The New Commandment that Never Gets Old

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

April 24, 2016

Year C: The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 11:1-8

Psalm 148

Revelation 21:1-6

John 13:31-35

The New Commandment that Never Gets Old

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            The Lord is risen indeed but today’s Gospel lesson takes us back to the Last Supper, back to Jesus’ final meal with his disciples and friends - one last chance for Jesus to teach, as the hours of his earthly life run out.

            We’re back at the Last Supper.

            Judas has just left to do what he is going to do, departing to set in motion a chain of events leading to the glory of the Cross – a chain of events leading to the glory of the empty tomb and new life.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            But, today we’re back at the Last Supper.

            Jesus tries to teach, tries to get through to his often thickheaded and unfaithful disciples – the disciples who, let’s remember, are about to fail miserably as they betray, deny, and abandon Jesus in his greatest moment of need.

            There’s no time to waste so Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter – gets to what’s most important – focuses on what it really means to be a follower of Jesus:

            “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

            A new commandment: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            We’re commanded to love one another by hanging out with the wrong kinds of people, by offering hospitality to absolutely everyone.

            We’re commanded to love one another by serving others, especially the weak and the vulnerable.

            We’re commanded to love one another by giving away what has been given to us.

            A new commandment: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            Now, the Last Supper happened a long time ago but Jesus’ new commandment to love one another is still always new – it’s the new commandment that never gets old.

            Jesus’ new commandment to love one another is still new because, let’s face it, we still so often fall short – we so often break this new commandment – just look around at our world, our country, our city, and, yes, sometimes even our church.

            That’s pretty discouraging and depressing

            But, you know, here’s the good news: Jesus’ new commandment to love one another never gets old because when we see it being obeyed – when we obey it ourselves – it feels like nothing else, it feels absolutely right, it feels like the way things were always meant to be.

            The new commandment that never gets old: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            For many months now at all of our services we’ve been praying for the refugees fleeing Africa and the Middle East – refugees, some of whom have been welcomed in Europe and elsewhere, while many more have been feared, rejected, and turned away – refugees, some of whom have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea making the desperate trip to escape war, oppression, and poverty.

            We’ve been praying for the refugees – which is good and right – but we haven’t done much else. I’m open to suggestions.

            But, you may have seen on the news that last week Pope Francis flew to the Greek island of Lesbos where many refugees from the Middle East are being kept in camps until they either find sanctuary or, more likely, are sent back.

            As you’d expect, the Pope prayed, alongside leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church – prayed, which is right and good.

            But, the Pope did more than pray.

            Understanding the power of symbolism and the power of love, the Pope brought twelve Syrian refugees back with him to Rome, where they will be housed and cared for at the Vatican.

            On the plane ride back to Rome, the Pope showed reporters two drawings that refugee children had given him. One showed children drowning in the sea. And, the other showed the sun crying.

            The twelve fortunate refugees are members of three families, include six children - and all of them are Muslims.

            The new commandment that never gets old: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            My parents have a big wedding anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks and that milestone has gotten me thinking about all that they gave me as a child and all the ways they continue to support and encourage me even now.

            When I think back to my childhood, I’m struck by the fact that I can only remember one time that my parents took a vacation without my sister and me – we stayed over at my grandparents’ house for maybe two nights – such an unusual event that it sticks out in my memory.

            Many of you know them today as teachers but that wasn’t always the case. When we were kids, they worked at other jobs that didn’t give a lot of satisfaction but were necessary so my sister and I could go to Catholic schools, and pursue our interests, and have as many opportunities as possible.

            My parents offered – offer - models of self-sacrificial love that have shaped my sister and me.

            I’m reminded of my parents’ self-sacrificial love because, thank God, I get to see them pretty often, but also because I see that same kind of love among so many of you here at St. Paul’s – parents working long hours at jobs, sometimes more than one job, you may not particularly enjoy or find fulfilling – all to give your kids the best shot possible.

