Alleluia, Christ is risen!

"Did you hear about Joe?  Yeah he is having some trouble at home." … "You will not believe what happened to me at work today, he did it again." … "Tom told Janet that he did not even call and ask for permission." 

People know how to pass on information.  Sometimes we do not do it in the most constructive or helpful way, but we instinctively know how to pass along a good story, the juicier the details the better. 

This human trait surfaces at an early age.  I remember days on the playground, early in elementary school, some kids would play a little game.  It was probably not the kindest game, in fact it is likely the precursor to the adult gossip and hearsay I alluded to a few moments ago. 

It would go like this.  Someone would notice something about another child.  Usually, it was something harmless but still somewhat embarrassing.  For the boys, zipper issues were the most popular.  So one boy would whisper to the boy next to him, “Matt’s fly is down, pass it on.”  The boy who received this information would then pass it on to the next boy, and so on and so on, until the subject of the message noticed his temporary flaw or sufficiently begged the others to let him in on the secret. 

Yes, this little game could be mean spirited and even somewhat crass, but it shows us the power present when we pass on a message.

The author of 1 John understands the power of passing on a message.          

This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life– and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us).

Here the message is central, not the messenger.  Paul would open his letters declaring his own credentials to preach the Good news of Jesus, but here the message itself takes center stage.  That message concerns God and the Word incarnate and the life and light found in him.

The message, however, is always shaped by the messenger.  The messenger testifies to what he has seen and heard.  The message he testifies to is a message that he has experienced first hand, and passes on to those who have not yet heard.  The Church grows through testimony, first of the apostles, and from those the apostles passed on the message to, who in turn pass on the message again and again throughout the centuries and throughout the world.

The evidence of their testimony is evident here among us today.  All of us have heard that message or are here to hear it again today.  The testimony of those who have gone before us in the faith helped to bring us here.  All the saints, of every time and place, have born witness in many and various ways. 

Some are well known by all.  The giants of the faith who preached the message in those first years after the Resurrection morn, like St John , St Paul , and St. Thomas .  We know of those who came later who defended the faith like Augustine and Luther.  We know the stories of those who devoted their lives to the message in more recent years like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Teresa of Calcutta.  

Others are known only by the few they touched directly in quiet, but powerful ways, and their witness has born witness in our own lives, the parents, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, neighbors, and friends who passed on what was first entrusted to them.   

The effect of the witness of those who go before us and the witness of those who surround us is evident in today’s gospel reading. The apostles’ testimony of the risen Christ brings Thomas to the upper room to see with his own eyes and touch with his own hands.  Thomas was not out wandering the desert alone, seeking answers from God.  He was searching among the fellowship of the gathered community, and for this reason, he is prepared for his encounter with Christ.  Jesus still does the work, but it was Thomas’ brothers and sisters who helped to bring him along. The witness and testimony of Mary Magdalene and the apostles prepared Thomas to believe the unbelievable Easter news. 

God uses the witness of those who have gone before us and those who are with us now, to our own benefit.  Their experiences and witness build us up and encourage us in our faith.  Living our faith within in the church community provides the opportunity to share our experiences of faith and allows the power of God to strengthen others through our own witness. 

Sometimes we can share those experiences, while at other times we need to hear the testimony of others to be encouraged in our faith.  We receive the testimony and witness of those who walked with Jesus and the apostles through the written Word.  Through the scriptures and the tradition of the Church, we receive the testimony of the saints who have preceded us in the faith.

Those saints who passed on the message took a risk to proclaim the message, some even paid with their lives.  The word martyr comes from the Greek word for witness or testimony.  Why would someone give all they have to pass on that message? 

They pass on the message that their joy may be fulfilled, that others may participate in the fellowship of God and his Church.  The Church is fellowship or koinonia, a close association marked by sharing and participation.  This koinonia is based upon no less than the fellowship and life of the Father and the Son, through the Spirit.  The saints and martyrs of every age proclaimed the costly message that we may live in a close, participatory fellowship with one another and with God himself.  

The reality of life within the church, however, means the close fellowship with one another and with God is strained because of our sin.  The message of 1 John, God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all, means that our all to frequent human failings strain the koinonia God intends for us. 

Sin strains our fellowship with God and our fellowship with one another, and the result is our fellowship is not all that God intends it to be.  Too often in the church people argue and fight, not for the truth of the faith but because of personal ambition and pride.  The witness of this strains the fellowship and pushes those now outside the community even further away. 

The health of our fellowship does not depend on our own actions.  We have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous One, whose blood cleanses us from all our sin and restores our fellowship.  The community of Christ is the forgiven community, the cleansed fellowship.  

Those who have gone before us have born witness to the Good Easter news that sin and death do not have the last word.  Jesus, the righteous One, is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.  We have come to know this because of the witnesses who have proclaimed what they have been told and what they have seen and heard.  The saints of the past have passed on the message to us, and God calls us to bear witness and proclaim what we have received to those who have not yet heard.          

We know how to pass on a good story.  We do it instinctively.  We do it even when we should not.  Each of us has heard the greatest story, the most important message, the good news.  We can keep it to ourselves or we can proclaim what we have heard and what we have seen.  Christ is risen, pass it on.