The 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B



When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. 17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. (Acts 3:12-19 NRSV)



While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:36-48 NRSV)



“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”


When you are small, little things can scare you. Ghost stories around the campfire, for example. I remember one was called “The Monkey’s Paw” or something like that. Or the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. Although I have to admit the tornado in that movie scared me more. Or movies like “The Mummy” or “Creature from the Black Lagoon” or “Frankenstein”. We screamed when we saw them. The 1950s had a lot of them. Monsters seem to be back in style. Vampires are really big nowadays, although they look more like fashion models than monsters. Zombies are big, too; one article in Newsweek said that the undead are very busy nowadays. Hollywood has a long history of manufacturing things that frighten us. I think that suspense actually can be more frightening than showing the monsters. Say, the movie “Quarantine” or “Cloverfield”. Or realistically portrayed possibilities, like in “Contagion”, describing a worldwide flu pandemic.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is Peter’s speech after healing a man who was lame from birth. He was at one of the gates of the temple to beg and asked the disciples for money. They said that they did not have any money, but would give him what they had, so they healed the man. The people in the temple saw what had taken place and were filled with wonder and amazement. Peter tells them that it is not extraordinary, that they really have no cause to wonder since it was not due to their own power or holiness. They are not superheroes. It was God who did it, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. This plan for Jesus’ life, they say, goes back, way back to the days of Abraham and before. And Peter adds that Jesus was dead in the first place because he was rejected by the people and killed. That is truly ironic, that they killed the Creator of the world, the One who designed life. But now he is alive. It was by faith in Jesus’ name that the lame man in the temple was healed. If God can raise Jesus from the dead, why can’t God heal a lame man? They see God’s power. So they are to repent and believe. The possibility of forgiveness is offered to them.

The Gospel reading is of one of the appearances of Jesus after the Resurrection. Here, too, they see God’s power. At this one, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified. You could imagine how this idea might come to mind with his appearing to them after being killed and just walking through locked doors. Those are ghost-like qualities. But he invites them to look at him to recognize him. To touch him. He has bones. And then he eats a piece of fish. He is no ghost. This is to fulfill everything written about him. The Messiah was to suffer and die and be raised. This was the plan. Now they are to proclaim Jesus’ name to all nations. They have not seen a ghost; they have seen the Savior and are to be witnesses. He is not dead, but has defeated death. He offers to us freedom from fear.

The monsters that Hollywood shows us are imaginary and good for some excitement, kinda like riding a roller coaster or watching a scary movie. It lasts for five minutes or two hours and most people like getting a little spooked and then going back to real life where we are safe. There is something comforting in feeling we are OK; we enjoy that feeling. But if we think of it, it is real life that provides what truly frightens us. There are things that can happen to us—storms and crime and illness. Life can end. There are things that are not so extraordinary, really, things that happened to us or could happen to us or will happen to everyone, the losses of life, and they are much more frightening than any movie monster ever could be.

We, like the disciples in those days after the first Easter, look to a risen Savior. He comes among us, sometimes as we expect, but other times he surprises us. He bids us to be at peace and puts our fears to rest. He can bring that peace to us. He has power to make our lives right. He has power to heal and power to forgive. We can share that with others. Phyllis Hobe found that it is possible when she insulted with a look a supermarket cashier, who was very young and didn’t know what cranberries were. She saw the hurt in the girl’s eyes. She realized that not intending to hurt the cashier wasn’t enough and so asked for forgiveness. She received it.


Jesus, the Risen Lord, also comes among us to remove our fears. The Resurrection is proof of life beyond death, life conquering death. When we understand that, we know that our fears are small compared with God’s care for us. When we know that, we live in hope. It is the lesson of those who have learned to live seeing what is stronger in life as Elizabeth Sherrill describes David Waite, the brother of Terry Waite, who was held hostage in Lebanon. He disappeared in Beirut in early 1987, and almost five years of total silence had gone by without a word. David never lost hope as the years went by until his release in 1991. He learned this hope as a small, frail, crippled child. In growing up with continuous struggles strength of character was formed. And so when Terry was released, David was not surprised. Once we know that death has been defeated, all our other fears are small compared to our hope.

One of the ways of talking about people who are frightened is to say that they look like they have just seen a ghost. There is much that can frighten us. The apostles saw no ghost. They saw Jesus and know that he is alive. Jesus comes in power. Jesus comes not to frighten us but to take away our sin, fears, losses. The story of his life is the story of death and new life. It is the story of where we find freedom. Jesus walks among us. Of this we are witnesses.

