All hope died on Good Friday when Jesus died on the Cross.

All hope died on Good Friday when Jesus died on the Cross.

Have you ever had something really wonderful in your life, only to see it
taken away? It could be that a loved one died. Or a friendship or
relationship ended. Or you lost your job. Or saw a long-cherished dream
come to an end. Whatever the loss, it's hard not to become bitter and angry
and hardened as a result.

I came out as a gay man in 1985, a sophomore in college. It was
exhilarating. Having grown up in the rural and small-town South, it was
wonderful to come to Atlanta, and find a large and welcoming gay community
to embrace me. And to discover straight people who thought gay people were
no different from them. It felt like coming home.

And then, that next summer, something horrible happened. The Supreme Court,
in Bower vs. Hardwick, ruled that states had a right to criminalize gay
people for making love. It was a slap in the face. And it made me very
angry. And it was hard not to hate those "justices" who made the ruling, or
my own state's attorney general for prosecuting the case, or the majority of
Americans who thought it was just fine to make my community scapegoats for
its fear and loathing.

The Apostle Thomas felt something like that, only a lot more intense and
painful, after Jesus was killed by the Roman authorities on that awful Good
Friday. He had been fortunate enough to find a teacher who had performed
miracles -- who had given his life meaning and purpose -- who had shown him
God. He had traveled with him, part of a select company of disciples, for
three years, a member of a small community that had become more important to
him than his own family. He had even dared to hope that this could be the
Messiah, the One God had promised to send to redeem Israel.

And then, it had come to an end, in a horrible way. Jesus arrested.
Executed in a brutal and humiliating fashion. So much for redemption. So
much for meaning and purpose. So much for God.

But then, he started to hear rumors. Some of the other disciples kept
insisting that they had seen Jesus alive since then. Mary Magdalene, Peter,
John. Then the rest of the Twelve

But it was too dangerous to allow himself to hope again. They must have
seen an apparition. Or an impostor. He couldn't allow himself to hope
again, only to have those hopes so brutally crushed.

"Unless I can feel the nailprints in his hand, and put my hand in the
spearwound in his side given to him by that brutal Roman soldier, I refuse
to allow my hopes raised and then shattered."

But then it happened -- Jesus did come! And he invited Thomas to feel his
nailprints, and the spearwound in his side. And his response was the only
response he could give -- "My Lord and My God"!

Jesus then says, "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed."

But in truth, we have seen, haven't we? The Epistle tells us that there are
three who give testimony on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
We have been baptized, and through our baptism, we have been given new life
in Christ -- and if we will only open our eyes, we can see this new life all
around us. We have been given the gift of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood
of Christ -- we will be given this gift anew in a few minutes when we
receive Holy Communion. And the Spirit -- the Spirit is present in our
lives in so many ways! Our friends, our faith communities, the many
miracles we experience each and every day.

Last summer, in "Lawrence vs. Texas", the Supreme Court revisited the
decision it had made in "Bower vs. Hardwick" and realized it had made a
mistake. It overturned its previous decision, and now, gay and lesbian
people can no longer be considered criminals based on how or who we love.

But we still face challenges. It is hard not to be discouraged when the
president of our nation wants to amend the constitution to deny us marriage.
Or when polls show that 55% of Americans think that allowing us to marry
would degrade the institution of marriage. Or when those arguing against
our marriages compare them to bestiality or polygamy. Or when things go
wrong in our lives.

Glory be to God, while all hope died on Good Friday, it sprang back to life,
more alive than ever, on Easter Sunday! Keep that in mind the next time it
feels like hope has been extinguished in your personal life. Or the next
time you hear the gay community attacked.

Hope is alive again!

Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!