Christ Among Us -- A Message for April 14, 2024

Scripture Luke 24: 36-48 

³⁶ While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 

³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  

³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  

³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 

⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.  

⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”  

⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish,  

⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence. 

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  

⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,  

⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.  

⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 

Let us pray.... 

 

Sermon                               Christ Among Us 

Psychologist Carl Jung invented the term the Wounded Healer. A wounded healer is when a healer, like a doctor or a psychologist, is compelled to treat their patients because they themselves have the same wounds that need to be treated. According to this archetype, a doctor who has vision problems may be drawn to treat patients with vision problems or a psychologist who had an alcoholic parent is more likely to treat clients who have alcoholic parents.  

Although Jung did not base his concept on Jesus, Jesus fits Jung’s wounded healer archetype. Jesus was wounded, and he loves and heals people who are wounded. After his resurrection, Jesus showed his physical wounds to the people to whom he appeared. God could have healed Jesus’ wounds...God raised Jesus from the dead, so God healed Jesus from death. God could have chosen to heal the puncture wounds in Jesus’ hands and the gaping hole from the stab wound in Jesus’ abdomen. Jesus could have just had scars. Or Jesus could have had restored, unmarred skin.  But after his resurrection, Jesus showed his wounds to his followers. 

 In today’s post resurrection reading, Jesus showed his nail punctured hands to his friends. He showed the gaping hole in his side where the soldiers at the crucifixion stabbed him.  He was one of the walking wounded. Yet, he was fully restored to life.  Jesus was not a ghost. He could eat a piece of fish.... ghosts cannot eat and do not need to eat. Jesus was alive again, although his wounds were evidence that he was crucified and then restored to life. Jesus was wounded, and he came to be the presence of God among the wounded people of God.  

During his ministry years, Jesus was a healer. He healed people who had illnesses. He healed people who were blind, paralyzed, or bleeding. He healed people who suffered from mental illnesses or demon possession. He raised the dead. 

 In addition to healing people’s broken bodies, Jesus worked to heal humanity from incorrect thinking and wrong beliefs. Jesus taught humanity that all people are loved by God and have access to God’s salvation – before Jesus, the Jewish people believed they had an exclusive relationship with God and were the only people with access to salvation. 

 Jesus taught that our foremost requirement in life is to love our God and love each other....in human evolution, people have evolved to prefer our own group above all others – in the past, we would love and protect people like us and people who are part of our group and would exclude “outsiders” from that love. Jesus offered us a different way of living—instead of just loving only our group – our families, our neighbors, people who look like us – Jesus calls upon us to love all other people, and to love all other people as much as we love ourselves. 

Another way Jesus healed us from incorrect thinking was by teaching humanity how to prioritize the “rules” that are found in the scripture. When Jesus came to earth, there were divisions among Jewish people regarding how to apply the Jewish law to their personal lives. Some people focused on following the rules even when they did not make sense.... Jesus was criticized for healing a sick person on the Sabbath, because one of the rules was that you were not supposed to do “work” on the Sabbath. Jesus taught that love and compassion must be our core guiding principles – he healed because of his love and compassion for the sick person. Following the letter of the law is secondary to treating others with love first. 

When Jesus was born on earth, everything that happened to him was deliberate. He chose to be born as a vulnerable baby. He chose to be raised by humble parents in a little rural town. He chose to start his ministry far away from the seat of power. He chose to be born in Israel, as a Jewish kid, in a time when the Roman Empire had power and control over the land and the people. He chose to be able to experience the range of human emotions and feelings. He chose not to stop his painful death on the cross. And he chose to be resurrected again. Everything was deliberate. 

Jesus’ wounds were deliberate. He could have chosen to live in the body of a person but not experience feelings like a person – Jesus could have avoided pain and suffering and death. But Jesus chose to be like us....to live a life that included exhaustion, hunger, pain and hurt. Jesus chose to feel the things we feel. Like the wounded healer archetype, Jesus chose to experience the wounds that impact humanity so that Jesus could help us heal from those wounds. 

Jesus chose to be like us – to experience the cost and the joys of humanity. Let us work to be like Jesus. Let us use our painful life events to help other people. Sometimes, you must go through something to know what it feels like. The people sitting in this room have personally experienced many wonderful things and many terrible things. We can be like Jesus by using the experiences we have endured, scars and all, to help other people who are currently going through those experiences. We can remind people that life continues, and we endure despite the challenges we have endured. And we can take heart that we believe in a savior who loved the people of the world so much that he chose to experience the pain and suffering we have experienced. 

Every challenge we have had is an experience we can use to help others who are facing the same challenges. Let us follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors and work to help them through their challenges. 

May we do so with love in our heart today and all days. Amen.  

 

Marks of Faith -- A Message for April 7, 2024

Scripture John 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 

If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 

 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen

Let us pray....

Message Marks of Faith

Although we have spent a week since Easter Sunday in 2024, this morning, our reading picks up right where we left off last week, on the first Easter Sunday. 

