Authority In His Wounds

Jesus Christ With Open Hands
Bernardo Ramonfaur

Luke 24:36b-48

April 14, 2024

Easter 3

 

I had a friend in Texas who was pastor.

He just died in November.

His name is David Doerfler.

He worked in the Texas prison system

with victims of violent crimes,

he did restorative justice work.

He specifically worked with those

victims who want to meet their convicted offender.

Both parties have to be willing to meet.

He did work with the victims and

with the offenders to prepare for the meeting.

The point of the meetings was so the victims

who were stuck in grief could move on  with their lives.

Some of his work was with death row prisoners.

 

David’s work was actually featured on the

news program 48 hours in the early 2000’s

so there was video of one of these meetings.

I had taken a class that he taught

and he showed us the program.

The person they focused on was

a woman whose name was Paula.

 

Paula’s 21 year old daughter was killed

about 12 years earlier by a man named John.

He had stabbed her and her roommate

who he had been stalking.

It was a really violent attack.

He had been in and out of jail with mental illness.

He was on drugs at the time.

He was on death row for the murders.

 

Paula said she died the day that her daughter died.

She hadn’t been able to move on with her life.

She was so consumed with grief and hate.

Paula had been trying to convince the Texas

prison system to let her speak with John

And she finally got her opportunity with David’s program

John was going to be executed in a few weeks.

 

They showed the video of my friend

working with her before the meeting

She was hard and tough and angry.

She was understandably bitter.

She wanted the offender to know about

all the pain he caused her.

She didn’t know how it would go.

Her family was not in favor of the meeting.

We also saw video of John, the offender.

Over time he had become extremely remorseful

and torn up about the crime too.

 

They met for the first time

through a plate glass window in the

death row area of Huntsville prison.

 

When they finally met, she spent the first half hour just crying.

She reminded him that her daughter was a person.

He repeatedly said he was sorry,

but he said he knew sorry would never be enough.

Then they talked for the next five hours.

Paula asked John many questions about what had happened.

Why he had done it, what his life was like before and after,

and he learned about her daughter and what

her life was like before and after.

 

 In my mind, I had thought that they were

on completely opposing sides of this equation and

they would never have a connection.

But the truth is their lives were completely

interconnected through this terrible act.

They shared more together than other people.

They shared the same wounds.

 

Her wounds were the mirror image of his wounds,

the pain of her daughter’s murder that she lived with

was the shame that he lived with too.

Both of their lives were completely destroyed

and transformed by this one senseless act.

They discovered that through this pain,

they actually knew each other intimately.

In the five hour meeting, she said her

hatred for him melted into something else.

 

She kept on saying to him, like so many mothers

have said to their own difficult children,

“I don’t know what to do with you, John.

I don’t know what to do with you.”

 

One of the most startling things to me,

was at the end of their first meeting

they were still separated by a piece of glass

and before they left the meeting, she held her

hand up to the window.

And he held his hand up to hers palm to palm.

It was like they were touching their wounds.

 

Imagine this meeting with Jesus and the disciples.

The last time the disciples had seen Jesus,

they had run away and left him.

One of their own had betrayed him.

Peter had denied knowing Jesus at all.

They abandoned the leader that they had

pledged undying devotion to.

They had been completely and embarrassingly human.

They were surely full of sadness at Jesus passing

and they were surely also full of guilt

that they didn’t do more to stop it.

The last time Jesus was alive,

everyone who loved him left him to die.

 

Jesus had risen, but what would his reaction be?

Would he be infuriated?

Would he condemn them?

Would he scold the disciples?

 

No, he enters the room with them and says: “Peace be with you.”

He declares peace between them.

Their wounds were the same.

Jesus’s wounds of pain were their wounds of shame.

He comes to them to be with them.

Asks to share a meal with them like the old days.

To bring them peace.

 

The risen Christ appears to the disciples

still in possession of his own wounds,

and understanding their wounds as well.

 

Forgiveness has often been touted as one

segment or one program of Christianity.

Just one thing that Jesus does

and that Jesus asks us to do.

