Because Jesus has been raised, we have been given a living hope. Knowing Jesus leads us to live out that hope in the rest of our lives.
Vicar Erik C. Nelson
April 12, 2026
Texts: Acts 2:14, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
This morning, in about 20 pulpits across the Twin Cities, there are college students who are getting up to preach. Most of them for the first time, some of them for only the second or third time.
These are students from the Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Minnesota who have been sent out for one of their annual traditions, where the students get to go out and preach and connect with the congregations that support the campus ministry.
When I was an intern serving with that ministry, I loved to go back and watch the live streams of my students talking about the difference that the campus ministry made in their lives. Over and over, I would hear stories about how they knew that Jesus is alive because they saw him in the lives of their friends and classmates.
They carry a living hope with them because of their own encounter with Christ and his people.
With this in mind, I have even more sympathy for Thomas in today’s Gospel reading. People have made a big deal about doubting Thomas and whatever else they want to read in this, but I think it kind of makes sense for him to be skeptical of the claims that he’s hearing from his friends for many reasons, but especially because of their actions.
As much as they might be afraid of the authorities, if they really saw Jesus in the flesh among them, risen from the dead, then they would have this real proof that the impossible is possible with God.
And you’d think this would mean that they wouldn’t have to stay hiding. They would be able to leave the building and love their neighbors boldly.
But instead, when Thomas comes back, he finds the doors still locked. He finds them still hiding in fear. He finds them living like their encounter with Jesus didn’t make a difference.
Their words said that Jesus was alive … their actions said they still had to hide. Their actions didn’t match their beliefs.
When the world looks at the church, do they see our actions matching our beliefs? When they see our behavior and listen to us speak, do they have any reason to believe what we say?
It would be easy to point to other branches of the Christian family and talk about their issues. We all know about that. But we have to get the log out of our own eyes first.
As I’m looking ahead to the end of my internship, working pages and pages of paperwork and thinking about upcoming interviews in the first call process, I’ve been thinking a lot about the ways that our own church, the ELCA and other mainline denominations, isn’t practicing what we preach.
This season of Easter is supposed to be all about resurrection, new life, the promises that God offers us.
But how often do we get wrapped up in conversations about decline and decay. How often do we get stuck in a mindset of hopelessness and despair, or even worse, apathy about these things. How often do we look only at death, forgetting we serve the Lord of Life?
I’ve spent my whole life hearing about the death of Christianity … but in my own experience, I haven’t seen it. Instead, I’ve seen lives changed. I’ve experienced the new life that comes with God’s presence. I feel the living hope, the trust that God is really with us, even in the darkest days.
I trust that God is active … God gives us a living hope and will provide for us. Decline is not inevitable. When I started at LCM, we had about 30 students worshipping with us on Wednesday nights. By the end of my time there, it was up close to a hundred.
Students encountered the risen Christ in the sacramental life of that community, in Bible studies, and in the love that they showed to one another. As people saw that living hope in action, more and more young people were drawn in.
And this isn’t about numerical growth. It’s about inviting people into our living hope.
The world is hungry for a living hope … Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, meets us here in the breaking of bread and the communion of the saints. The church is the only institution that offers that.
Yes, Christianity’s place in society is changing … but maybe the death of a transactional cultural Christianity means life for a deeper, more sincere form of our faith.
A faith this is not about who you are or what you know, but instead about what you are and who you know. You are a child of God. You are know and loved deeply by God.
Those who know God have been given that living hope and now we’re invited to live like it makes a difference.
We can stay inside, afraid of the world, stuck in anxious patterns of self-protection and self-preservation … or we can start putting ourselves out there.
We can earnestly, openly, unabashedly say, “I love Jesus, and Jesus loves you.” Because our neighbors are hearing a lot about Jesus, a lot of it bad.
But for us, who know him, who know his love and care for us, who know his embrace is wide enough for the whole world, who know that God loves everyone, no exceptions, it’s for us to tell the world about our living hope.
This is a living hope that our reading from 1 Peter says is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for us … an eternal hope for all time. And also something we are receiving now. The salvation of our souls.
This living hope isn’t only something to look for at the end of days. It’s not merely a hope of heaven or a spiritual revelation. It’s a hope that is alive now, with us today, to make a difference in the world now and forever.
May it be so.
—
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
