Sermon
5 Easter - A
May 5, 1996
Given at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
By Rev. Valerie Hart
Imagine
when you were a child, oh 5 or 6 years old. You have gone on walk in the woods
with an older brother or cousin or friend whom you really trust. The woods
aren’t so scary when your with this person. You feel safe with him or her, you
have faith that they know the way home, so even though you may not know your
own way, you are not afraid. Then this person says to you that they have to
hurry on ahead. They will be leaving you, in the middle of the woods, alone.
You feel terrified, abandoned, unsure of yourself. Don’t leave me you protest.
No matter how much your friend reassures you that he won’t be far away, that he
will leave a trail for you to follow, that you will be OK and have nothing to
fear, you are in a panic. Like any good 5 year old you start to cry, to scream
in protest. In fact you are so caught up in your own protest that you don’t
notice that your friend has left.
Finally
your crying is exhausted. It is clear that you must do something. You begin to
call for your friend, and sure enough you hear his voice, far away, but clear,
saying; It is OK. Just follow the trail of stones I left for you.” Just hearing
his voice reassures you. You get up and wipe your eyes with your grubby sleeve
and look around. Sure enough, there are the stones he promised. Pretty little
stones that show the way. With some fear at first you begin to follow them, but
as you get more confidence that they are indeed leading you home your footsteps
become firmer. But just when things seem to be going so well, you reach an
obstacle, a tree trunk across the path. You begin to panic, once again feeling lost,
abandoned, hopeless. You call out your friend’s name and sure enough you hear
his voice; “It’s OK, you can climb over it. It is not too much for you.”
Once
again you have the courage to go on. And after climbing over that tree your
confidence begins to soar. You know you can make it, if you just keep following
the stones. What a journey it has been, filled with terror, excitement,
success, and then you see home. And not only are your home, but your friend had
gone ahead to set up a surprise party for you. All your friends are there,
cheering that you made your way home. And then you know that your friend had
never really abandoned you. He had been close at hand but out of sight, all
along.
When
Jesus speaks with his disciples before his crucifixion, trying to explain to
them what is about to happen, they just don’t get it. They have so enjoyed
having him close at hand. He has helped them to feel safe, confident, loved,
they can’t imagine him leaving them. Jesus does his best to reassure them. “Do
not let your hearts be troubled.”
But they were troubled. He told them that they know the way, but Thomas
said; “How can we know they way. We don’t even know where you are going.” “I am
the way, and the truth and the life.” he responds, but they are still not
satisfied. They want proof. They want to “see the father”. They are like scared
children who are being left. They are feeling abandoned. They feel that they
will be lost without him. And they want proof that everything is going to be all
right.
Doesn’t
that sound a lot like us.
We
read the scripture “Do not let hearts be troubled” but we are troubled. We are
troubled at our losses, at the death of loved ones, at our own illnesses, at
our aging, at our impending death. We are troubled by our concern for others,
by the suffering we see around us, by the senseless violence, by the concern
for our own children and grandchildren. Often our hearts are troubled.
And
we read “You know the way” yet we often feel lost. Unsure of what is next in
our lives, unsure of what to do or where to go. We lose our confidence to make
decisions, we get lost in a sense of hopelessness and despair, depression and
anxiety.
So
like Philip, we want proof. “Show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Just
prove to me that God exists, just prove to me that there is a meaning in life.
Just prove to me that I really am loved by Christ as much as I have heard, as
much as I long to be. Prove to me that I have not been abandoned.
Jesus’
response to the disciples was one of loving compassion. He answered, “Whoever
has seen me has seen the Father” The Greek word translated a seen involves more
than just physical sight, but also a sense of fully knowing, of a spiritual
seeing, like a vision, a depth of comprehension. If we have seen, understood,
spiritually sensed Christ, we have seen the Father, we have known God.
So
we find ourselves troubled, or we feel lost and abandoned. What are we to do?
If we focus on Christ, if we attempt to “see” him, if we call out to him, if we
ask him for peace, for reassurance, for direction we will discover that he is
here with us. We will fidvobrt hat he has never left us, and that he is longing
to welcome us home. “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Jesus tells us. If we ask for peace, for his support, for awareness of his
presence of reassurance of his love, we will find it. We will find that peace
of mind, we will have an untroubled heart, we will know the way and the truth
and the life and we will know that we have not been abandoned and never will
be. For Christ is risen, he has conquered death, he has shown us that his love
is forever and that we are never alone.
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