Thomas needs Jesus to Honor the Hurt in Reparing it

Sermon 20250427
St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church
Dahlonega Georgia
Easter 2 C
Acts 5:27-32
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31
Psalm 118:14-29

Today, I am struck by the importance of Jesus’ wounds. They are the first thing Jesus shows his disciples when he appears to him the first time. Thomas needs to see them in order to have faith. Wounds are important and wounds are precious. An important part of our ministry as Jesus’ followers is to honor and hear about people’s wounds, to be friends, and to travel our road of life together.

We call Thomas, “Doubting Thomas,” but interestingly enough, the story is about his process of coming to faith. Not his doubt. In fact he makes an extraordinary confession of faith, “My Lord, and my God.” My Lord and my God is the prayer I was taught to say silently when the priest raises the host and the chalice during the Eucharist.  Devotion.

Why the wounds? I suspect Thomas wants something real, and to be real it is important to honor the hardship along the way. 

Honoring the hardship is also part of the Passover. Probably in Jesus' childhood they had some of the rituals that are done today. They have bitter herbs to remind themselves of the bitter yoke of oppression. And they have an apple nut dish to remind them of the bricks they had to make without straw in Egypt. In remembering the path to freedom they also remember the hardship.

Thomas needs to see that wounds can be saved also. He can only believe the good news if it does not brush the hurt under the rug, but redeems it.

One of the biggest mistakes we make in our relationships with each other is that we avoid talking about our wounds, about the things that are hard. We are afraid that it will bring up pain, and sometimes that is fair. But if we do not talk about our griefs with others our friendship stays on a level of safe, of acquaintance and not friend.

It is an interesting aside that we also do not want to talk about our faith with others. Thank goodness we have church. If we do not talk about faith with each other here we waste one of this place’s greatest benefits.

Being able to talk about faith or our wounds with others, and being able to listen as others describe their hurt makes the relationship more real. 

The Japanese art of Kintsugi. They repair broken pottery that they value with Gold epoxy. The break is not hidden, it is made beautiful. The wounds of the pot stick out as part of the story of the pot. And this makes it real. Here is a picture of a plate that has been repaired using Kintsugi.
It makes the wounds beautiful. This is what Jesus does. He takes our wounds and makes them visible and beautiful.

The Pope’s sermon this Easter, his last sermon before he died was excellent. He said why are you looking for Jesus in a tomb? Jesus is not here. He is in the world. And I would add he is especially with the wounded.

When we tend to wounds, whosever they may be, we tend to Jesus.

I think this is also the difference between actually helping someone by being friends rather than just giving charity away. If we have the resources we should give generously to assist others, and it really helps. Yet if we can give our friendship to someone this helps so much more. If we can hear about the wounds of others, and share our life battle scars and hardships with them, we connect on the soul level. This is why charitable giving is no substitute for in person ministry. I hope all of us will find occasions to be with people.

One thing that gets in my way sometimes is that I have been blessed not to know hunger, or drug addiction, or poverty, or extreme childhood family trauma. Yet I have found honoring the hardship in life I did have, and not hiding it, teaches me how to be with people who have had a harder road than I. And they don’t want me to be shut down by what they share. They desire someone to listen and care.  They need support so that they can wrestle with their hurt. In the end the longings of the human soul make us all much more similar than we can fully understand.

There are places where we can befriend others.

Community Helping Place Opportunity Lumpkin looks for companions for people with struggles.
Family Connections Mentor Program will set us up with a child who needs a friends.
And we can find opportunities on our own in our neighborhoods and clubs

This is the level Jesus connects with us on. He shares our wounds. He takes our story into his very person. The most sordid parts of our human story, rejection and cruelty. His wounds in his resurrection life are like Kintsugi, they are visible, and God has repaired them beautifully. When on our spiritual journey we learn to honor our wounds and the wounds of others we are like Jesus.

God is not just trying to solve our creaturely survival needs, God is trying to be soul friends with us in Jesus. God’s purpose in Christ is not to solve our problems, it is to have an eternal loving mutual relationship with us.

