It was a joy to be with God’s people gathered as St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Yutan, Nebraska on Sunday April 27, 2025. Thank you Pastor Dave Maloy for the invitation and to the whole congregation for the warm welcome. I was invited to visit the congregation and bring greetings and gratitude from Bishop Scott Johnson and the whole Nebraska Synod, to preach, and also to lead the congregation in worship from the piano too. It was full and joyous Easter morning as the Easter season continues. What follows is the majority of the manuscript I preached from, based on the appointed readings for the Second Sunday of Easter (Year C): John 20:19-31; Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 150; and Revelation 1:4-8. This sermon was adapted from a commentary I wrote on these texts for the Stewardship of Life Institute.

Grace and peace from God in Christ, who is with you, for you, and who loves you. Amen.

Let’s take a minute. Take a deep breath. Breathe deep, hold it, relax your shoulders and let it out. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like a lot has happened. The weather over the past month has been a roller coaster. From blizzards and power outages in the early part of Lent, we journeyed together through Holy Week and some crazy hailstorms and tornadoes hit our area on Maundy Thursday. Last Sunday, the bells rang. The trumpets sounded. We have sung, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.” We heard again as the first witnesses of the resurrection have shared their story about Jesus. Then the next day, we awoke to news that Pope Francis had passed away, and we all entered a busy week in a busy of time of year- as school years rush to their climax and farmers are busy with the planting season and preparations for it. Maybe it’s just me, but again, it feels like a lot has happened.

Today we find ourselves in that space, right after the resurrection. The word is spreading, and those who may not have believed are beginning to wonder and perhaps even believe. This is the work of Easter. And it’s only just beginning. But it begs the question, “Now what?” What shall we do? How shall we respond? How shall we live and serve?

We Are Witnesses!
As we wonder, “Now what?” Our minds and imagination might take us back to those first Apostles who we heard about again today in the book of Acts. Peter, the same Peter who denied Jesus three times and whom Christ said he would build his church on, we find recounting, testifying, and providing witness to God’s work through Jesus. Peter proclaims, “God exalted Jesus at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”[1]

“We are witnesses!” Not just Peter and those first Apostles, but all disciples who have come since and will yet come. That includes you and me. We are witnesses! We are witnesses to the love of God made real. We are witnesses to God’s promises given for you and for me. This is our work as disciples and stewards. It’s work that takes on new meaning and urgency on this side of the resurrection. Especially where there might be so much uncertainty, and even perhaps feeling like the world might be on fire right now. But this work matters. So in wrestling with the question of “Now what,” we remember that we are all invited, called, and sent into this work as witnesses.

So that we might believe…
We are witnesses so that we might believe and take heart. As we hear from the beginning of Revelation, the writer calls and wills us to believe in facing and witnessing to the events of the cross and resurrection. We hear again, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”[2] In seeing and experiencing God’s presence and promise, we are reminded that we are witnesses to these things to believe. We are witnesses so that we might find hope in the midst of all the other things that life might throw at us. To be able to find joy in the Lord our God, because of who God is and what God has done, will do, and promises to do- for you and for me. This is Good News! God is God, and we are not. God’s promises and love are true. For this all we can do is to give thanks and praise, and then to respond by joining in with God in some of God’s on-going work now today.

We do this by responding with the psalmist. When wondering, “Now what?” We are reminded that together we praise God for what God alone can do and has done. We give our thanks and praise with joy. We praise God with “clanging cymbals,” “loud clashing cymbals,” and with our full-selves and everything that breathes.[3] Jesus, foreshadowed this in his entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He said that if the people didn’t shout and cry out, the rocks and stones would.[4]

Doubt to Hope and Fear to Trust, as signs of God’s gracious Promise and Presence
So here we are, on the other side of Holy Week. And the Gospel story brings us back to a locked room behind closed doors. It’s the story we’re always invited to dwell in on the second week of Easter. It’s a story of the disciples’ first experiences after the resurrection with Jesus’ appearance and the reaction of Thomas who was absent during that first appearance.

Thomas always seems to get a bad rap. He so badly wants to believe. How different is he than us? Having conditions? Questions? Concerns? Yes, faith is real and a gift. But so too are our brains- which allow us to wonder, imagine, and question. These are gifts from God too, which God entrusts us each with. So Thomas uses his, and since this moment in time, he has been an example of a Child of God who is honest and real about where they are in their faith journey.[5] One who wants to hope beyond hope, but who has questions. So what does Jesus do? He meets Thomas where he is at. He meets him just as Thomas asks. God in Christ meets us where we are at too. In so doing, God moves us from our darkest doubts to hope, and from our deepest fears to trust as signs of God’s gracious promise and presence.

The story for this week concludes with an admission. We hear, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”[6] This life, is abundant life. A life of deep meaning and purpose. It’s the life of discipleship. It’s a life of relationship with God and neighbor. It’s a life of witness and intention. It’s a life where the question, “Now what?” is just that a question, that leads to the next most faithful step and then the next one, and the next one after that.

