SCARS
The Rev. Ray Andersen
April 15, 2018
When I got the duty to preach today I went immediately to the Lectionary to check out the gospel on the off
chance that it might for once be connected to my planned topic. To my surprise I found that it’s better than
good that I’m in the pulpit today. It happens to be perfect. You’ll see what I mean.
Today’s gospel has Jesus showing his scars to his disciples. American Sign Language, which is the language I
preached in for 35 years, has a sign for Jesus. Like most signs the reason behind it makes it is easy to
understand. In sign language the middle finger is used for all signs of emotion (e.g. “feel,” “touch,” “hate,”
“pity,” “scar.”) The sign for Jesus is this. It comes directly from our gospel lesson today. The sign says, “Look at
the scars. It’s me, Jesus. Come see the scars that save you. Come and touch.”
I sometimes wonder was Jesus showing off or was he just saying look, see--these scars are the proof in the
pudding? Let me talk this morning about scars, about healing and about who Jesus really is.
We all carry scars. We all have various nicks, dents and dings we’ve accumulated along the way, distant
memories of past pains. I have two beauties from my knee replacement operations. Two thin 11” lines on
each leg from thigh to shin. I usually refer to them as my NY Yankees pin striping. How many scars do you
have? Of those how many are merely physical? How many are internal, on your psyche, on your soul?
I’ve visited a lot of people in hospitals and, it’s a funny thing, people like to show you their scars. Like most
clergy I’ve seen more scars than any one person should have to, probably even more than an ambulance-
chasing lawyer. I’ve even seen some dillies on people in this parish. Don’t worry this isn’t going to be show and
tell. I guess scar showing is a sort of a sharing of pain that is now gone, the wound is healed, the suffering’s
over and you’re still standing. Do you recall that scene from Jaws when Robert Shaw as Quint and Richard
Dreyfus as Hooper are on the boat at night drinking and showing off their scars each trying to top the other
with whose scars and the experiences that made them are worse. We can get a lot of pride out of our scar
tissue.
Internal, psychic scars are not quite the same thing. We also pick these up along the way, over the years, often
starting in childhood. They’re not as obvious and they can become infected. We don’t enjoy talking about
them and prefer they remain hidden. Like you I’ve collected my fair share. Most of mine have come from my
lack of fluency. My stuttering has led to a wide variety of embarrassments, hurtful teasing and feelings of
ineptitude. It has been said, “time heals all wounds.” I don’t agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind,
protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.
But my scars are miniscule compared to the scars others bear. The nightmares of soldiers returning from war,
the fears of children raised in poverty, the anguish of victims of human cruelty and abuse, the terror of mental
and emotional illness, the pain of senseless tragedies--you can make quite a list of people whose wounds still
hurt and whose scars are ever green and ever raw.
The children of Parkland School will be carrying scars from being shot and seeing friends die. Interestingly they
are not acting like awkward teenagers but like mature adults showing their scars to the world, taking strength
from them and demanding change.
