Easter 2
Homily by The Rev. Marcia McRae
At St. James
Episcopal Church, Quitman, GA, 7 April 2013
RCL Acts
5:27-32; Psalm 118:14-29; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31
One
day at the office coffee pot a colleague regales us with what she has
seen on her pre-dawn drive down our main street on her way to work:
Her headlights show a
cowboy on horseback as he twirls his rope overhead, trying to lasso a
run-away calf. . . . . . She slows down.
I know her as a sober,
reliable coworker, so I don't doubt her story. But I am glad to have
the local paper's details: A cattle truck overturned, cattle escaped
all over the place, & emergency responders called local cattlemen
to help Public Safety round 'em up. The report has no mention of what
my friend has seen. Yet, I still believe her account. I know her
well.
My
college biology professor did not know me well & did not accept
what I told her about a natural phenomena that happens on the eastern
shore of Mobile Bay where I had lived. (It
IS hard to accept what contradicts what is
logical.)
In
that part of Alabama, we have “jubilees”. I've been to one &
benefited from the bounty of others. Jubilees are natural events that
scientists have studied for years; yet cannot fully explain. I have
read in several publications that scientists do know there is less
oxygen in the bay's water during a jubilee.
Sea
creatures of all kinds – flounder, mullet, shrimp, crabs – leave
the water, flopping or crawling onto the beach, or float listlessly
near shore. Crabs climb cypress tree trunks. Sometimes a jubilee has
several species, sometimes one or two. This usually occurs at night &
pre-dawn.
Once,
a neighbor gave us 12 croker sacks full of crabs from his pre-dawn
bounty. He also had many buckets of flounder & mullet. A jubilee
has no “game limit” . . . . Imagine
the stench IF we leave all those sea creatures to die on the beach!
A
practical, fact-based scientist, my biology professor does
believe
the evidence when I bring her newspaper clippings & Chamber of
Commerce brochures with photos. This
evidence
balances my experience so that she can believe.
She knows it's true that jubilees happen, although she has yet to
experience one, as
she has said in our recent conversation.
It
IS hard to accept what contradicts what is
logical.
(All
four Gospels report some disciples doubt the reports that Jesus has
risen.)
Thomas' doubt about Jesus' Resurrection comes naturally to him. He is
a witness to Jesus' miracles:
- He sees Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead.
- He sees Jesus raise Jairus' daughter.
- He sees Jesus raise the Widow of Nain's son.
He also sees Jesus die on
that cross & run through with a spear. So who is there to raise Jesus?
When
Thomas encounters the real thing, his doubts vanish.
There
is no report that he actually touches Jesus' hand and side.
Jesus' words are
the real thing. The
words Thomas' friends report are not “newspaper clippings”. They
are not “real enough” evidence. The Disciples' reports to Thomas
remind me of the famous Pablo Picasso painting students studying
Spanish always encounter: Guernica.
I
remember it from my student days &
my years as a teacher:
Small
in textbooks. Famous
(enough
about that...move on with our lesson).
So
easy
to dismiss.
. . . until my husband & I see the real
oil on canvas: 11½' high x 25' 8” wide1:
black, white, gray, in “varying temperatures & values”2.
I
see
the real thing:
My
Lord & My God.....
forgive
us the evil / the horrors we do!
As
a teacher, I returned home to bring that experience to life for my
students: No more glib glance & cursory treatment. Seeing Guernica teaches me why
it is in textbooks. (Textbooks
give reports of facts.)
The
Bible gives reports of creation, God's work, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
You & I can bring the Bible to life. We can balance reports &
experience.
You
& I are the way these reports can become more real to fellow
humans who do not know Jesus, who do not believe Jesus lives, people
who are running, scared in life.
We are God's Emergency
Responders, rounding up scared, running, scattered cattle.
There is a jubilee of
people, gasping for the Holy
Spirit, people ready to be gathered into
this fellowship.
We just have to go & reach out to them.
Amen.
Bibliography
Holy Bible. New Revised
Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Picasso: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art.
Ed: Barbara Ross. Kirk Varnedoe, Exhibition Chief Curator. Pepe
Karmel, Adjunct Assistant Curator. Exhibition organized by The Museum
of Modern Art in collaboration with the High Museum of Art. Printed
in Milan. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. 1997.
2 Note: Technical
terminology re temperatures and values is from my friend &
colleague Deacon Sally Shovar, Teaching
Artist, Moultrie, GA.
.
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