We are witnesses to these things. Like Thomas, we might have our questions, concerns, or even doubts. Like the rest of the disciples, we too might still be trying to piece it all together and understand what God is up to and what this all might mean. Like the community Peter is speaking to in Acts, we might have our own wonderings and concerns. Nevertheless, we are witnesses to the good news that we need now more than ever- God’s saving work through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are witnesses to what God alone has done, will do, and promises to do.

What Will Our Witness Be?
So, now what? What will our witness be? What will your witness be? This might just be the discipleship and stewardship question of our time! I wonder that question as I look at my immediate family. My wife is a pastor who serves alongside a vibrant and vital congregation- much like all of you, and we have two young daughters. What will our witness be to and with them? The world at large makes me wonder, and in my darker moments, despair. But then I have hope. Because these two kids find ways to share the gospel story in conversation- pointing to the promise of life with Jesus. They find ways to include others and help out those who might need something to smile about. They may not always be aware of it, but they are living signs and witness to the hope and promise of the resurrection and new life in Christ.

So what will our witness be? In spite of a world that seems set on a “my way or the highway” attitude, where the goal might be to always get more and not worry about others, Jesus shows us another way. He meets us where we are, just as he meets Thomas in today’s story. In spite of a world that might say this is all just a story or, “sure, it might be true, but like Nebraska’s slogan, ‘it’s not for everyone,’” the gospel, however, reminds us that behind all of this is the hope and promise that “through believing you may have life in his name.”[7]

This life is for one and for all. It’s abundant. It’s not scarce. There is more than enough of it to share. In a world that seems upside down in some ways right now – where the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer, and where welcome, mercy and empathy might feel like sins in today’s culture– we are reminded of the truth of the gospel. Where these are hallmarks of our identity as disciples. We are reminded that God in Christ came as one of us, so that we, and all of God’s beloved might have life. And for this, we join with the psalmist by giving praise. In spite of all that might weigh us down and feel like it’s too much, we still praise God because we know that God’s “steadfast love endures forever.”[8]

What will our witness be? In a day where it seems that this message of hope and promise of the gospel has been co-opted and corrupted in some ways through the lies and sins of power and scarcity, we are invited back to this central story of Easter. Jesus dies. Jesus is resurrected. And this happens, for you and for me. This happens for all of our neighbors and siblings in Christ. This is not limited. This happens not as a sign or act of claiming power in the world’s ways- of authority, rule, and fear. But as a sign of welcome, hope and love.

Your Witness in Action
St. John’s, this is a question for you and for all disciples today. What will your witness be? Through coming together as God’s people through Family Faith Formation on Wednesday evenings, you listen to, share, wonder, learn and grow together. Through meeting your neighbors where they are at and feeding the hungry through your congregation’s food pantry, and in participating and hosting a regular community meal. Through coming together as God’s people for worship and fellowship on Sunday mornings, you are fed, nourished, challenged, strengthened and sent out into your daily lives to live out your deeply impactful vocations. Through which you live out your baptisms through word and deed, showing further signs of God’s love made real through you. Your witness is on display through all of this, just as it is through your stewardship and partnership by being part of the larger church and coming alongside your neighbors near and far- meeting them where they are at, and journeying with them together. St. John’s, thank you for your faithful discipleship and generous stewardship as signs of God’s love made real.

I’m reminded of another post-Resurrection story, in Luke’s gospel. Where Jesus appears to the two disciples along the Road to Emmaus.[9] They are just trying to make sense of what has happened. They are worried, perplexed, and afraid. And Jesus meets them where they are at. He talks and walks with them. And as they talk and then break bread together, their eyes are opened. They could sit there in awe, but their witness then is to get back on the road and run back the way they just came walking. They have news to share. They have witness to offer. Jesus is alive. And because of this, we do all that we do as God’s people today. Because it matters. And because we trust that not only is God’s love made real through it, God shows up alongside us in it, each step of the way.

As Acts reminds, indeed, “We are witnesses to these things.”[10] In how we live out this story through word and deed, we are witnesses to God’s saving and life-giving work of love. May we be so bold to show our witness through our abundantly hopeful and all-in discipleship and our rebelliously generous stewardship, for the sake of all of God’s beloved. May we so boldly say through all that we have and all that we are, “Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!” Thanks be to God. Amen.

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Citations and References:
[1] Acts 5:31-32, NRSV.
[2] Revelation 1:8, NRSV.
[3] Psalm 150:6, NRSV.
[4] Luke 19:40, NRSV.
[5] As in John 20:24-25, NRSV.
[6] John 20:30-31, NRSV.
[7] John 20:31, NRSV.
[8] Psalm 118:29, NRSV.
[9] Luke 24:13-35, NRSV.
[10] Acts 5:32, NRSV.