            And, I see you grandparents devoting your retirement to babysitting, dropping off grandchildren, great-grandchildren sometimes, at school in the morning and picking them up again in the afternoon, giving money to help with bills, giving up your own dreams and sacrificing rest, all for love.

            The new commandment that never gets old: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            Most of you know that a few months ago someone broke into our church, managing to steal the entire offering from the previous Sunday.

            We were all very sad and disturbed when it happened. It was hard to accept that someone would steal from this community that tries so hard to offer service to those in need.

            But, we all know that the gnawing of addiction or the demand of unpaid bills can make people do desperate things.

            And, we were grateful that it was only money – no one was hurt and there was little property damage.

            For me and maybe for you, one of the sad parts of this has been the need to beef up our security. It’s been costly and I hate anything that makes this place look unwelcoming, but of course we have a responsibility to protect what’s been entrusted to us.

            But, you know how God is, and, sure enough, there has been joy even amidst this loss and sadness.

            As I’ve mentioned before, quite a few people from my former parish, Grace Church in Madison, care about me and us and the work that we’re doing here together.

            On their own (I didn’t ask) they began sending in checks, $50, $100, $200, and eventually they sent us more than the cash that had been taken – so much generosity for people they barely – or, in most cases, don’t even – know!

            But, that was a while ago and by now, I had thought everybody had moved on.

            But then, last week, I got a call from a Grace parishioner who told me that I’d be receiving a check in the mail and she wanted to explain.

            It turns out that her two grandchildren had kept mite boxes during Lent, dropping in their spare change over those 40 holy days.

            When it came time to donate their money – it came to $30 – they decided to send it to us – to a church they had never visited – to a priest they maybe barely remember – to people they do not know.

            Two little kids knew that we had been hurt and they wanted to help as best they could - so they gave what they had.

            The new commandment that never gets old: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            All these centuries later, Jesus’ new commandment to love one another is still new because we still so often fall short – we so often break this new commandment – just look around our world, our country, our city, and, yes, sometimes even our church.

            But, Jesus’ new commandment to love one another never gets old because when we see it being obeyed – when we obey it ourselves – it feels like nothing else, it feels absolutely right, it feels like the way things were always meant to be.

            The new commandment that never gets old: love one another as Jesus has loved us.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The Power of Unity

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

April 17, 2016

Year C: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:36-43

Psalm 23

Revelation 7:9-17

John 10:22-30

The Power of Unity

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            After the 10:00 service last week, at coffee hour a longtime parishioner told me, and I quote, “We need more time for the peace. I’m not able to get to everyone.”

            I’m tempted to pass the buck on this one and say that the peace lasts as long as Gail plays and sings - Gail who, each week, gives us such a beautiful soundtrack for our exchange of peace and greetings!

            In all seriousness, I was both surprised and not surprised by this parishioner’s comment.

            I was surprised because I think we give a reasonable amount of time for the peace, though, since, thankfully, we’ve grown, it’s true that there’s not enough time to greet everyone. I always say that we can continue our fellowship in coffee hour, but, of course, that’s not possible for everyone.

            And, I do worry about the length of the service, trying to respect everybody’s time while not flying through our worship, either.

            But, I wasn’t surprised by this person’s comment because, for most but not quite all of us - I know the fear of germs is an issue for some - and some of us are introverts who find the peace absolutely excruciating! - but, for most of us the peace has become a central part, even maybe the heart, of our worship.

            In a way, the church doesn’t really come alive until the peace.

            And, it’s beautiful, right?

            I’ve told you before how when Sue and I first arrived here, about 17 years ago now, the exchange of peace made the deepest impression on us.

            We were moved – shocked – even a little intimidated by how happy everybody seemed to see each other – all kinds of people greeting one another with smiles, laughter, handshakes, hugs, and, yes, some chitchat.

            Through all the changes at St. Paul’s over the years, the love and unity shared at the peace has never changed.

            And, the way the service flows, after we are united at the peace we then together come forward to the Lord’s Table and receive the Body and Blood of Christ, united with the Risen Christ.