The women had gone to the tomb to tend to Jesus’ body, but they did not find Jesus’ body when they arrived. Instead, they were informed he had resurrected. The women may have gone back to tell the men the news – we are not sure. Some of the Gospels say the women told the men; the gospel of Mark says they were scared and kept the news of the resurrection quiet.

Later that Easter day, the men were hiding together...they were afraid of being arrested and put to death like Jesus. They were unsure of what move to make next...should they sneak away in the middle of the night and return to their former lives, the lives they were leading before they met Jesus? Should they wait together to be captured and put on trial by the government?

It is telling that the writer of John said the doors were locked for fear of the Jewish leaders...the disciples had stood by and watched Jesus be arrested, put on trial, and killed. They were afraid they would be next.

But, then Jesus appeared. He breathed the Holy Spirit onto the Disciples. He told them they now had the power to forgive the sins of other people. So, Jesus not only was resurrected, but he was working to prepare the Disciples as they were about to take on the responsibility of leading the Christian movement. 

Thomas missed Jesus’ first post-resurrection visit. He had trouble accepting the truth of the resurrection. We can relate to his doubt...it is difficult for us to believe things we cannot see and do not understand. Thomas also said something that many of us can relate to...he made a statement, an ultimatum, that was extreme. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  Thomas stated he both needed to see and touch Jesus to believe that he was resurrected. Thomas was a literal thinker, and he could not believe based on what he was told by others—he had to see for himself.

So, the next time Jesus appeared to his Disciples, Jesus made a point of asking Thomas if he wanted to put his fingers in Jesus’ wounds. Jesus was willing to give Thomas what he needed to believe in the resurrection...so his eyes and his hands could attest to the reality that Jesus was no longer dead.

After Thomas accepted the reality of the resurrection, Jesus said: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is where the rubber hits the road – in the 2000 years since Jesus’ resurrection, millions of people have believed in Jesus and in his resurrection without seeing it for ourselves. We are the blessed people who believe without seeing. 

In several of the stories about Jesus’ resurrection and the start of the Christian church, we read that the Disciples were scared and hiding in rooms together. When they were unsure about everything that was happening, they took comfort and solace in one another. This continued after they started to accept the reality of Jesus’ resurrection – the Disciples still lived together as they waited for the next events in their spiritual journey and life journey to come. They lived and worked together as the church grew and shifted. Even when the Disciples were sent out into the world to evangelize and spread the Good News of Jesus, they did not go off alone. Instead, they paired up with other believers and stayed in the homes of believers in the towns they visited. Practicing Christianity was always done in groups.

Our faith is inherently social. Jesus did not come to earth and keep the reality of who he was a secret. He was not a rugged individual who kept his views and his faith to himself. Instead, as soon as he left the wilderness after his time of prayer and temptation, he started gathering a group of disciples. When Jesus’ was not able to be with those disciples, they relied on each other. When they were sent out into the world to evangelize and tell others about Jesus, they went in pairs and in groups. When churches began to form around the Mediterranean region, and then gradually expand their territory throughout the world, they were made up of people who supported each other, shared their resources, and worked together to create communities modeled on the teachings of Jesus.

Those communities became the Christian church. Over the centuries, the church has evolved. It started with groups gathering in each other’s homes. As more and more people became Christians, they gathered in barns, catacombs, and synagogues. Eventually, buildings were built in some places to house churches. No matter where they met, the church was the people who did the “meeting.” The people of the church are called to be in relationship with each other.... we come together to be the church. Some of us are biologically related to each other, but most of us are not. Instead, we make us the family of God, the community of Christ, by choosing to be part of this group of people who are Trinity Chrisitan United Church of Christ in beautiful Skippack, Pennsylvania. 

When the Disciples were terrified and were hiding in the upper room together, they could only count on God and count on each other. As part of Trinity Church, we also know we can count on God and count on each other. We are called to support each other as our lives change and as unexpected events arise. When illnesses or accidents occur, we are the people who are called to support each other.

Jesus was very intentional about how he gathered his disciples. He gathered a group of people that was large enough to be strong for each other when events became unpredictable. Let us work to be those supportive friends and cheerleaders for each other during the days of our lives. Amen. 

Now What? -- An Easter Message for 2024

Scripture Reading                       Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 

and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 

But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Prayer for Understanding

Spirit of power and new possibility, through the scriptures, open our minds to understanding, our hearts to loving, and our wills to carrying out the mission of the Risen Christ, God’s Living Word. Amen.

 

Message                                         Now What?

Christ the Lord is Risen today! – Alleluia! 

In our reading of our scripture this morning, we are left with a cliff hanger.  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body and prepare him for burial. In a more ideal situation, they would have done that work soon after Jesus died….if he had died in a less brutal way on a different day of the week, he would have already been anointed. But many unusual things happened when Jesus died….so the women went to care for the body of a man who had been dead three days. The women loved Jesus so much they would work through any unpleasantness to care for his body. 

            The women were brave….by going to tend to the body, they risked their own arrest. It was dangerous to be connected to Jesus. It was dangerous to be connected to people the Roman government executed for committing sedition. Even in our own country, how many people line up to care for the bodies of people the government executes? Most of us are probably not contributing to “Go Fund Me”s to pray for funeral expenses of people on death row. We keep our distance – we look away. We don’t want to be associated with whatever tragedy leads to those kinds of deaths. 

