Christ is risen. Christ is risen. Christ is risen.
Christ is risen. It's a joy. It's a joy to be
with you and for us to gather today offering
thanksgiving to God at this divine liturgy celebrating
the resurrection. We've been through what I think
we can call God's own time. That's how we see
Lent. That's how we see Holy Week. The days of
Pascha and Bright Week, it's God's own time.
And we were there with him or he was here with
us. And all those events that we read about,
we commemorated. that we entered into on those
days. As one person said after the 12 Gospels,
it was like she wasn't here, she was there. Today.
Because you don't have tomorrow yet. And yesterday
is gone. So when we say today in the church,
it truly is. Today, he who hung the earth upon
the waters is hung upon the tree. It's for us
today. And we gather it here before midnight
on that holy Saturday after all those days of
seeing the betrayal and the trial and the crucifixion
and the burial of our Savior. If our hearts were
in touch by any of that, then we need to do some
serious prostrations and prayer and confession.
What a magnificent celebration we had then before
the dawn, as it says in the hymn, with Mary and
the women came to the tomb lamenting, and they
found it opened. Christ is risen. Let his enemies
be scattered. Those enemies, just to be clear,
are not other people. Those enemies are the demonic
powers, the devil, and death, which Christ came
to overcome and has overcome. And in us, one
person and heart at a time, by baptism and the
gift of the Holy Spirit, we do also enter into
Christ's victory. When someone says to you, Well,
let me say, Christ is risen. Well, you answer
in a heartfelt, very confident way. Indeed, he
is risen. But the women, when they went to the
tomb, they found it open, and Mary Magdalene,
as you see in the fresco, actually saw the Lord,
as did his most pure mother. They went to the
apostles, the ten hiding in the upper room, and
they said, Christ is risen. And they said, you're
seeing things. You're grief. You're just imagining
this. And people have told me after a loved one's
death that they had an encounter of some sort
with that beloved person. So not uncommon. And
this is what the apostles are thinking. Your
grief has got the better of you, ladies. You're
hysterical. People crucified by the Romans. Don't
rise. They knew what they were doing. They were
disappointed. And then Jesus appeared to them
and said, peace be to you. Silence. And he said
again, peace be to you. And then were the disciples,
it says, and it's not quite the right word. They
were glad when they saw the Lord. They weren't
just glad. They rejoiced. They rejoiced. Their
hearts were bursting. What a beautiful scene
that must have been. And Thomas wasn't there,
and he came to them later that evening. And they
said to him, Christ is risen. He says, I don't
think so, gentlemen. You're in grief. You're
in hysterical grief. You're just seeing a ghost.
And you know what he said. Unless I see the print
of the nails. and put my hand into his side.
I will not believe. Thomas was showing discernment.
The hymns of the church don't say doubting Thomas.
They say his most wise doubt led to a firm belief
and the most beautiful confession of faith that
we find anywhere in the New Testament. My Lord
and my God. We praise Thomas for that. He is
our example. His confession is most perfect,
my Lord and my God. It's most exact. It's the
most wonderful thing because he saw the risen,
bodily risen Lord, not a spirit, not a ghost.
We don't need to consult the Department of Disinformation
about this. This is the truth. There are two
ways that we come to faith. Maybe more, but let
me tell you two that I can think of. One is,
let me do a little demonstration that Archbishop
Michael of New York does when he wants to talk
about the difference between faith and knowledge.
Let me see my trusty server here. I have in one
of my hands a prayer rope. Which hand is it?
The right hand. It's not a prayer rope. Why did
you come up with that answer? I guessed. You
guessed. That's guessing. I have in one of my
hands, actually in my left hand, I have a prayer
rope. Which hand is the prayer rope in? The left
hand. That's trust. in faith in the person that
told him. Which hand is the prayer roll pin?
That's just knowledge. That's no big deal. That's
just observation. You may sit. Thank you. We
trust in the witness of the apostles, what they
went through. After The Feast of Pentecost. And
you heard today in the reading from Acts the
significant change that came over them in the
Gospel of John before they meet Christ. They're
in the upper room afraid of the Jews because
they might be arrested and crucified. In Acts,
they have no fear whatsoever. No fear of death.
No fear of being arrested. They were arrested
for preaching. The angel releases them and says,
Go out and speak all the words of this life.
What life? The life in Christ, the life that
changes and transforms us. And the people, seeing
the apostles' incredible faith in Christ, which
is real and true because of the Spirit, they
believed, and many signs and wonders were performed.
St. Luke doesn't call them miracles. He calls
them signs and wonders, signs of the presence
of the kingdom of God in our midst. This is our
task, brothers and sisters, to be like those
apostles. We are not the apostles. We trust in
their witness, but we have received the Spirit.
And we should think, what has this... celebration,
this commemoration, the keeping of Lent and Holy
Week and Pascha, how has that affected us? What
change has come over us? Year after year, we
should be gathering something. There's another
way we come to faith after we have received the
Holy Spirit. You know, we believe so that we
can understand. If you try to understand before
you believe, you're out there on the sea. Getting
sloshed around. We receive during these holy
days according to the measure that we offered
ourself. According to the measure that we suffered
with Christ in our own trials and difficulties
and illnesses and worries about people in the
world. We received according to how much we pray,
how much we cry to God. We're filled to the degree
that we are empty before him, that we make room
in our hearts for Christ. And then the assurance
of the resurrection is not just that you believe
what you were told. You can say when the choir
sings that hymn every Saturday night and on Pascha.
Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, having
beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship
the Holy Lord Jesus. We behold it with the eyes
of faith. And then we answer the incredible message
that Christ is risen with a firm, committed,
confident response. Indeed, he is risen. So we
trust in the eyewitnesses because Thomas, was
indeed invited to see and touch Christ's wounds.
He didn't need to. And I'll just say, those wounds,
they remain in Christ. They remain. Those wounds
speak to our wounds. Number one, that Christ
has experienced the pain we experience, the sorrow
we know. The fear that we can experience. His
wounds speak to our wounds. And his wounds speak
to our wounds because they are a sign of his
love for us. What he endured in our behalf. So
now, does anyone ask, what is the difference
with you? Boy, you're different. Why the joy
and the peace? Don't you know the world's a mess?
Don't you know it's all crushing down around
us? Why are you joyful? Having accepted the words
of St. Thomas, my Lord and my God, we can be
with the apostles. Let me just read and finish
so you can hear their courage one more time.
When the high priest rose up and all those that
were with him, This is the high priest that arranged
with Pontius Pilate for the Romans to crucify
Jesus. They were filled with indignation that
Jesus was being talked about as the Messiah and
that he is not just a Messiah, but he is the
Lord, the Most High God. And laid their hands
on the apostles and put them in the common prison.
But at night, An angel of the Lord opened the
prison doors and brought them out and said, Go,
stand in the temple. Speak to the people all
the words of this life. Who will you speak to
today? Words of joy and encouragement and faith.
The words of this life. May it be the simple
words that Christ is risen.