Jesus says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" and then he says twice "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." These two utterances of Jesus basically sum up much of John's Gospel: which revolves around the unity of God and Jesus. We are talking about the decisive revelation of God in the act of incarnation: the in-fleshing of God in human form. We are asked to believe Jesus when he says these things, yet even Thomas and Philip do not understand or believe: Thomas unsure of how to find Jesus when he goes away; and Philip wanting to be shown God the Father. These two, Thomas and Philip, have been with Jesus for three years and they still don't understand.

The world of Scripture is the story of God's ongoing relationship with humanity, and it provides a portrait of the ways people have come into relationship with that God, who is ever calling them to life.  That's why the best Episcopal preaching tries to offer an invitation to God's people that encourages us to seek and enter into a fuller relationship with God, through the biblical story.  For the beginners among us, I invite you to tip-toe into the edges of the story...and as you begin to find your way around the world of biblical story to work yourself up to the boldness of diving headfirst into the lives of our biblical ancestors, seeing and hearing what it is they have to teach us. And one of the things we will find in the heart of the story is this child of God, Jesus.

Think about these two disciples walking along a dusty roadway on the evening of Easter, for that is when this Gospel account takes place, Easter Sunday afternoon and evening. This was a day when so many confusing things had occurred. They meet this stranger who after a long walk and talk, they invite him to "Stay with us". Maybe these two did not know who Jesus was, but they obviously liked him. They were attracted to something in him and did not want to let him go on his way at the end of the day.

Easter greetings to each and every one of you, this second Sunday of Easter!  We're invited to wallow in our Easter-joy for 50 days -which will take us right up to Pentecost on May 11^th.  Easter season is bracketed by two formative stories that tell of the origins of the church: Jesus and the Good News of the empty tomb, and the Pentecost story which describes the coming of the Holy Spirit who gathered up Jesus' followers into the community of the church -the body of Christ-on the heels of his resurrection.  These stories of Easter and Pentecost are essential in describing who we are as Christians and remind us that we're defined by the stories we tell.