Invitation to Worship Tricia Waldron
Response: ”My Lord and my God”
Have you ever been in a situation where the person in the midst of the crisis
is the one calming everyone around them?
Jesus certainly was!
The events of Holy Week were most definitely a new experience for him.
Jesus had never lived in human form, never died, or risen from death before.
And now, in some odd once-again-new-for Jesus way, he appears to Mary
to serve up yet another calming lesson of faith. “Peace Be With You”
– sounds to me like one more example for us of servant leadership at its finest.
How can we not recognize it and respond: My Lord and my God!
Jesus says, “Receive the Spirit – and – if you forgive, I will also”
Today’s scripture is full of gifts and compassion and servanthood.
Just when Mary and the Disciples were coming to grips
with the greatest loss of all time, here comes Jesus, back from death,
with one more lesson – one more gift of love –
one more illustration of putting others first.
Jesus didn’t need to come back for his own sake –
and be visible to Mary – or to Thomas – or to the other disciples
Jesus knew we would need to see him more than once
before we could see beyond our human experience and respond together:
My Lord and my God!
Our response today is all about knowing.
It’s about that moment when Mary changed from being distracted by grief
to seeing who was standing right in front of her.
It’s about the moment when Thomas moved from “I must see for myself”
to “I see it and will carry this vision with me forever.”
It’s about that moment when we are overwhelmed,
~ taken over ~ by our faith,
In that moment whatever had our attention before, doesn’t matter anymore.
Jesus comes into our life to serve us,
to make it easier for us to believe, to walk with us always.
Jesus becomes our caregiver.
We recognize him and we depend on him.
In that transformational moment –
We don’t laugh or cry; we might not even breathe –
We just know, — with our whole being — We know!
And we repsond again: My Lord and my God!
