This sermon begins a preaching series entitled "Touched by God." Each week, the biblical story will be one in which touch is involved. I preached a similar series in 2015 at the church I served in Troy, OH. As I laid out the series, a couple of sermons will be based on sermons preached in the original series; others will be brand-new ones for the series. the sermon below is similar to the one I preached to kick-off the series two years ago, although it went through several revisions. In fact, I never quite settled on the final sermon, so what was actually preached is quite different than what is written below. Some weeks are like that -- not sure what it says about my sermon preparation.
If I preached the sermon again, I would probably focus on how Jesus provides us whatever we need in our times of doubt, just as he presented his wounds to the disciples in Luke and then invited Thomas to touch his wounds in the Gospel of John. I love the ambiguity in John's story that has Thomas demanding to see and touch the wounds, but then the text never confirming if he actually did so.
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin[a]), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah,[c] the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
“The touch” Luke 24: 36-49; John 20: 19-31; SAPC Touch series; 4/23/17
Introduction: This sermon begins the post-Easter sermon series entitled, “Touched by God." All the stories being preached will involve touching in some way or another.
Included in the series will be some live illustrations in worship: the anointing of the confirmands when they profess their faith in Jesus Christ; the commissioning of a Stephen Minister; the receiving of new members; a gift related to being touched by God; and the final week of the series will include the renewal of baptismal vows,
I invite you to consider how you have been touched by God, or how the literal touch of someone has carried with it the power of God, or how you have sought to reach out to touch God in your life.
This morning we see how the power of touch meets the miracle of resurrection and ushers in the new reality and the new call to faithfulness for the disciples (and for us).
Contrasting approaches – in Luke, Jesus invites the disciples to touch his wounds; in John, Thomas demands to touch.
Move 1: Let's look at the story in Luke first.
a. there he is, the resurrected Christ, standing among among the disciples.
1. Like an Old Testament angel’s appearance, Christ is suddenly in their midst.
2. The gathered disciples are startled and terrified, as if they were seeing a ghost.
2 They have no demands to see the wounds like Thomas does in the gospel of John.
3. Too scared to even consider touching.
4. as they stand there unsure of what to do, Jesus asks them a question: “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?’
5. Maybe an appropriate question for us as we notice how quickly the power of the Easter celebration dissipates in our own lives.
b. There stands the resurrected Christ: touch and see.
1. Jesus wants them to touch him and lay claim to the power of the resurrection.
2. he shows them the wounds; he not only wants them to recognize him, but comprehend what has happened.
4 “touch my wounds. Know that this is really me, the resurrected Jesus.”
5. Know the power of God to resurrect.
b. The disciples are not involved in some elaborate game of “zombies.”
1. The one standing before them is not some beyond human, next stage in life beyond death creation that God has cooked up.
2. It is simple. The one standing before them is Jesus, their friend, the one who was dead, the one they watched killed on the cross, the one who was buried in the tomb.
3. Now he is standing before them with the wounds to show for it.
4. He is resurrected.
5. Believe it.
6. and if you are having trouble believing it, come touch the wounds.
c. Do you ever wonder why they make such a big deal out of Jesus eating with them?
1. It’s not just stress eating or turning to comfort food.
2. Jesus wants them to know this a bodily resurrection.
3. He still eats.
d. And as he eats with them, they are invited to a new reality.
1. the world has been changed.
2. They live with new possibilities.
3. The God whom they follow is a God of resurrection, new life.
4. Sin and death no longer rule.
5. But first, they have to touch, to step up and claim the power of the resurrection.
Move 2: Gospel of John
a. Emphasis is not on Jesus inviting them to touch his wounds, but on Thomas' demand to touch his wounds.
b. Not an apologist for Thomas.
1. Let's stop for a minute and remember Thomas.
2. Gospel of john is the only one that tells us anything about Thomas.
3. The other gospels only mention his name when the disciples are listed.
4. You may remember that earlier in the Gospel of John Thomas offers to go with Jesus when they hear that Lazarus has died.
5. the other disciples are not sure Jesus should go. There had been some issues with angry people, and they thought heading off to Lazarus' house put them in danger.
6. But Thomas is ready to go with Jesus. “let us go that we might can die with him,” he says.
7. That does not sound like the words of an unfaithful disciple.
8. or you may remember that Thomas is the one who spoke up when Jesus told the disciples that he was going ahead of them, but not to worry because they knew where they were going. And Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
8. Maybe a bit of doubt, but it sounds more like someone trying to get a concrete answer out of Jesus.
b. Then there is the passage we read today.
1. Thomas misses out on the moment when Jesus first appears to the disciples.
2. Do you ever wonder where Thomas was when all the others were there to see Jesus?
3. They were gathered together behind closed doors afraid, but Thomas was not with them.
4. Could he have been going about his business, instead of paralyzed by fear? (That’s another sermon waiting to be preached!)
c. Back to the story. There is Jesus, meeting Thomas' demand and offering his wounds for Thomas to touch.
1. Again, Jesus taking the initiative — as if Jesus understand our need to have some tangible proof.
2. Do you notice that the text does not tell us if Thomas actually touched the wounds?
2. Do you notice that the text does not tell us if Thomas actually touched the wounds?
3. We know that Jesus makes the offers.
4. “Go ahead. Touch”
5. but the story immediately shifts to Thomas blurting out, “My Lord and my God.”
5. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright “….the meaning of the resurrection must begin with the validation of Jesus as messiah,…” (The Meaning few Jesus: Two Visions, Marcus J. Borg and N. T. Wright, 125-126)
6. That's what Thomas does.
7. He professes Jesus as the Messiah.
8. Part of me like this ambiguity in the text because it invites people like us to believe in the resurrection and profess Christ as our Lord without having to touch the wound.
9. it makes it easier to be one of those believers who never gets to actually see the Risen Christ.
Move 3: this is where we enter the story.
a. What does it take to move us to that new place?
1. A touch?
2. Both stories make clear that Jesus will provide us what we need to believe.
3. How have you been touched in ways that reveal God’s presence in your midst and God’s power to resurrect?
b. A touch moved those first disciples to next level.
1. They go from hiding behind closed doors to moving out into the world in ways that find believers in all part of the world and empower the development of the early church, not to mention getting them in lots of trouble with authorities along the way.
2. they had seen what Christ could do when we was alive; they had experienced what it felt like to know he was dead; Now are they ready for the new life of faith and discipleship as they give their lives over to the God of resurrection?
c. Are you ready and willing to do the same?
1. the triumph and glory of Easter and its resurrection are gone. We wait another 51 weeks to celebrate that again.
2. Were you touched enough by the story of resurrection to believe that God is calling you to new life?
3. Beautiful cemetery in Springfield, OH. A member’s granddaughter would walk through the cemetery and play there with her parents. She would ask them to read the names of the people off the gravestones. One person was named “Lord.” When her mother told her that the person 's name was Lord, she replied, “So that's where Jesus is buried!”
4. It might be easier to follow Jesus if he had stayed in the tomb.
5 we could go by and visit the grave and tell stories and share some great memories.
Conclusion: But Christ is alive. They have touched his wounds to prove it.
Are you ready and willing to live in that new world of possibilities?
No comments:
Post a Comment