 

But the appearance of Jesus raised

is the embodiment of forgiveness,

it is the avenue to rebirth in God’s name. 

And the time we have experienced real forgiveness

We have witnessed the resurrected Christ on earth.

Jesus says that “repentance and forgiveness of sins is

to be proclaimed to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.”

Starting with Jerusalem, the city where Jesus was crucified.

The city that also shared his wounds with him.

 

Forgiveness is the whole of the mission

that Jesus give to his people,

Not just something that’s done at the

beginning of worship and then we’re done with it.

But forgiveness and all it encompasses.

 

Forgiveness – the belief that all things can start again.

That a relationship that’s been harmed,

even by the worst, can be restored.

That people are never forsaken

That nothing is lost, no one is hopeless

not even a murderer on death row.

 

In church, we throw around

the word forgiveness a lot

so much so that we might think that it is simple

or that it happens all the time

or even that it’s expected

that each of us will experience it on a regular basis.

 

The actions and tasks that come

with forgiveness might come easily:

But I think that true, deep felt, freeing forgiveness,

is nothing short of a miracle.

When it happens to us, when we experience it,

when we forgive others, or ourselves,

we are experiencing a miracle.

The miracle of the resurrected Christ.

 

I think that when Paula first thought about talking with John,

she was not planning on feeling compassion for him.

I think she wanted to give him a piece of her mind and leave him.

Considering the situation, I don’t know that I could have forgiven him.

But I think the Spirit intervened.

 

Over the next few weeks, she met with him repeatedly.

She was still torn, she was infuriated with him at times.

She still thought he deserved the death penalty.

But she said this experience gave her life back to her.

He said it gave him peace before he died.

 

In one conversation that they showed

She said to him "I feel compassion for you, Jonathan," 

He said, "I don't know if I deserve it," 

She said, "No you don't, but you have it," 

 

She came to his execution

when his own mother wouldn’t come.

And before he was executed,

he said out loud, “I love you, Paula”

And she said, “I love you, John.”

That’s the last thing he heard.

That is nothing short of a miracle.

 

There was a soldier who

was terribly wounded in the Vietnam war.

From his torso up to his head he was burned.

His face and his whole upper body was terribly disfigured.

 

He spends his time now working at hospitals

in the burn unit talking to recent burn victims.

He tells them that somehow they will live.

They will get through.

 

Doctors and nurses have told the patients before,

over and over again but the patients don’t believe them.

The doctors and nurses saying it didn’t carry the same

weight as this person who had been through it.

This man was a testimony in his life.

This man’s authority is in his wounds.

 

Paula’s authority is in her wounds.

Forgiveness is possible.

There is always hope.

 

Jesus authority is in his wounds.

Jesus with his real flesh and bones,

stands among us saying,

“Peace be with you.”

“I have those wounds just like you.”

But these wounds are not the end of the story.

 

Blessed are the Doubters

 John 20:19-31   Easter 2 April 4, 2024

 

Poor Thomas.

He gets a bad rap from this story.

he gets kind of a derogatory nick name –

He’s known as Doubting Thomas.

 

I mean he’s the same Thomas 

who leads the disciples

to follow Jesus to Judea to help 

an ailing Lazarus by saying,

“Let’s go also so that we can also die with him.”

which was kind of brave. But he gets called Doubting Thomas.

 

Other people have been called Doubting Thomases too

because they doubt, or they want more proof.

Doubt. We have said it as if it’s a bad thing.

 

I’ve just recently had one person outside of the church

talk to me worried that they were

going to hell because at some point in their lives they

had doubt and turned away from the church and God.

Someone had to instill that in them. Doubt is bad.

 

And sometimes we look at people with unwavering

almost naïve trust as the pinnacle of what we’re supposed to be

Which just leaves the deep thinkers out completely.

 

But haven’t we all had doubt about the story of Jesus?

Haven’t we all been there?

Even the most faithful of us have had doubt.

 

Haven’t we all wondered been suspicious, wanted more information.

Haven’t we all at one time or another wondered about

the truth of these stories, wondered about their importance?

I know I have been there. I know I have stopped myself

and gone, wait, do I really believe all this?

 

I think that is okay.

I think it’s part of a healthy, thinking, rational mind.

I think doubt is part of our growth as disciples.

 

There are lots of ways we doubt or lots of ways that I doubt anyway.

Sometimes we doubt the facts of something as they’re told

in the stories in the bible.

Like Jesus really feed 5000 people?

Did they actually count them or was that an exaggeration?

 

We doubt that things were really miracles,

or was there another explanation for them?

Like did Jesus really make food for those 5000 people with

five loaves and two fish or did other people in the crowd

share their food with each other?

 

There’s the doubt that asks

Does God really exist, did Jesus really exist?

Did people just make them up?

 

We doubt the truth of the story,

maybe Jesus was just a regular person

and we’re all just silly to be following him.

 

And then there’s another kind of deep doubt

that asks does God actually love me?

Does God love us or want to punish us?

Has God abandoned us in our time of greatest need?

 

All those doubts are normal.

I’ve cycled through all of them at one time

or another sitting in my office, writing sermons,

reading books, sitting in classes, praying for people,

moving furniture alone in the sanctuary.

 

Contrary to what we might have been told in the past.

Doubt is normal. Doubt is part of faith.

In the past, Christians, especially children,

have been scolded for voicing their doubts,

people have been excommunicated,

banned, shunned and worse.

 

But doubt is part of a of a healthy faith life.

God and Jesus can take our doubts.

They accept them, I think they even encourage them.

 

Look at this story of Thomas,

Everyone was locked inside the upper room in fear,

but Thomas was out, maybe he was going on a Kroger run,

or taking the donkey for a walk.

Whatever he was doing, he wasn’t there, cowering in fear

like the rest of them, (see I think he should be Brave Thomas),

And while he was gone, the risen Christ popped into the room.

And when the rest of them told him about it, he didn’t believe them,

and said he wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it for himself.

 

Now, Jesus didn’t scold him, or tell him he was a heathen

for not trusting everyone else.

Jesus didn’t say, well if you don’t believe, too bad for you.

Jesus responded to Thomas’s doubt and satisfied it.

Jesus made a second trip, to that upper room just for Thomas’s sake.

and said “Peace be with you” a second time just for him.

He let Thomas put his hand in his wounds,

he helped Thomas work through it.

Whatever it took for him.

 

I believe that Jesus does that for us.

Whether it takes an instant, or hours, or days, or decades.

 

The quote goes, “There is no faith without doubt”

I can’t even find exactly who said this because

so many wise people have said this, or a version of it.

Faith often begins with doubt.

Faith bounces back and forth with doubt.

Doubt can strengthen our faith.

Doubt can feed our minds, strive for learning more,

until our hearts can catch up and rest in

God’s love and forgiveness again.

 

When I first started to go back to church in my late 20’s

after many years of absence from church,

I went to an ELCA church. For the first few of weeks

during worship, I opted out of saying the apostles creed.

I would say all the rest of the liturgy, but

I thought to myself, I just don’t know if I can

commit to everything that’s said in the creed.

This went on for a while

until we were in a discussion after church

and someone mentioned the creeds,

and I said, kind of defiantly, maybe proudly,

“I don’t say the creeds, I don’t know that I believe them.”

 

And one of the pillars of the church , someone I considered

a model of the faith, laughed, “Oh, I don’t believe it all the time eithr”

Then her husband who was a seminary professor,

and one of the smartest people I had met said,

“me either” and other people were agreeing with them.

And another seminary professor, who was really

the smartest person I had met til that time, said, “I don’t.

I don’t think any one hasn’t had doubt individually,

But we believe as a community”

 

Although I didn’t fully understand what that meant then.

The conversation stuck out for me in my mind,

because so many people that I looked up to

said they had doubt, and that my doubt wasn’t

horrible, or even unique, but it was a normal

part of being in the community.

It actually helped me move ahead in my faith.

 

And now after these years, I think I understand.

The truth of Christ’s resurrection doesn’t

rely on my individual belief in it at every moment.

