 This story comes to us from the Gospel of John, the 20th chapter. So when it was evening that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples were meeting were locked for fear of the religious authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "'Peace be with you.'" And after that, he showed them his hands and decide. And the disciples rejoiced to see Jesus and he said again, "'Peace be with you.'" As Abba God has sent me, I am sending you. After he said this, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. But if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now, Thomas, the twin, one of the 12, was not with them when Jesus came and the disciples said to him, "'We've seen Jesus.'" But Thomas said, "'Ah, unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.'" The next week, the disciples were again in that house and this time, Thomas was with them. And though the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "'Peace be with you.'" And he said to Thomas, "'Put your finger in my hands and see. "'Stretch out your hand and put it in my side. "'Don't persist in doubting, but believe.'" Thomas said, "'My Savior and my God.'" And Jesus said, "'Do you believe because you have seen? "'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.'" Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the only begotten, and through believing that you might have life in Jesus' name. I greet you in the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ from the chapel of the word of Anabaptist Mennonite biblical seminary. This week, we celebrate the hope that we've received in the resurrection. Whatever we are facing, there is reason to hope because Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, is now seated at the right hand of God. It has been a difficult year since our long journey with COVID began. A year when we have been stunned by the toll of death and we felt locked up from one another, we are weary about hearing about death and we are weary of being alone. We need to celebrate the resurrection this season, the resurrection to new life because the experiences of this last year have taken a toll on our sense of hope. Renewing our hope in the resurrection is always an exercise in belief, trusting in something when all the evidence suggests that it cannot be true. Seeing and believing is a major theme in the gospel of John and it could be said that not seeing and resisting belief is also a major theme in the gospel of John and these two things come to a head in our story for today. If we are honest with ourselves and one another, we all resist believing to varying degrees when we cannot see the evidence. Why do we resist belief? It rarely has to do with simple stubbornness. Deciding to believe something or deciding not to believe something is most often about fear. Fear of appearing naive or stupid, fear of being taken in, fear of being the fool, fear of losing our sense of hope, fear of being disappointed one more time. We believe that it is better to cling to what we think we know than to risk losing all credibility if the new idea we are invited to believe is later proven to be false. Belief without evidence requires surrender. That is exactly where we find the disciples in John 20 at the end of the first day of the week. Locked up by their fears of the authorities, locked up because they were too afraid to believe what Mary told them after Jesus appeared to her in the garden. I have seen the Lord. Jesus appears to his disciples, locked up in their fears. He came and stood among them. He said, peace be with you. He shows them his hands in his side and on seeing the evidence, they believe and they rejoice. And then Jesus says again to them, peace be with you. And this time he breathes on them and says, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you, receive the Holy Spirit. This peace that Jesus offers is what was promised back in chapter 14, verse 27. Peace that comes with the advocate, the one who does not abandon us, the one who does not leave us, captive to our fears. This is the spirit that will teach us everything we need to know to live by faith. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. And if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. We are being sent to live by the power of the resurrection. For one week, the disciples ponder about this commission. What does all of this mean? And Thomas who was not with them chooses not to believe without the evidence. Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hand or put my hand in his side, I will not believe. Why would Thomas believe? He had never seen this kind of power before, nor had anyone else. I sometimes think Thomas gets a bum rap in telling the story too often. The words of Jesus to Thomas are harsh. You believe because you have seen, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. But the other disciples are no different than Thomas. When Jesus appeared to the other 10, he started by showing them his hands in his side. It was on the evidence that they saw the Lord and rejoiced. And we are no different than Thomas. We can't always control the fear that undermines our own belief. And John, the gospel writer, knows that too. How does this passage end? John wants to provide evidence for his reader. Now Jesus did many signs, produced a lot more evidence in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these things are written as evidence so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing, you may have new life in his name. John knew that we would need to see in order to believe. In order