“Though You Do Not See Him...”
I Peter 1:1-9 and John 20:19-31
“Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (I Peter 1:8-9)
(Sermon preached by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, May 1, 2011)
What would you have given to have an invitation to the Royal Wedding on Friday? It probably would have taken someone to give us an all-expense paid trip to jolly ol’ London, including the formal wedding wear! But none of us were invited, so we didn’t have to worry about getting there or what to wear.
However, we may have tuned in to one of the networks that carried the wedding live on Friday morning. I have to admit that as I was doing my Friday morning chores, I had the television on. I enjoyed seeing the British precision, the pomp and circumstance, and the vows. I also appreciate it when couples who have been living together off and on decide to be married and ask for God’s blessing. So, may the Lord bless William and Catherine for a lifetime commitment in the bonds of marriage.
But, perhaps, many of us didn’t watch the celebration, for whatever reason. Even though we didn’t, this doesn’t make William and Kate less married. Just because we didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. If we need proof, we can ask to see the videos of the ceremony. Then we probably for sure would believe it happened, just as the various reports said it did.
Coming back over to this side of the pond now, I wonder how many folks do still not believe that President Obama was born in the United States. Supposedly this week, we have seen the “Official ‘Long Form’ Certificate of Live Birth” from Hawaii. But, it could be a fake, couldn’t it?
Some folks still say it is because his father is listed as being “African,” rather than then more common for that day, “Negro.” What we will believe, we will believe, though. We weren’t around in 1961 and neither were a lot of folks, and a lot of those who were are not around anymore. What will we believe?
This question brings us to our question of faith for this day: What do we believe about Jesus Christ? Do we believe there was a baby born in Bethlehem to parents named Mary and Joseph? Do we believe that he had the life that has been written about in the Bible and in other documents, especially the document by Jewish historian Josephus? Do we believe the report of the death he suffered?
Remember, now, we weren’t there. Conspiracy theorists believe that it wasn’t Jesus that was on the cross, nor that it wasn’t Jesus put into that tomb, nor that if Jesus was put into the tomb, he was taken out of it sometime during the night.
Then, we have the reports that he “appeared” to many people after he supposedly was killed, so maybe he wasn’t killed after all. Finally, there are the reports written in the Bible that his disciples watched as he ascended from earth into the sky, until he disappeared from sight. Oh, my, what do we believe about that?!
It would be nice, wouldn’t it, if this room was the “upper room,” and Christ would come stand in our midst, right now, today? Wouldn’t it be easier for our faith if we could see the nail holes and the side scar and the scabs from the crown of thorns? But, no, we have to rely on the gift God has given us, the gift of faith.
We need to hear the very direct and loving words of how Peter assures us. He really names it for us when he says,
Although you haven’t seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The phrases “although you haven’t seen him” and “even though you do not see him now” go even deeper than just not having been around during Jesus’ life. The folks to whom Peter was writing were not well-satisfied, problems solved people. They were having a hard time, a very hard time, in life because of their faith. They were in exile; they had been dispersed. They had been abandoned by their families, whether Jewish families or Greco-Roman families because of their faith in Jesus. Both cultures had rejected Christianity. Families were split. Christianity was a despised, foreign religion by the authorities and by friends and families.
So, Peter once again lays out the bedrock of our faith. Here it is from The Message transliteration:
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we have been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all – life healed and whole.
Do we think that folks down in Tuscaloosa feel that they have “everything to life for” today? Probably more than a few will be adamantly insisting, “We have nothing to live for; it is all gone!”
Perhaps we have seen the report that the Chinese government outlawed the Christian Church’s Easter celebrations last weekend. Perhaps the Christians in China said, “We have noting to live for if we can’t worship on Easter Sunday!”
Peter’s letter makes the point, “You have everything to live for anyway and always!”
Let’s think back over our lives. There have been times, haven’t there, when we have thought, “We have nothing to live for,” yet here we still are. But are we really living?
Perhaps for some of us, it is often just putting one foot in front of another, day by day. Perhaps it is difficult for us to consider that we have “everything to live for”; yet, somehow we hear the words of Peter’s letter, and we continue on, even begin to feel more unburdened as we go along.
A great part of feeling less and less burdened is that we believe and say that Jesus also experienced the pain and agony that we face, and if we believe it, to a much greater degree than we. And, we can remember that even Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but (what did he say?) fear not, for I have overcome the world!”
Peter doesn’t try to sugarcoat things, but says things that give us strength. Again from The Message:
I know how great this makes you feel (that is, the belief of faith that we have everything to live for), even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime.
I love this: “Even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime!” These ‘aggravations’ are the things that make us stronger, as we handle them with our faith. Peter reminds us that “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes our proved genuine. When Jesus wraps all of this up, it’s your faith, not your gold that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.”
So, the question for us today is can God put our faith on display and be proud of it because our faith is evidence of his victory? Here’s the check list of questions:
One, “Although we haven’t seen Jesus (and this not with our eyes, but with the full comprehension of our minds), do we still love him? The word for ‘love’ here is the agape form of love. In other words, even though we don’t fully comprehend the whole idea of faith, are we still willing to live our life and give up our life for Jesus? Yes or no?
Two: “Since we can’t see him now (and this refers to actually seeing him with our two eyes), do we believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable joy” that we do? When we heard the words last Sunday “Christ is risen!” how did we respond? Some of you responded with a great look of assurance, “He is risen indeed!”
Do we believe it with joy when we say it in both the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed: “On the third day he rose again from then dead in accordance with the Scripture; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.” The Nicene adds. “He will come again in glory,” and “His kingdom shall now no end.” Yes or No?
This is our good news, my friends; Christ is risen; he’s on his throne; he will come again; and, his kingdom will never end! We can get into this!
Third, and this is our blessed assurance: Peter says, “For you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” The Message puts is this way:
You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him – with laughter and singing. (And) because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you are looking forward to: total salvation.
Jesus himself said we ‘are blessed.’ He said it to Doubting Thomas when Thomas made his great profession, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”
We are the blessed, my friends, because we haven’t seen Jesus, either with our eyes nor our brains. But we have come to believe because of faith alone gifted to us by God’s grace. Yes or no?
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift of Jesus Christ for us and his indescribable gift of faith to us. Glory to God! Amen.
