From the Pastor |
Our reading this morning continues the resurrection story with the revelation of the Resurrected Jesus to his disciples. This is a very familiar story to Christians and we often refer to it as the story of “Doubting Thomas.”
I have to tell you… I feel bad for Thomas. Poor Thomas is now best known for what? For being a doubter. How’s that for making a mark in history? I mean… 2000 years later and even non-Christians have heard the phrase “Doubting Thomas.” I personally believe that Thomas got a bad rap because of these verses. We associate “betrayal” with Judas… yet as we learned during Holy Week… ALL of the disciples betrayed Jesus. We have come to associate “Doubting” with Thomas… but when we look closely at the gospels, we find that ALL the disciples… ALL of them… doubted the news that Jesus had risen until they encountered the Risen Christ for themselves. In the garden on Easter morning… Mary was confused and distraught… wondering where they had taken Jesus’ body and why? She did not accept the fact that he had risen from the dead until he spoke her name… until she turned and came face to face with Jesus. After seeing Jesus for herself… she went and told the disciples “I have seen the Lord.” Luke tells us that “... these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe…” They seemed to think it was the ramblings of hysterical, grief stricken woman. We know they doubted since it’s not like they went out looking for Jesus after Mary relayed the news. They remained in hiding… afraid of the Jewish authorities. There was no way they were expecting Jesus to show up… the doors were locked and no one knew where to find them. The disciples all doubted the story… every single one of them! They doubted… until Jesus appeared in their midst… showing them his hands and his side… proving he was really alive… not a vision or a ghost… but a real living man… resurrected from the dead. They had doubted until they themselves encountered the Risen Christ. But poor Thomas was not there. He did not see Jesus. So when the others told him what happened… he struggled with that. I mean… first of all the tale sounds pretty unbelievable… Jesus was back from the dead. And second… if Jesus had magically appeared in their midst… why wouldn’t he wait until Thomas had returned. Why not wait until they were ALL together? It was too much… he would not believe until he saw for himself. Well… John tells us that a week goes by… a week of waiting and wondering… a week later before Thomas finally has his doubts laid to rest by encountering Jesus for himself. That had to hurt a bit… don’t you think? Then add insult to injury and Thomas is singled out for doubting. ALL of Jesus’ closest followers and friends did not believe the truth of the resurrection until they saw Jesus with their own eyes… until they personally encountered the Risen Christ. Jesus knew he would only remain with them for a short time… he knew that faith would grow and spread… without him being there. That is why he stressed… “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And John closes this chapter by telling us that this is the purpose of his written account: “…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” This is what faith is… isn’t it? “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” [Hebrews 11:1] Faith is believing without seeing. It seems strange that Jesus’ closest friends… his closest followers did not believe until they were eye witnesses to the resurrection. Yet, through faith… people throughout history… for 2000 years… have believed. We… all those who claim the name ‘Christian’… all who have come to believe in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus… WE have… through faith… believed without seeing… Right? Yes! And No! It is true that I have never seen Jesus in the flesh. I cannot even tell you remotely what he might look like. I have never seen his pierced hands or the wound in his side… I have never seen Jesus. Have you? No? But have you ever seen evidence of Jesus? Have you ever encountered the Risen Christ? If you believe… I BET YOU HAVE! We may not see Jesus, personally… in the flesh… but we are able to see the evidence of Christ alive and active in the world today. During his time with his disciples and before he ascended to the Father… Jesus promised that no matter what, he would be with us. When we open our hearts and believe we are gifted with the Holy Spirit… Christ’s presence with us. The presence of the Risen Christ… alive and active. Leading, serving, loving and caring… working through those who have faith to bring God’s Kingdom into reality in the world. Even when doubts break in… and they do… we can look around and see the evidence that Christ is alive in our midst. We can encounter the living Christ. We are in the midst of a very difficult time. The whole world has been knocked around… beaten up… and we wonder when life might return to normal. Things are hard… people everywhere are suffering and asking “why?” Why would God do this? I do not believe God has caused this global pandemic… but I do believe that God is with us every day. If we stop focusing on the negative reports… the fear and anxiety that tries to claim our hearts and minds… if we instead look for evidence of Christ alive in the world… we surely see it. Even in our “social distancing” we can encounter the Risen Christ. We can encounter Jesus in the many healthcare workers who are separating themselves from their loved ones and putting themselves at risk in order to help others… We can encounter Jesus in the military personnel and the first responders lending aid and helping whenever and wherever they are called upon… In the essential workers… those in the grocery stores and restaurants… pharmacies and delivery services who are faithfully showing up to work despite being in harm’s way so that we are able to obtain what we need. We encounter Christ every day in the many businesses… organizations… churches… and individual volunteers who are working daily to ensure those who cannot go out… those who are unemployed and cannot make ends meet… are fed and cared… taking every precaution while serving their neighbors. Faith is believing even though we have not seen, and it is through faith that we are saved… But even though we have not seen Jesus… alive and in person… we encounter his spirit of love and compassion… his mercy and service… every day if we simply open our eyes. We have not seen him… but we have seen the evidence of the Risen Christ and even during difficult times such as these… we are able to move past fear and focus on the joy that comes from having a relationship with the living God. For as Peter said: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” So today, I invite you to look around. Stop focusing on the negative… the fear and anxiety… and see the evidence… experience the truth that Christ Jesus is ALIVE and at work in our midst. Then let the joy that knowledge brings fill your heart… driving out the fear and replacing it with love… because the proof is in the love… our love of God and of our neighbors. The tomb is empty… Christ is Risen… He is Risen indeed. Amen.
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Yeon Shin
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