Sermon: 2nd Sunday of Easter, 4/7/2024, House of Prayer, Hingham MA

Grace, Peace, and Mercy from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I’m almost certain that at least one of the following phrases has been said to you, or maybe you have said them at some point of your life, I know I have: “They just don’t make them like they used to”, “Nothing like the good ol’ days”, “Back in my day…etc.etc.etc”. All these phrases evoke the power of nostalgia. Nostalgia is not necessarily a bad feeling. It can bring to mind comforts of the past. It creates a halo over a bygone time because of its associations with pleasant memories. It compares the pleasantness of those past memories with the ever-changing uncertainty and challenges of the present. At its best, nostalgia can bring us a sense of safety. It looks to the past and reminds us who we are or were, it provides us a sense of identity, as people who have lived life in different circumstances than those present. Everybody probably has an anecdote about how things were better in their time, when the sun shone bright on them. Like 80’s music purists, or those that extol the achievements of the greatest generation, or the social revolutions and ideals of the 60’s, or perhaps the relative peace of the 90’s, the absence of social media and the virtual world, we can continue on. It is a proven human behavior to long for the pleasant past. Now, nostalgia can sometimes be detrimental to our spirit. It can makes us live enclosed in a bubble of our own memories. It can even react violently against changes that are happening in the present. It can seek to assert the bygone reality of the past into the present and future, all for the sake of one’s own perception of what is best or only seeking the safety of one’s own. I don’t have to describe too deeply the fallout effects of such a perspective in politics. We hear it and see it in action today with slogans of “Make America Great Again”. A slogan that promises a security rooted in the past image of the United States, but denies the complex realities of the past and the complex challenges of the present. That is what we can call weaponized nostalgia, and it takes aim not with harmless pining for things like music and ice cream with gumball eyes, but targets and rejects, the very presence of certain human beings as threats or enemies because they don’t fit the picture of the sanctified past. It is essential to explore this dynamic within our lives and let Jesus lead us through the misty landscape of nostalgia.

Today’s Word can treat this very notion. The authors of John’s Gospel and the Book of Acts were dealing with the struggle between nostalgia and the present moment with its challenges. In the gospel, we listen to this heartfelt story of Thomas, affectionately known as Doubting Thomas. Thomas missed out on seeing the Risen Jesus. All the other disciples saw Him, yet he was left out. What gives? So Thomas doubles down, on what for many of us is an appropriate reaction: “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”. Thomas wants proof, not faith. And nobody can blame him, we are talking about resurrection here. This is not a story by Gabriel García Márquez, where someone levitates while drinking hot chocolate, or a woman disappears into the sky and nobody bats an eye, saying why wouldn’t that happen. Thomas is actually faced with Jesus rising from the dead and saying with scientific perception: “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The story of course continues with Jesus appearing again, this time to Thomas. Thomas shares in what the great black theologian and mystic Howard Thurman termed “the glad surprise” of the resurrection. Thomas’ reaction is one of confession: “My Lord and My God!” The extraordinary claim indeed has extraordinary evidence. Yet, Jesus downplays the power of this dynamic: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Jesus puts faith as being more blessed than seeing Him actually risen. What are we to make of this? This assertion reminds me of the many times people ask: “If you could go back in time, where would you go?” And some might answer I’d go back to the time of Jesus to meet Him and so forth. But Jesus actually has an answer for us in regards to that question: choose whichever other timeline you want, but don’t come looking for Jesus in the past. Look for Him living among you in the present moment. The author of John’s Gospel says as much in the text, listen to him: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But 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.” Yes, Jesus did many amazing things in the past, but He is doing amazing things in the present also through your faith, your trust in His Word and Presence in the Church’s life. Don’t go looking for Jesus like some archeological artifact, look for Him living in the Church and it’s proclamation, in the cry of the least of these, in the stirrings of your spirit to live with love and mercy. God is not nostalgic in this regard. He looks forward and onward. He is seeking for you to live the challenges and the struggles of the present with Him by your side. Faith is something that is undertaken in the here and now, what do you believe and what are you going to do about it? The void of uncertainty is ever before you and life can only be lived forward, leaping over the void with faith, as the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard would say. It seems like the community of the author of John’s Gospel was struggling with the nostalgia for the apostolic age, when the counsel and presence of the first disciples and witnesses was still palpable, when things seemed in the upswing in the Jesus-living and enthusiasm was high. But in their lifetime, who would lead or inspire to keep the faith? They had lost their physical touchstones to Jesus. The author of John’s Gospel reminded them this word of Jesus for them: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”. We are in that group alongside that early Christian community. We believe not because we have seen the Risen body itself, but because we inhabit the reality and power that emanates from that Risen body. We believe because of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives, moving us to witness to Jesus in extraordinary ways in the present moment. The Holy Spirit is God shaping us to the image of Christ, it is the presence of God in Jesus Christ in and around us. We are living in that Holy Spirit power right now, being led and transformed by this gathered life we call church. You cannot be church in the past, you can only be Church in the present.

So feel nostalgic about the pleasant memories, but do not get in your own way, let Jesus guide you now. Let Him lead you deeper into love and mercy now, with the people currently around you. In the Book of Acts, we also listened to another nostalgic glimpse into the apostolic age: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

Remember, this is a book of recollection, so the readers would be looking into the past and saying wow, the first apostles were radical! Look at how they lived! Very different from how we live now. The author described the ideal Christian community through the life of the first apostles. Of course, reality was muddier and more complex than described, just read the Letters of Paul. But this is perhaps a different form of nostalgia, it looks to the past for inspiration. It is perhaps a nostalgia that is not distracting from the faith that enlivens us, but it inspires us to do better in our present day. The caveat is to not burden ourselves with the sense that we are not like the apostles. Rather it should free us to imitate their example, while living our own context in the freedom of the Spirit. Remember, you are disciples also, you are also sent out into the world, the meaning of the word apostle! This is good news, it means that you are not bound by the past. The past does not dictate your present or future, rather you have Jesus, the church, and your own life to discern together the way forward. The apostles did not do everything right the same way our parents didn’t do everything right. We seek to build ourselves up with the same spirit by which they built, according to the need in front of us. What does the Risen Jesus command us to do, right here, right now, with the people here, not the people you had or the people you wish you had. As much as the past can be a good teacher and a healthful reminder of God’s workings alongside us, God is principally a God of now. Beloved, be of good cheer and take up your mantle of discipleship! You do not need to stick your fingers in the wounds of Jesus to follow Him, through faith is that you truly see Him. In Word and Sacrament, in prayer and contemplation, in Love and Mercy, in Prophetic witness, the Risen Lord is always present to you, walking alongside you through life’s challenges. Thanks be to God for that.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, we give you thanks because, even while we did not see You like Thomas and the disciples, You have blessed us with Your presence nonetheless in faith and the spirit. We get to see you in all places, in the bread and wine, in the love of the community and of strangers, in the power of your Word as it leads us onwards into your Will. Allow us to live in the present and to look towards the future with hope. Remind us that the vitality of the resurrection is at hand always. In your name we pray. Amen