The Second Sunday of Easter, Year B




We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- 3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:1-2:2 NRSV)



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 ), 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 that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31 NRSV)





“THOMAS, WHO?”



Faith is important to life. Without some faith we don’t get out of bed in the morning, don’t go to work, get married, have children. Without possibility, we don’t plan or hope. Without faith, life can defeat us. Some degree of faith is required because there are things you can’t see, like the future. Like a reward for daily faithfulness. Like a better life you are making for yourself and your loved ones. You have to head in that direction and trust. Life can be difficult if you can’t see some possibility of good beyond where you are now or what you can see. What causes you to trust?

This morning we have heard some biblical viewpoints on faith. In The First Letter of John, John states that he declares what was from the beginning of the faith—the things they have heard and seen and touched. What was from the beginning of the faith is Jesus with us. John testifies to this life they have seen and heard and touched. It is for those who have not heard him, seen him, or touched him for themselves. If they hear this and believe, then they share faith. Then their joy will be complete. Those who wish to share that faith must walk in the light. If we have not walked in the light, God can forgive our sins through Jesus. God makes it possible for those who have walked in darkness to walk in the light.

What if you have not seen? What if you have not touched? How then do you find faith? That is the problem of one man in the Gospel reading, Thomas. He is often called “Doubting Thomas”. What started this all was that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he rose from the dead. He showed them his hands and side. They saw, believed, and rejoiced. But one of them was not there. Thomas was not there. The disciples tell him what had happened, but he didn’t believe it. He heard but had not seen. He said, in fact, that he would not believe unless he saw and touched the marks of the nails and his side. He wants proof. The next week he gets that chance as Jesus appeared to them again. Again he enters, even though the doors were shut. He knows what Thomas said earlier. And he offers to him the chance to get the proof he wanted. Thomas responds in complete faith. He is blessed. But blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

Thomas is an example of one who must hear second-hand. The first generation of Christians knew what they saw and heard. That is the foundation both of their faith and the faith that they handed on to others who came after Jesus no longer walked the earth. Time came when generation after generation heard the good news about Jesus. We are those people. But, here, in the Gospel, Jesus makes himself known to one disciple. Who Thomas is matters. He has doubts. He is resistant. Perhaps the disciples who believed called him stubborn. Perhaps Thomas called the disciples gullible. They did not share a faith at that point. But Jesus meets Thomas as he is, with his doubts. Jesus helps Thomas overcome the doubts he has.

Sometimes seeing and believing are portrayed as the same thing. After all, as the saying goes: “Seeing is believing.” But we are not always at every place in life. Things happen when we are not there. We cannot see everything. At some point we have to trust, even if it is only in what others say. And the things we experience, the things we see, can be misunderstood. The reality is that we need both. We need to experience God in our lives and we need that word that helps us understand what we experience. A few years ago, I was on a plane heading to week one of Interim Ministry training reading a book. It said that we understand life and work and churches in part because of our birth order. I am a second child. I love my older brother, but at times I have noticed there is a little tension between us. The book explained that the second child comes into the world, the family, and has to define his or her personality in it. So it is very likely that he or she will be deliberately what the first child is not. That is who he or she is—not the first one. And there will likely be tension until that personality is formed. After reading, I understood the idea better that I had actually felt and lived. The book helped me understand what I experienced. The word interprets experience. Experience makes ideas come alive. We need them both, seeing and believing.

Jesus helped Thomas find his faith. Then he could truly see who Jesus is. Then he could declare Jesus Lord and God. The foundation of our faith is what we have heard and seen and touched. Jesus is a touchable God.



Thomas was blessed when Jesus heard his doubts. He accepted him as he was and helped him become someone better, a man of faith. We need faith because we cannot see the future. We need faith to guide us through challenging times. Part of how we learn it is to know how God has guided us in the past. Mary Lou Carney recalled a grade school teacher who told them that faith was our country’s most powerful resource. She found that to be true in her life through education, military deployment, and illness in her family. She concludes: “In situation after situation, the knowledge that God was in control through faith enabled me to triumph.” Our faith is strengthened by how God has shown us faithfulness, that God’s word is true.



Our foundation is the word we hear, but it is also in experiencing Christ in our daily lives. Thomas wanted to see Jesus. The other disciples had seen Jesus, but he was alone in his doubts. He did not believe at first, but then he had a chance. Jesus came to him and changed his life. His faith was born. Lisa Isenhower tells the story of her son’s favorite book as a boy, about a rabbit who didn’t want to go to bed. It had a tiny mouse hidden on each page and he searched for it and sometimes in frustration he would cry out, “Where is he, Mommy?” She tells us this: “When Christ performed miracles, He often came to people unexpectedly, at unexpected times and places .... Over and over, Christ showed that He was present to believers in every facet of human experience, in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary.” Like the mouse, Christ is present even though we can’t always see him. Christ also appeared in Thomas’ doubt. Sometimes having faith can be a struggle. Faith is the discovery that Christ has not only appeared to the disciples, not only appeared to Thomas, but we can see him, too. We can open our eyes for him, because he is with us.



