The Scars Tell the Story: Sermon John 20:19-30

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

I love the movie Jaws. Most people don’t, especially those who like to swim in the ocean or any other large body of water, but I love the movie. My favorite scene in the movie is when the three guys are out on the boat hunting for the killer shark. They are below decks and they’re chatting and having a drink after supper. They have downed a few drinks and they begin to compare scars and war stories. One is trying to one up the next guy with a bigger scar and a scarier tale to go along with it, one has been bitten by a shark, the other cut his leg on a reef while SCUBA diving. Finally, one character o-ens his shirt and points to his chest. The other guys says, “What did you have a bypass or something.” The guys says “No, Mary Jane, 7^th grade, she broke my heart.”

We all have scars and our scars tell a story. If the scar is big enough I am sure that there is a story to go along with it. They remind us of a specific time in our lives. For example, I have a scar on my knee. I was about 10 or 11 and I was riding my bike when I slipped and fell cutting my knee wide open. It didn’t hurt and I didn’t cry until I heard the words “stitches”. That scar reminds me to watch where I am going. I also have a scar here on my elbow. This is from a car wreck when I was sixteen. I was coming home from a funeral of a classmate who had died in a car wreck and I lost control of the wheel and flipped my truck over to its side and skidded across the road. This scar reminds me not to jerk the wheel when running off the road and it reminds me that God is looking after me. The scars tell the story.

Our lesson this morning from John has to do with scars and what story they tell. Today’s reading is the second part of the same story. Last week we saw Resurrection Morning through the eyes of John and today we pick up the story later that same day. Jesus appears before the disciples miraculously despite the door being locked shut. The first thing that Jesus does after greeting them is show them his scars. He shows them the scars on his hands and the scar on his side from the soldiers spear. All of the disciples are there except for Thomas. For some reason Thomas is not present. After Thomas returns the disciples tell him that Jesus had appear before them, but he would not believe it until he saw the scars for himself.

The questions that have always bugged me are why are the scars important? Why does Jesus still have his scars? I mean couldn’t have God taken those ugly scars away. Why do the disciples want to see the scars? I want to explore these questions this morning and see what story the scars of Jesus and our own scars have to tell us.

First of all the scars served as proof. They were proof that Jesus was who he claimed to be. Jesus was really before them. He was not an imposter. He was not a ghost, or a phantom. He was not a spirit or a vision. He was real, flesh and blood and the scars were where they were supposed to be. The story that Mary had told them was true. Jesus really did come back from death. He is risen and there is the proof that was needed. Jesus gave them exactly what they needed to believe. Thomas did not receive any more evidence than the rest of the group. He was not special and yet he is the one who has been labeled the doubter. The all needed proof and the scars of Christ served as that proof.

Jesus’ scars tell us that what happened Friday is still a vital part of the story. There is no glory of Easter morning without the pain and agony of Good Friday. There is no Resurrection without a crucifixion. We hope and celebrate in the Resurrection, but our symbol remains the cross, because it is through the sacrifice of the cross that we brought into connection to God. It is the cross that remains the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for us. The scars remain to show us what love is really about. It shows us that there is no glory without sacrifice and though our reward is promised there is work to be done first. The scars of Jesus show that he paid the price for us. Our sins are forgiven because of the wounds of Christ. Remember the words of Isaiah “by his wounds we are healed.” The scars remain as a reminder that the love of God is shown both on Easter morning and on Friday afternoon.

The scars of Jesus remain to show us that we serve a scarred God. To some this seems ludicrous. The idea that the God you serve was crucified like a common criminal is so unheard of that it seems like insanity. Paul said that the story of a crucified God was foolishness to those who don’t understand. It seems to some like a demonstration of God weakness instead of God’s strength. This is not the case. It is the strength of God which is love that gave him the scars. It was the strength of God that seemed like weakness to human eyes. Our God is scarred not because he is weak but because his love for us is stronger than anything in universe, even death itself. God was scarred because it was his will, because he was willing to die for us.

Jesus’ scars also show that he was human as well as divine. God became human in the form of Jesus. Jesus knew human frailty; he knew human weakness, pain and suffering. Jesus knew abandonment, betrayal, and forsakenness. The scars from the nails of the cross show God’s solidarity with humanity. God knows what it means to suffer so God can understand and be with us when we suffer. When someone is diagnosed with cancer one of the greatest comforts is to talk to someone who has been there and survived. Only a person who has felt the sickness of chemo and the weakness of radiation can fully understand what the cancer patient is going through. You can only know if you have been there. God has suffered in ways that we can never understand and so God knows our suffering and is there with us in the midst of our suffering. God can come to us in our pain because God has experience pain. God can come t us in our loneliness and abandonment because God has been lonely and abandoned. When we are weak God can be our strength and when we mourn God mourns with us. The scars of Jesus tell us that God has been there before us and so he will be there with us now in our own journeys.

We have seen the stories that Jesus’ scars tell us. Now what story do our own scars tell? First is shows us that we are fragile. We are human and that means that we are finite beings. We are mortal and only here for a little while. Despite this there is good news. Through our weakness, God’s strength becomes perfect. We have the power of the Rock of Ages to cling to when our weakness overcomes us. Our scars remind us that we need to be depended on God’s strength and not reliant on our own.

Our scars also tell us that we make mistakes. All our scars are accidental. We do not mean to get them they are a result of our mistakes, a slip of the hand, a wrong turn in our cars, a fall, something. Maybe they are the fault of someone else’s mistakes but it shows us that we are not perfect creatures. We mess up, we fall short of God’s glory, and we are in need of grace. It also reminds us that we should learn from the mistakes that we have made. It is ok to make mistakes but it is vital to learn from them and avoid making the same mistake twice.

Our scars tell our story, where we have been and how our past has shaped who we are. We are who we are because of our mistakes and our scars. Our journeys are filled with pitfalls and mistakes, with slipups and boo boos, but we must remember that we must learn from our mistakes we must learn from our scars and the stories they tell. We must also learn from the scars of Christ and the stories of love they tell.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.