"Receiving Power"
John 20:19-31
Yonce Shelton, Westmoreland UCC
April 27, 2025

Easter changes everything. But if you struggle to believe in resurrection, or that Jesus would appear and show his wounds, or that you could have the power to forgive sins - well, I have good news.

Exactly what you believe about these things and why may not determine if God appears to you. The little miracles of Easter may not be things you can correlate with articulated belief. Perhaps all you can do - all you need to do - is pay attention in new ways; open a little more to possibility; trust that just maybe there is something more to Easter than one Sunday when we do so much to honor faith and transformation. Even thousands of years later, Easter still has a lot to do with receiving anew.

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In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus appears to the disciples and offers two things that are hard to receive: peace and power. REPEAT Furthermore, He tells them they are to be sent out to further an intimidating mission. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”

Has anyone here been in a position where you felt equipped to forgive someone’s sins? Maybe in one of those unique moments with a sense of energy and purpose you can’t describe? I'll admit, that's a tall order. So how about this: anyone simply forgiven someone? A little different, but also a use of power. If you can’t grasp dealing with sin, just start where you can. You don’t have to understand everything about the Holy Spirit for God to meet you. I want us to spend the next several minutes rethinking Easter and how God might empower you at some point in the next 42 days. And I’ll be lenient and allow you to be creative with the way you think about God, Easter, and resurrection.

We hear today that Jesus invited the disciples to “receive the Holy Spirit,” which is the divine power that enlightens, empowers, makes things clear in ways we can’t know intellectually, and connects us with God and opportunity in key moments. If the concept isn’t in your comfort zone - or if you doubt it! - use whatever word that opens you to receiving the unexplainable: Synchronicity? Serendipity? Providence? Deja vu? Coincidence? I hope you get my point. And note that Thomas Merton said there is no such thing as coincidence - only convergence.

How we think about and engage big things like resurrection and God moving within and around us matters. Sometimes we have to stretch our thinking and being. Sometimes we do that because others appear to help.

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I recently had a conversation with a doctor about death. He knew I was a minister and his first question to me was: do you really believe in God? I loved the directness and replied “yes” - then offered several thoughts about why, what, and how. But, we don’t have time for those today!

He then shared how his thoughts about death and faith have evolved as he has spent time with patients at the end of life. He said he no longer thinks a patient’s cause of death can always be just described in medical/biological terms; that in many cases that is only part of the truth; that many times there is a process and decision by someone to let go; that they have some control. For many medical professionals, that perspective may be unwelcome because it goes against science and observation. It probably challenges some of you.

Perhaps in an instance of the Holy Spirit moving - or just coincidence - this week Abigail joined a few others to celebrate one of the founding members of the L’Arche community here in DC, which is one of many communities around the world that honors the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities through transforming relationships and intentional community. As he struggled with his health in past months, that is what he said he wanted: to be surrounded by friends and hear nice things. He passed away the next morning.

While Jesus didn’t hear nice things during his journey to the cross, He also made a choice to transition. Abigail’s friend and Jesus demonstrate the power of relating to a different world: while we are here - and when we know it's time to move toward it. Normal people like us can be part of that. Relationship with God can empower us.

Take a breath. Bear with me. This will either weave together well - or, well, it won’t. What I'm going to try to do is flip that understanding of death to a similar, creative understanding of hope, life, and living out faith.

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Conventional wisdom can be that Easter is one day, when we celebrate something that happened long ago, to someone else. Theologians have clarified what that means for us, we have our symbols and practices, and we go forth after Easter Sunday into better weather and a final push in the school year. But what if that's not the full story? What if God wants to appear to you in unique and intimate ways during the Easter season? What if we focused as much in these weeks on discipline and spiritual stretching as we do in Lent?

If resurrection - like death - is a process that involves us and a different world in mysterious ways, can the hope of Easter be manifest in more than just one day - and can it be very personal? Do we have a role to play in nurturing the power of Easter? I think we do - if we open, trust, pay attention, and receive.

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I thought about Pope Francis this week. I reviewed his journey and what he did. What grabbed me most was his emphasis on listening to the other - to receiving the other. In many cases that was the poor, but it also included those he disagreed with. He thought of listening as a vital part of discernment. His listening was active: it was a reaching out; a touching; a going to.

Listening and receiving others makes us better people. Going to others - appearing to them - takes effort. Allowing ourselves to be reached in new ways can change us. If I was Jesus I’m not sure I would make the extra effort to appear again for the benefit of doubting Thomas. But He did. And Thomas saw, touched, received, and believed.

Like earlier, if you feel comfortable, I invite you to close your eyes. Imagine being with the disciples and Jesus appearing and showing you his wounds. Focus on what grabs you: what you feel or see or think.

Easter is about expecting that God wants to empower us - and that God will make the extra effort to reach us. We can’t make that happen - but we can try to receive well when God appears.

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JoJo is good about pushing me to make my messages practical and accessible; about offering ways you can apply faith. But you know what? It's hard to create an action plan when the Holy Spirit grabs you. All you can really do is pay attention, receive, and follow the strange and exhilarating synchronicities or coincidences - or are they convergences? And don't worry: if you miss one, Jesus will keep appearing. He’ll make the effort. Just as He did for Thomas.

Easter changes everything. Exactly what you believe may not be as important as if you are open to God showing up to you. Be different in coming weeks. Pay attention to things you usually ignore. Talk to people you usually dismiss. Follow nudges you can’t explain. Question what you accept because the world is afraid to do otherwise. Receive God when God appears. Expect power in that. Trust that the Holy Spirit is working within you before you even know it.

Amen.