When I don’t believe, the rest of the community

will believe for me.

When you can’t say the creed, there are others

who will say it and hold it up for you.

When you can’t believe in God’s love for you,

other people will hold that place for you.

When your faith is shaken by life or circumstances,

other people will be here, to believe for you,

until you’re ready. Then you can hold onto the

faith for them, when they can’t believe.

 

“We doubt individually, but we believe as a community”

 

And I learned from my experience,

that doubt can move us to a deeper faith,

and it moves our community to a deeper faith.

Thomas’s doubt offered the other disciples

another chance to see and experience the risen Christ.

 

Jesus said “Blessed are those who have not

seen and have come to believe.”

 

And blessed are those also, like Thomas, who

have doubted, who question, and who want to see more.

Hate Your Life

John 12: 20-33 
Lent 5
March 16, 2024

 

Wheat Fields Crows and Cross
Milford

Some Greeks ask to see Jesus.

It doesn’t say a whole lot about these Greeks,

but we can infer some things.

It says that they were Greeks.

In other words, they were Gentiles by 

birth, non-Jewish people

And it says that they were in town

worshipping for the festival of the Passover.

 

Maybe they’ve converted to the Jewish faith.

Not unheard of, even in that time.

Or maybe they haven’t converted, but they’re spiritually curious,

Like people today they’re trying out different things,

hoping to find the one that fits.

Or maybe they are just religious tourists

fascinated with other people’s spiritual practices.

Like people of different faiths, or no faith,

visiting churches and temples, like people come to town

for a Irish Festival or an Italian Festival.

 

For whatever reason they’re there,

now they want to see Jesus. They said they just want to see Jesus.

They don’t want to hear Jesus or get to know Jesus.

They want to see Jesus. Jesus had developed a reputation for

doing many impressive things and they just wanted to see him.

Maybe see a miracle, if he’s up to it.

If it were modern times, they might have just wanted

to get a selfie with him to show their friends.

They just want to see Jesus. 

Maybe tell everyone they saw Jesus.  Just observe, not get involved.

Like they told Andrew, and Andrew told Phillip,

and Andrew and Phillip told Jesus.

“We want to see Jesus, please. “

They’re very polite.

 

So , I don’t think these Greeks at the festival –

or even Andrew and Phillip – were quite prepared

for the speech that they got from Jesus.

Somehow their arrival prompts Jesus to give

a short sermon to everyone around him.

He tells them that this is it.

Now is the time for Jesus to be glorified.

And for that to happen, he was going to die.

 

Uh, we just wanted to see Jesus.

 

Jesus talks about his death. He compares himself to wheat,

saying if a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,

it spreads it’s seeds around so that more can grow.

In other words, Jesus death isn’t just a death

it’s for the benefit of all people, so that others can live.

 

Now, we understand and believe that in Jesus death there’s life,

that somehow because Jesus died and rose,

that  gives us eternal life.

 

But there’s more to it than that,

because Jesus also says this life and death cycle applies to us too:

He says, “Those who love their life lose it and those who

hate their lives will keep it for eternal life.”

Jesus is expecting us to die too. Maybe even the Greeks.

 

The Greeks are getting much more than they bargained for here.

 

So really, hate our lives?  What does Jesus mean by that?

Should we reject everything on this earth

and just focus on Spiritual things? 

Should we be negative all the time always complaining? 

Should we be outraged by everything that happens this world?

(some Christians have taken Jesus words to mean just that.)

I thought we were supposed to live with gratitude every day.

That seems more healthy and Christ-like than hating our lives.

 

I mean, I don’t hate my life, I  actually love my life.

I love my job, my husband, my home, my job, my friends.

I love doing the things I enjoy. I love my life.

Does that mean I’m going to lose it?

 

And those Greeks just wanted to see Jesus.

 

So I don’t think Jesus wants us to actually hate our lives.

Jesus is using hyperbole again, exaggeration, which he uses often,

and which often throws people off today.

 

What I think he means is this:

We should not cling to the things of our lives,

we should be willing to give them up if we need to.

