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April 19, 2009 Seeing Is BelievingJust last Sunday we heard the story of Jesus being raised from the dead. Perhaps it is sad to say, but I have heard that story so often, and I have read that story so often, that I may be prone to forget what a wild, surprising, and shocking story it really is. Indeed, I shouldn’t be surprised if one Easter when that Gospel story is being read, someone doesn’t stand up and shout out,“Are you kidding? This is the strangest thing I have ever heard! We’re supposed to believe this?” No one ever has, but someone might. Of course, even as I say that I realize there are plenty of you who have never doubted the truth of the empty tomb. If you were here last weekend, you know that, when Pastor Brad asked if you would bet your 401K or Abbot Stock on it, many of you shouted,“Yes!” as if Lutherans speak during the message every week! If that’s you… if you are the sort of person who can stand and shout,“Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” without flinching… Amen! I’m grateful for your gift of faith. The truth is, not everyone responds this way… not all of us here this morning… not every person we read about in the pages of our Bible… not even Mary and the disciples always responded that way...at least, not according to the Easter story as told in the Gospel according to St. Mark. In John’s Gospel in which Mary sees and believes and the disciples simply hear and believe, but as we heard last week, there is a lot less believing going on in the resurrection story as told by St. Mark. Pastor Brad called himself a knucklehead for choosing Mark’s Gospel for Easter… and truthfully I didn’t see a lot of him during Holy Week… nor did his pillow… because it’s a lot harder to preach on Mark’s Easter story than it is to preach on John’s. But it is part of our Holy Scripture… and it is honest...because the truth is that not everyone is good at simply believing. Not everyone is good at faith. One pastor tells a story about a woman whose daughter was very active in the church youth group. Perhaps out of gratitude for what the church was doing for her daughter, she had volunteered to keep the church’s books… she was an accountant by profession. She spent hours working for the church. But the pastor noticed that she never attended Sunday morning worship. When asked about this, the woman said,“I’m just not very good at this sort of thing. I can’t see the point of it. Other people seem to enjoy the music, the sermons, and all the rest, but I confess that I just don’t get it. I’m not good at religion.” Not good at religion? Just doesn’t get it? A lot of people are like that to one degree or another… and if we ourselves aren’t one of them, we won’t have to walk too far to meet someone who is. Maybe this is why I like today’s Gospel story about Thomas… because some days I see myself somewhere along that spectrum. While my husband is the kind of person who can stand and shout,“Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia” without flinching, there are some days when I feel a bit more like Mary in Mark’s Gospel than in John’s. Perhaps because there are a lot of us out there, every year on the Sunday after Easter… regardless of whether we hear about those who see and hear and believe according to the Easter story found in Matthew or in John… or whether we hear Mark’s tale where there is a lot less believing going on… every year on this day we hear about doubting Thomas. Every year on this day we hear the other disciples tell Thomas that they had seen the risen Christ. But Thomas wasn’t there to see it for himself. And because he had only heard but had not seen, he does not believe. That’s essentially what Thomas says in verse 25,“Unless I can see and touch for myself, I will not believe.” A few verses later the risen Christ appears to Thomas and says,“Touch. Thrust your hands into the holes in my hands and my side. Believe.” Did you ever notice that Jesus does not say to Thomas,“Now, close your eyes and try to believe real hard.”? Nor does he say,“Thomas, if you would just have more faith, be more like the other disciples, you wouldn’t have a problem.” No. That’s not the approach Jesus takes. Instead, Jesus stands in front of Thomas and says “touch, see, and believe.” Out of love, Jesus gives Thomas what he needs; Jesus gives him something tangible to hang on to. As for me… well, I’m grateful… because there are some of us who need not only to hear, but to see and to touch. Even though the risen Christ doesn’t take quite the same approach with us as he did with doubting Thomas, there is a sense in which Jesus gives us what we need. There is a sense in which Jesus gives us something tangible to hang on to. Last week we heard that, when Jesus was raised, he headed back to Galilee… to the out of the way places and little known people. And that is where he lives today… in places like this and in people like you and me. So that, while we may not have Jesus’ scars to see and to touch, but we do have the church. We have this building and others like it… we have a place to see and touch and pray and worship and gather. Within these bricks and this mortar we find other people---living, breathing embodiments of the faith. Some of us may not be a Christian, a follower of Jesus, had we not known real, living and breathing witnesses who testify… by their daily lives… that there is a force loose in the world, a force for good… something beautiful and right and bigger than we can imagine. Then there are the sacraments… Baptism and Holy Communion… that give us something physical… something tangible to hang on to. There’s water in the font even as I speak and, in a few moments, you and I will have the opportunity to see, to touch, and to taste the bread and the wine. