Let Us Do Good

Easter 2 Sermon | Guest Preacher Rick Ochocki, Junior Warden

• Audio Transcript

  [00:00:00] Thank you. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. Oh, Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Please be seated.

  
  "Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have come to believe." First of all, I want to say thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you again. Thank you to the Outreach Committee for choosing NAMI, the National Alliance of Mental Illness, here in San Diego, as the community partner for the month of April.

  
  NAMI has a three fold mission. To support people living with mental health challenges and their families, to educate people about mental illness with the goal of reducing stigma in the community, and to advocate for more research and greater access to mental health resources across the nation. And [00:01:00] we are so pleased to be a partner of the Outreach Committee again this year, and we're so pleased for the support that you provide to your Outreach Committee that helps not just NAMI, but organizations around the county, across the border, and around the world.

  
  "Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have come to believe." When I was in my twenties I was a firefighter in a town in New Jersey that used to have structure fires about every two weeks. And one day there was a spectacular house fire that I missed because I was at my day job in New York. The next day when I was at the firehouse listening to my friends tell the story of the engine rolling up with smoke puffing out the windows, or the way flames [00:02:00] blew through the roof as the truck company vented it. I didn't want to believe. I wanted to say, unless I touch that hose line that you dragged into the house, unless I smell the smoke on that jacket, I will not believe. FOMO, the fear of missing out, is real. And I knew my friends weren't lying to me, I just didn't want to believe that I had missed that.

  
  And I think when we hear the story of Doubting Thomas, one of the things that I hear is not a lack of faith, but someone who is responding to something spectacular with that very human fear of missing out.[00:03:00]
  "Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have come to believe." So one of the things about FOMO is the power of it is really relative to how important the activity is that you missed. I never had FOMO about missing a cleanup day at the firehouse.

  
  And for Thomas, traveling with Jesus through his ministry, witnessing the healing power that he dispensed, seeing the love and forgiveness and acceptance with which he met people on their journeys, and then to have it culminate in his life, in the horror of Holy Week, the crucifixion, the death, that must have been devastating.
  And when his friends were [00:04:00] gathered, but he was not there, and Jesus appears, FOMO like I can't believe.

  
  Now scripture is silent about where Thomas was while the other disciples were gathered together. And because I make up stories, I like to write my own narrative here that doesn't include him being locked away in a room by himself in fear. One of the things I think about is maybe he was following the example of his rabbi and retiring to a quiet place by himself to pray and ponder these events.

  
  Or maybe, as the disciples had gathered, Thomas gathered with his family and friends in a room where they shared stories about Jesus and talked about how their hearts burned with love for him and how their lives were going to be different as a result of it without understanding the resurrection, which they [00:05:00] probably didn't hear yet because he wasn't on that text chain.

  
  Or maybe, he was actually inspired by Jesus, despite the horror of the crucifixion, and was at work in his community on that day. I'm not saying he was organizing a first century NAMI Walks. But what if there was some activity going on that he was putting together? But for whatever reason, he wasn't there.

  
  And then he meets his friends, and they say, "The Lord has risen. We've seen it. And he appeared to us." And he expresses his, I'm not sure it's doubt, but his disappointment at not being there. And puts down his marker. And a week later, Jesus appears to him. To them and him. And Jesus calls him forward.

  Now, [00:06:00] ever since I first started to reflect on this story as a younger man, I haven't thought about Jesus words as a rebuke to Thomas so much as a comfort to me, "Blessed are those who have not seen yet have come to believe." Brothers and sisters in Christ, that's us. We have not seen the physical risen Jesus. We did not travel with him for three years during his ministry, hear his teachings, be confounded by his parables in real time, or witness his miraculous acts as he touched lepers, blind, crippled.

  
  We have these stories transmitted down through the ages in the scriptures. And we believe them. And our lives are transformed as a result of that. [00:07:00] You and I, based on these stories, and the way they touch our hearts. We seek to know God's will for us. We seek to follow Jesus the best way that we know how, being his hands and feet and heart in the world around us.

  
  We seek to be a vessel for the Holy Spirit to be at work in our lives and in the community.

  
  And one of the best ways that we see that happening here at St. Peter's is through the work of the Outreach Committee. The Outreach Committee seeking to make a tangible and practical impact in the lives of men and women in need in our community and in so many different places. And I believe that isn't just because we're motivated as human beings [00:08:00] to be altruistic and do good things,
  But also because we are inspired by the gospel. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have come to believe.

  
  So if you don't want to experience your own fear of missing out this month, when the outreach committee is supporting NAMI, and the NAMI Walks, I'm going to extend two invitations to you.

  First, I'm going to invite you to come out to the patio after the service and ask me questions about the work that NAMI is doing in our community, learn a little bit more about the resources that are available here on the patio and also through NAMI, and consider making a donation to support the work of the Outreach Committee through NAMI.

  
  A donation of [00:09:00] at least $10 will get you a copy of this book, "You Are Not Alone," by the The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health, where you can read other people's stories about hope and healing and living a rich, fulfilling life using resources NAMI provides for people experiencing chronic mental health conditions.

  
  And then I'm also going to invite you to join me and the outreach committee, Team St. Peter's, and thousands of other people who are going to gather on Saturday, April 27th on Preble Field in Liberty Station for this year's NAMI walks. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have come to believe. When you come down to NAMI Walks, and you see thousands of people impacted by mental health challenges, people who have a [00:10:00] diagnosis, family, friends, co- workers, colleagues, neighbors of people impacted by mental health challenges.

  
  When you see us all coming together and saying, "We love you, we accept you, we believe healing is possible and we will walk with you on it." it will lighten your soul and brighten your day. And you will not have missed out.

  
  Thank you again to the Outreach Committee for choosing to support St. Peter's, for choosing to support NAMI and for St. Peter's and the Outreach Committee for supporting so many great organizations in our community. Thank you for this opportunity to talk to you briefly today and for your kind attention.

  
  I'd like to conclude with a line from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians. "While there is still time, let us do good [00:11:00] and especially to those of the household of faith." Amen.