            Here at St. Paul’s, if we’re open to it, each time we gather we become one with each other and one with Jesus who is one with the Father.

            Despite our very real differences and our beautiful diversity, at our best - at our truest - we are one.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            And, this kind of unity is in short supply out in the world, isn’t it?

            The gap between rich and poor, the division between the haves and the have-nots grows ever wider.

            Our government is broken and paralyzed by disunity, with both political parties moving further from the center, seemingly unable or unwilling to compromise for the common good.

            Disunity prevents our leaders from facing and dealing with our most pressing problems.

            And, I’m sorry to say, that this largely discouraging presidential campaign won’t really change that disunity. No matter who wins, he or she won’t be able to bridge the ever-widening gap between Democrats and Republicans.

            They probably won’t even be able to bridge the gaps in their own party.

            There’s nothing really new about disunity, though, right? It’s an old, old story in the world – and it’s an old, old story in the church – just look at all the many Christian denominations right here in Jersey City.

            These past few Sundays we’ve been reading and hearing excerpts from the Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels to be completed, finished around the year 100, seventy or so years after the earthly lifetime of Jesus.

            There were cracks in Christian unity even before then, but by 100, there were some big divisions.

            There were disagreements about who Jesus was and what he meant for the world.

            There were disagreements about how Christians were to live in the world, what rules they had to follow and which they could, or even should, ignore.

            And, by 100, it was becoming harder for people to be both Jews and followers of Jesus. Often, people now had to make a choice – and that choice was hard and it was painful.

            I’m sure many of us can easily imagine how difficult it was – is - to leave behind one’s religion – one’s history, culture and identity. And, at least some of the Jewish followers of Jesus just couldn’t bring themselves to do it and so they abandoned their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

            There was a lot of disunity among first century Christians.

            So, it’s no surprise that in the Gospel of John we hear a lot about disunity - we hear so much anger about “the Jews” rejecting Jesus.

            And, as you’ve heard me say before, all these centuries later we always have to remind ourselves that pretty much all the people in the Gospel were all Jews – Jesus himself, those who first followed Jesus and those who didn’t believe he was the Messiah – all Jews.

            So, yes, in the Gospel of John we hear about disunity but we also hear about unity – about the unity between the Father and Jesus and the unity that Jesus wants so very much with us and among us.

            So, for example, in today’s Gospel passage we hear “the Jews” asking Jesus, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

            This question gives Jesus the opportunity to talk about unity – the unity of Jesus’ sheep, the disciples who hear his voice and follow him – the unity of Jesus’ sheep who are given eternal life.

            And, then Jesus concludes this passage with the bold and what must have been a shocking statement: “The Father and I are one.”

            Unity.

            We come here to St. Paul’s and we unite – we become one – as we pray together, as we exchange the peace, as we line up at the altar rail and extend our hands and open our hearts.

            We come here to St. Paul’s and as we take the Body and Blood of Christ into our bodies and souls – we become one with Christ – or, more accurately, Christ becomes one with us.

            Unity. So, rare and so beautiful, right? Such a great gift.

            But, there’s more.

            There’s the power of unity.

            We all know that the Apostle Peter was a flawed character but, as we heard last week, he was forgiven and loved by the Risen Jesus. As we heard last week, the Good Shepherd himself commanded Peter to love and tend the sheep.

            Jesus the Good Shepherd was united with Peter the Shepherd, giving Peter, as we heard in the first lesson, the power to raise Tabitha from the dead.

            Christ was united with Peter and so Peter had the power of Christ within him!

            And, look at the power of that unity! Look at what Peter was able to do!

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            And, look at the power of our unity! Look what we are able to do!

            If you’ve been at St. Paul’s for a while – or even if you’ve only been here for a short while - you know what the power of our unity with Christ and with one another does around here all the time.

            The power of unity warms cold hearts, heals old wounds, makes sweet music, feeds empty souls – and fills more and more empty stomachs.

