alive in us. In some ways we are being breathed at and filled with the Holy Spirit. We are meant to become witnesses in our time and in our language: for our children, the people around us and for the world. And then there is in our text Jesus himself. He enters with the blessing of peace. He enters through locked doors. “Peace be with you”. He has been saying this over and over in his life. It is one of his guiding themes. He knows how urgently we need peace, as we all carry the lack of peace within us. In our culture, in our world, we are being taught to feel malicious joy when somebody else fails, or to talk badly about others who are different from us. There is the fear of the “stranger”, of everything foreign to us, and then the separation over and against others. And all of those feelings and behaviors are part of this lack of peace within us, on which it is easy to sow hatred. God knows, this world lacks peace everywhere. Can we, dear Congregation, stand up and proclaim peace in a world that is ripped with lack of peace in small and in big ways? This would be my hope: That we as Christians, who live in so many countries and in so many cultures will speak peace to each other and to others, and therefore contribute that peace will grow right where we are and then also peace for the larger world. “Peace be with you!” The greeting of Jesus creates community. Dear congregation, dear friends and dear visitors, we are a colorful group gathered here today. We are people with different cultural backgrounds, different faith backgrounds and denominations, different languages, different ethnicities and skin colors. Let us grow to become a community through God’s Spirit. Therefore, even though we cannot see each other, I still ask you to, please, imagine the other sixty to hundred people who are connected with you right now, watching this worship service. I invite 8
you to close your eyes and imagine how you all are reaching out your hands and wish each other peace: Imagine saying “peace be with you.” Let us practice this imaginary passing of the peace over and over again, so that we become messengers of the peace that Jesus gave, far beyond our community of faith. „ Peace be with you!“: With the neighbor whose wife is in the hospital and who feels very alone and afraid, as he is not allowed to see her. „Peace be with you!“: With the young couple who just opened a Chinese restaurant a few months ago, who had to close and who now don’t know how to pay their own rent, let alone the rent of the restaurant space. „ Peace be with you!“: With the persons who experience homelessness during these times and who cannot protect themselves from the virus, and whose worries are about getting access to the next meal. „ Peace be with you!“: With the child whose parents are now at home all the time and who are fighting as the money is not there to pay the bills. The child who does not know anymore where her refuge will be. We can become carrier of peace, just as Jesus extends his peace to us. Let us practice the imaginary or real passing of the peace often, so that we become those who carry the peace of Jesus beyond our congregation. And that is still the calling of our church today: We are called to care for our fellow humans, called to end loneliness, open up locked doors of fear and liberate people out of their isolation. ‘It is not good that the humans be alone”. Loneliness is sin towards us humans, towards us who only in relationship can blossom. Disciples “who forgive sins”, are those who let others experience community and belonging, who pass on the blessing “peace be with you” and who fill others with life. Let us pray to God that we as German congregation during these challenging times grow even more than ever before to become a community where others find peace, feel accepted and experience how God’s Spirit provides us with new hope. And the peace of God that is greater than our imagination and greater than our expectations, may keep our hearts and our minds in Jesus, the living Christ. Amen 9