When have you shared some wound you have and it was healing for both you and the person you shared it with? What can you do to be better at hearing people share their wounds without the need to change the subject? Who is God calling you to befriend for mutual healing?

Let us join Jesus’ Kintsugi project for the universe. It is the path to wholeness and peace.
Notice that this picture of this blue plate looks a little bit like the planet earth seen from space.
The gold repairs to this plate represeent Jesus taking the wounds of the whole world and reparing them and making them beautiful.

In the name of the one, living, holy, and triune God. Amen.

Easter is Joy in the Core of our Being: Celtic Vespers Meditation

 

Celtic Vespers
April 27, 2025
Meditation … Joy
 
 
Our theme is Joy
Because Easter is about Good News
We expect the spring to come after winter
We are not surprised when the wound heals
But the Good News is
That life overcomes death
Light shines in darkness
Good has the final word over evil
 
Tradition tells us that the empty tomb
Was in a garden
And Mary Magdalene went there very early
To tend the body of Jesus
Only to discover the tomb was empty
 
One tradition has an angel say to here
Why do you look for the living among the dead
He is not here
 
It was good news that shook her
Startled her
And then surprised her
With exceeding Joy
 
Mary Madalene
Named by St. Thomas Acquinas
The Apostle to the Apostles
The one sent to those who are sent
Discovered a new Joy that Easter Day
 
As I meditated on Joy for our time together
I was struck by the God-intoxication John McQuarrie attributes to the Celts
And I was stuck by Pope Francis talking about the running that represents the longing in his last Easter Sermon
 
I was struck by the strong emotions of the Magdalene
 
And I realized that the Joy I have these days
is that I have come to rest more in my center
in my core
There is a saying
That when we are stable spiritually
We are like an ocean
Yes there are always waves even storms on the surface
But in the depth this is peace
 
I think the resurrection rings true
Not because some angel told us
Or like Thomas we saw the wound
Or like Peter and John they had an experience of the risen Lord
I am not discounting these
Far from that
But I think the resurrection rings true
Because in our hearts we feel this God thirst
We feel this human longing
And we feel this deep assurance
That as Dame Julian of Norwich said
All will be well, and all manner of thing will be well
 
This is actually why I push contemplative prayer or as the east calls it meditation
So much
When we quiet all the noise
There is in our core a peace that is given by God
 
I am interested in the trees
The trees talk to each other through the soil
Apparently there are these networks that run from tree to tree
They can contribute to each other
The trees are all connected
 
It reminds me of what Jesus said
I and the father am one
I dwell in him
And he dwells in me
 
This core
This center
This longing in our depth
This peace under the waves
It is not lonely
It is the place where all things meet
It is another place where God and Humanity at table are sat down
 
Music allows this
And so do gardens
And birdsong
 
And love
Actually seeing someone as a child of God
If we want to find Jesus
I agree with Pope Francis
Let us look for him among the living
Let us find him in making all people our friends
And let us find it in our hearts
 
The joy that comes from Easter
Is not a passing whim or fancy
The Joy of Easter
Is the permanent gift of the divine
That binds us together
 
May we all rest in that deep joy
May we be with God in peace
As the waves toss and turn on the surface
We will deal with those waves
But the Good news is in the depth
 
Alleluia Christ is Risen
He is risen indeed Alleluia

Notes

Chris Miller – God thirst and intoxication
Pope Francis – He is among the living – they ran because of their longing
Mary Magdalene – arrives in a garden and is astounded by Joy
Thomas Aquinas- The Magdalene is the apostle to the apostles
 

 
 
 

Meditation for April 10

 

"Darkness Fell at Three o'clock in the Afternoon"

Much of the hardship we encounter in life we accept as part of life. Not just math tests, and unintentionally hurt feelings, but even harder things like illness and death. For instance, if Jesus had been a great and respected teacher who died in his bed after a full life his death would not have been seen as horrific or tragic. But he died early, due to political manipulation and gross injustice. He was a victim of human sin. It was unnecessary.

