HYMN: This joyful Eastertide,
https://youtu.be/5tipsbcfuB4
PRAYERS
Gracious and Loving God,
we come before you this day as a people whose lives are disrupted,
as those who cannot physically meet
with our sister and brothers in Christ
to worship you.
Yet we do come before you now,
in our own homes, alone or with family,
to offer to you our worship, praise and adoration.
We come as your people,
united by our faith in Jesus, our risen Saviour and Lord.
We come as disciples, following by faith,
worshipping by the power of the Spirit,
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
READING
John 20: 19-29
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.” After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the marks of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood amongst them and said, “Peace be with you.” 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.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
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.”
HYMN: When Easter to the dark world came,
https://youtu.be/xLuvrDNsM9U
SERMON
It could almost be today. A group of people in insolation, keeping themselves separate from society and in fear of their lives. One of their number missing, perhaps out getting essential supplies like bread, vegetables and fruit.
This Easter has been an Easter quite unlike any we’ve collectively known before with most of is spending it behind closed doors rather than meeting together to sing those glorious Easter hymns and sharing in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
It could almost be today, but it wasn’t. it was just over two thousand years ago and Jesus’ frightened disciples were hiding in lockdown from their religious leaders, just as are hiding from the Covid-19 virus. Mary Magdalene had already told them “I have seen the Lord” but the impression you get is that they hadn’t really believed her. Here was frightened, defeated group of people for whom the future looked bleak and hopeless. They were so afraid about their immediate future that they had forgotten to look to God and for the hope that the promises of God would transcend their immediate circumstances.
Some of us are so fearful of the present and immediate future. We fear catching the Coronavirus and being amongst those who will die; or we fear that somebody close to us will be a victim of this disease. We are, perhaps, fearful of what will happen when the Coronavirus has passed and restrictions eased. Many lives will have been lost, jobs will have disappeared, companies will have folded, churches will have closed and some plans for the future will have come to nothing.
Jesus’ disciples would have had similar fears, fears about what the future would bring. Then Jesus came and stood amongst them, gloriously alive, proving who he was by showing them his hands and his side, still bearing the marks of crucifixion.
Jesus had been raised from the dead. He was standing before them, leaving them in no doubt.
Even Thomas, who was not with them the first time Jesus appeared to them, did not doubt when he saw Jesus standing before them, falling on his knees and crying out, “My Lord and my God.”
Sometimes people ask me how I can be so sure that Jesus physically rose from the dead to glorious resurrection life. I always point to the change in the disciples, who were more or less overnight transformed from men crippled by fear of death to men who went out onto the streets of Jerusalem, risking their lives to proclaim that Jesus had risen. These were men who bravely went to their own deaths as martyrs, convinced that even death itself was no barrier to the promises and love of God.
On the evening of that first Easter Day a situation of apparent hopelessness was turned into one of immense hope as fear was replaced by joy and confidence.
Like those first disciples “we have a hope that is steadfast and certain” (Jesus is King & I Will Extol Him by Wendy Churchill). We have a hope in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eventually the Coronavirus crisis will be over and life will return to a new state of normal. The challenge for us as Christians right now is to see beyond our present worries and concerns about coronavirus and what happens immediately when the crisis is over and to focus on the infinite, to see in the resurrection of Jesus a hope that transcends our current situation and rejoice in the ultimate victory of hope over despair, light over darkness and life over death which Easter brought.
John’s gospel ends with these words, “there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Jesus story continues this day, through our lives and the lives of our sisters and brothers in Christ. Jesus resurrection is an absolute assurance that his story will continue for eternity and that, as his disciples, our stories too will go on forever.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Loving God,
we come before you now rejoicing in the hope of that first Easter Day.
Like the first disciples we are fearful because of the situation we find ourselves in, but like them we rejoice because Jesus was raised from death to glorious resurrection life, bringing hope for the future.
Like Thomas we fall on our knees and cry out “My Lord and my God”, confident that is who you are, confident that our future is in the safest hands.
And so we come to you in confidence, by the power of the Holy Spirit breathed by Jesus on those first disciples; and in the name of Christ to bring you our prayers.
Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We pray for our world and for our land, suffering in the grip of Covid-19. We ask you to give wisdom to our leaders, to scientists and medical professionals as they seek to give the best advice, to make the best decisions and to bring us safely through this crisis.
Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We pray for doctors, nurses and others who work to care for those who are suffering, not only with the Coronavirus but also any other disease, illness or infirmity. Strengthen them when they are tired, give them courage when they are fearful and let the feel your presence and love.
Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We pray for those in our congregation who are suffering in body, mind or spirit…. We pray for those who are grieving. We lift them to you now with love ad pray that you would heal them, hold them and love them.
Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
We bring all our prayers in the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ, who taght us when we pray to say…
The Lord’s Prayer
HYMN: All I once held dear, built my life upon,
https://youtu.be/pTTlSx6zXio
BLESSING
Heavenly Father,
this day may we have faith in our Risen Lord Jesus
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit:
and may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with us always.
Amen
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