Seeing and believing? Seeing or hearing? We come to faith through both. We need to hear what we cannot see. We need to see God’s power at work so that we can believe. We rejoice that Christ is risen. We rejoice, too, that he is among us, leading us to faith, all of us. Then our joy will be complete. Christ is risen; he lives among us!

Easter/Resurrection of the Lord, Year B




On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:6-9 NRSV)



Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them,'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18 NRSV)



“WHERE ARE THEY?”



The Easter story is familiar to us. We hear it year after year. We hear it again this morning in the Gospel reading. Before daylight Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where Jesus had been buried and saw that that the huge stone sealing the tomb was gone. She went back and told Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved about it. They went to the tomb and John outran Peter and looked in. Peter, though, was the first to enter the tomb. They saw where Jesus had been, but he was no longer there. Mary had returned to the tomb and saw two angels sitting where Jesus had been. They ask her why she is crying. It is because the Lord is gone and she does not know where he is. It is so important to her to know where he is. It is then that she sees Jesus and he, too, asks her what she is looking for. She answers—she wants to know where Jesus is. Then he calls her name and she recognizes him. It is he, the one she is looking for, and she finds him. It is a moment of indescribable joy. But she cannot hold him because he must ascend. She goes back to tell the disciples.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians addresses a problem of that church. Many believed that Jesus was going to return soon. Some of the believers died before that return. So some began to lose hope in the resurrection of the dead and Paul bases this on the resurrection of Christ. Christ has been raised from the dead, we have proof, and we have seen it. And because he has risen we will, too. And Paul responds to those who question what has happened, with this word on the reality of the resurrection:

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory. 42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.”

They doubt because they do not know where the dead are. The dead, Paul says, will be in new bodies, far better than the old ones, just as the new plant is so much better than the seed. Those who have gone before us have already experienced the resurrection. They are not merely wisps floating around; they are in a new life. We do not lose hope because we do not see them. Death does not hold them. The Lord holds them. That is why we do not see them anymore. We, who are alive, will see them again at the last trumpet. That is what gives us hope, too, for those we love, for ourselves.

Our hope looks beyond this world. To look only at this world, death is the end. It is like the stone which seals the tomb. We cannot see through it. We cannot go through it. It must be rolled away by another power, a power greater than death. We live in the faith that God has removed it, that there is another place we go to in order to be among those who belong to Jesus. Scott Walker is a pastor in Texas who describes this hope. He came to say goodbye to a friend with cancer and knew that he was not likely to see him again in this world. He struggled with how to say goodbye and gave him a cross. With it he hoped to give his friend faith, as he put it: “A faith that believes that God can take death and change it into life.” When his friend died the cross was passed on to his wife as a reminder of the promise that they will meet again.

Like Mary and Peter and John we sometimes look for what we have lost. We look for what we can’t see anymore. It is natural to want to see it again. But even though we try, we can’t always find it here. That is why we place our trust both in the world beyond this one and in the one who can take us there. That is the faith of Easter.

The faith of Easter grows like its story did on that first day. The disciples heard from Mary that Jesus was not in the tomb. John saw what was not there and believed. Death was gone. There is much that we cannot see. But there is much that we see or we touch or touches us, and when we share it we create hope in others and proclaim the invitation that those who hear us can also join in what we discovered. Karen Valentin was showing her photos of trips to Europe to a friend, who was enjoying each story behind the photos, when he said that he would like to see it all for himself. She encouraged him to do so. Hearing about the resurrection of the Lord is simply an invitation to others to find it for themselves.

Our hope is in the plan that God has laid out. It is to defeat death. We know that Jesus lived, died, and rose again. Christ walks among us. That is what we celebrate on this day. We know the tomb is empty, that the stone is rolled away, not just there, back then, but the stones that block all of our ways. We, too, run to the tomb. But it is not to look for Jesus. We know the Easter story, we know he is not there. We run to the tomb to see that it is empty, that death is powerless, that death is changed into life, that the resurrection has begun. We, too, see Jesus in the garden. We hear him call our names. We see him again. And we tell each other the good news. Our faith is formed; our faith is strengthened by that good news. “Here is not here. He is risen.” Let us not run to the tomb, let us run to the resurrection in hope. Let us look there, where Christ is.

