Easter 2 28th April 2019 Discernment

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER  Year C   April 28, 2019

Acts 5:27-32  •  Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150  •  Revelation 1:4-8  •  John 20:19-31

In Australia we have this thing we call the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”.  I’m sure you know it and may even have experienced it in some form.  We tend to want to cut down those who seem to be doing well.  In some generations it has been seen as a kind of “grounding”… that is, making sure that the one doing well remembers to be humble.  But in actual fact it is sin, and born out of envy and covetousness.

Selfish ambition causes people to speak badly about the one who is seen to be doing well, and usually the general population is happy to believe the gossip because they all share that same sin of envy.

In our first reading we see that the disciples are standing before the high priest being accused of blaming the religious people of Jerusalem for the death of Jesus… and they don’t hold back in telling those making the accusations that they are indeed responsible.

This is really important to understand properly.  Some Christians today, will try to tell you that it was the Romans who were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion.  These Christians make these statements to stand up for Jews and fight against anti-Jewish prejudice. Rome did give the final OK to the crucifixion, but remember how Pilate tried to release Jesus and then washed his hands, symbolically showing that it was not him but the Jews who had Jesus crucified.

Some anti-Semitics have had this blame of the Jews for Jesus’ death as a justification for their prejudice.  Rest assured that we have no right for any such prejudice, and to do so would show grave ignorance of the word of God, the scriptures, and the promises of God to his people, the Israelite nation. 

It is important that we understand that it was Jesus own people who rejected him and handed him over to be crucified.  This is written in the scriptures both in prophecy before Jesus’ death and in the accounts written by eye witnesses, after the death of Jesus.  His blood was on their hands and it is also on ours – because it is for OUR sins that he died…  and we too are guilty of rejecting Christ.

Jesus was seen by the religious of his day, to be a Tall Poppy.  He had a following of people and a reputation for working miracles.  He claimed to be the Son of God.  As far as they were concerned, this was blasphemy, and he needed to be put to death - especially as he was achieving even more than the average tall poppy - He was doing things that kind of proved himself to be true, as the messiah…. And confirmed, as the son of God!  A false tall poppy can be easily laughed at and dismissed, but the ones who deserve their status are generally the ones we all crucify.  

It was Jesus’ own people who were responsible for his blood.  How easy it was for them to get it wrong.  How easy it was for them to justify their wrong actions and to crucify the innocent.  It is just as easy for us to do the same right here in this year.

They rejected Jesus, but the stone the builders rejected has become the corner stone.

We do well to keep in mind how the very ones that Jesus came to save, did not recognize him and even crucified him.  We should reflect and ponder about those who we reject, and examine our conscience to see if we are honestly discerning or if we are, in fact, only justifying our selfish motives.

Jesus’ hands and feet are now on earth in his people, in you and me.  To answer the question of whether we are guilty of having rejected Christ, we need to look at the people in our church and ask if there are any we have rejected and hurt.  Jesus tells us that what we do to the least of His people is what we have done to him.

We should take a moment to ask the Spirit of God to open our eyes to anywhere in our lives that we have been guilty of this.

Speaking of discernment, where our eyes are opened to the deeper reality… where we see things with the eyes of  God, we come to look at our Gospel reading where we notice the story of the one we’ve come to know as “doubting Thomas”.  

I do feel sorry for Thomas as he has a reputation that I’m sure he does not deserve.  

When we read the account, we see that Jesus appeared to the disciples on the first day of the week and Thomas was absent.  On this first appearance Jesus actually shows his wounds to those in the room.  Why did he do that?  It is my belief that Jesus knew it was necessary to be abundantly clear, in order for the disciples to, not just believe, but absolutely know, with unshakeable assurance, that this was Jesus in risen flesh.   This absolute assurance, that they were not dreaming or imagining, or seeing a ghost, was needed so that they could accurately pass on this testimony of what they witnessed so that others could believe.

