Record Scratch

Why yes, I was a DJ in seminary... 

In seminary one of my greatest joys was being a disk jockey. That’s right, I was a DJ. Along with my friend CJ Meaders, I spun digital records at visitors’ weekends, seminary prom (yes, that is a thing), and even casual dinner parties with friends. My greatest aim was not unlike what the clergy, organist, choirmaster, and choir try to do on Sunday mornings. Namely, picking the right song for the right moment. To do this though is often more difficult than one might think.

Finding the right music for the right moment in a party, in a church service, or anywhere else for that matter takes some skill. CJ (aka DJ Perichoresis) and I (aka DJ Ex Nihilo) prided ourselves on getting people out on the dance floor and then keeping them there. Occasionally though, we would miss the mark. Sometimes we would choose the wrong song for the moment. Perhaps it was a slow song when everyone wanted to jump around. Maybe it was too many high-paced dance songs when the audience wanted a breather. In those moments when we made a bad musical decision, it was as if someone pulled the needle off the record making that stop everything scratching noise. In much the same way, when I first read this coming Sunday's Gospel lesson it felt like the framers of our Lectionary had made a record scratching choice.

On the Second Sunday of Easter (this past Sunday) we always hear the story of Thomas. Really, it is a story of Jesus visiting the ten other disciples and Thomas not being there. But, we most often associate the story with Thomas and his desire to see the Risen Christ. This coming Sunday (the Third Sunday of Easter) we hear a very similar story from Luke’s Gospel account. It almost feels like playing the same song by two different artists right in a row at a party—not necessarily a crowd pleasing move. So, this week I am left wondering, “Why did the people putting together the Lectionary choose this story?” Let us take a moment to compare and contrast the two tales.

The Lukan passage begins in much the same way as John’s story from this past Sunday. Jesus comes and stands among the disciples saying, “Peace be with you.” Also similarly to John’s story, the theme of doubt exists in this bit from Luke, even if Thomas is not singled out for his curiosity. The disciples are also charged to go out into the world in both stories. There are some differences between the stories as well.

Unlike in John’s story in Luke’s account Jesus dispelled that he is a ghost, opened up scripture to the disciples, and sent them out without the Holy Spirit (for the moment). Jesus does not make a peaceful refrain throughout this narrative. And, these disciples seem to need it more than the ones shown in John’s story. Why? Because they think Jesus is a ghost.

The disciples here in Luke believed Jesus was a ghost. We may find this odd, but they knew that Jesus had died, for him to be walking among them now was preposterous! So, the Risen Christ had to dispel this belief by doing something ghosts cannot do—eat something.

Next, Jesus opened up the Hebrew Scripture to his followers pointing to his identity as the suffering Messiah. This Messiah had come to enhance a movement of repentance and forgiveness of sins, which does connect to John’s story. But in John's account the coming of the Holy Spirit happened in that Easter evening moment. Also peculiar to Luke was the origin of Jerusalem as the genesis of the Jesus movement. But, it was some time before the Holy Spirit came in Luke’s story, thus the disciples had to sit around in Jerusalem for some time waiting. Luke’s community also authored the Acts of the Apostles, and so this anticipatory moment of this disciples pausing in Jerusalem for God’s Holy Spirit almost seems like a promo for the sequel book. So, there are similarities and differences in these two stories, but again I wonder why choose this story this week? Why did the Lectionary framers do this?

For most of Holy Week we find ourselves in John’s Gospel account. For most of Year B (the Lectionary year we are currently in) we find ourselves in Mark’s Gospel account. How about another story from one of those? It feels like a stop the record moment for us to all of a sudden jump to Luke. Why would the framers of the Lectionary do this? Well, Mark's authentic story does not have any post-Resurrection stories. And, we will be back in John's Gospel account for the rest of the Easter season and the Day of Pentecost. So, while I cannot be positive, I tend to think that those who created the Lectionary wanted another voice telling a Resurrection story to be heard. Even if the stories are similar we are called to hear what the disciples experienced in those moments, days, and weeks right after Jesus was raised from the dead.

We might find it odd that three weeks after Easter we are still hanging out on that most holy day, but actually it makes sense. Something so profound as Resurrection destroying death requires some time to digest. Two thousand years later we still cannot understand it. Instead, we are called to dwell in the beautiful glow of the Risen Christ hearing these stories over and over and over again.

Sure, for those faithful ones who were at church on low Sunday (yesterday) this might feel like a repeat story; however, it is not like playing the same song two times in a row. In fact, it appears like something else, another analogy. 

When my favorite teams pull off amazing touchdowns or goals I tend to watch the highlights of those plays many times over. I want to see greatness from as many different angles as I can. As we witness these post-resurrection stories, I think it is the same way. We as the Church want to view Resurrection from as many different vantage points as possible. This week may we see the Risen Lord again and may we be challenged once more to take God’s Good News of forgiveness and repentance of sins out into the world!