We make much of the fact that the disciples
of Jesus – with the exception of the females, and in some tellings of the
story, the Beloved Disciple – hid themselves after Jesus’ arrest. That is
reiterated in this Sunday’s Gospel, where the disciples still appear to be
hiding out in the upper room. They are afraid that they will meet the same fate
as Jesus. It appears that one of them, Thomas, has some doubts about the
resurrection, or at least about the reports that some of their number have made
about Jesus reappearing.
Yup, Doubting Thomas.
We know this story. We’ve heard this story a
thousand times. It’s been used as a tool to remind us that demanding proof of
God and God’s power is a bad thing.
But this Sunday, when we hear this story of
fear and doubt yet again, let’s juxtapose the gospel with the reading from Acts
of the Apostles that is paired with it.
Here’s the starting point, one in which we
can have no doubt: following Jesus is risky business.
The disciples had good reason to hide
themselves, as John the evangelist reports, because look what happened. In Acts
of the Apostles, this was the second time the disciples were brought up on
charges by the religious leadership for preaching about Jesus’ resurrection.
The leaders were clear: stop preaching this stuff, or you’re going to regret
it. The first time they were hauled in, the leaders are described as having
been “much annoyed” by it. This second time, the leaders were said to be
motivated by jealousy. Whatever the reason, they wanted the disciples to stop,
because it was fomenting unrest. Their authority and power was being
challenged, and we know how that works, right?
So Peter and the disciples were called
forward to answer for themselves, and they said something that sounds very
little like the frightened men in the upper room: "We must obey God rather than
any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had
killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader
and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And
we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given
to those who obey him."
They
said, “we have to tell really happened, not what you’re pretending. This
matters. You were complicit in his death.” These
days, as the New Testament scholar Mitzi Smith says, the hashtag might be #ResurrectionMatters.
Peter and the disciples found their courage
somehow. They had to speak out. It mattered. In the words of the rough streets
of Jersey City where I grew up, they became “stand-up guys,” ones who told the
truth, who did the right thing even if it was the hard thing, who were willing
to take necessary risks.
We know the rest of their story – they continued
to be stand-up guys and stand-up women (and yes, there were women among those
disciples) and most of them ended up dying for it.
But I find myself wondering what the tipping
point was, when they were converted from cowering and trembling weaklings to
stand-up guys, risk-takers.
Was it when Jesus came back to visit them
while Thomas was away? Probably not – they were still hiding out when the
second visitation happened.
No, I think it was precisely that time when
Jesus came back to prove himself to Thomas. Because the message of this gospel,
and of the subsequent story in Acts, is this: Jesus loves us even in our
doubts, because he understands our weakness. More importantly, Jesus loves us
into courage, into taking risks for the gospel. He keeps coming back, saying “It’s
time for you to be a witness to that which is evil in the world. It’s time for
you to be a stand-up disciple. I love you and I will be with you, no matter
what happens. You won’t get all of the work of witnessing done – it will go on
until I return at the end of days – but I will walk with you every step of the
journey, no matter how glorious, no matter how painful.”
Now that’s pretty powerful encouragement…great
word, “encouragement” – it means giving courage to, right? Giving courage to do
the right thing even if it is the hard thing, even if there will be a cost.
There have been countless stories of people
who found the courage to speak out even when they were shouted down or when it
meant personal risk. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Sojourner
Truth. Rachel Carson. Malala Yousefzai. Nelson Mandela.
Those are the famous ones. But there are
countless others who have become stand-up disciples. In my youth, it was those
who marched against the war in Vietnam. In recent days, it has been the voices
of the Black Lives Matter movement, decrying aggressive police action against
black young men in particular.
Here’s is the sad truth that I will witness
to today: this world is still a place of jealousy, of death, of oppression, of
injustice. Jesus told us it would be this way. But Jesus didn’t give us
permission to take a bye on fighting this.
No. Jesus gave us encouragement. He gave us
the courage to do what he did, to name what needs to change to make this world a
little closer to the world his heavenly father created for us. To be stand-up
disciples, witnessing to the truth of Jesus’ powerful message of hope and love,
of the death of tyrants and the power of the resurrection.
Hashtag “ResurrectionMatters.” Get your
courage on. Say “we must obey God rather than any human authority, as Jesus
taught us.” This is Resurrection Time. We must witness to its power and its
promise, regardless of the risk. Resurrection matters, and so do our voices and the voices of all stand-up disciples.
Amen.