Marks of Faith -- A Message for April 11, 2021

 

            This morning’s reading continues right where we left off last week. Our reading comes later in the day on the first Easter Sunday, after the Beloved Disciple, Peter and Mary Magdalene told the other disciples Jesus was resurrected.  Please listen to the story as it is picked up in the Gospel of John, chapter twenty, verse nineteen through thirty-one:

Scripture Reading            John 20: 19-31

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 

23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 

25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 

31 But 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.

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

Breathe your Holy Spirit upon us, O Lord, as we listen to the scriptures. Open our minds and hearts to receive your Living Word, and be filled with renewed hope. Amen.

            Some of us take things at face-value and others of us have a lot of questions.  

            I remember my grandfather telling us about the first time he saw an airplane.  He knew about planes before he saw one.  But, he and his friends questioned them….how did their engines work?  How did they not fall out of the sky?  And, then, the first time Grandpa saw an airplane flying over the farm where he grew up, the pilot had a mechanical error and the plane crashed.  The pilot was not seriously harmed, but his expensive plane was damaged.  My grandfather’s skepticism seemed justified – airplanes were faulty and didn’t work the way they were supposed to work.  Grandpa eventually accepted flying in airplanes was a wonderful ways to travel long distances, but it took a few years for his skepticism to be transformed into acceptance.   

            The Disciple Thomas was someone who had lots of questions. When he was travelling with Jesus, Thomas was unafraid to ask Jesus to clarify the things he said.  But, Thomas, who has a reputation as a doubter, never doubted Jesus when they were together.  He trusted Jesus.  Earlier in Jesus’ life, when Jesus told the disciples he was going to travel to be with Lazarus after his friend died, the other disciples doubted the wisdom of Jesus’s choice.  They feared Jesus was putting himself in harm’s way by travelling close to Jerusalem when there were plots against his life.  But, Thomas told the others that they should all go with Jesus, even if they would also be put to death with him.

            After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas was not with the others when Jesus first appeared to them.  And, he was skeptical of their report that Jesus was resurrected.  He thought perhaps Jesus was a ghost or a spirit.  So, he made an off-hand comment that he would want to actually touch Jesus to see if he was really resurrected. 

            When Jesus appeared again, Jesus invited Thomas to touch him.  But Thomas trusted his eyes.  He could see Jesus was really resurrected.  He believed in the resurrection.  He knew Jesus was in the room with him.

            Jesus then said to Thomas: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

            We are Christians who believe in Jesus without seeing him in person.  We have to rely on other people’s first-hand accounts.  We have to rely on the stories we read in the Bible.  We have to rely on the stories of our faith that have been passed down from one generation to the next.

            But, despite not being able to see Jesus with our own eyes, we can see evidence of Jesus in the ways people’s lives change when they come to believe in him and experience the life-changing presence of God through the Holy Spirit.

            St. Paul never met Jesus.  And, before his conversion to Christianity, he was a vigilant oppressor of Christians.  In his youth, Paul was educated and he became a Pharisee, someone who strictly observed the Jewish tradition written law.  Paul said that prior to his conversion, he persecuted early Christians “beyond measure.” But, despite being converted after Jesus ascended to heaven, Paul was stopped on the road to Damascus and blinded by Jesus.  Jesus’s voice asked Paul why he was persecuting him, why he was persecuting Christians.  Paul remained blind for 3 days, and as soon as his sight was restored he was baptized.  Paul became one of the greatest evangelists, teachers and leaders Christianity has ever had.

            We can see evidence of Jesus in the ways people’s lives change when they come to believe in him and experience the life-changing presence of God through the Holy Spirit.

            In every issue of Christianity Today magazine, the last page is devoted to a Christian person sharing their testimony of faith.  In 2020, they shared stories by scientists who were converted from atheism to Christianity; former Hindus, Muslims, and Jews who are now Christian believers; former professional baseball players who were on the brink of suicide when they became Christians; former addicts who stopped using when they became Christians; former Cuban atheist communists who became Christians; Burmese Karen refugees who converted to Christianity after they were welcomed to the United States; and former Klansmen who embraced anti-racism when they became converts to Christianity. 

            We can see evidence of Jesus in the ways people’s lives change when they come to believe in him and experience that life-changing presence of God through the Holy Spirit.

            We also have stories to share about how our lives changed when we chose to follow Jesus.  We have stories to share about how our eyes were opened when we experienced the life-changing presence of the living God.  In the United Church of Christ, we value asking questions.  We want our community of faith to be a place of learning, growth, and streghtening our faith.  And, we are called to be brave like Thomas, St. Paul, and the countless people who have testified to how their lives changed when they started to follow Jesus.  There are people who are searching for God and are searching for meaning in their lives.  Your stories of faith will help those people who are searching to find their way to God.  Let us be brave and share our stories. Let us be brave and tell others about the way our life changed when we came to believe in Jesu and experienced the life-changing presence of God through the Holy Spirit.

            May we do so in love. Amen.