Thomas Sunday 2022

Christ is risen. Christ is risen. Christ is risen.

Christ is risen. It's a joy. It's a joy to be

with you and for us to gather today offering

thanksgiving to God at this divine liturgy celebrating

the resurrection. We've been through what I think

we can call God's own time. That's how we see

Lent. That's how we see Holy Week. The days of

Pascha and Bright Week, it's God's own time.

And we were there with him or he was here with

us. And all those events that we read about,

we commemorated. that we entered into on those

days. As one person said after the 12 Gospels,

it was like she wasn't here, she was there. Today.

Because you don't have tomorrow yet. And yesterday

is gone. So when we say today in the church,

it truly is. Today, he who hung the earth upon

the waters is hung upon the tree. It's for us

today. And we gather it here before midnight

on that holy Saturday after all those days of

seeing the betrayal and the trial and the crucifixion

and the burial of our Savior. If our hearts were

in touch by any of that, then we need to do some

serious prostrations and prayer and confession.

What a magnificent celebration we had then before

the dawn, as it says in the hymn, with Mary and

the women came to the tomb lamenting, and they

found it opened. Christ is risen. Let his enemies

be scattered. Those enemies, just to be clear,

are not other people. Those enemies are the demonic

powers, the devil, and death, which Christ came

to overcome and has overcome. And in us, one

person and heart at a time, by baptism and the

gift of the Holy Spirit, we do also enter into

Christ's victory. When someone says to you, Well,

let me say, Christ is risen. Well, you answer

in a heartfelt, very confident way. Indeed, he

is risen. But the women, when they went to the

tomb, they found it open, and Mary Magdalene,

as you see in the fresco, actually saw the Lord,

as did his most pure mother. They went to the

apostles, the ten hiding in the upper room, and

they said, Christ is risen. And they said, you're

seeing things. You're grief. You're just imagining

this. And people have told me after a loved one's

death that they had an encounter of some sort

with that beloved person. So not uncommon. And

this is what the apostles are thinking. Your

grief has got the better of you, ladies. You're

hysterical. People crucified by the Romans. Don't

rise. They knew what they were doing. They were

disappointed. And then Jesus appeared to them

and said, peace be to you. Silence. And he said

again, peace be to you. And then were the disciples,

it says, and it's not quite the right word. They

were glad when they saw the Lord. They weren't

just glad. They rejoiced. They rejoiced. Their

hearts were bursting. What a beautiful scene

that must have been. And Thomas wasn't there,

and he came to them later that evening. And they

said to him, Christ is risen. He says, I don't

think so, gentlemen. You're in grief. You're

in hysterical grief. You're just seeing a ghost.

And you know what he said. Unless I see the print

of the nails. and put my hand into his side.

I will not believe. Thomas was showing discernment.

The hymns of the church don't say doubting Thomas.

They say his most wise doubt led to a firm belief

and the most beautiful confession of faith that

we find anywhere in the New Testament. My Lord

and my God. We praise Thomas for that. He is

our example. His confession is most perfect,

my Lord and my God. It's most exact. It's the

most wonderful thing because he saw the risen,

bodily risen Lord, not a spirit, not a ghost.

We don't need to consult the Department of Disinformation

about this. This is the truth. There are two

ways that we come to faith. Maybe more, but let

me tell you two that I can think of. One is,

let me do a little demonstration that Archbishop

Michael of New York does when he wants to talk

about the difference between faith and knowledge.

Let me see my trusty server here. I have in one

of my hands a prayer rope. Which hand is it?

The right hand. It's not a prayer rope. Why did

you come up with that answer? I guessed. You

guessed. That's guessing. I have in one of my

hands, actually in my left hand, I have a prayer

rope. Which hand is the prayer rope in? The left

hand. That's trust. in faith in the person that

told him. Which hand is the prayer roll pin?

That's just knowledge. That's no big deal. That's

just observation. You may sit. Thank you. We

trust in the witness of the apostles, what they

went through. After The Feast of Pentecost. And

you heard today in the reading from Acts the

significant change that came over them in the

Gospel of John before they meet Christ. They're

in the upper room afraid of the Jews because

they might be arrested and crucified. In Acts,

they have no fear whatsoever. No fear of death.

No fear of being arrested. They were arrested

for preaching. The angel releases them and says,

Go out and speak all the words of this life.

What life? The life in Christ, the life that

changes and transforms us. And the people, seeing

the apostles' incredible faith in Christ, which

is real and true because of the Spirit, they

believed, and many signs and wonders were performed.

St. Luke doesn't call them miracles. He calls

them signs and wonders, signs of the presence

of the kingdom of God in our midst. This is our

task, brothers and sisters, to be like those

apostles. We are not the apostles. We trust in

their witness, but we have received the Spirit.

And we should think, what has this... celebration,

this commemoration, the keeping of Lent and Holy

Week and Pascha, how has that affected us? What

change has come over us? Year after year, we

should be gathering something. There's another

way we come to faith after we have received the

Holy Spirit. You know, we believe so that we

can understand. If you try to understand before

you believe, you're out there on the sea. Getting

sloshed around. We receive during these holy

days according to the measure that we offered

ourself. According to the measure that we suffered

with Christ in our own trials and difficulties

and illnesses and worries about people in the

world. We received according to how much we pray,

how much we cry to God. We're filled to the degree

that we are empty before him, that we make room

in our hearts for Christ. And then the assurance

of the resurrection is not just that you believe

what you were told. You can say when the choir

sings that hymn every Saturday night and on Pascha.

Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, having

beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship

the Holy Lord Jesus. We behold it with the eyes

of faith. And then we answer the incredible message

that Christ is risen with a firm, committed,

confident response. Indeed, he is risen. So we

trust in the eyewitnesses because Thomas, was

indeed invited to see and touch Christ's wounds.

He didn't need to. And I'll just say, those wounds,

they remain in Christ. They remain. Those wounds

speak to our wounds. Number one, that Christ

has experienced the pain we experience, the sorrow

we know. The fear that we can experience. His

wounds speak to our wounds. And his wounds speak

to our wounds because they are a sign of his

love for us. What he endured in our behalf. So

now, does anyone ask, what is the difference

with you? Boy, you're different. Why the joy

and the peace? Don't you know the world's a mess?

Don't you know it's all crushing down around

us? Why are you joyful? Having accepted the words

of St. Thomas, my Lord and my God, we can be

with the apostles. Let me just read and finish

so you can hear their courage one more time.

When the high priest rose up and all those that

were with him, This is the high priest that arranged

with Pontius Pilate for the Romans to crucify

Jesus. They were filled with indignation that

Jesus was being talked about as the Messiah and

that he is not just a Messiah, but he is the

Lord, the Most High God. And laid their hands

on the apostles and put them in the common prison.

But at night, An angel of the Lord opened the

prison doors and brought them out and said, Go,

stand in the temple. Speak to the people all

the words of this life. Who will you speak to

today? Words of joy and encouragement and faith.

The words of this life. May it be the simple

words that Christ is risen.