The Second Sunday of Easter-The Rev Melanie Lemburg
The Rev Melanie Dickson Lemburg
The Second Sunday of
Easter Year B
April 7, 2024
A letter to
Charlotte Grace Strickland upon the occasion of her baptism.
Dear Lottie,
Today is the second Sunday of Easter,
the day we are celebrating your baptism into the resurrected body of Christ and
your inclusion in its membership through this particular faith community here
at St. Thomas. Today also happens to be
the day, every year, that we hear one of the main stories from scripture about our
patron saint, Thomas.
Now, throughout the years, Thomas has
gotten a bad rap. He is often known as “Doubting
Thomas” because he is not present when the resurrected Christ first appeared to
his disciples, and so he asks for some proof, the same proof that the others have
already received. But in a world that
likes to draw stark polarizations (like between doubt and faith), I like to
think of Thomas a little differently. Because
we all know that between the black and white extremes of doubt and faith, there
is a whole lot of gray area where most of us live most of our lives. So what might Thomas have to teach us on this
your baptism day?
First, I suggest that instead of doubting
Thomas, we think of him as “Courageous Thomas.”
Because while all of the rest of Jesus’s disciples were huddled together
in a locked room that day of his resurrection out of fear, Thomas wasn’t there
with them. I can’t help but wonder where
he was; what he was doing? Was he trying
to get more news about what the women had reported and the other disciples had
witnessed—that Jesus was no longer dead in the tomb but had risen? Whatever it was he was doing, it is clear
that he is braver than all the rest of them who are huddled together in fear in
a locked room. And when he does return to the room and the group and he hears
their miraculous and mysterious report that they have seen the risen Christ, Thomas
is courageous enough to ask for what he needs in order to believe.
Second, we might also consider calling Thomas
“Good Question Thomas.” In the few stories
we have in scripture about Thomas, he is usually asking good questions. In a few chapters before our passage for today,
Jesus is predicting his death and offering comfort to his disciples, telling
them he will go ahead of them to prepare a place for them and they will know
the place where he is going; Thomas responds, “Lord, we do not know where you
are going. How can we know the way?”
Thomas reminds us that in the life of faith, asking good questions is an
important part of our growth.
Our baptism liturgy is built out of good
questions, sweet Lottie. Questions that
your parents and godparents answer on your behalf today. Questions that you will eventually answer for
yourself when you are older. There are
questions for us, your faith community, too.
So, today, in the spirit of Thomas, we might reflect on some questions
raised for us in your baptism.
Like what does it mean that you are to
be marked as Christ’s own forever? What
does that mean for you and for your life?
What does that mean for each one of us who has be so marked as well? How are your parents and your godparents and
all the rest of us being called to help you grow into your own faith in our
midst? What does that look like? How are we being called to model our lives
for you so that you learn what it means to be courageous and questioning and faithful? What does that mean for each of us to do that
for each other? How will you teach us
about what it means to be marked as Christ’s own forever as you learn and grown
here among us?
What does it mean to ask good questions
in our life of faith? Are they questions
that open, unlock? Are they questions that
instruct in the asking? Are they
questions that connect or even soften hearts divided and defended? Are they questions born of curiosity and not
cross-examination? What does it mean to
ask good questions, like Thomas, in our life of faith?
So sweet Lottie, on this your baptism
day and all the days that will follow, may you be like Thomas—courageous and
willing to ask for what you need in your life of faith. May you be willing and able to ask good questions
that will help you and those around you grown in the knowledge and love of
Jesus Christ who has marked you as his own forever.
Your
sister in Christ,
Melanie+
What
does it mean to ask good questions, like Thomas, in our life of faith? Where are you called to be courageous? What good questions are you being called to
ask of your faith or of this community in the coming days?
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