The Bible says that he died at three o'clock and the sky went dark. We expect the sun to set each day, but not at three o'clock. When night comes gobbling up day life untimely early there is something wrong about it. It should not be. This is why our spiritual forebears posit the need for salvation. Not because night exists, but because humans cause early darkness when it was not necessary and simply wrong.

The Catholic Radio Show host Archbishop Martin Sheen addressed this. He said, "Without Good Friday, there is no Easter." Without wrestling with sin the human soul cannot long for salvation. God's redemption comes after awareness and acceptance of need for soul repair.

Jesus understood this and he courageously engaged what did not have to be, human cruelty, human ruthlessness, human self worship, and murder. Jesus embracing what should not be part of human life brought God's goodness and love directly into the wound.  In Jesus God brought life out of death. Easter without engaging what is hard is fantasy. Easter that comes from engaging evil is healing and resurrection.

Have a blessed week,

Father John

Meditation for Thursday, April 3, 2025

 

HOLY WEEK
THE HEALING OF THE WORLD

   
If you start with Genesis the first insight of the Scriptures is that Creation is marvelous. Then something happens. Humanity discerns that it has failed to live up to what God asks it to be. There is a deep sense we have marred creation by not reflecting the glory of the one whose glorious beauty is seen in the rest of creation, the Planets and the Plants, the Stars and the Seas, the Alps and the Animals.

Some ancient people even wondered if our missing this mark is the cause of some of the other ills in the world like earthquakes and lightning storms. Whether that is accurate or not, it is true that we could take much better care of the world than we do.

Soooooo, what does it look like for us to live into the fullness of who we are called to be? How could we display the glory we see the rest of creation reflecting, and thus be part of the healing of the world? Take a moment and think about it.

We did this in the Campus Minisry and the students did incredibly well. They said we need more empathy and compassion. They said we could act more out of wisdom than ignorance. They felt humanity could care for others better, especially those who are different to us. These are dreams of what we could do to heal our world.

Holy Week is when we celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, a person we felt was healing our being out of sync with God's glory, and what happened? He died. It looked like the dream of the world's being healed failed. It felt tragic. But on Easter God raised Christ. Easter proclaims that if we are faithful to seek God with everything we are God, not us, will heal the world by empowering us to be the presence of Christ in the world!

Holy Week and Easter is the central story in our faith that God has healed the world. We are seeing it unfold in our life as we surrender more and more to Christ. Come live out this drama this Holy Week.

Have a blessed week,

Father John

Meditation Getting Ready for Holy Week 2025

Sent out as "Father John Writes"

in the Thursday Update

of St. Elizabeth's Dahlonega

March 27, 2025

A Walk through Holy Week

Holy Week and Easter observance declares that though darkness seems to cast all in shadow, light shines forth. Though self-serving seems to dominate human experience, love will prevail. Though Death seens to have the last word, indeed LIfe sings out an eternal anthem of praise. This is the Message of Jesus. This is the MessT

age we celebrate with Holy Week.
     Palm Sunday we bless palms and process with them remembering Jesus entrance into Jerusalem. We will also have the Passion Gospel in church as this is the only Sunday in the year when the Crucifixion is read as the Gospel. On Palm Sunday we leave the church in silence to the beat of a drum calling to mind Jesus Death.
     Maundy Thursday we have an Agape, or love feast, where we eat Middle-Eastern foods. We also will learn about the Passover Seder which is believed to be the context in which Jesus started the Eucharist. We then go upstairs to wash feet, celebrate the Eucharist on the night which Christ gave it to us. We then will strip the altar symbolizing Jesus' betrayal. We will leave the church bare and it will remain bare for all of Good Friday. We will end with an hour of silent prayer trying to honor Jesus' request to watch one hour with him.
     Good Friday we have a very somber unadorned worship service, again reading the passion Gospel. We will venerate the Cross. We will receive communion from the reserved sacrament. After the 5:30 PM service all the bread and wine will be consumed. Thus from Friday night to Sunday morning is the only time in the year when there is not consecrated breaad or wine in the church. Indeed, throughout the world this will be the case. There will be no consecrated bread or wine in all the world that Saturday.
     Holy Saturday we will have a gathering to prepare the church for Easter. And Saturday evening we will have a simple serivce based on the first half of the Great Vigil of Easter. We will light the paschal candle, sing the exultet, and read scripture telling the story of God's salvation from creation to the present day.
     Easter Day we will all bring bells from church to ring before the Gloria. (If you wear hearing aids you may want to turn them off during the ringing). We will resurrect the Alleluias that we buried before Lent, and we will celebrate the Easter Eucharist. Downstairs we will have a special reception. 
     These days allow us to ponder again each year the great mystery of our faith! Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

