Christ Episcopal Church
April 3, 2016
The Last Word
First, thank you for a wonderful celebration of our ministry together last night. Thank you for your kind words, the many cards that we will cherish reading-both those that have come in the mail and email over the last weeks and those that we received last night, the lovely and generous gifts, the great food, the presence of so many of you in body and so many more of you in spirit.
The important thing to remember this morning as we celebrate our life together is that I am not the main character in your life, as grateful as I am for the opportunity to be your rector these last 15+ years. I am proud to hold the record for the longest serving rector at Christ Church. Nor are you the main character in my life, even though you have played a huge role in my life and the life of my family. I doubt there are more than a handful of priests in the church today, if that, who had the honor of being the rector of the congregation that sponsored them for ordination and sent them to seminary. Some of you who are here today were on my discernment committee some 23 years ago. I think I was 14 at the time.
The important thing to remember this morning is that the main character in all of our lives is the Risen Christ and that will never change. Our gospel lesson this morning is a great example of how the story changes when we remember who the main character is. This morning, we hear about Doubting Thomas as we do on the Sunday after Easter every year. In this story, the Risen Christ appears to the disciples, but Thomas is not with them at the time. When the disciples tell Thomas that they have seen the Lord, Thomas refuses to believe unless he sees Jesus, too. So, Jesus obliges and appears again a week later so Thomas can know that Jesus has risen.
My problem with this story has always been that Thomas comes off like a demanding child, demanding what the other have. Jesus comes off as an indulgent parent, giving Thomas what he wants. And we are left feeling about ½ inch tall, remembering all the times we have doubted and questioned our faith. Don't be like Thomas is the message, except that Thomas does get what he wants. So then, what is the message?
But when we let the Risen Christ be the main character, we hear the story differently. We hear Jesus say "As the Father has sent me, so I send you...Receive the Holy Spirit." How did the Father send Jesus? God sent Jesus to be in the world, to be the Word made flesh and dwell among us. Jesus is sending the disciples out into the world to be the Word made flesh and dwell with the people. The only problem is that a week later when Jesus shows back up, where are the disciples? In the same room behind the same closed doors. In my imagination, Jesus says to the disciples "What are you doing here?" No wonder Thomas did not believe them! I wonder what difference it would have made if the disciples had been out in the world, showing the world the difference an experience of the Risen Christ had made in their lives. I wonder if Thomas would have believed because he saw that difference and not demanded his own private viewing of Jesus' wounds. When the Risen Christ is the main character, we hear the story differently.
We have experienced the Risen Christ together in many ways, and just as in Scripture, a lot of those ways seem to involve food. In Luke's gospel, the Risen Christ appears to two unnamed disciples on the road to Emmaus and they recognize him when he breaks bread with them. Later in John's gospel, the disciples recognize the Risen Christ as he grills fish on the beach for their breakfast. At Christ Church, we meet the Risen Christ at this table, but also at the Neighborhood Fair, the Food Pantry, Interfaith Hospitality Network, and the Rainbow Table in addition to Parish events like the parish picnic, Lenten series dinners, and events like last night. Last night, several of the speakers mentioned specific food items that we have enjoyed together-notably Reed brownies, other chocolate confections, and spicy mac and cheese. Coincidentally, I had already prepared my gift for you that I had saved for this morning, a gift that I hope will remind you of the way the Risen Christ is experienced through table hospitality. For each of you, I have a recipe book with some of our favorite family recipes, which includes mostly recipes that have appeared either at parish events or in sermons. In a minute, I will ask Canon Jack Koepke, who is here this morning to represent the Bishop and who is a close personal friend of mine, to bless these recipe books. But remember, the Risen Christ is the main character, and when we meet the Risen Christ here, he sends us out there.
Amen.
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