Living in ‘Contrast’

Scriptures: John 20:19-31

        I remember several years ago being given a small essay on the state of the modern church, and in particular on some of the steps that might be taken to revitalize her, to give her new life and to steer her in a new direction.  I probably still have the paper somewhere, but there was one sentence in particular that stood out from the rest which when I shared it at the time with the youth group, really resonated with them and served as a starting point from which we were able to have an interesting dialog.  And that sentence was simply that, ‘The church of today is called to stand apart from the rest of society and culture as a ‘Contrast Community’…‘The church of today is called to stand apart from the rest of society and culture as a ‘Contrast Community’.

The words ‘contrast community’ were interesting for me, who as a child of the 60’s heard much about ‘counter-culture’ and forced social change.  And somehow this slightly different idea of a community standing in contrast to the larger culture was still powerful, but seemed a bit less forced or even violent than my remembrance of the 1960’s.  It sounded like a movement that was perhaps still seeking radical change in the prevailing culture and society, but from a position that was less confrontational and instead, somehow more invitational…a way of living one’s life that was ‘leading the way’ towards new life and hope, rather than causing change by force that so often leaves a trail of human suffering in its wake.

        Our scripture reading today finds us on the other side of a very tumultuous and violent event.  It is early evening on that first day of Jesus’ resurrection, and the horror of the previous two or three days still weighs very heavily on the minds and hearts of Jesus’ followers.  For quite some time they had been under the impression that Jesus was the leader of a new counter-cultural war of sorts, that he was going to usher in a whole new Kingdom of power and glory over on top of, and in fact, leading to the complete conquest of the Roman Empire that had oppressed the Hebrews for so long.  They were absolutely sure that Jesus was the fulfillment of literally centuries of prophecy which told of a Savior to come who would restore Israel to her former power, glory and prominence, as in the days of the United Jewish Monarchy under the reigns of King David and his son King Solomon.

        And perhaps because of the resistance they had witnessed to Jesus from the Temple authorities, as well as his frequent political verbal jabs at the Roman oppressors, the disciples were sure that this ‘Jesus movement’ of which they were a part, was a counter-cultural movement of the strongest kind…one that would violently and completely throw off the power of Rome, exacting the fullest measure of revenge for the years of hardship and suffering that had been visited upon the people of Israel. 

However, the twin events of the Last Supper on Thursday evening ending with Jesus’ arrest, and Good Friday’s disastrous outcome, took all of those ideas and beliefs, and turned them upside down completely. Now all that the disciples had remaining, in both the Jewish Temple hierarchy and the Roman Imperial Guard was an angry bear they had provoked severely, and which even now was seeking to destroy any remaining vestiges of the movement started by this ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. A movement which the Romans and the Temple authorities fully assumed ended with his crucifixion and death. Our reading begins then with the disciples huddled close together in fear behind closed and locked doors…feeling lost and betrayed, and unsure of what they should do next in order to preserve their own lives.

It is important to note that this account follows on the heels of our scripture from just last week, when Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother Mary ran breathlessly to inform the disciples that they had in fact seen Jesus and that he was risen from the dead. Today’s reading picks up barely eight or ten hours later…with the disciples still huddled in fear, evidently giving the women’s amazing story little to no credence! It is such a shame that the very first witnesses Jesus chose to reveal the resurrection…both his own mother, and a woman who was part of his inner circle of disciples were so completely ignored.  I am ashamed to admit that this particular social affliction continues to this day…in spite of all of Jesus’ teachings to the contrary.

However, regardless of the fact that the disciples seemingly chose to ignore the women’s account, our passage tells us that Jesus came and stood amongst them all, after which he blessed them with the gift of his Holy Spirit. In so doing, he gave them strength, power, and the fullness of God’s love…challenging them to set their fear aside, and calling them to go out and begin to do the work for which they had all been training over the past three years. Asking them specifically to continue walking in the footsteps they had walked with him, to continue bringing a message of new life, of hope, and of the need for a new understanding of God’s love.

And then…then there was Thomas…don’t you just love Thomas?  Isn’t he so like many of us, when we on occasion insist on ‘better evidence’, when we insist on waiting until we have ‘seen for ourselves’…or when we refuse to believe the testimony of others because it is just hearsay, or too outrageous to accept at face value? In spite of all that, what did Jesus say to Thomas?  How did our Lord meet Thomas in his place of need and unbelief?  He appeared again, a week later, seemingly just for Thomas’s sake. How loving and considerate…although if the disciples didn’t believe the women’s account, why should we be surprised at Thomas’s hesitation as well? 

Anyway, even though he appeared for his sake, Jesus also challenged Thomas for his lack of belief, for not trusting in the testimony of all the rest. Although, in all fairness to Thomas, one could rightly ask why Thomas didn’t actually ‘see’ any evidence of change in his companions, who after all had been given the gift of the Holy Spirit a week before.  And why was the door to the room still locked? And, why couldn’t Thomas tell that his ‘Spirit-filled’ companions were now different…perhaps they had not yet found the courage to go out and live openly as a community standing in contrast to the rest of culture and society…perhaps that was just too difficult to contemplate doing in the absence of their leader. Perhaps they did not yet realize the power of the gift they had just received the week prior.

Anyway, after convincing Thomas that it was indeed him standing there before him, Jesus asked Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’  Regardless of the fact…and this is so important…regardless of the fact that these few had now actually seen Jesus, the real challenge that lay before them all was to share the full truth of Jesus in a way that would allow others to come to believe as well, without Jesus having to show up every time. 

You see, Jesus was asking them to live ‘in the world, but not to be fully of it’.  He was asking them to live lives much as they had when he had walked along with them, teaching, showing, and leading the way through conviction, humility, boldness, gentleness, and the stark power of sacrificial love for one another.  He truly was calling the disciples to be a ‘contrast community’ within the greater community of the Jewish faith. Asking them to cause profound change not by force, but solely through the witness and testimony of their Spirit-filled lives.

And, while today this humble and gentle approach might sound a bit weak or perhaps less effective than other more modern methods of getting people to a place of belief or commitment, I would argue that the method and the example must have been a good one, as this upstart little band of disciples standing in contrast and equipped solely with the power of God’s love, somehow enabled the Christian faith to survive and even to thrive for some two thousand years.

And I believe this call to stand in contrast to all of the ills and evil currently present within the world around us is still a calling that belongs to us. Far too often it seems as though many in the church of today have forgotten that ours is a call to difference. That our Lord is calling us to stand in contrast to current social understandings and practices every time those understandings and practices are not grounded in love, and whenever they are not supportive of just and righteous human relationships.

However that is not always an easy calling. For the forces arrayed against love including selfishness, power, and greed are still out there in force. But I do believe that our own experience as a church indicates that being asked to be, and seeking to in fact practice being ‘a community in contrast’, is something that gets easier the more we work at it. The more we openly and visibly share the love of God among us, including compassion, care, forgiveness, and genuine listening to each other, the easier it is to extend that same love and care towards others whom we meet outside of Sunday morning worship. By allowing our life together to be seen by others, we are offering a visible witness of the power and saving grace of God’s amazing love.

Which does not mean that any one of us may not find ourselves in a ‘Thomas moment’ from time to time. Or in a place where a lack of clarity or understanding as to what the Lord is asking of us specifically bogs us down and makes us unsure. And that my friends, is why there were twelve disciples, and not just one. For as you may recall, Thomas was not the only disciple ever to question or to wonder just what Jesus was up to as they traveled along behind him. In fact there are numerous examples of all of them arguing and debating just what lay in store for them, not always sure that the path they were walking was the right one. A sentiment we just saw strongly expressed a short while back when they tried to convince Jesus it was unwise to return to Jerusalem.

Now, we do not have the same good fortune as did the first disciples to have had Jesus walking alongside of us. But we do have the same wondrous gift of the Holy Spirit. A gift which empowers each one of us to play our part in keeping our common pathway centered in the will of our Lord. And it is this gift to us all, the gift of the Spirit within, as well as present within the body of believers, which enables each one of us to make it through our own ‘Thomas moments’ whenever they may occur. For the particular body of believers that is our own ‘contrast community’ will be there to listen, and then lovingly share whatever course correction or encouragement we may need.

So in the end dear Thomas…we know you. We know you because we too have moments when we are not at all sure of the next step on the path. And we know as well, that you were not all that different from all the rest huddled in fear in that upper room that night, but rather the one blessed to teach us all that our calling was to walk together, without fear, into a bold new future…blessed not because we have seen you standing there incarnate before us…blessed not because we have seen the mark of the nails or the spear’s ugly gash…but rather blessed because we have been caught up in the whirlwind that is the Holy Spirit within and all around us. That same Spirit that can’t help but lavishly cast off evidence of your presence among us and of the power of living as a community in contrast to the ways of the world…and the power of living for one another in love.

…let us continue to embrace this our common task, and privilege… 

…amen