Sermon at First Presbyterian
Church Lockhart
by James Greene
In this Season of Easter we are called to celebrate that Christ has risen from the dead. He has shown us The Way to the Father,
and it is through Jesus,
who is The Way, and The Truth, and The Life. We believe the Word of scripture shows us the plan of God for the salvation of God’s people, - and
in that believing, we can see that salvation.
In the reading from Acts
- Peter and the Apostles are being brought before
the council of the High Priests,
by the captain of the
Here are the two elements at
work within this text.
First in the Hebrew culture, the name is representative.
It is an extension of the personality, caring in it the soul, the vitality, the power and the authority of a person
to whom it belongs. The Apostles have been healing
and teaching “in the name of”
Jesus. They have taught about Jesus’ teachings with
power and authority.
Second is, that in the Hebrew culture and law if someone killed an innocent person, the blood of the innocent person was upon the murders. The hanging
of someone from a tree was the considered “a curse of God”. The kinsman redeemer could come and claim the life of the
murders to avenge the blood of the innocent. The council is in fear of being accused of killing of Jesus, and the coming of that blood avenger.
Here is Peter
and the Apostles who are unschooled, standing before the High Priests of the law, defending
their position and actions. They are preaching
theology to the teachers
of the Law when they say: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the
dead – whom you had killed by
hanging him on a tree.” Peter and the Apostles stand as witnesses
to the events and to the Holy Spirit. They stood, because of their belief.
They have seen and experienced God acting --
in,- with, - and through Jesus, and in their seeing have believed on him. Now, -
in their belief, they are helping others to see the salvation of God.
The reading from Psalm 150, calls for all
creation to praise the Lord: to let “every thing that has breath praise
the Lord”. The Hebrew word “Ruah” can be translated as spirit, breath, or soul.
So in this verse, we see
these three levels of insight: Let everything that has spirit praise the Lord, Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Let everything that
has soul praise the Lord. It is a call to praise God with all of our spirit, and breath, and soul.
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In the
text of Revelation, is a greeting
from the Apostle John, with a declaration
of the timelessness of Jesus: who is, who was, and who is to come. It is an illustration
of Jesus’ statement that he is the “Alpha
and the Omega”. In the middle of
the reading is a statement of belief and a praise of God. It is a doxology. It is a witness
that describes,
what everyone shall see. It is the culmination of time, where
all peoples will see Jesus. We all will see at the Final Judgment.
The question is, will we believe before we see. We can choose now in belief, - to see what is revealed in the scriptures, or we can,- wait and, see
him “coming with the clouds”.
Because God has said, from the time of Moses forward: “I am
the Alpha and Omega”. Will our believing be seeing before it is time to
truly see the God of all creation?
Have you
ever thought about nicknames? We see something about nicknames in the reading from John. How many of us here have a nickname? A nickname is usually given because it
gives an intimate insight into the person being named.
An
engineer named Jack, who worked with me in a company in
We see the
Apostle Thomas and his encounter
with the risen Jesus in the midst
of the disciples. Familiar to us,
is Thomas having the nickname as “Doubting Thomas” in our culture. But, I would like us to look into the personality
of Thomas.
He is discussed four
times in the Gospel of John. He was a fisherman,
like Peter, who is both bold
and blunt like Peter.
Now Thomas was also
called Didymus, in Greek,
which means “the twins”. It is obviously also a nickname.
Just as James and John were known as the ‘Sons of Thunder’ I think that
Thomas’s nickname is important
in understanding the insight into Thomas. So lets to look into some history of things, to help give us
insight into Thomas.
Please bear with me on
this.
In
the Greek mythology “the twins”
refers to the twin brothers Castor
and Polydeuces. Today we know
these same “twins” from the Roman mythology,
and astrology as the Gemini.
They were twin warrior brothers.
Castor was the one that was mortal, and
Polydeuces
was immortal.
The Greek Spartans when they formed up for battle
they would sing hymn to Castor, who was the mortal warrior.
These same two “twins” were also sailors that were part of the warrior
crew on the ship
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Now realize that Thomas is a fisherman, just like
Peter, James, and John.
So his nickname Didymus referred
to him as a warrior-sailor. I think it is a play on words.
It gives us some
insight
into Thomas’ nickname.
Thomas is a warrior for the Lord. He is outspoken and brash like
Peter, James, and John. He is deeply
devoted. Like myself, he is a visual learner. This is why he may be viewed as dull.
But once he is shown
something, he intimately understands it. And once he
understands the essence of a thing,
he is stubbornly loyal.
He is a true warrior-sailor like the twins of Greek
mythology.
The second glimpse of Thomas is in John 14:5. Here Jesus has said that he is going to the Father to prepare a way for his followers, and that they would know the way where he was going. Again Thomas in a direct and blunt way asks Jesus “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” It is here that Jesus visually shows Thomas and the disciples when he says “I am the way and the truth and the life.” And later in 14:9 Jesus says to Philip “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”
It our last glimpse of Thomas is in our reading from John this morning.
Thomas was absent from Jesus’ first appearance to the apostles. He is later told how Jesus has returned. He again is blunt and frank to a fault.
He needs to see, in a visual understanding way. He has to see the physical evidence to fully understand the event, and Christ (the teacher) comes in patience and understanding and visually shows Thomas his wounds. With this, Thomas clearly sees and understands. He is a believer.
It is not his doubting, but that he was a visual learner. Once he is shown, he now intimately understands and believes. He "sees" and stands with his full confession of faith "My Lord and my God." He lives up to his nickname Didymus, the
sailor-warrior. He is truly a warrior for God.
We see, time and again, in the Old Testament where the Israelites question and doubt that God
will do what he said he would do.
We see Abraham's
doubting that he will have offspring;
Jacob's doubting
that God would be with him, and
Gideon's doubting of God's power.
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We see
Thomas's questioning faith of Jesus'
resurrection.
After all that Jesus had said and done: Healing the sick,
Giving sight to the blind, Walking on water, Casting out demons,
Raising Lazarus from the dead.
Thomas still has a question as to the identity of the Christ.
Once he is
convinced, once he intimately understands,
it cements not only his faith
in Jesus but that of the disciples. It firmly establishes the believing of the fellowship of the
early church and its sense of community.
Because it is established not just by seeing and participation but by faith.
Now there is a term
that theologians use to describe this kind of process. It is called Hermeneutics. Now what this
“word” means is that the
“understanding or explaining of the
scriptures”. It is making the past scriptures meaningful in and to the present. It is basically what does this mean to us today.
In the last two
verses in the text from John,
are a testament to the oral tradition of the Gospel, they are the hermeneutical
key to the Bible.
“Jesus did many other miraculous ‘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 Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing that you may have life in his name.”
They explain that this is written that we may understand
that what happened then, 2000 years ago, is the reason we believe
today, that Christ is the Son
of God and that we may have life
in His Name. These verses
make this past event meaningful
to us now. They tie together the Old Testament
demonstration of how God cares for
and saves His
people, and how the New Testament He is sending his Son, the Messiah, predicted
and revealed, with his coming, and by believing in Jesus, we will
have eternal life.
This is so, we can hear and believe the charge, and call by Christ to us today. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” It is in our believing that we truly see the Christ, and His salvation for all of God’s people.
In the Name of … the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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