And Yet We Believe - Second Sunday of Easter
Author: Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
April 12, 2026
There is no denying sometimes the weight of life hits. On
such a day as I was driving to pass the time in the car, I was listening to public
radio. My very favorite piece, Widor’s “Toccata” on the organ came on which
always manages to lift me up and I was so very happy. But my happiness was intercepted by the fading
in and out of the signal in the mountains coming past Bald Eagle Forest. As I
hit the dead spot, suddenly- Nothing. I was now stuck behind a slow-moving car
in the left lane and the slower truck in the right. In the absence of that
momentary brightness, everything else that clouded my mind came right back. When
the radio signal returned, the Widor was done. For those of you who are tech
savvy it’s like watching a beautiful video of your loved one and suddenly the
whole thing is buffering and then it freezes. That little glimmer was gone. But
then our daughter Allu unexpectedly called from overseas and that was joy.
I listened as she lamented a plumbing disaster while
walking her dog who was being corrected in Finnish and it was almost like I was
there in that still fragile gift of technology. Then the call ended and we both
went on with our days. The challenges we
each faced were still very present and real and yet, there was this joy in love
and connection that resonated long afterwards. And that in the end is one way I
describe a life where joy and struggle co-exist and both are true. Joy floats like
a dewy spiderweb with dew shimmering in the sun silently. But struggle,
division and grief are, I fear, the loudest preachers.
That is how I am sure the post-resurrection disciples
felt and how the community Peter is writing to in his letter we call 1st Peter felt too. There are times we’re experiencing suffering or social pressure
to conform in different ways. Or the disfavor of others who do not share our
faith. Seasons we wrestle with the reality of the world pressing in. And
already Easter Sunday can feel far away. Despite the fact many may have scarfed
up a lot of the candy already, Easter is not a day but a season. I say this to
encourage you. We have 50 days in this season to very specifically grapple with
what it means that Jesus rose from the dead, that new life means new reality.
Yet, we are not here to try to convince ourselves that the
resurrection of Christ is a universal switch to flip that guarantees newfound greatness
and every desire fulfilled.
We learn from scripture what we ourselves experience, that
life will continue at times to be hard; there will be suffering AND at the same
time there will be moments of indescribable joy. This joy is not expressed as toxic
positivity or in an utter lack of doubts. We cannot manufacture joy. It
mysteriously comes from beyond us, like the risen Lord walking through a locked
door. It is more than just a feeling or emotion; it is something that both
lifts us up and yet is grounding. This past week I was asking people to recall
a moment of joy during Holy Week and Easter, almost to a person they told of
some beautiful moment in worship or with family, but I knew that each also had
some sadness or worry running on their mental computer in the background.
What I notice in scripture is that joy inevitably is
linked to community. The kind of community Jesus builds when he intentionally
comes to see the disciples a second time when Thomas IS there. The joy that
then Peter writes of to another community. Peter who is the infamous “go tell
the disciples and Peter I have risen,” because Peter had denied ever knowing
Jesus. He now writes to reassure another community under stress that they do
not have to try to guard themselves because they are guarded by God’s power
through faith. Joy is linked to community and bounded by faith.
We are given this gift of faith, by the Holy Spirit so
that while we might look around the world in worry, we trust God’s work and
love for us even when it can seem as unseeable as the risen Jesus.
In the First Nations Version of the Bible, 1 Peter 1:9
says: “Your trust in him is bringing you to the end of the trail, where your
whole being will be set free and made whole.” We are experiencing wholeness
being revealed along the way. Together we step forward along the trail, even
when that trail includes suffering and tears and even when we cannot see all we
wish.
Peter is not speaking of “accepting Jesus Christ as my
personal Lord and Savior” faith. He is speaking of individuals bound together
in Christ so that the community then draws its nature both from consolation in
suffering and belief in a risen Lord. A community centered in belief in Christ puts
flesh on the bones so that we experience visible evidence of an unseen reality.
Because we like those Peter writes to have not seen Jesus in the flesh but love
him. We do not see him now, but we believe in him. And so along the way we will
also rejoice with joy.
In our sharing this together, we do not succumb to
mourning or to fear amid all we know that saddens us and all we do not know
that can terrify us or leave us numb. We profess the new reality of the risen
Christ- a new lens for seeing our world. We encourage each other to follow a
path that is so distinctive:
To proclaim life in a world that seemingly clamors for
death. To see grace and peace in a world addicted to anger and conflict. To see
love and mercy in a time when destroying each other in body or spirit seems to
be too easy. To look for moments of joy and find we too are instruments of joy
as God wills.
Joy despite and beyond struggles is its own testimony to
God’s power over the powers that be and the best protection against building
ever greater divisions. Sadness, fear and struggle are real, but they are not
the only thing that is true. So…Look further around you, look deeper inside
you, at all that is that does not bear the name of suffering. Behold the
sparrows, behold the trees, all beings whose glory is much shorter or longer
lived than what you consider (to be) a historic moment. Pay attention to miraculous
encounters for where joy and glory break through. Then let that joy grow, let
it expand, let it expand ever further. Reflect that joy and peace towards
others. [1]
We are here. And Christ is here. And nothing can take our
joy away.
Copyright Rev. Carolyn K. Hetrick, 2026 All rights reserved. May
not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
Citations
[1] For Such a Time as This, Hanna Reichl, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI (2006), pp-77-78.
Gospel Text: 1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled,
and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected
by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you
have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness
of your faith—being more precious than
gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you have not
seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in
him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the
salvation of your souls.
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