Sermon – 04-07-24 – Easter 2 – Cycle B – St. Daniel’s
Scripture: Acts 4:32-35, Psalm 133, 1 John 1:1 – 2:2, John 20:19-31
Sermon Title: “Trusting”

Today we hear the words in the gospel of John, “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.” The Holy Spirit is alive and acting. As the disciples start leading instead of following, they are called apostles. They trust each other and they are caught up in believing since Jesus is alive and not dead. They start the church of Jesus Christ with the followers that have accumulated.

They make this very unusual agreement to put all of their money into one pot. This is not half of their earnings or half of their savings or half of their property. We are talking everything. This “Jesus thing” is powerful. The charisma of Jesus is still alive and working after Jesus ascended to his rightful place beside the Father. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit in his place. Now it is the Holy Spirit who grips the apostles and the other believers so that they dare to try this experiment. This experiment is built on trust. The trust is like a strong rubber band until the rubber band snaps. It snaps because someone breaks the trust; a couple agree to cheat when they sell some property. They only give some of the money. They keep some for themselves. Do they expect that decision to remain a secret?

It does not remain a secret and when confronted with their lack of trust and their dishonesty, first the man dies on the spot. They carry him out. Then the wife arrives and lies. When confronted, she drops dead. They carry her out.

Pretty dramatic! Is this a silly idea in the first place? What happens in our society when people try these communal types of living? Is trust that weak? Is it more than should be expected of mere humans? Where do we place our trust or do we trust no one? Do we trust ourselves? Try staying on a diet even. Worse yet, try to overcome serious addictions. Or maybe we are always late to appointments or meetings. We cannot trust ourselves. It is Jesus and the Holy Spirit who provide the glue, the trust, between humans.

My friend, Cyrus, is fearful of everyone and everything. No bank for him. No trusting anyone else to do the job well. He locks his money in a safe at home. He does all his work by himself so it is done exactly as he wants it. He is locking his soul in a prison. Am I like Cyrus? Partly. I still trust my money in a bank. The stock market does not have my trust. Some things I insist on doing myself. The good thing about getting old is that we need to depend on other people to do the things our bodies will not let us do. We need to back off and enjoy taking it easy. We need to appreciate what other people can do. We need to believe, we need to trust that God gave talents to everyone. We do not have a corner on the talent market.

One day I visit Cyrus. He is telling me about a strange experience he just had. A young man had come past his property and stopped to look around. Then he approached Cyrus who was sitting on his glider on the porch. “Say,” said the young man, ‘Your property is lovely. I can see that you really took good care of it. Do you mind if I pull a few weeds and maybe you would even agree to my trimming that piece of shrubbery over there? I have a picture in my mind how that plant could look.” Cyrus was ready to say, “No thanks. I will get to it soon.” But something held him back. Something gave him these words, “I don’t mind if you do, son. I am ready to see what picture you have in your mind for that piece of shrubbery. I could never get it just right.”

You know what that something was, don’t you? Yes, it was the Holy Spirit beginning to change Cyrus; to open the window to trust and all the new beginnings that trust opens in our lives. Holy Spirit, come upon us, even through our reluctance. Show us the open windows in front of us. Show us what being trustworthy and trusting others can do in our lives. Amen