Have a blessed week,

Father John

Happy Christmas and a Joyous 2016

May the joys of the season sustain you this season and always!

So I wrote this long sentimental letter about why I am thankful for Jesus.  I do really mean it but it seemed a little much to write to the people I love.  So I decided to post it here, and give people a link if they were courageous.

Happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

It is with a little hesitation that I share this with you because it can seem cliche, or fake, or tired, but it is nonetheless becoming more clear to me the older I get. The most important thing that ever happend to me was the birth of Christ.  I was introduced to him before I could talk, and I have hung out with his devotees all my life, yet it is only as I grow in age, and I hope wisdom, that I begin to truly suspect the grace I have been given..  

Jesus seems to have also been introduced to faith from before he could talk.  His mother was as much the people of Israel, and Moses, as it was our dear lady, Mary.  They nurtured and cradled him and were the shoulders he stood upon, and so to love him is to love his family.  So to her, and to the Jewish people and faith I owe immense love and respect. May I be a devoted friend.  

Jesus himself loved people. The gospels say he had a special place in his heart for the outcast, the neglected, the unloved, the poor, the sick and the lost.  He also loved, though he also seems to have had little patience with, those who felt better or more important than others.  He loved his rag tag band of disciples and trusted them with his mission, and that proves that he has great faith in humanity even if humanity does not always return the favor.  Trusting his disciples seems like a really bad plan to me, especially given what I know of them from the gospels. Nonetheless, though it was a very bad plan, it does seem more or less to have worked. They have kept the word and mission more or less going, and I am thankful to the holy Apostles and all the Saints, because without them I would not have known Jesus..

I have far less faith in myself than Jesus seems to have in me.  St. John writes of Jesus that the light shined in the darkness and the darkness did not overwhelm it.  I will admit that my head stays buried in darkness far more than it should, even though if I will only open the eyes of my heart his light will shine bright.  I bring him less devotion than he deserves.  I follow his ways with far less attention than I should.  I frequently find I put other things before him, yet, when I realize my need for him, I sometimes come to my senses, and remember again that I have no greater treasure in life than his love.  

So I feel a bit vulnerable writing this to you, but if I did not I would be holding back on you, and you deserve my best.  Perhaps you do not share this sentiment or faith with me, and that is okay.  I trust that God is working in your life, and I trust you to follow the call you hear in your heart in the way you deem best. I do, however, ask you the favor of sharing my joy with me on this great feast, if for no other reason than the friendship we share.  Isaiah wrote many years ago the words made famous by chant and music:"Unto us a son is given, unto us a child is born ... and his name shall be Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father"  I celebrate this Christmas the birth of him who is my friend, my lover, my savior, my lord.. 

Happy Birthday, Jesus.  Happy Christmas, Everyone.  May God bless us each and every one,  May our hearts and lives shine bright with the light.

Yours,

John

Is St. Gregory Watching Us?

"It often happens in the Church that some leaders, forgetting that they have been given oversight of their brothers and sisters for the sake of their souls, end up devoting the energies of their heart to secular causes. ... The reality of their situation is that they have found significance in being weighed down by external duties, and fidn it impossible to stop working.  They rejoice in being weighted down by many heavy demands of the world, but neglect their inner life which ought to be the well from which they teach others.  As a direct consequence of this, it is inevitable that the life of their people will languish." -- St. Gregory the Great from Pastoral Care

I have one comment to make.  Busted.