            The brave women went at daybreak to tend to Jesus’ body. It seems like they were a little unprepared for their trip – they didn’t think they would be able to roll the stone away from the entrance of the grave. They hoped there was someone there to help them. But, when they arrived, the stone was already moved away and the grave was open. So, the women walked right into the grave. They had work to do! 

            But, when they entered the tomb, the women were startled to find a man they didn’t know sitting in it. A strange young man wearing a white robe was sitting in the tomb. Where was Jesus?!? 

            The man told the women Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus would meet them and the other disciples in Galilee.  Jesus had prophesied about his death and resurrection…now Jesus’ prophetic words had come true. He was risen and wasn’t in the grave anymore. 

            The man told the women to tell the other disciples and Peter about Jesus’ resurrection and that they all should go meet him in Galilee.  Maybe this was part of the plan—that they were to go to the region where Jesus grew up and lived most of his life to meet with him. 

            But the women were scared. According to Mark, they didn’t say anything about the man or the empty tomb to anyone because they were afraid. They were stunned into silence. Instead of finding the man’s words to be comforting, the women were terrified. Mark doesn’t tell us when they told others about the empty tomb and the words of the strange man. 

            Even if the women had not spilled the news, we know what happened next…..the Disciples found out Jesus was not in the tomb.  They initially weren’t sure what to believe about his absence.  But, later that same day, Jesus appeared to two disciples who were walking to the town of Emmaus. After their encounter with Jesus, those two disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the others. After they arrived and told the others about their thrilling encounter with Jesus, Jesus appeared to the whole group of disciples. During the 40 days after Easter, Jesus appeared again and again. And, then Jesus left the world on his own terms when he Ascended and went to be with God. 

The Easter Miracle of Jesus’ resurrection is part of what we consider the greatest story ever told. God loves the people of the world so much that God chose to come to earth as Jesus. God chose to take on the form of a human being. God chose to live among us, as a weak and vulnerable baby, as a child who could skin his knees, as a man who could eat too much and be thirsty and cry when he was sad and be delighted when he witnessed beauty. God chose to live among us. And, God chose to die a human death.  

God allowed Jesus to be crucified. God gives us free will – we have the freedom to do good things and bad things. God is not a puppet master controlling us. God gives us the freedom to do wonderful things and horrible things. On the first Good Friday, the people of the world, the people of Jerusalem, killed Jesus. God allows us to do horrible things. But, God is more powerful than us...God is wiser than us...God is greater than us. God knows what is best for us even when we don’t know what is best for ourselves. And, on the first Easter morning, God chose for Jesus to be resurrected. So, even though we made the mistake of killing Jesus, God wouldn’t allow that mistake to stand forever. Jesus was resurrected. 

Jesus was resurrected to remind us that no matter what mistakes we make, God love us. No matter how much we hurt each other, God loves us. No matter how much we hurt ourselves, God loves us. Even when we ignore God, God loves us.  

God came to live among us as Jesus the Christ. At the time Jesus walked the earth, some people listened to him, some people were alarmed by him, some people ignored him, some people killed him. But, on the first Easter Sunday, Jesus was resurrected. Jesus was resurrected for all people, the ones who “got” him and the ones who hated him. Jesus came to teach all of us about God’s love for humanity, God’s desire for us to love each other, and through that love, to treat all people with compassion, warmth, and care.  

            On this Easter Sunday, we are blessed to be followers of our loving God, the God of the Good News. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” We are saved by God’s love. It is our work as people of faith to share God’s love with others.

            When Jesus was asked what commandment is the most important law of God’s to follow, he answered that we are to “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ “ and we are to…”: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “ In response to God’s sacrificial love for us, we are called upon to love God in return and to love all other people as much as we love ourselves. So, this is our duty and our challenge as Christians. It is one thing for us to say we love other people; it is entirely another thing to live with a consistently loving attitude and outlook as we interact with others.

            In the next few months, our already contentious national political scene will go into overdrive as we prepare for the elections in the fall. And, most of us take sides – it is us versus them, the right people verses the wrong people, the smart people verses the ignorant people, the people who understand the big picture verses the people who only see the “right now.” No matter what side we are on, we tend to vilify the people who we don’t agree with.

            Christians don’t fall into a monolithic group when it comes to American politics. We don’t have a consensus on our views. Some of us are Republicans, some of us are Democrats, and some of us are Independents. There is not a Christian party; instead, there are Christians who are part of all the parties.

            As we enter into this intense political season, we must remember that we are first and foremost followers of God and Jesus Christ. We are called to be people of love as a response to the love of God. And, as loving followers of God, we are to treat all people with consideration, compassion and resect, even if we disagree with each other.

            For God so loved us, God sent Jesus to die for us. We are saved through that love. Let us love God and love one another, no matter what.

          Thanks be to God.

          Christ the Lord is Risen Today. Alleluia!