I’m not going to do it. Not this year! Every year the gospel reading for today--the second Sunday after Easter--is the same: the story of so-called doubting Thomas. On the evening of Easter Sunday, Jesus appears to his disciples. Thomas isn’t there and, since he isn’t there, Thomas cannot believe what the others tell him has happened. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later--on the second Sunday of Easter, the same as today--Jesus appears once again, only this time Thomas is there. Jesus permits Thomas to do as he demanded. After having seen the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands and placing his hand in the gaping wound on Jesus’ side, Thomas believes. “My Lord and my God!” he says.

Most years that’s the focus on this Sunday: doubting Thomas. But not this year! Focusing exclusively on Thomas takes our attention away from the important things Jesus did and said to his disciples on that Easter Sunday evening. And that’s too bad, because what he did and said that night is the same, I believe, as what Jesus is saying and doing among us, right here and now!

Which is why I want to tell you about the clock and the key.

When Holly and I got married, her sister--Holly’s maid of honor--gave us an extraordinary wedding gift: an antique kitchen clock. It’s not a fancy clock, but it’s a beautiful clock, meant to sit on a table, to keep time, and to chime the hour. Which is exactly what that clock has done in every house or apartment we’ve lived in for the last 33 years.

Or, wait a minute! Which is what that clock has done in every house or apartment we’ve lived in for the last 33 years, provided that--once a week--someone winds that antique kitchen clock with the key that sits inside of it! The clock does what both the clockmaker and Holly’s sister expected it to do--keep time and chime the hour--provided that we, to whom it was given, do our part and keep it wound.

This makes sense to you, right? There’s nothing complicated about this. We were given a gift. But we were given a gift with the hope that, upon accepting it, we would use and enjoy it, doing our part in turn, which is minimal, but crucial.

This makes sense, right? Well then, so should the all-too-often neglected part of today’s gospel reading.

The way that the Gospel of John tells the story, early on Easter morning, Mary Magdalen goes to the tomb and discovers the stone has been rolled away. Immediately, she runs back into town and tells Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the two of them run to the tomb with Mary to investigate.

Indeed, they see the stone has been rolled away. They go in. There, on the ground are the cloths that had been used to wrap Jesus’ corpse and the linen napkin that had been used to cover Jesus’ face, folded and lying separately by itself. Simon Peter is confused but the disciple whom Jesus loved believes. The two of them then run back into town.

Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene stands weeping outside of the tomb when someone--whom she assumes is the groundskeeper--speaks to her. Only when he speaks her name does Mary realize it is the risen Lord!

They speak, and then Mary herself runs back into town to tell the others. There’s a lot of running in John’s account! And that brings to Easter Sunday evening and the all-too-often neglected part of the story.

That story is just five verses long. As I read it to you, notice the gift that Jesus gives his disciples, and the responsibility they have upon accepting it. (I’m shortening it a little bit) When it was evening on that day, ... and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked ..., Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. ... Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Got it? Let’s review. For our wedding, Holly’s sister gave us a clock and a key. In accepting that gift--in enjoying it--our job is to keep it running. And, for that, we were given a key.

For Easter, Jesus gave his disciples an extraordinary gift: peace, or shalom. He gave them God’s forgiveness and ended their exile from God. In other words, for Easter, Jesus ushered in the kingdom or reign of God.

But, in accepting that gift, guess what? The disciples, in their turn, accepted responsibility for keeping that peace; that shalom. By accepting that forgiveness, their job--our job--was to keep that forgiveness, peace, and shalom running. And for that, Jesus gave them the key.

Did you pick up on that? Here it is: Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

The gift is peace, or shalom. Peace means God declares your sins are forgiven and, when your sins are forgiven, that means the exile of humanity from God is over, too. God’s reign has begun!

The key to this gift is receiving God’s Spirit breathed into us and then sharing God’s forgiveness with others.

A story is told of a husband and wife who had grown old together, but the husband had died and the old woman was beside herself. She and her husband had been through so much together, it was like she herself had died. And, what was worse, her faith--which she had shared with her husband--had died as well. The trust she had had in God seemed to have died along with her husband.

Her friends from church visited with her. When one of them asked if she could offer a prayer, the old woman said, “You can. But don’t expect me to join you! I can’t pray any more. I’m not even sure you could call me a Christian any more!”

One of the women--who had also lost her husband some years earlier--said, “What you can’t do, let us do for you! We’ll pray--and we’ll believe--for you.”

Which is exactly what they did, day in and day out, until one day, quite without expecting it, the widow found her faith had returned to her.

We have been given the gift of peace or shalom with God. But the key to that gift--for us and for those first disciples and for those women in the story--is to keep the gift going by sharing it with others!

Bring others into the presence of God. For Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia and Amen!