Easter 2 Sunday 19th April 2020

Reading and reflection for Sunday 19th April 2020 Easter 2

Readings Acts 2.14a,22-32 1 Peter 1.3-9 John 20.19-31

Opening Words

We are the Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.

There is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God, no height nor depth, no death nor life, no isolation nor social distancing, no virus nor scaremongering, no ill health nor anxiety, no riches nor debts, nor things present nor things to come can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!

Roman's 28 amended Vanda Perrett

Collect of the Day

Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Gospel John 20.19-31

19When it was evening on 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.

Reflection

“Peace be with you” says Jesus. Peace indeed. I think, for me, peace and love are the two things of great value that we cannot buy with money. Transitory peace of knowing you can pay the bills -ok, but the peace, which is the lack of fear, the lack of despair, the lack of worry, is rare to find. Ditto love that cannot be bought or earned but is freely given is as rare as hen’s teeth!

Thomas is given a hard time as the doubter. Yes, he does say he needs to be given proof, but is that not just because he is so desperate that it IS true, that his leader has risen from the dead, that Jesus is once again walking this earth. All of us who have lost someone will resonate with this simple yearning to have one more time with the one we loved. One more chance to say what we needed to say, one more hug, one more glimpse of the much loved face. Why should any of the disciples be different?

Perhaps Thomas alone speaks of his doubt, but he speaks for each one of us in our faith journey. We all encounter some form of doubt, wondering what is real and true, and trustworthy.

Jesus gift to Thomas in this reading is not a forgiving of his doubting, nor is it a giving a chance to say what Thomas wanted to say. The gift is of Jesus’ peace and love, a peace which enables Thomas to see Jesus clearly. “My Lord and My God”. Jesus’ love for Thomas produces the words which underpin our faith, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ We were not there 2000 years ago, we did not live with Jesus, but through his followers, his word, his life we are able to believe and so have the peace of God and know his love. Alleluia He Is Risen!

Prayers from a variety of sources this week

Prayer for a Pandemic by Cameron Wiggins Bellm

May we who are merely inconvenienced,
remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.
May those who have the luxury of working from home
remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May those who have the flexibility to care for our children
when schools close remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel a trip
remember those who have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market
remember those who have no margin at all.
May those who settle for quarantine at home
remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love during this time
when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
let us find ways to be the loving embrace to God and our neighbour.

A Coronavirus Prayer

Loving God, Your desire is for our wholeness and well being.

We hold in tenderness and prayer the collective suffering

of our world at this time.

We grieve precious lives lost and vulnerable lives threatened.

We ache for ourselves and our neighbours,

standing before an uncertain future.

We pray: may love, not fear, go viral.

Inspire our leaders to discern and choose wisely,

aligned with the common good.

Help us to practice social distancing and reveal to us new

and creative ways to come together in spirit and in solidarity.

Call us to profound trust in your faithful presence,

You, the God who does not abandon.

An Easter Prayer by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Dear God,

As you did your son, drag us out of our tombs.

There is no virtue in the world, no lifestyle choices, no amount of wokeness that can pull the sunup from the East each day, Lord.

So, turn our heads, even if ever so slightly, toward the dawn, so that we may know that it is your grace that both raises the sun and raises the dead.

Even if we have given up, yank us out of our graves of choice.

Rescue us from despairing.

When we return to tombs that are no longer meant for us:

revive old resentments, pick up a drink after years of sobriety;

again, give pieces of our hearts to that which can never love us back,

remind us that you never tire of reaching into tombs and loving us back to life.

Comfort the dying, Lord. Revive the faltering.

Grant us joy and make our song Alleluia…not because we aren’t paying attention, but because we are. Amen.

Your Peace Author Unknown.

God, who is more than we can ever comprehend,
help us to seek you, and you alone.
Help us to stand before all that we could do
and seek what you would do, and do that.
Lift from us our need to achieve all that we can be
and instead, surrender to what you can be in us.
Give us ways to refrain from the busyness
that will put us on edge and off centre,
give us today your peace.

May we be blessed and a blessing to others, in Jesus name. Amen

1 Peter 1.3-9 © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA Acts 2.14a,22-32 © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA John 20.19-31 © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA