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“YOU CAME BACK"

April 3, 2016

Second Sunday of Easter

Joseph Andrew Slane

Southminster Presbyterian Church

Acts 5:27-32 Psalm 150 Revelation 1:4-8 John 20:19-31

O God of wonder, open our eyes to see in each other the risen body of Christ. Amen.

Thirty-five years ago I became a pastor. At the time there was an effort in the Presbyterian Church to restore the ancient custom of observing Easter not just as a day, but as a season - the Great Fifty Days. Presbyterians began to refer to this time as the Sundays of Easter rather than after Easter.

Through that liturgical renewal movement I learned the Second Sunday of Easter is sometimes called "Low Sunday." I imagined behind the term was some profound biblical or theological rationale, but I wasn't sure. So I called the Episcopal pastor in Franklin, Virginia. Episcopalians know that kind of information. I'll try to give you a verbatim of my conversation with Ben. This is not the Ben we know and love who is on vacation today; this was Ben, my older, more experienced Episcopal clergy friend.

"Ben, I'm working on worship plans for the Second Sunday of Easter. I want to preach on the Gospel. I'm sure there's some connection with the Thomas story and why the Second Sunday of Easter is called Low Sunday. Can you help me understand that term?"

"Well, Joe, can't you see why it's called Low Sunday?"

"I guess it has something to do with the disciples being locked in a house out of fear. They're afraid, scared, laying low. Is that it?"

"Joe, you're working too hard. It's called Low Sunday because at church that day there's such a low attendance."[1]

"O," I replied, as my biblical and theological balloon burst. He was right. The highest worship attendance in most churches is on Easter Day, the First Sunday of Easter, the Festival of the Lord's Resurrection. Those who keep track of such statistics say that in most congregations the attendance on the second Sunday of Easter is usually about one-third what it was the previous Lord's Day.

In spite of Episcopalian Ben's accurate wisdom, I'm still searching for a connection between the Gospel and the term "Low Sunday." Thanks to you, I see it. Yes, I see it in you, the faithful few, who have come back to worship on the Second Sunday of Easter - Low Sunday. You may be few, but blessed are you.

In John's Gospel it seems Thomas was with the other disciples on Easter morning. He would have heard the testimony of Mary Magdalene, "I have seen the Lord." We don't know what the apostles did the rest of that first Easter Day. But that evening the Gospel tells us they met together in a house with the doors locked for fear they would face the same fate Jesus endured the previous Friday. Then the miracle. The risen Jesus appears in their midst. He shows them his wounded hands and pierced side. The Bible says, "The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord."

But Thomas wasn't there. The Gospel does not tell us why Thomas was absent. Maybe in his grief he wanted to be alone. Perhaps he had a family member who needed attention. Maybe he had work to do. We're not sure. All we know is Thomas wasn't there the first Easter evening when the risen Jesus appeared.[2]

He returned later that night though. The apostles tell him what happened: "We have seen the Lord." Thomas replies, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hand, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

You understand Thomas' reaction, don't you? Perhaps he was upset he missed out on something so wonderful all the others experienced. Thomas may have felt left out, excluded from his community of faith. Unfortunately, that still happens in communities of faith. In the church people sometimes feel left out, and they often drop out. Thomas could have left and never come back. But one week later, the Second Sunday of Easter, the first Low Sunday, Thomas came back and was blessed because of it.

Most of you were either here or in some church on Easter Day. You heard how Mary Magdalene left the empty tomb and testified about her encounter with the risen Lord. Like Thomas, a week later you came back. Your presence in this community of faith today says some very positive things about you. It may also indicate you share some things in common with Apostle Thomas.

You may have disagreements with people in the church. But that doesn't keep you away. Thomas made no bones about it; he flat out rejected what other members of the faith community said. I don't know who started the false rumor you have to agree with the pastor or the Session or the General Assembly to be an active member of the church. That idea did not come from Thomas and the apostles. Like you, Thomas knew you can disagree with others and still be a member of the community of faith. Like Thomas, you came back.

You may have deep doubts about the faith, about God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit. You may have serious intellectual problems with some doctrines of the church, but you know that need not prevent you or anyone from being here. I don't know who ignited this notion you have to believe everything about the Christian faith in order to be a member of the church. That idea did not come from Thomas and the apostles. Thomas had grave doubts about the central doctrine of the resurrection. Like him, you probably know doubts are a very important part of faith. No doubt - so to speak - you will probably like this quote from Frederick Buechner: "Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving."[3] You may have doubts but, like Thomas, you came back.

That first "Low Sunday," Thomas makes a bold Reaffirmation of Faith that Jesus is Lord. Then did you hear the question the risen Christ asked him? "Have you believed because you have seen me?" Then, it's as if Jesus turns from Thomas and the apostles and speaks to us, the readers and hearers of the Gospel. Looking directly at you and pointing to you, the risen Lord declares, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." That's us! The risen Lord is speaking to us!

We do not see the risen Jesus. But we do see the only body in the world Christ now has - the church. We see Christ in one another.

When we see other members of this faith community at Southminster we see the risen Christ. We see the wounds of Christ in other members who are hurt, sick, or bereaved. In our life together - in our talking and praying, in our laughing and crying, in our eating and drinking at the Holy Table, as well as the tables in Grace Hall, we see in one another the risen, wounded body of Jesus Christ.

Like Thomas, you know the path to peace and faith is in community. No church is perfect. But without the community of faith not a single one of us could keep on going. It is through the church that you and I see the risen body of Christ.

"Low Sunday." You may be few, but blessed are you. Like Thomas, you came back.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Amen.

[1] This interpretation of Low Sunday is confirmed in the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, 1978 edition, page 840.

[2] Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who, HarperCollins Publishers, 1979, pages 186-188. As a fan of Frederick Buechner, my image of Thomas, as depicted in the Gospel lesson, is greatly influenced by this work.

[3] Frederick Beuchner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological A-B-C, Harper & Rowe Publishers, 1973, page 20.