Month: April 2026 - Church of the Apostles UCC

I don’t know what your week was like but mine was hard.

There were several mornings when I just wanted to stay in bed and pull the covers up over my head because that felt safe and comfortable. I always thought I had a pretty high tolerance for discomfort, but I met my limit this week.

On Tuesday morning, while eating breakfast, two jets flew over the house, which does happen now and then, but not often. And my mind took me back to when we lived in SC on the flight path for the Marine air base. Then, when the jets flew over, we said, “That’s the sound of freedom.” But Tuesday, I thought, “No, it’s not. Is this going to be one of those moments that I will remember for the rest of my life – like Sept 11, 2001, or the day President Ronald Reagan was shot?”

In that moment, I realized just how much fear I was carrying but not acknowledging. I say that because it helps me relate to the disciples in the locked room. What they knew was that Jesus had been killed. Mary Magdalene told them that he was alive and would meet them, but they didn’t really trust her word – I mean, she’s only a woman. I’ve met several of those guys!

So here they gather, trying to take comfort in being together, because it beats being alone, but they are scared and don’t know what to do. And when they needed it most, Jesus showed up.

Come now, Lord Jesus, come and save us again! And then again, no, please don’t – As if my opinion would change your plans. I say that only because there is a group within the Christian Nationalist movement who want just that. There is a group that believes the Book of Revelation is still to come true and thinks that the Anti-Christ will come from the Middle East and a war with them will bring about Armageddon and end the world. Please, Lord, please do not let them be right!

So Jesus showed up and gave them a few minutes of peace, a few minutes of encouragement, a few minutes of hope by reminding them that “Death has lost its sting.” And he breathed on them with the breath of life, the breath of creation’s birth, to bring them out of the darkness and into the light.

And then he said to them, “As God has sent me, so I send you.” They don’t get to stay in the locked room. I don’t get to stay in bed with the covers pulled up over my head. It’s time to move on! There’s work to be done!

And that’s where part of the rub is. We want safety and comfort, but that isn’t what Jesus did or where he went. He went to the uncomfortable places and offered healing. We are also called to the places that make us uncomfortable to offer healing and wholeness by naming those who feel left out, forgotten, or unworthy, that they are loved by God, and then show them with our words and actions. We are the hands and feet of Jesus for our time in history.

**AND Jesus told them something else, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” – John 20:23**

This is a major responsibility, and I will add that if you do not forgive, you will be hurting yourself far more than them. Carrying the anger and resentment will be a disease in your body and take its toll. Because as I am learning in the class I’m taking, The body keeps the score. It knows and holds all the unresolved pain, anger and hurt and it is stored within our bodies until we work it out.

Here I think the wisdom of the great Howard Thurman is worth telling:

“The “growing edge” of a society is the place where new life is possible
because people refuse to accept what diminishes human dignity.
That edge is not held by those in power alone.
It is held by communities, by individuals,
by those who choose to remain grounded
when the systems around them begin to lose their balance.”
-Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Boston: Beacon Press, 1949, p. 11.

And how do we care for ourselves so we can do the work Jesus calls us to do?

We come together, and we dance! Moving our bodies allows our bodies to process the emotions, the pain, anger, and hurt that we are holding. It gives us the endorphins we need to say, “Yes!” to Jesus and climb out of bed ready to work even in uncomfortable places.

Dancing together is not as easy as it sounds. It means watching each other. It is a give and take, or we will just end up “stepping on each other’s toes” and not getting where we need to be.

May it be so. Amen.

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Our scripture for today begins with some confusion.

Unlike the other gospels, here Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’ tomb alone, and it doesn’t tell us why. In the other gospels, the women go to place spices on his body, but according to John’s account, that was done by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea on the night he died. That detail alone is interesting as that was considered “women’s work.”

But when Mary finds the stone moved, she gets Peter and the unnamed Beloved Disciple, who also seem confused by what they saw, and go home. But Mary lingers, and because she does, she has a holy conversation with angels and then with Jesus so that she can proclaim, “I have seen the Lord.”

Her testimony and the testimony of many others who also see him alive again create the narrative that he was resurrected – Not resuscitated – nor reincarnated – not regenerated or renewed. Now, whether you believe in the resurrection or not, what I want you to notice in this story and in all of creation is that when something dies, something also comes to life. The seed falls from the plant and presumably dies, but within the ground it sprouts life anew.

In this cycle, which God created, life comes out of death and LOVE WINS!

And what did Christ Jesus do after his resurrection? He forgave and affirmed those who had denied and deserted him with no retribution – no “hell to pay.” Despite how some in our current culture depict Jesus, he was not a person who condoned violence. Even when Peter struck a guard with his sword during his arrest, Jesus told him to put away his sword and healed the man. Our God is one who promotes life with compassion.

**And in the next Chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus will look at Peter and trust him again with the direction to “Feed my lambs – Tend my sheep – Feed my sheep” – John 21:15-17.**

My friends, this is about love and grace! I have heard it said that Christianity is about a free pass to heaven, but I say to you, Christianity is about how we are to live here and now! It is about being loving, compassionate people who seek wholeness for those around us and ourselves.

I have also heard it said that Jesus will bless the unmerciful killing of others, but I say to you, Jesus used his life to stop anyone from feeling less than, unworthy, or unwanted. He was about building community, not dominating or destroying it!

So, I invite you to have your own Holy Conversation with Jesus. Using what is called “faith imagination,” put yourself in the garden watching Mary from a distance. See the disciples run into the tomb and leave confused. Watch the conversation between Mary and Jesus. Then just stay there. For after Mary leaves, you can call out Jesus’ name. Then listen for what Jesus says to you. So that you too can proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!”

This, my friends, is where you will find hope!