Thomas the doubter ?
It was Palm Sunday and because of a sore throat, 5 year old Johnny stayed home from church with his mother. When the rest of the family returned home they carried some palm crosses and also a couple of palm branches. When Johnny asked what they were for his father said that 'people held them over Jesus as he walked by', to which Johnny replied, 'wouldn't you know it - the one Sunday I don't go, Jesus shows up !'
I wonder if this is a little bit how Thomas felt when he was told that, when he was out, Jesus had been to see the other disciples. Surprised perhaps or, as it seemed, filled with doubt, and who could blame him.
Martin Luther King said 'Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase' and had Thomas known that saying or thought of that principle then maybe things would be different. This, after all, was a man who had spent a long time with Jesus. He had witnessed miracles, listened to Jesus' teaching, he'd seen the lives that had been transformed by Jesus... But of course he'd also seen the arrest, he'd seen the humiliation, he'd perhaps seen the body taken to the tomb... All the dreams and even faith seemed to have been shattered.
The other disciples had seen the resurrected Jesus - they had a new faith, a resurrection faith, a faith that really knew and trusted the power of God to do all things. And that is the faith we proclaim today however too often I think we display the faith of Thomas - a faith that doubts the ability of God to grow his church and transform lives and even the whole world.
Thomas doubted for a number of reasons I think. The obvious one was that he hadn't seen the risen Jesus. Perhaps those things he'd seen when Jesus was arrested and killed had shaken his faith to the point where he just couldn't see any hope. His faith had perhaps gone a little bit cold and soft.
Some years ago a lady brought back a crown of thorns from a holy land trip just before Lent. It was incredibly sharp - I can testify to that as I sat on it at one point ! But after it had been displayed in church through lent the cold and damp atmosphere had softened the sharpness - the wood had become a little softer.
Thomas had witnessed the crown of thorns being put on the head of Jesus - he'd seen the sharpness and the pain caused but now his faith had gone cold - it had softened like the wood of the crown of thorns in a damp atmosphere.
And we can suffer from the same problems at times - if our faith loses it's sharpness, if we become depressed about the state of the church, if we think the grass is greener somewhere else, if we refuse to think of the possibility of change in any way because we're comfortable as things are, then our faith becomes soft and God becomes more distant, not through anything he does, but because we are pushing him away.
Living our lives away from Jesus we will grow cold. Faith, like our bodies needs to be fed. Easter gives us a tremendous lift in our faith I think - it reminds us of resurrection. It reminds us of the incredible possibilities God offers as he works in and through people.... But after Easter life has to go on and we must carry forward that resurrection faith in our lives.
I'm pretty sure that there was probably nothing Thomas wanted more than to see Jesus alive again - and that is a challenge for us - do we really want to see Jesus alive ? Do we really want to live his risen life by following his example and teaching in the world today.
Faith is a constant living thing - something that constantly challenges us, but inspires us and encourages us and comforts us as well. We can be confident in our faith as witnesses of the resurrection. Like Thomas at first, we didn't see the body of the risen Jesus, but we have seen lives changed and surely witnessed his presence with us in our own lives.
And so there were the doubts Thomas had because he hadn't been in the room when Jesus first appeared to the others, but there was another doubt and that was that it just seemed impossible - he just couldn't believe what he was hearing. Today many people seem to want to water down belief in the power of God to do miracles - many feel they can find answers in science or logic alone.
But how foolish that is - there are so many questions that nothing but faith answers, that nothing but the power of a living God can answer, for example we can't prove someone loves us but we can know it, we can't prove our love for someone else but we can know it and they can know it... We can't prove the resurrection, but we can know it. We can't prove God's love but we can know it...
Thomas didn't expect resurrection in spite of Jesus' teaching, and too often we don't look for signs of God still doing incredible things in the world today. And sometimes we don't offer ourselves as tools for God to use to do those incredible things, because God can and wants to use us to help with his work in the world today.
Thomas' doubts and fears were transformed of course as he met the risen Jesus - and his faith from that point on would never be watered down again. In the future he would expect Jesus to act and he would know the power of God to transform anything and anyone.
We worship a God who is always seeking to do the unexpected, even the impossible. He is always looking to provide for us more abundantly than we can ever ask or imagine. But we need to be involved in that process - we need to be living out a resurrection faith.
That is a faith that is focused on enjoying, living and sharing the hope that God offers for us all. A faith that leads to our lives being transformed by a relationship with a Saviour who loves us unconditionally and immeasurably.
It's not a faith that worries about the size of a church but looks for ways in which God is speaking to us to grow that church. It's not a faith that thinks the grass is greener somewhere else because if God has put us here, he has done so for a purpose and can use us and our church if we let him meet with us more closely. It's not a faith that worries about change because we can be excited that God is always doing new things as he has done through the history of the church and his people.
A nursery teacher was walking around observing some of the children's work one day and as she got to one child she asked what she was drawing and the child said she was drawing God. The teacher paused and said, 'but nobody knows what God looks like' to which the little girl replied, 'well they will when I finish my picture !'
What is our picture of God, what is our vision for his work - what is our response to the resurrection which we continue to celebrate day by day.... What are we doing to reveal the resurrection faith - by showing and sharing the good news of Jesus and his love for us. What positive message are we giving someone this very day ?
Last week and throughout the Easter season we celebrate Jesus, risen from the dead and alive for evermore. May we never grow cold and apathetic in our faith, may we never doubt that God can indeed do all things, and may we always expect the unexpected from God - the gifts that are beyond our imagination, and let us pray above all that we constantly seek to reignite the Easter fire of passion, of love, of courage and hope in our own lives, so that inspired by God, we will also inspire others to share in the wonderful gifts God has prepared for us all.
I wonder if this is a little bit how Thomas felt when he was told that, when he was out, Jesus had been to see the other disciples. Surprised perhaps or, as it seemed, filled with doubt, and who could blame him.
Martin Luther King said 'Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase' and had Thomas known that saying or thought of that principle then maybe things would be different. This, after all, was a man who had spent a long time with Jesus. He had witnessed miracles, listened to Jesus' teaching, he'd seen the lives that had been transformed by Jesus... But of course he'd also seen the arrest, he'd seen the humiliation, he'd perhaps seen the body taken to the tomb... All the dreams and even faith seemed to have been shattered.
The other disciples had seen the resurrected Jesus - they had a new faith, a resurrection faith, a faith that really knew and trusted the power of God to do all things. And that is the faith we proclaim today however too often I think we display the faith of Thomas - a faith that doubts the ability of God to grow his church and transform lives and even the whole world.
Thomas doubted for a number of reasons I think. The obvious one was that he hadn't seen the risen Jesus. Perhaps those things he'd seen when Jesus was arrested and killed had shaken his faith to the point where he just couldn't see any hope. His faith had perhaps gone a little bit cold and soft.
Some years ago a lady brought back a crown of thorns from a holy land trip just before Lent. It was incredibly sharp - I can testify to that as I sat on it at one point ! But after it had been displayed in church through lent the cold and damp atmosphere had softened the sharpness - the wood had become a little softer.
Thomas had witnessed the crown of thorns being put on the head of Jesus - he'd seen the sharpness and the pain caused but now his faith had gone cold - it had softened like the wood of the crown of thorns in a damp atmosphere.
And we can suffer from the same problems at times - if our faith loses it's sharpness, if we become depressed about the state of the church, if we think the grass is greener somewhere else, if we refuse to think of the possibility of change in any way because we're comfortable as things are, then our faith becomes soft and God becomes more distant, not through anything he does, but because we are pushing him away.
Living our lives away from Jesus we will grow cold. Faith, like our bodies needs to be fed. Easter gives us a tremendous lift in our faith I think - it reminds us of resurrection. It reminds us of the incredible possibilities God offers as he works in and through people.... But after Easter life has to go on and we must carry forward that resurrection faith in our lives.
I'm pretty sure that there was probably nothing Thomas wanted more than to see Jesus alive again - and that is a challenge for us - do we really want to see Jesus alive ? Do we really want to live his risen life by following his example and teaching in the world today.
Faith is a constant living thing - something that constantly challenges us, but inspires us and encourages us and comforts us as well. We can be confident in our faith as witnesses of the resurrection. Like Thomas at first, we didn't see the body of the risen Jesus, but we have seen lives changed and surely witnessed his presence with us in our own lives.
And so there were the doubts Thomas had because he hadn't been in the room when Jesus first appeared to the others, but there was another doubt and that was that it just seemed impossible - he just couldn't believe what he was hearing. Today many people seem to want to water down belief in the power of God to do miracles - many feel they can find answers in science or logic alone.
But how foolish that is - there are so many questions that nothing but faith answers, that nothing but the power of a living God can answer, for example we can't prove someone loves us but we can know it, we can't prove our love for someone else but we can know it and they can know it... We can't prove the resurrection, but we can know it. We can't prove God's love but we can know it...
Thomas didn't expect resurrection in spite of Jesus' teaching, and too often we don't look for signs of God still doing incredible things in the world today. And sometimes we don't offer ourselves as tools for God to use to do those incredible things, because God can and wants to use us to help with his work in the world today.
Thomas' doubts and fears were transformed of course as he met the risen Jesus - and his faith from that point on would never be watered down again. In the future he would expect Jesus to act and he would know the power of God to transform anything and anyone.
We worship a God who is always seeking to do the unexpected, even the impossible. He is always looking to provide for us more abundantly than we can ever ask or imagine. But we need to be involved in that process - we need to be living out a resurrection faith.
That is a faith that is focused on enjoying, living and sharing the hope that God offers for us all. A faith that leads to our lives being transformed by a relationship with a Saviour who loves us unconditionally and immeasurably.
It's not a faith that worries about the size of a church but looks for ways in which God is speaking to us to grow that church. It's not a faith that thinks the grass is greener somewhere else because if God has put us here, he has done so for a purpose and can use us and our church if we let him meet with us more closely. It's not a faith that worries about change because we can be excited that God is always doing new things as he has done through the history of the church and his people.
A nursery teacher was walking around observing some of the children's work one day and as she got to one child she asked what she was drawing and the child said she was drawing God. The teacher paused and said, 'but nobody knows what God looks like' to which the little girl replied, 'well they will when I finish my picture !'
What is our picture of God, what is our vision for his work - what is our response to the resurrection which we continue to celebrate day by day.... What are we doing to reveal the resurrection faith - by showing and sharing the good news of Jesus and his love for us. What positive message are we giving someone this very day ?
Last week and throughout the Easter season we celebrate Jesus, risen from the dead and alive for evermore. May we never grow cold and apathetic in our faith, may we never doubt that God can indeed do all things, and may we always expect the unexpected from God - the gifts that are beyond our imagination, and let us pray above all that we constantly seek to reignite the Easter fire of passion, of love, of courage and hope in our own lives, so that inspired by God, we will also inspire others to share in the wonderful gifts God has prepared for us all.
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