            I see the power of our unity – our unity with one another and with Christ – I see the power of our unity all the time.

            And, now, I’m so excited that we’re starting to take the power of our unity out into the world.

            We certainly saw the power of unity on Monday night as about 900 of us, diverse in many ways, but united by our love of God’s people came together, demanding safer streets, better schools, affordable housing, and, yes, a more just tax structure.

            Frankly, I think the power of our unity was so strong that our elected officials were thrown off their game – I don’t think it’s something they’re used to!

            Yes, on Monday night we felt the power of unity – the power of our unity with one another – and the power of our unity with the Risen Christ.

            The power of unity.

            So… since our unity is so unusual, so beautiful, and so powerful, I think we can take a little more time for the peace!

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            Amen.

The Unfinished Gospel

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

April 10, 2016

Year C: The Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:1-20

Psalm 30

Revelation 5:11-14

John 21:1-19

The Unfinished Gospel

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            If you were here last Sunday you may remember that our focus was on the Apostle Thomas – Thomas who was absent that first Easter night when the Risen Christ appeared to his frightened and amazed disciples – the Risen Christ saying, “Peace be with you” and breathing the Holy Spirit on his friends.

            And, in my sermon last week I wondered where Thomas was that night – maybe off running an errand – or maybe angry, angry at God for letting this whole horror happen, angry at Jesus for not stepping up and being the kind of messiah the people wanted, angry at himself and his fellow disciples for their betrayal, unfaithfulness, and cowardice.

            Well, wherever Thomas was, a week later he was back with the other disciples, back with all his doubts, all of his “baggage.”

            And the Risen Christ appears again.

            “Peace be with you.”

            And, Thomas, he sees and he believes, saying more than he probably knew, “My Lord and my God!”

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            And, then it seemed we had come to the end of our story, the end of the Gospel.

            The narrator writes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 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.”

            Sounds like that’s it – like the Gospel is finished, right?

            But, then…there’s more – the unfinished Gospel continues with what we heard today, the 21^st Chapter of the Gospel of John, which most scholars think was added later, as a kind of epilogue.

            It seems that there was still some unfinished business – unfinished business between Jesus and Peter.

            I’ve often thought that the disciples must have had some mixed feelings about the Resurrection, at least at first.

            After all, they had pretty much all messed up. It must have been difficult to face Jesus – hard for them all, but none more than Peter, the so-called “Rock,” who had denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times.

            “Nope, I don’t know the man.”

            The good news is that, despite that horrible betrayal, Jesus wasn’t finished with Peter.

            Jesus and Peter still have some unfinished business.

            So, in the epilogue that we heard today, the Risen Christ appears once more to some of the disciples, including Thomas, who it seems have gone back to their old lives of fishing – fishing, this night anyway, with little success.

            The Risen Christ appears on the beach, gives some fishing advice that results in a huge haul of big fish, and invites his friends to breakfast.

            But then the other disciples fade into the background and Jesus and Peter take up their unfinished business.

            Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me more than these?”

            Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”

            And, a third time, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”

            This time, despite some bad, painful history, Peter rises to the challenge – his three “yeses” erasing his earlier denials – Peter is now on the way to truly becoming the Rock upon whom Christ will build his Church.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            Yes, we had thought the Gospel was finished, but we were wrong.

            The Gospel is unfinished.

            Christ wasn’t finished with Peter who had denied him three times.

            Christ wasn’t finished with Thomas who had doubted the best news of all time.

            Christ wasn’t finished with Saul who became Paul, Paul who had violently persecuted the early Church.

            And, Christ isn’t finished with us, either.

            No matter how many times we betray Christ by denying to others that we know him, by not following his teachings to love God and love one another, no matter how many times we betray him, Christ is never finished with us.

            No matter how many times we doubt Christ by living out in the world pretty much like everybody else, by living as if there is no God, no matter how many times we doubt him, Christ is never finished with us.

