St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – 2nd Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
Gospel: John 20:19-31
19When 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.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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.”
26A 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.” 27Then 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.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But 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.
NRSV
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Therapeutic Deism
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The definition of a poison is a substance that causes an adverse effect on the body under proper conditions. An adverse effect is the damage caused by the substance to one or more tissues or parts of the body. Proper conditions have to do with the dose. For instance, one or two cups of coffee daily is no big deal. The body can handle it. Multiple buckets of coffee a day may start to mess with you. Therefore, any substance, even unharmful ones, can become poisonous or toxic to the body if the proper dose is met. Body chemistry can be a tricky thing. Usually, the highest the dose, the more poisonous a substance can be. But not always. Sometimes a substance is more toxic in lower doses. Other times, it is neither the low or the high dose but something in the middle. Yet other times, the substance is poisonous both in low and high doses, but the in-between them is just fine. It gets better. Certain substances can be more or less toxic depending on the body or the genetic background.
What can I say? Isn’t God’s creation wonderful?
Fear can be poisonous. Adrenaline, the chemical released in the body in response to fear, can be good for you in the proper doses. When we sense danger, adrenaline increases our blood pressure. Our hearts beat faster, increasing the flow of blood to the brain and the muscles, raising our sense of awareness, and accelerating our muscle response. In flight or fight situations that causes us to react quicker. I suspect we can see that can be handy sometimes. Like an innocuous substance can become poisonous depending on the dose, fear can become excessive and chronic when it harms the body instead of protecting it.
Psychology calls it anxiety. It can be triggered by successive fearful events or a single traumatic event. The first bodily function to be affected is our cognitive brain, in other words, our ability to make good decisions. Depending on the level of anxiety, that can be completely absent. Consequently, our capacity to see gets affected. We either become very short-sighted, or our vision gets blurred, and we can’t see straight. Same as thinking, we can sometimes become completely blind. The next thing can be the inability to respond and move, leading to depression and paralysis, perhaps into sinking in deep darkness.
I am not sure if this is good or bad news, but similarly to poisonous substances, fear harms everyone at the proper dose. Some of us can become more or less anxious about one thing or another, depending on our personal life experiences. We may have different levels of tolerance for different sources of anxiety, but none of us is immune to it. And no one was immune to what happened at Golgotha, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, circa 33 A.D., when the one they called Chrestus was crucified, died, and was buried. Yet his body ended up disappearing from a heavily guarded tomb.
For some, Jesus brought the fear of losing authority. Others felt anxious about Jesus’ teachings disrupting the system they benefitted from. Eventually, they became terrified and crucified him. On the other hand, this became a horrendous traumatic event for the ones whom Jesus healed, restored, and brought back to life. He is not here. He is gone. What now?
However, for every poison, there can be an antidote. For every infirmity, there can be treatment; and this is definitely one of the things Jesus set himself to be for us.
Fears and anxiety abound as we move through life. There are fears of losing, of failing, of not being perfect, of not being in charge, of belonging, of not being good enough, of not being loved. Going out and making new disciples for Christ is no different. All this can become excessive and harmful for the body, as we lose the capacity to comprehend, see, recognize, and enjoy the manifestations of the visible kingdom of God come to all who believe. We miss the chance to be grateful and to live, love, and laugh, abundantly, as God desires for every single of us.
When Jesus comes to visit and appears in the midst of us, in our moments of angst or despair, and breaths upon us peace, love, and joy, do not be afraid, do not doubt, do not deny him, only believe. Healing and consolation are at hand. The Christ came so no one could be lost. He came because we are imperfect and will need to be lifted again when we fall. He was there in the beginning, and nothing became that was not made through him. Jesus is in charge. Love and trust because, to him, you are very good; to him, you belong; and by him, you are loved and saved. We all do. Do not be afraid. Go and tell, with words or actions, that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 