Unfortunately there will always be people who will not believe regardless of the testimony of another and regardless of all the evidence.  Jesus had taught his disciples about his death and resurrection, but none of them had properly grasped it.  The disciples had seen Jesus and passed on the story to Thomas, but Thomas remains sceptical.

I’ve seen too many people led astray by popular notions to dismiss Thomas as simply doubting.  Many years ago there was a movement in the Catholic Church called the Magnificat Meal Movement.  There was a lady from Toowoomba who led the movement and many here in Mackay were swept up in it… even stating the signs and wonders… miracles that seemed to happen surrounding this woman, who. on the one hand affirmed the traditional Catholic church (such that she won over many loyal devotees ) and with the other hand completely dismissed and criticised the Catholic Church.  She led many astray.

We are encouraged to test the spirits.  Whether it is from the lips of the person you most trust and admire or the greatest guru, we must train ourselves and our children to think critically.  In fact, we need to teach them to be like Thomas and discern.  The Bible tells us that faith is being Sure of what we hope for and certain of things we can’t see….. but being sure and certain means that even though we can’t see it, it isn’t BLIND faith, but convictions based on reasons.

As a mature-age education student we were encourage to be critical thinkers and told that with the current state of the world and the way that it seems to be headed, the best thing we can pass on to children is how to think critically and discern where there maybe bias or camouflaged lies.  Too often though, what I see is the media and society creating a culture where there is a popular philosophy that all the intelligent people must think in a certain way – The education lecturers were correct… we do need to teach critical thinking skills to our children, but it is so foreign to most people that we don’t know how to pass it on to our children… it doesn’t mean disbelieving everything, but it does mean thinking it through and testing it in the light of different circumstances.

My daughter, Talitha’s first lesson in this was when she was about 4 years old.  She wanted me to buy her roll ups. She’d seen the advertisement on television and when I bought them for her she wanted to know why they wouldn’t stick to her face the way that they did on the advertisement.  I explained that they put things that weren’t true on the ad so that we would want to buy them.  She was more aware of what was going on after that.

I have told children that every television show is trying to teach them something… or convince them of something.. or change their mind.  It is the same with songs.  Everything in entertainment is a voice with a message, urging you to get on board with their way of thinking.  Have you ever recognised them trying to change the way you think about a topic?  My guess is that sometimes you have, but I doubt that any of us are aware of the more subtle ones.  Don’t get me wrong, many of the messages are actually really positive, but we should be aware of the agenda so that we can consciously decide if we want to accept that way of thought….

The educators call it critical thinking, but the Bible calls it discernment.

Jesus didn’t dismiss Thomas for his doubting and disqualify him from apostleship, but instead he gives him the knowledge that Thomas is going to need in order to be one of Jesus’ powerful eye witnesses who was about to shape the history of the earth.

It is believed that Thomas went as missionary to the far East and eventually died in India after baptizing many.  It was Thomas who, when Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem after Lazarus’ death, said that they should all go with him and die with Jesus -  They knew that the Jews were wanting to put Jesus to death.  Thomas was loyal to Jesus and he was brave, but he wasn’t going to be swayed by the Charisma of Peter or the persuasiveness of John’s clever way with words.

In the readings today we’ve seen that people can easily reject God’s message and Christ in others simply because of sinful envy or ego,…that is, tall poppy syndrome.   And hopefully we’ve also seen how it is good to be discerning and deliberately thoughtful about what we believe.  Jesus said to Thomas, blessed are those who believe even though they have not seen.   This is talking about us, but it doesn’t mean for us to blindly believe…. We believe because we have reasoned with the evidence, heard from the eye witnesses and seen the results from their lives and their impact on our human history. 

In the book of Acts we read about a group of Jews from Berea.  Acts 17:11(NIV)

“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  These people didn’t dismiss the message according to their own prejudice, but neither did they blindly accept.  They were open to the message but examined the scriptures to discern that the message was correct.

We also believe because we have an advocate… the Holy Spirit, who helps us to discern.  Our faith is not blind, but it is a conviction based on reason and prayerful connection to God who lives in us. It is no coincidence that we read in the Gospel that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."