            No matter how many times we persecute Christ by treating other people as less than God’s beloved children, by looking the other way when we encounter people in need, no matter how many times we persecute him, Christ is never finished with us.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            Christ is never finished with us - and so the Gospel remains unfinished.

            Just like Thomas, Peter, and Paul and the holy women and men of every generation we’re invited to add new verses to the unfinished Gospel.

            As Pope Francis said in his homily last Sunday, “We are called to become living writers of the Gospel, heralds of the Good News to all men and women today.”

            All of us – very much including the doubters, deniers, and persecutors – all of us are invited to add new verses to the unfinished Gospel – to add new verses by tending and feeding the sheep – by welcoming every single person who walks through those doors – to add new verses by giving away food at least as good as what we serve ourselves and those we love – to add new verses by gathering at the Stone Soup table and sharing our stories and listening to the stories of neighbors and strangers – to walk down Bergen Avenue and at least try to see the panhandler with glazed eyes as if he or she were Christ himself.

            All of us are invited to add new verses to the unfinished Gospel.

            We’re invited to add new verses by praying and working with our sister Episcopal churches in Jersey City – no longer ignoring each other or competing with each other but together adding new Gospel verses through our common witness.

            And, yes - you knew I was going to work this in somehow - we’re invited to add new verses to the unfinished Gospel by uniting tomorrow night as Jersey City Together – people from all over the city, from many different faith traditions and some with no religious faith at all, together demanding better schools, safer streets, and affordable housing – eager to work with our elected officials and also quite willing to hold them accountable to the people they are meant to serve.

            All of us are invited to add new verses to the unfinished Gospel.

            Last week, when Thomas saw the Risen Lord, it seemed like we had reached the end of the Gospel.

            But, no, the Risen Christ had unfinished business with Peter, and with Paul, and women and men through the centuries.

             No matter what we do or don’t do, the Risen Christ is never finished with any of us – always inviting us, us, right here and now, through our love and service, to add new verses, beautiful new verses, to the unfinished Gospel.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            Amen.

The Burdens of Thomas

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

April 3, 2016

Year C: The Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:27-32

Psalm 118:14-29

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

The Burdens of Thomas

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            The Church calls today the “Second Sunday of Easter” – out in the world they’ve already moved on to whatever the next thing is, but here in church it’s still Easter!

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            And, in today’s gospel lesson, not only is it still Easter, but it’s still Easter Day.
            We pick up right where we left off last Sunday.

            In the morning Mary Magdalene had encountered her risen Lord in the garden and then ran off to tell the other disciples this good news, this best news ever.

            And now it’s evening on this same Easter Day.

            The disciples are hiding behind locked doors, understandably frightened of the same authorities who had gotten Jesus executed just a couple of days earlier and who now might be coming for them.

            They were frightened and they must have also been puzzling over Mary Magdalene’s most amazing news. Could it really be true? Is it possible that Jesus really had risen from the dead?

            We’re told the Risen Jesus answers that question by suddenly appearing – still his old wounded self but also mysteriously transformed, not stopped by locked doors.

            It’s Easter! And, the way John tells the story, it’s also Pentecost.

            Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on his disciples, giving them the power of forgiveness.

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

            But, of course, at least one of the disciples was absent: Thomas.

            Now, since we hear the story of “Doubting Thomas” every year on this day – and, yes, since I carry his name, this is a passage that I’ve thought about a lot.

            And, one thing I always wonder: why wasn’t Thomas there? Why was he absent? Why was Thomas apart from the others?

            There are lots of possibilities, right?

            Thomas could have been off doing an ordinary task. Based on the little we know about him, he seems to have been bold and courageous. So, maybe Thomas was sent or volunteered to risk his life by going out into the city and try to find food for the other disciples.

            But, I suspect there’s more going on here than just a food run.

            Maybe Thomas was angry at Jesus for not fighting back against the leaders and the soldiers, for not using the power that Thomas had seen him use many times – the power to cast out evil spirits, the power to heal, the power to multiply loaves and fishes, the power to raise the dead.

            Why didn’t Jesus resist?

