2nd Sunday of Easter
Scripture: St. John 20:19-31
Let's say there's this person called Bubba. He is just there in the crowd in our scriptures today. He doesn’t make any great effort to do anything, but goes with the wind and is blown in a new direction with each breeze the comes by.
There is an interesting comment on our text in Matthew 28:14. A paraphrase of it is this: When they saw Jesus they worshiped him, but some doubted. Bubba was in the crowd.
Look at the disciples. They left their jobs as fishermen to follow Jesus They spent 3 years with Him, hearing Him preach and perform miracles. They saw him crucified. They experienced the empty tomb and his resurrection.
After several weeks in hiding, while some doubted his resurrection, they were overjoyed to see him once again. Thomas was not with them at the time. When Thomas was told they had seen the Lord, he said, “Unless I see His nail-scarred hands and put my finger in them and touch his pierced side, I will not believe.”
Jesus gave Thomas his request; He let him see the nail-scarred hands and His side, and Thomas cried out loudly, “My Lord and my God.”
Contrary to both material science and traditional wisdom, seeing is not always believing. There will always be some just like Thomas, for there is a little bit of Thomas in each and every one of us. There was a Thomas in Bubba.
The Gospels were not meant to be a biography of Jesus' life. They do not follow Him day by day from place to place. The Gospel writers were selective. They gave us only bits and pieces of our Lord's actions here on earth. Thomas was a man who had to make sure in his mind and heart that Jesus was alive once again. And only when given proof that Jesus was alive, he stepped out in total faith and actions for Christ.
He had an uncompromising honesty as a man of God. Thomas would never chatter off a creed without understanding what it claimed and stated. He was a man of great virtue. He would not air his doubts just for the sake of obedience. Thomas’s faith was the real thing and without counting the cost he went forward for Christ in faithful service.
In last Tuesday’s upper room devotion, there was a story about being out of sync. We in the church are often out of sync when we make decisions. We don’t always think, plan, or dream for the life of the church for tomorrow. We permit our egos and envy to create discord and our actions become nothing more than noisy chatter. During these times, when our visions of the church don’t align, we can find unity and harmony once again if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
This was the action between Thomas and the other disciples until they encountered the risen Lord. Yet when there was harmony between them, they became a mighty force with the aid of the Holy Spirit to build the infant church of Jesus Christ at the very cost of their lives. We know that conflict will arise, seeking to destroy our efforts to be a shining light for our Lord in our dark world .
It’s later than we think. We can’t continue to drift along on the tides of our history of the church. I pray that you will pray and ask the Holy Spirit to equip up for new and exciting forms of worship for Christ and His church. Amen!
Scripture: St. John 20:19-31
Let's say there's this person called Bubba. He is just there in the crowd in our scriptures today. He doesn’t make any great effort to do anything, but goes with the wind and is blown in a new direction with each breeze the comes by.
There is an interesting comment on our text in Matthew 28:14. A paraphrase of it is this: When they saw Jesus they worshiped him, but some doubted. Bubba was in the crowd.
Look at the disciples. They left their jobs as fishermen to follow Jesus They spent 3 years with Him, hearing Him preach and perform miracles. They saw him crucified. They experienced the empty tomb and his resurrection.
After several weeks in hiding, while some doubted his resurrection, they were overjoyed to see him once again. Thomas was not with them at the time. When Thomas was told they had seen the Lord, he said, “Unless I see His nail-scarred hands and put my finger in them and touch his pierced side, I will not believe.”
Jesus gave Thomas his request; He let him see the nail-scarred hands and His side, and Thomas cried out loudly, “My Lord and my God.”
Contrary to both material science and traditional wisdom, seeing is not always believing. There will always be some just like Thomas, for there is a little bit of Thomas in each and every one of us. There was a Thomas in Bubba.
The Gospels were not meant to be a biography of Jesus' life. They do not follow Him day by day from place to place. The Gospel writers were selective. They gave us only bits and pieces of our Lord's actions here on earth. Thomas was a man who had to make sure in his mind and heart that Jesus was alive once again. And only when given proof that Jesus was alive, he stepped out in total faith and actions for Christ.
He had an uncompromising honesty as a man of God. Thomas would never chatter off a creed without understanding what it claimed and stated. He was a man of great virtue. He would not air his doubts just for the sake of obedience. Thomas’s faith was the real thing and without counting the cost he went forward for Christ in faithful service.
In last Tuesday’s upper room devotion, there was a story about being out of sync. We in the church are often out of sync when we make decisions. We don’t always think, plan, or dream for the life of the church for tomorrow. We permit our egos and envy to create discord and our actions become nothing more than noisy chatter. During these times, when our visions of the church don’t align, we can find unity and harmony once again if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
This was the action between Thomas and the other disciples until they encountered the risen Lord. Yet when there was harmony between them, they became a mighty force with the aid of the Holy Spirit to build the infant church of Jesus Christ at the very cost of their lives. We know that conflict will arise, seeking to destroy our efforts to be a shining light for our Lord in our dark world .
It’s later than we think. We can’t continue to drift along on the tides of our history of the church. I pray that you will pray and ask the Holy Spirit to equip up for new and exciting forms of worship for Christ and His church. Amen!