I was not born a morning person, but through necessity have become one. One of the stops on that journey was when I worked in a cannery on the cleanup crew for a summer. It meant starting at about 11 p.m. and finishing at about 5 a.m., after all the other workers were already done. Going home on my bicycle, I found that the world is very quiet, very peaceful, at that hour. It has a certain quality as the sun comes up, something full of beauty and potential. I started liking morning more after that. Nowadays, my home office window faces east and sometimes I see the sunrise. This morning it was gorgeous. But the tricky thing with sunrise is that it will not wait for you, if you are going to enjoy it you have to pay attention to is as it occurs. If you miss it, the beauty of that moment is gone forever. That is like the day it begins. It is an opportunity, a unique event, that will never be repeated.




What will you do today with the opportunity you have?

Since October I have renewed my practice of seeking some inspiration in the Bible and prayer each morning.  It is a chance to get set for the day and orient my outlook in life.  Once in a while something else also captures my attention.  The other day, Garrison Keillor’s daily radio program, “The Writer’s Almanac,” had a poem, “Reading Hemingway,” by James Cummins.  When you read Hemingway, you become hungry, cold, and dry.  When you read Hemingway you take on his style, feel his moods, share his interests.  I had the thought: “What do we do when we read the Bible? 

Questions for Reflection

Which ways of God do we pick up?  Do we become like what we read?  What do we do when we read God’s word?

Good Friday

Luke 23:32-34 “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Luke 23:35-43 “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

John 19:25-27 “Here is your son. Here is your mother.”

Matthew 27:45-47 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

John 19:28-29 “I am thirsty.”

John 19:30a “It is finished.”

Luke 23:44-49 “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

“LAST WORDS”

Often people have taken notice of the last words of famous people. They tell us sometimes how they lived and how they died. Over the centuries people have collected them. Here are some prominent ones. Czar Alexander II of Russia said, “Home to the palace to die,” after an assassination attempt. Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph said, “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad,” (“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!”) as he was being killed for teaching the Jewish law, and many after him began to use those words as their last ones. The second U.S. President, John Adams, said, “Oh, yes; it is the glorious Fourth of July. It is a great day. It is a good day. God bless it. God bless you all.” Then after a period of unconsciousness; he mumbled, “Thomas Jefferson …” He died on July 4, 1826, and it is assumed that he meant that it was good that Thomas Jefferson was still alive, when, in fact, Jefferson had died several hours earlier. The Emperor Augustus said, “I found Rome brick, I leave it marble.” P. T. Barnum said, “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?” John Jacob Astor IV said, according to some, to his wife who was about to get into one of the Titanic’s lifeboats, “The ladies have to go first. Goodbye, dearie. I'll see you later.” Benedict Arnold said, “Let me die in the old uniform in which I fought my battles for freedom, May God forgive me for putting on another.”

Jesus’ last statements are different than these in many ways. The last words of people are sometimes given without thought or awareness. Often, they do not know that what they are saying are their last words. Jesus, we are told from the Gospels, knows where he is going and chooses this path. He asked to be spared this, if it is God’s will. But this is the way it must be and so Jesus obeys.

Sometimes the last words of people demonstrate their work in life. Jesus’ words do this. They show his concern for others and his life’s purpose is only complete with this. They show that with this, his work is finished. Sometimes last words are expressions of regret. There is none of that in Jesus’ last words. As he suffers, he does not talk about regret for past mistakes. There is no anger, not even towards those who insult and hurt him. His hope is that they will be forgiven. Some people’s last words are hopeful, too. But Jesus knows the future, whereas they do not. Sometimes people will say things that sound so ordinary, so mundane, at a most important time. What Jesus says on the cross is important and shows that what he does is vital to us.

We traditionally call these seven statements the Last Words of Christ. But in fact they are not his last words. Sometimes they are called the Last Words from the Cross. That is better. They do mark the end of his earthly life, but only in a way. We will see in the Gospels that he will soon talk again with his disciples, in the garden, in the upper room, on the road to Emmaus. These, what we hear tonight, are not Jesus’ last words.

 As we are reminded of Christ’s death, though, we talk about these as the last words. They are not the last words, because he will speak more, but in a very important way they are the last words. They are what he says as he does something final for us. It is a different use of the word “last”. Another word that is used of this day is “good”, as this is Good Friday. That, too, is a strange way of using a word. Frederick Buechner talks about this word by reminding us that God so loved the world that God gave the only Son. God gave the Son at infinite cost. It is good because out of his death came eternal life and the power to heal a broken world.