            Why didn’t Jesus just step up and be the kind of king that the people expected, the new David to run the Romans out of the land and make Israel great again?

            So, maybe Thomas was mad at himself for even following Jesus, this seemingly failed messiah, who died the death of a common criminal. We don’t know anything about his personal life, but maybe Thomas had left behind a wife and children, had left behind his livelihood, all because he believed Jesus was the long-awaited messiah.

            And, now, maybe Thomas felt like a fool.

            Or, maybe Thomas was disgusted by his own behavior and the behavior of the other disciples – Jesus’ closest friends who had proven so unfaithful, who had denied even knowing Jesus, who had abandoned Jesus in his greatest moment of need.

            Maybe Thomas was horrified by guilt at what he had done - and what he had not done – guilt that was made even worse by the unsettling news that Mary Magdalene had seen the risen Lord.

            Or, maybe Thomas was furious at God for allowing all of this horror to take place in the first place. I often imagine Thomas out in the desert somewhere, shaking his fist and yelling up at the sky, angrily demanding answers of God:

            “How could you let this happen? How could you just let Jesus die on the cross? Why didn’t you do anything? Why don’t you do something? Where are you?”

            Maybe you can think of other possibilities explaining why Thomas wasn’t with the others in the locked room on that first Easter Day.

            But, while on the one hand it’s frustrating not to know, it’s also right that we don’t know the burdens of Thomas.

            We don’t know the burdens of Thomas just like we don’t really know the burdens of our family members, friends, neighbors, the burdens carried by the people sitting with us I church right now, the burdens carried by the people we passed on the way here and those we’ll see on our way home.

            Oh, we may have some ideas – just like we have some ideas about Thomas – but we don’t know really know all the particular burdens that we each carry – the burdens deep in our hearts – the burdens of fear and regret and shame, the burdens of feeling untalented, unimportant, and unlovable.

            We don’t really know the burdens of Thomas – and we don’t really know the burdens of one another.

            Later, Thomas returns to the others – or, maybe the disciples find Thomas wherever he was – the text doesn’t say.

            But, however they were reunited, the disciples tell Thomas the good news, the best news ever, the news that he won’t let himself believe until he sees for himself: “We have seen the Lord.”

            “We have seen the Lord.”

            “We have seen the Lord.”

            Yes, we have – especially lately.

            We have seen the Lord on Good Friday as we made our way up and down some forlorn Jersey City streets, places of despair and bloodshed, places where we prayed and sang and splashed Holy Water.

            We have seen the Lord last Saturday night when we gathered in darkness and suddenly the light of Christ shined out of that darkness, lighting this old room, and lighting our hearts.

            We have seen the Lord when little Leah and Jayce stood at the font and answered on their own that, yes, they wanted to baptized!

            We have seen the Lord when not so little Mike and Jay stood at the same font on Sunday morning and both took the plunge into the waters of baptism, dying and rising again, bonded with God forever and ever.

            We have seen the Lord here at St. Paul’s as new people have joined us and some old friends have returned, as new ministries are sprouting up all over the place, as people lined up to give blood and as we’ve given nearly 2,000 diapers.

            We have seen the Lord as we have become more involved in our community, working for safer streets, better schools, and decent housing.

            We have seen - and will see again in a few minutes – the Lord in the breaking of the bread.

            We have seen the Lord.

            Jesus has breathed the Holy Spirit on us and sent us out.

            So, it seems to me, that our Easter task is to be like the disciples and share this good news – to share it through our words but more importantly to share it by how we live our lives.

            Our Easter task is to share this best news ever with all of the Thomases in here and all the Thomases out there – to share this best news ever with all of the people who are burdened in ways that we know about and burdened in the many more ways that we can’t even begin to imagine.

            Our task is to share the news that we have seen the Lord – to share this news, whether they believe us or not.

            You and I, here at St. Paul’s, we have seen the Lord.

            So, let’s get busy sharing the news:

            Alleluia! Christ is risen!

            The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!           

            Amen.