to believe in God's power in Jesus, we need to know that power and we need to know it first in our own lives. The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead and then breathed into everyone who believes. The breath of that spirit animating our bodies sends us just as the Father sent Jesus. So as sent ones living in and by the resurrecting power of God, we have been sent ourselves to be the evidence of the resurrection in the world today. Can you believe that? Do you have the courage to believe that you are the evidence of the resurrection for the world today? Do we have the courage to believe that about ourselves and our witness? Your lives, animated by the spirit, are the evidence of the resurrection today. I believe that there is resurrection power all around us in the lives of those who believe in Jesus and have been sent in the power of the Holy Spirit if we have eyes to see. Just a little over a year ago, on January 1, I officially began my work as president at AMDS. I was just trying to figure out this new role when within 12 weeks everything turned upside down. Nothing was certain. We found ourselves facing a pandemic that was settling in for a long stay. I don't mind telling you that I was anxious. We moved all our classes online and our students had had to do their work in unusual isolation. We couldn't conceive at AMDS what would happen to us financially and what would happen to our enrollment. It was stressful and uncertain. It's been a season of building the road by walking. After a year with COVID, it would be enough if we said by God's grace we are still here. But as we are beginning to see signs of hope for overcoming the pandemic we can say with gratitude by God's grace we have received everything we have needed to fulfill our mission of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God's reconciling mission in the world. AMDS is a learning community that believes in the power of God that is at work in Jesus. We believe that power is at work among us. I watched this community in this last year inhale the Holy Spirit and exhale hope and resilience. We renewed our commitments to worship as a community. Chapel every Tuesday outside all winter long and every Friday including our distance students we have chapel on zoom. I've witnessed some of the most powerful prayers and the most healing and hoistings under the developing leadership of our students. We encourage each other, we look after each other we are all learning and growing in our understanding of the resurrecting power of God. We have laughed and we have cried our face mashed way through this time of isolation walking together as closely as safe physical distance will allow. We have continued to serve our distance students in North America and around the world who are learning adaptive leadership skills in the COVID shaped trenches of ministry. It hasn't been easy but it has been possible. We believe that the power of God is more fundamental, more basic, more real than the power of evil. And one day we will overcome this virus. And in the meantime we have had everything we have needed and the Lord has even increased our numbers at AMDS this year. Can you imagine a more formative experience for our students as they prepare for leadership, learning to think theologically against the backdrop of a global crisis? These students are well prepared to lead the church and to lead in the world with resilience and hope. I offer this testimony to you as evidence that because Jesus has risen our hope need never die. This same experience of living with resilience and hope has been played out in many congregations all around the world in similar ways. We celebrate the Herculean efforts of pastors and other leaders who have led their communities of faith to inhale the spirit and exhale resilience and hope. How has your communities belief in the resurrection enabled you to live through this past year with hope and resilience? You are the sent ones. You are the evidence of the resurrection for the sake of the world's belief. You are a sign so that others will have the courage to believe that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God and that through believing in Him they can have new life in His name. May it do so. Amen. For me the resurrection is about hope. Like many matters of faith it is difficult if not impossible to explain with exact certainty why I believe in the resurrection but it is the hope that shines through the New Testament writings that give strength to my belief. This hope has lifted me up during this last year as the world has adapted to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have had to reorient my priorities and find a new understanding of myself as a follower of Jesus. What would Jesus do in a global pandemic such as this one? How do I protect my loved ones from the virus? How do I stay connected with family members who are isolated in this time? How do I interact with those who hold different views about this global crisis? I am guided by the belief that the living word continues to inform us through the scriptures teaching us love and reconciliation in a time of fear and division. I am guided by the resurrection hope that God continues to be a transformative and life-giving force in this world. This hope allows me, as John says, to have life in Jesus' name. It is a hope that we too will one day understand fully a hope that Jesus continues to work in this world a hope that gives us strength to live in the now and the not yet. Hope. No one has spoken as none has spoke but we believe His hands inside have fallen away.