Scripture: John 20: 19-28
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 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." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 

—

In 2015 we were graduating into being our own church, no longer a baby church under the wing of FUMC Omaha. It was exciting to explore what new systems we might create together and it was terrifying. The only certainty was uncertainty. The idea of signing a lease for three years seemed like a risk. Folks wanted to redo the floor, and while I loved that they wanted to invest and commit to this space, deep down I thought why? In this time, I am holding real risks in tension with the hopes and possibilities. And one of the things that anchored my mind and heart toward what we might be was not only the folks who wanted to redo the floor, but the Annual Conference gatherings that offered further training. These gatherings inspired and gave hope, to hear the stories of the Church Planters who created something new and lively and vital. They offered inspiration and practical support to make us grow, all most all of them except this one. 

We were gathered in Omaha and listening to a speaker from the National Church and while I like to hear women’s voices her voice reminded me of the rampant nepotism that happens in any structure. It was disappointing that the program was lacking because the topic was important. The topic was discipleship. When I think of discipleship I think of connection. Hospitality might be the first step, receiving it experiencing the warmth of community and a good cup of coffee, but connection takes you deeper. It is a choice and you choose it over and over. Your choice to root into a community, to invest in community, to be a part of the journey. This deeper connection is up to you, it is more nuanced and mutual, it requires emotional intelligence and reflection. This is about study, it's about small groups, it's about giving hospitality, and ultimately it's about shaping life so we can grow into the people God created us to be. Growth is not always easy, it requires work, it requires failure. It might even be painful and it means that we work in every way we can to see as God sees, love and God loves, and use our hands as God would dream. Discipleship is what gives us courage to fly because we are rooted deeply in well nourished soil. This connection to the divine and to one another means when we see the violence of White Supremacy, the workings of racism and sexism, the economic systems that only work for a powerful few, we speak up and say something. Discipleship gives us courage to choose a new course and proclaim God’s dream.

This meeting, however, did not inspire. It was really more about discipleship so that your church can work. There was a chart, that showed horizontal and vertical growth, there were categories and a rubric of how deep your discipleship was and what your next steps would be and she intended that we would use it and measure folks and ourselves by it. This might all be good, but the purpose of the discipleship was for making us all the same and reeked of this fear that your church would close if you didn’t get butts in the seats. This might be true but its no reason to start a church. So here we are learning about a system of discipleship when the presenter starts in on Kudzu. She sings its praises, its expansive, it can’t be stopped, it transforms landscapes and she rallies to her point which is Christian Discipleship or faithfulness should be like Kudzu. She shows us photos; steep cliff..Kudzu covers it. Abandoned bus in the middle of no where, no worries-Kudzu will make it disappear. It seemed ideal to be like this super plant, but I didn’t know anything about Kudzu. Of course, Barb did , and she knew about discipleship. She gives her time and resources, she was here on Sunday and here on Tuesday to clean and at meetings in-between. She did our leases and our laundry, and quite frankly, without her we might not be here today. Barb raised her hand and asked for the microphone (it's a large room and she is always sensitive to folks who have hearing impairments), “I don’t want to be like Kudzu.” She proceeds to detail the dangers of the plant, how it takes over landscapes and as invasive species it can damage whole ecosystems and destroy the bio diversity essential to a healthy environment. With a few sentences she had pushed us all to think more deeply, or at least the people at our table. 

The work of connection and the formation of our faith shouldn’t be dangerous to the world around us, but generous. It should honor the diversity around us, our roots growing deep and weaving together in a generous balance. Discipleship as connection and communion doesn’t mean we end up all the same, it means we end up nourished and courageous, rooted deeply and fruitful. The Easter stories are all about connection and discipleship, Jesus shows up. First, he shows up at the tomb with Mary who was expecting death and found life, absence and found presence. Jesus tells her to go and proclaim the resurrection and she does, but the others don’t believe her. This time he shows up to the disciples and in a room filled with fear and uncertainty. Jesus shows up and they sense God present and suddenly they are given a peace the world can’t give and purpose where they didn’t know what to do next. This encounter is powerful, but Thomas missed it and when the other disciples tell him about it he doesn't believe, he wants the same experience for himself. Jesus shows up another time and offers him just that. The other noticeable difference in the text is that the room isn’t filled with fear and heavy with tension, worry or anxiety like it was the first time, they make real progress and receive the peace. 

Jesus shows up offering Thomas what he needed and he will forever be labeled doubting Thomas. Thomas has spoken up before and understood what following Jesus required when he said, “let us go that we may die with him” (John 11:16). When Thomas sees Jesus in this Easter encounter he proclaims, “My Lord and My God.” It is a stronger proclamation of faith than anyone else. Except he isn’t remember as Thomas, the guy with the strongest proclamation of faith, he is known for his doubt. Except we forget that Jesus never has a problem with doubt and discernment, seeking to see and practice and study and explore. When folks earnestly engage he is all in, of course if you are a religious leader asking questions to be a jerk…he will probably best you in debate or just answer your question with a question. Thomas isn’t a religious leader trying to prove how smart he is, Thomas is a man who has prayed and learned and practiced and healed along side Jesus, and now he wants the same experience as everyone else. Thomas’ difficulty isn’t that he doubted it’s that he missed the meeting. He wasn’t there for the first opportunity but faith is formed in real presence and it is never too late. Jesus shows up for him, too. 

He spends every moment with folks who already know him and love him. He skips the crowds and the hillsides. He doesn’t stop by Pilot and say “Mistake. Big Mistake, huge” Pretty Woman style. He doesn’t show up at the Temple and shame the Chief Priests or levitate above the tables he turned a few weeks earlier in the Temple. He shows up to the same folks he has always been with, the misfits and outcasts, the folks who have no power and not much money, but are all heart. And he reminds them, coaches, challenges them again to remember every thing they learned together. It is surprising in someways how hard he has to work to deepen the connection and remind them of how far they have come. The Gospel of Luke ends with he led them as far as Bethany, which we should remember isn’t very far and is a place they have been before, again and again (Luke 24:50). Jesus reconnects them, reminds them of their center, reteaches them.

Connection and discipleship isn’t much like Kudzu, but rather more like pruning. It is hard work, it requires some awareness and emotional intelligence and it might even hurt. It is mutual work and it may seem counter intuitive, to pinch the buds from the flower or cut the tendrils as they reach out. But, that’s what master gardeners do. It means the plant sends the energy into the roots running deep and growing as healthy as possible so that when it is time to bear fruit, it is the strongest it can be. 

This is the work we do together, the uneasy work of a deeper connection that requires us to prune what isn’t going to make us grow, to put energy into presence, study and connection to nourish our roots and our neighbors. We do this work so we can see as God sees and love as God loves. We do this work so that when it is time to bear fruit it is the healthiest it can be. 

May we have the courage. 
Amen.