Homily, All in a Breath
Second Sunday of Easter, Year B, 2024
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Tequesta, FL
The Rev. Derek M Larson, TSSF
Today’s Lectionary Readings:
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
When was the last time you took a deep breath?
It’s easy to forget to do. In fact, I think most of us go through much of life holding our breath. Breathing shallowly. Not fully expanding our lungs. We do it because we’re stressed. Or we’re worried. Or we’re grieving. Or too busy. And often we don’t even realize that we’re doing it.
I learned a new phrase this week. Screen apnea. Have you heard of that? Evidently 80% of us hold our breath while checking email or scrolling through social media. And we don’t even realize it. Perhaps we’re just focused, or perhaps there is some stress or anxiety mixed in, but 80% of us forget to fully breathe.
If we forget to breathe while checking email, I can only imagine all the other things that have us holding our breath.
And when we forget to fully breathe, we add stress to our bodies, we disrupt our digestion, we think less clearly, we’re less present to the people and the world around us, we’re more fearful, and we’re more guarded. When we hold our breath.
Such is the state we find in the disciples in today’s gospel reading. They’ve been through a lot. Only three days ago their friend and teacher had been arrested and crucified while they all fled, fearful for their lives. The grief, for them, felt unbearable. It was suffocating. Probably mixed with some shame. And so here they are behind locked doors not only grieving for Jesus, but scared of those who caused this, and holding their breath to see what’s next.
Have you ever felt like that? Has your grief or anxiety or shame ever kept you behind closed doors, hidden away from the world? Not able to fully breathe?
But then, out of nowhere, Jesus stood among them. Right there behind those closed doors he came among them. In the middle of their grief. In the middle of their fear. In the middle of their shame he came among them. He spoke peace to them. He showed them his wounds. And then he did something, perhaps, a little strange. He breathed on them.
It’s a strange gesture. And yet, perhaps, one of the most profound and multi-layered actions of Jesus in all of Scripture. In fact, as I wrestle with this passage I find there are at least four ways we can read this moment.
First, by breathing on the disciples he is simply reminding the disciples to breathe. To slow down, to let go of their fear for a moment, and to take a deep breath. Jesus breathes on them (breathe) to release the tension in the room. And to invite them into the present moment. To rest not in the fear that exists outside in the world, but in the peace that exists right here in the present moment. Jesus reminds them to breathe. Perhaps its a reminder we could also appreciate at times.
Second, by breathing on the disciples Jesus is pointing them back to their creation. This is the end of the Gospel of John. But remember the words at the beginning of the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word. All things came into being through him.” And remember the words at the beginning of Genesis when God created humanity, “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” By breathing on the disciples, he’s hearkening them back to the original breath that gave them life. And showing them that he was there. Jesus was there at the beginning breathing them into life. And Jesus is there now, breathing them into new life. If only we could remember that it is the Divine breath of God that gives us life in our lungs.
Third, by breathing on the disciples Jesus is showing them that he is alive. Just as he shows them the wounds in his body to prove that it is really him, he breathes to show them that he is alive again. It was just in the previous chapter of John that Jesus was on the cross when he “gave up his Spirit.” Or as the synoptic gospels put, “he breathed his last.” But here he is again, breathing on them. Jesus has conquered death. Jesus is showing them that death no longer has the last word. Whatever it is that the disciples fear, it’s power has been weakened. Jesus has shown them that God is bigger than death. Jesus is alive again. And if God is bigger than death, God is bigger than our fear too.
Finally, by breathing on the disciples, Jesus is sending them into the world empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue his work of building God’s kingdom. In the Book of Acts we hear the story of the Pentecost, when a rush of wind met the disciples and the Holy Spirit came down upon them empowering them to do God’s work. But here, in the Gospel of John, the rush of wind comes from the mouth of Jesus. And he, himself, speaks to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” By breathing on them, Jesus is commissioning them into his service, into the work of proclaiming God’s love for the world. But to do that they have to step through those locked doors—through their fear—and sometimes we have to do the same.
It’s a strange gesture. Breathing on the disciples. But this one gesture says so much. (1) It reminds the disciples to slow down and take a deep breath. (2) It connects the disciples to their creation and the breath of God within them. (3) It shows them that because Jesus is alive, Jesus is bigger than death and all that they fear. (4) And it commissions them to move past their fear into the work God is calling them to do. All in a breath.
Perhaps you’re holding your breath this morning. Perhaps you feel closed in behind the walls of fear, grief, anxiety, busyness, or shame. Perhaps the last few weeks or months for you have felt like you just. haven’t. been able. to catch. your breath. Our gospel reading this morning, then, is for you. Jesus is here. Jesus is where you are. In the middle of what you are going through. And Jesus is breathing on you.
The invitation, then, is to breathe with Jesus. Feel the breath of God fill your lungs. Expand your belly. And rest in the peace of God, who gives you life. Amen.
Thoughts on Faith 