We should long for God’s kingdom, God’s ways, God’s will.

And do everything to see it come to reality.

Even if gaining the kingdom means losing something

that you have grown fond of  and even love.

Hate your life.

Don’t love all the things of this world so much

that you won’t trade the gospel for them.

 

The gospel of Jesus, the gospel of serving others,

The work of justice, and love requires sacrifice.

As Christians, we are asked to give up things that

we might love in order to see God’s vision through.

 

Those who cling to the  things of this world,

the power, the comforts, the predictability,

their status, their reputations, even their traditions,

and refuse to give them up for God’s vision,

will find that the things they cling to are temporary

and unsatisfying.

Jesus is saying don’t love the things of this life so much,

that you are not willing to release them for God’s sake.

  

To quote Martin Luther in A Mighty Fortress:

“Were they to take our house, goods, honor,

child, or spouse, though life be wrenched away,

they cannot win the day, the kingdom’s ours forever.”

 

And all those poor Greeks wanted to do was see Jesus.

 

This world is filled with stories of people who cling to their

power and their money and their comfort and won’t

give it up, and this results in terrible consequences

even if it means taking many, many lives.

 

Kings and queens and presidents and pastors,

prime ministers, and CEO’s and senators and representatives ,

who hold onto their positions long after they’re time.

 

The president of Syria refused to leave office,

even though it has meant 14 years of war,

and his beautiful country basically destroyed.

And we have our own issue in this country with that, don’t we?

 

73% of our Senate and 50% of our congress is over 70 years old.

And both of the people running for president now

were born in the 1940’s

And one of them just promised a “bloodbath” if he loses.

 

And you and I cling to our love of fossil fuels and plastics

and other conveniences, even though it’s wreaking havoc

with our environment. We’re just beginning to see the results now

and our children and our grandchildren will have

to deal with more repercussions in the future.

 

We cling to our right to own guns so hard in this country

And just in the first three months of this year

5000 people already have been killed by gun violence.

  

And we see what’s happening in our own churches.

I don’t have to go in to statistics and details because you know.

Is it because we can’t let go or let in new ideas?

Is it because we’re afraid of the changes that

younger generations will bring?

Are we loving and grasping so hard to it that it’s losing its life?

 Pr. June, we didn't want to hear all this.

Hate your life.

Be uncomfortable with the way things are.

Be uncomfortable with the privileges you have and

see where you can give your power to someone else.

Don’t be so attached to the way it is that you fight the change

that the Holy Spirit is trying to make.

Be willing to let it go so that the Kingdom of God can come to earth.

Let go of your life, so that the Kingdom of God can flourish.

 

Pr. June, we just wanted to come and see Jesus today.

 

So see Jesus. See what Jesus did.

Jesus loved his life, I’m sure. He loved his friends,

he loved his ministry, he loved to eat and drink.

He loved healing people and telling stories about God.

And then he stepped aside in death and let his followers take over.

 

Jesus had the ability to live eternally on earth and rule forever.

But Jesus didn’t do that.

Maybe it would have been nice to have him around.

But he didn’t want to be about him,

he wanted it to be about us, and about future generations

who will share the gospel with their future generations.

Jesus became the seed that bore much fruit.

Generations and generations of fruit.

 

Like those Greeks at that festival.

We want to see Jesus.

And certainly we certainly have.

We have seen the light in the world

that scatters the darkness,

and we can testify to that.

We have seen death and life again.

 

But Jesus doesn’t just want us to see him.

Jesus wants us to be him.

Jesus doesn’t need religious tourists who

just say they saw him and behave the same as they did before.

Jesus wants disciples.

Jesus saved us, so we could be him to the world.

Be his hands and feet, and do his work.

And also, when the time comes, Jesus wants us to

“hate our lives” to let go of what we have,

and let the seeds fall, so that others can live.

 

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat

falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain;

but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 

Those who love their life lose it,

and those who hate their life in this world

will keep it for eternal life. “

 

Let us see Jesus.

Let us truly see Jesus.

And let us be Jesus for the sake of the world.