Adventurous Lectionary – Second Sunday of Easter – Just Breath and Embrace Your Doubts

Last updated on: April 9, 2020 at 3:42 pm by Bruce Epperly

Adventurous Lectionary – Second Sunday of Easter – Just Breath and Embrace Your Doubts 2020-04-09T15:42:55-04:00 Bruce Epperly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Just Breathe and Embrace Your Doubts! – The Second Sunday of Easter – April 19, 2020

Bruce G. Epperly
John 20:19-31

This year, I will be preaching from these scriptures on April 19 (John 20:19-23) and April 26 (John 20:24-31) from the comfort of my home. I believe these passages are important in this time of pandemic. We need the breath of God. We also need to respond creatively to our doubts regarding God’s presence in this time of danger and opportunity. You may choose otherwise, but I see the lectionary as a living document, adaptable to our pastoral context.

I.
And Jesus breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” For the past six weeks, we have been holding our breath. We have been worried about other people’s breath. We are waiting to exhale.

Experiencing God’s healing and enlivening breath is a form of spiritual CPR. God’s breath is something we want to hear personally, and in our churches, especially as we sheltering in place, distant from one another, trying to find community online and on the phone and facetime.

The Spirit blows where it wills and wherever it blows, it brings new life and vitality. We need that spirit-filled experience just as those women and men gathered in an upper room needed not only to hear that Jesus was risen, but rise themselves through spiritual resuscitation. God’s breath brings us back to life and sets us on a path of healing and spiritual transformation. We need new life, spiritual CPR, to respond to our fears and anxieties over personal and institutional survival.

In the biblical world, breath is a manifestation of God’s Spirit: God breathes over the waters and the universe takes form; God revives dry bones in a valley; and the Psalmist proclaims, “Let everything that breathes praise God.” (Psalm 150:6) Spirit moves through Jerusalem on Pentecost and gives birth to a new manifestation of the Jesus movement, the lively spirit-centered movement that we know as the church. God’s Spirit still breathes through us as the source of possibility and the energy to achieve God’s vision in our time.

Could Jesus’ animating energy still be reviving the world? Is it possible for us to breathe some of the same molecules – in homeopathic form – that Jesus breathed in upper room, giving his followers spiritual resuscitation? Can we healthfully breathing the same molecules of members of our congregation?

Deep breathing brings peace. The passage calls pastor and congregants to breathe deeply God’s presence, letting deep breaths center us, chase away unnecessary anxiety, and fill us with courage despite our concerns. A breath prayer is appropriate for this week’s online worship service.

II.

We need breathing space and it is a credit to the disciples that they gave Thomas breathing space, and allowed him to live with his questions. They apparently did not pick on him or ostracize him for doubt of the resurrection. Perhaps they understood that you need to see it to believe it. Thomas missed out on the spiritual revival of the upper room; and wanted proof that Jesus was alive. His quest was not just intellectual, it was experiential and spiritual. He wanted to see Jesus, feel his breath, and touch his body. He wanted the real presence of the risen Jesus not just talk about it. When Jesus returns to the group, Thomas is amazed and transformed, and he can breathe again.

Legend has it that Thomas brought the gospel to India. Perhaps Thomas alone had the spiritual bandwidth to embrace the wisdom of the rishis and sages and challenge them to embrace the resurrection spirit of the “avatar” Jesus.

The Gospel reading ends with curious and liberating words; words that invite us to be creative and do greater things than we can imagine (John 14:12) John 20:30 proclaims: “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.” In other words, there is more to Jesus than what we can find on the printed page, even the printed pages of scripture. John doesn’t limit Jesus’ message or the Spirit’s movements to the pages of a book or recitations of doctrinal orthodoxy. The Risen Jesus is always more than we can imagine and never confined by our religious world views.

This is good news, for it says that Christ is still alive and that Christ’s work can never be encompassed by book or creed. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) God’s Spirit sets us free; it breathes on us and gives us energy for adventures ahead. It inspires to be God’s companions in our time and place. God’s spirit enables us to have the stature to embrace doubt and certainty, fear and love, tradition and adventure.

III.

Take time to breathe, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Simply breathing your prayers has been shown, according to medical studies, to reduce stress and enhance immune system functioning. It also awakens your connection with creation, breathing in, around, and through you. When we breathe in God’s Spirit, we are contemporaries with Jesus’ first followers, and we can imaginatively – and realistically – hear Jesus say to us as he breathes in us, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” In return, we can affirm, “I breathe God’s Spirit and share God’s energy of love with all creation.”

+++
Bruce Epperly is a Cape Cod pastor, professor, and author of over fifty books including FAITH IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC and GOD ONLINE: A MYSTIC’S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET

Previous Post

April 9, 2020

FAITH IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC - SERVING ONE ANOTHER

Next Post

April 10, 2020 Faith in a Time of Pandemic - Good Friday Reflection

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews The Adventurous Lectionary Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz