What does ‘expand’ mean to you? If you were to symbolise the term ‘expand’ using only your body, what would that look like?
According to Miriam-Webster, expand means to open up, to unfold, to extend, and enlarge. Perhaps we can imagine the extent to which the disciples had to extend and enlarge their worldview to accommodate a risen Christ. People who die are supposed to be buried and not seen bodily again! Yet here we have a story where a man who was arrested, tried, convicted, crucified, died, and was buried, then, 3 days later appears in a locked room amongst his friends! How is that even possible? Can we imagine the shock, the questions, the need to stretch belief to accommodate what is being experienced?
The need to expand was significant. It makes sense that Thomas initially doubted the story! It didn’t fit well with the normative experiences of the time. Actually, it doesn’t fit with the normative experiences of our time either! No wonder he wanted physical proof. He was being asked to believe something, to proclaim something that was far beyond the reach of the community, and their religion up to that point. No wonder he wanted to see and touch for himself before he was willing to expand his understanding and embody this new position of faith.
To expand means to open up, to unfold, to extend, and enlarge. Granted, believing in the resurrection is not as much of a stretch today. It is socially acceptable to proclaim Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia. Few will question our motives or sanity because we choose to do so. It is unlikely we will risk life and wellbeing because we are gathered here today.
Still, there are assumptions and expectations prevalent in society that seek to restrict what we say, what we do, and what we believe. Society is not particularly fond of those who ‘colour outside the lines’. There are also limits to our own experiences that create boundaries based primarily on familiarity. We tend to be most comfortable with the patterns and perspectives associated with the groups in which we belong. Conformity is a comfortable place to exist because it doesn’t challenge, doesn’t invite criticism, and doesn’t leave us vulnerable. Then again, conformity doesn’t give us opportunities to experience something new.
To expand means to open up, to unfold, to extend, and enlarge. When Jesus showed up in a locked room on the first day of the week after he had died and was buried, the disciples were given an opportunity to expand their faith. To support expansion, Jesus breathed on them and offered them the Holy Spirit, that Life-Giving aspect of God that remains among us, inviting us, challenging us, and gifting us. To receive this Good News, the disciples needed to be open to expand. To embody this Good News, to live out that challenge: As the Father has sent me, so I send you, the disciples could draw deeply from the gifts of the Holy Spirit opening themselves further, expanding further than they had known before.
There are gifts that can come with expansion. The disciples experienced this through the Holy Spirit and the ways they supported one another through the journeys that followed. We know this because of those moments when we have been open to what is new and what is possible. We have been blessed to have a wonderful diversity of people among us. We are further blessed by the many who choose to share they gifts so generously with us and the community. When we have opened our hearts, and our doors in ways that are new to us, we have discovered beauty, wonder, grace, and love in ways that renew us.
Could we even imagine our congregation without the beloved people who we embrace as part of our family? Can we remember what it was like to be at St. Paul’s before the clothing cupboard where we open our hearts to the many individuals and families who are struggling and served by this valued ministry? Could we envision being anything other than open and excepting of the many diverse and wonderful people we have welcomed at special services, through our community activities, and by opening our space to them? How blessed have we been because of a willingness to expand, to open up, to unfold, to extend, and enlarge?
There are gifts that can come with expansion. We saw this as the disciples expanded their worldview upon seeing the risen Lord. We know this through our own experience. We are blessed because of who we have encountered in our efforts to expand. We are blessed because, like the disciples, we continue to be supported, challenged, and inspired by the Life-Giving Spirit. May we remain open to the possibilities God continues to place before us, trusting that God’s Beloved children and God’s Creation are gifts for us and for the world. This we pray as we sing: 418 Draw the Circle Wide.
