SACRED SCARS/PEACE BE WITH YOU
2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A
April 19, 2020
John 20:19-31
19When 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.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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.”
26A 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.” 27Then 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.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But 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.
Sermon
Jasmine Waring, Intern Pastor
I have a scar over my left eyebrow. You can only see it up close or you notice the crease it makes when I raise my brow. I got it fifteen years ago when on vacation visiting my extended family in Chile when I was 18 years old. I went with my cousins one night to a nightclub party in a town not too far away. Clubs were never really my scene, so I didn’t want to go…but then I thought to myself, “C’mon, Jaz! Try something new. Get over yourself and have fun!”.
So we went out and actually had a pretty good time. Then my cousins and their friends decided that they wanted to leave early and hang out at a friend’s home. We all got into their friend’s extended cab pick up truck…all 13 of us. I sat with my two cousins and a couple of their friends in the bed of the truck, with my back against the cab. It was about two in the morning when we left, and the cold winter air whipped through our hair as we rode down an empty two lane highway through the country. We were singing songs really loudly to help distract us from the cold and our nervous bellies, and held on tightly. I knew the driver was going too fast.
The next thing I knew, the truck was swerving down the road side to side. I still remember looking up to the stars in the night sky as I prayed, and then see the stationary stars swirl in a circle then turned black.The driver had lost control of the vehicle and drove through a wire fence, small bushes and trees, and flipped on its back onto a V-shaped irrigation canal dug from the earth. Miraculously, the shape of the canal caught the flipped truck which kept it from crushing me and the others underneath it. I remember my body log rolling down the hill and landing on all fours with runoff water rushing up to my elbows. When I found my grounding I crawled out and was pulled out of the canal by some bystanders. I was soaking wet and cold from the runoff water, but then I felt the warmth of my own blood drip down my face. I don’t remember how it happened, but the doctors suspected I hit my head on a rock or the spare tire when I tumbled out.
It could have been so much worse. Miraculously everyone walked away from the wreck with just bumps and bruises, one girl broke her collar bone and I had to get some liquid stitches. I thought about that night every single day for a year after. Although the memories and the alternative scenarios my PTSD likes to bring up and haunt me with every once in a while, I am still overwhelmed with gratitude and am ever aware of how close we ride the line between life and death.
We all have scar stories. Some have ordinary scars from bike accidents, from cooking, from burning ourselves with a curling iron. Some of us have deeper scars from injuries, from removing cancer, from C-sections delivering babies. I have transgender friends who have scars on their chests from undergoing double mastectomies aka top surgeries to help them feel more at home and at peace with their bodies. These are all sacred scars.
We also carry hidden scars…emotional scars that result from betrayal, a break up, and grief. The collective trauma we are all experiencing at the moment is going to leave a mark.
When the risen Christ appeared to his disciples, he had a scar story to share. I find it so interesting that in all of his risen glory, Christ still had wounds on his body. Why wouldn’t he come back completely healed, without a trace of trauma?
Perhaps his scars were there to remind us that we can’t skip over death and sacrifice in order to live in resurrection glory. We have a tendency to focus and hold tightly onto the fruits of the resurrection: health, abundance, equity; but we don’t want to do the internal work of sacrifice, justice and death, which brings meaning and purpose to resurrection. Christ’s scars show us that we too can go through suffering and sacrifice, and come through the other side transformed for the better. Our scars are evidence of what we have been through, and we have the potential to find healing and wholeness on the other side of it.
What I find even more interesting is when Jesus said, “Peace be with you” three times in this passage. “Peace be with you” was one of the last things he said to his disciples before he died, and it was the first thing he said to his disciples after the resurrection. So this means it is important and we need to pay attention to it.
Peace in Hebrew is translated to shalom. Shalom doesn’t necessarily only mean the absence of fear or conflict, but it also means wholeness…nothing missing or nothing broken. I like to think of peace as the unity of all the parts of ourselves: body, soul and spirit.This kind of peace finds meaning in our past, helps us stay in the present, and gives us hope when the future is uncertain. This wholeness also refers to how we experience community. When we gather together in unity, and share our stories, we experience vulnerability and solidarity with one another…and that brings us peace. It is important to note that unity does not mean we all think or look or act the same, but rather the unity we find in peace sees our uniqueness as a gift to all of us. All of our scars are different, and they all are uniquely suited to bring peace and solidarity to others.The peace we experience in community makes our lives richer, and holds us tightly together like a net.
The peace of the risen Christ we experience at an individual and communal level is built upon the work of the cross. Christ’s scar story invites us to see and touch his wounds and in turn we too can be vulnerable and brave with our story, which spreads peace.Christ’s scars tell us that he went through unbelievable suffering, and he made it to the other side! He has gone before us and is leading us to resurrection. The holes in his hands and feet can now walk alongside us in solidarity when we too are suffering.This is a peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our heart and minds. As we collectively walk through uncertainty and challenges in the months ahead, let us be united by Christ’s sacred scar story as we share our own and declare that the peace of Christ is with us.
When you step outside the doors of your home, peace be with you.
When your grief is overwhelming, peace be with you.
When you see empty shelves at the grocery store, peace be with you.
When your partner and your kids are on your last nerve, peace be with you.
When you feel alone and your life feels empty, peace be with you.
When you miss hugs and are hungry for physical affection, peace be with you.
When you feel like there is no hope or end in sight, peace be with you.
When share your saved scars with community, peace be with you.
May the peace of Christ, the love of God and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all, now and always.
Amen.