On this day it is appropriate to talk about the last words of Christ because of what he did. This is what we hear. He died so that he would have the last word over those things that threaten us—sin, lostness, death. He died to live again, be raised from the dead, and be present among us, to speak words of grace. He died to lead us into life. He died so that death would not have the last word. +++++

Maundy Thursday, Year B Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 31 Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13.1-17, 31b-35 NRSV) “LAST SUPPER” We know that the combination of food, people, and a purpose is one of the powerful things in life. Those combinations form much of our lives together. They define who we are and go with us along the year, year after year, into the years of our whole lives. Take, for example, a group of family and friends with chips and dip and a big-screen TV in late January. They are gathered to watch the Super Bowl together. A couple with roses, strawberries dipped in chocolate, champagne, and love in the air in February. Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day. Cake, candles, a special song, and gifts and best wishes. A birthday. Burgers, potato salad, brats, and fireworks and a reminder of freedom. The Fourth of July. Formal attire, music, the promise of the future, and rings amid a huge crowd. A wedding. Turkey (or ham), stuffing, prayers of gratitude, and a chill in the air. Thanksgiving. Holly, cider, a tree with lights, a child in a manger. Christmas, of course. We go through the year with these expected and sometimes unexpected holidays and events. We get together to join in the festivities of the seasons with loved ones and acquaintances, to eat familiar foods, do familiar things. There is something about celebrating these events that binds us together. This evening we hear again about the last supper of Jesus with his disciples. It was the time of Passover, when the Jewish people recall the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. They do it by coming together, telling the story, eating familiar things. We see the scene as depicted by Leonardo da Vinci in his painting. It is marvelous, but is it correctly named? Is this the last supper? In a way it is, as it is the last meal before our Lord’s death on the cross. The time had come for him to depart from the world, the Gospel says. But it is not the last supper. In three days he will be eating again, in a new way, with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The time will come when he will eat fish with them and have breakfast by the sea. And not only that, this meal is itself a commandment. The words of its institution tell us that we are to continue this meal until Christ returns. This, what we hear about in the Gospel, is not the final meal, not the last supper. It will continue on, as so many of our family and cultural traditions do, from generation to generation. Jesus leaves behind a community. They are joined together in belief in him and in the life he set out for them. He brought them together and will keep them together. He gives them commands to do that. One is that they love each other. That is the foundation. They also share many things. They share Jesus’ washing their feet. It is a reminder that Christ serves them. The master is willing to be their servant. They share in forgiveness. When Peter refuses to let Jesus wash his feet, he misunderstands. It is not a simple cleaning up after the day on the dusty roads he offers. It is to have a part in his work, his sacrifice for the world. They, and we, are to trust in that work for us. That is what brings them together. Jesus leaves behind a meal. It is simple meal, bread and wine, but behind it is the memory of who gave it to us. It is like the retelling of one’s romance, or life’s story, or the tale of our independence, or how the first settlers survived and were grateful, or Christmases past. It invokes the memory of the one who gave it to us and how we are thankful for God’s grace and hand on our lives. It is also the presence of Jesus with us, that as we celebrate this meal, he honors his promise to be with us in it. Jesus leaves behind a tradition. It is like the old purpose, to remind the people of long ago when God liberated them from slavery. But it is also new. The slavery we are freed from is slavery to sin, slavery to self, slavery to the world. It is a new life, putting aside the old one. It is a new freedom to be the people of God. It is to be passed down from generation to generation as the best tradition. All this is found in this sacred meal, this holy feast. It shows us who God is and who we are. It shows us the community to which we belong. Oscar Greene talks about how this meal brings past and present together. He is proud of his grandson Shawn who came with them to church on World Communion Sunday. At the age of eleven, this would be his first opportunity to take communion. Oscar thought back to the first time he took Communion over 70 years ago and how the sacrament never lost its meaning to him. He says this, “‘Do this in the remembrance of me,’ Christ said, and for nearly two thousand years, people have followed Him. Now it was Shawn’s turn.” This tradition was delivered to us, given to us so that we can take part in it. This evening we remember a supper. It was not the first. It is not the last. But it is one with everlasting significance. It gathers a community around it, as it has done over the centuries. That community continues on as the commands of the Lord are followed. It is one of special food, taken from the ordinary way we live our lives, but a reminder of God as the source of and support for our lives. That meal continues on as we hear the eternal word and promise of God. It is a sign of our freedom. That continues on as we live in Christ’s presence daily. This is not the last supper, but it is one that carries us into eternity.