Thomas Story & Susan s Witness

Transcription

1 Guest Preacher: Susan Kopp Sierra Pines United Methodist Church Sermon: 4/23/2017 Sermon Resurrection Stories Scripture: John 20:19-31 Thomas Story & Susan s Witness <John 20:19-31> 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, 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. 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 27 Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe. 28 Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God! 29 Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 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. When I think of Resurrection, I automatically think of Jesus, remembering all that he went through: betrayal, trial, beating, scourging, walk to the cross, the cross, his death, and the joy for Mary on that first Easter morning. -1-

2 How do we relate that to our lives? As United Methodists we are given many tools to help with this question. My favorite which has been an amazing blessing is the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer, which we will share when I am finished. Webster s Dictionary, says: Resurrection is a noun rising from the dead. A noun as person, place, or thing. I do not think of resurrection as any of those. But, I do consider Resurrection an event. Events have happened in which I have gone through dark periods, you might call them dying moments; and I have risen from them as a different Christian. When I was asked to talk about resurrection moments in my life, I thought about those moments when I needed God most, when dying felt like my only option. From being an unwanted child, wearing a full-body back-brace as a teenager, to my search for a new home church. What could I convey to each of you how I viewed resurrection in my life. It happens, we all experience it: difficult childhoods abusive relationships physical ailments divorce lay off s we each can have quite a list When we give consideration and reflection to our life s path. The question is: How has God resurrected each of us into a new person? Four years ago, I faced the possibility of death when I was diagnosed with an aneurism. For a year and a half, I went to a wonderful Neurosurgeon in Sacramento for MRI s and consultations. He told us that there were traditionally two options for treatment, coiling or clipping. He did coiling. On March 6, 2015, after an MRI, I received a phone call, We need you to get a CT scan stat. That evening at Sutter in Roseville, we got it accomplished with a technician who was more nervous than I was; he kept assuring me that my doctor would have the report as soon as possible. I remember thinking, it is Friday night, if things were urgent, I would be in the ER. So, I logically put the whole thing to the back of my mind. I did not dismiss it but it was not an immediate priority. During the time from my first diagnosis, I was cautioned to take care of all legal matters, to get my things in order, and most importantly to avoid stress. Our scripture lesson today is about Thomas. I love Thomas; he is one of my personal heroes. He -2-

3 wants proof, and he is confident in his request, because Jesus asked the disciples Do you understand? This is pretty much the process that I was going through. The proof that: Yes Susan, you have something much more urgent to deal with, and it is an immediate priority. Sometimes our bodies make us stop. On March, 10 th, in the afternoon, we were at my doctor s office, He came in with a long face, and I was instantly concerned for him thinking that maybe he had lost a patient that morning. He told us that he was unable to treat me, due to my anatomy, and that I actually had two possibly three aneurysms pressing on my optic nerve. Now, I got the full impact that things were definitely not okay with my physical being, and things became immediate. I sat trying to wrap my mind around this new information when he said: But, I know a guy! Well, of course he would know a guy, I thought; don t all doctors know other doctors? He made a phone call, asked if we could be at UCSF on March 12th at 1 p.m. My mind went instantly to what we would have to do to be able to be gone in two day s time for the entire day. One week after he told us that he could not treat me, we were in the lobby of the Neurosurgery Department, looking at a wall of business cards trying to figure out who Dr. Michael Lawton was. Found the card, top left corner. He was the head of the whole department. Thank you God, was my first thought. He came in with students explained things briefly and that he would be doing the clipping, which is a much more invasive procedure, and that I had three aneurysms that he was going to treat. His first time treating three at once. Could we be there at 5 am on the 17 th. Sure. He must have sensed that I was a little confused. He said: Do you have any questions? I responded in my typical honest manner If you were me, what would you ask yourself? Then, he looked me straight in the eye and said: Do you trust me? I did not even hesitate Yes. Then we will see you on Tuesday morning, by the way are you Irish, because that is St. Patrick s Day? I am in fact and some Portuguese too! Great, a good combination, see you Tuesday morning. We drove home to make arrangements; I had a sermon to get nailed down, because I was preaching the Circuit on Sunday. We had taken care of our legal stuff, now; we had to take care of the other stuff - our dogs, we even tried to arrange for someone to be with my mother-in-law, and the circuit. I would be out at least a week, I thought. We had decided not to tell our children for many reasons, and I was comfortable with the choice. Avoid stress, I kept getting told that. Well, the kids brought stress. Our sailor son has a highly stressful job he didn t need anymore. Always the Mom, protect them while and where you can. -3-

4 Dying moments: Did I consider what would happen if I died? Well, yea I hoped that I would go to heaven, I wanted to sit at Jesus feet, and I had a few people that I wanted to see. It was actually kind of fun to think that if I did get to go who I would see first. And, could I even ask Jesus a question? Had I make peace with my God? Well, I try to every day, often. For me, it is that forgiveness piece, and it is directly linked to the passage where Jesus on the cross prays: Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. How often am I just reacting, not stopping and thinking first to know what I am doing? Was there another choice?.no, I honestly did not completely know what I was doing or what would or could happen, but there was no other choice unless I let things go and let nature take its course. Was I emotionally ready? Honestly, I trusted Dr. Lawton because I believe that God had put him there for me at that time. For me, that was as good as I could be. I made peace with whatever the outcome would be. Our physical beings go through so very much, and I had not been very good to mine. It is God s temple, and needed repair that I could not do. I had not avoided stress; I kept it coming from a very early age. Even when I was admonished by the professionals to minimize my stress, I kept doing the circuit, attending the two-year Academy for Spiritual Formation, and was planning to go on the Wesleyan Pilgrimage in the summer. It was not until I had no choice that I faced change..i did not blame God for this; we all have free choice remember Genesis. I do believe that when we pray for help, God blesses us with people on our journey What would it be like after? I couldn t and wouldn t think of anything other than that I would be fine. God would take care of the small stuff. Including physical therapy, coming out blind or whatever the case might be. There were many other thoughts what if I come out of this operation a vegetable? What will my husband do? He already has his Mom to take care of Oh Lord, it is too much for him. Don t worry, remember no stress. was my admonishment. More importantly, was my soul at peace with this decision? Yes. The morning of March 17, 2015 there was a peace that I can not explain that filled my heart, mind and soul. I think it was that peace that passes all human understanding. Yes, this was before the drugs. I am not as I once was, none of us are. We all have stuff; we all come around on a different path. It is in the sharing of our paths, and our walk that we recognize where God has been at work in our lives. We have to take the time, and give space for reflection and recognition. Scripture tells us to do this, John Wesley taught us to be methodical and to hold one another accountable. When we practice these -4-

5 teachings, we begin to see and understand how God has been at work, and that we have a purpose to make Him known to this hurting world wherever we are. We are all different every day our bodies do amazing things that we take for granted, and if we do not tend to these amazing temples, eventually we will have no choice. I believed then, and I believe now that God works through my life and whatever the results of the surgery were, that He would continue to work through mine. Medical science is an amazing blessing it changes and advances every second of every day. I am resurrected into a new person with an experience that allows me not to take God for granted. Thank you for asking me to share, and I pray that this time has been a blessing to you. I hope that you will use Wesleyan Covenant prayer often. Amen. -5-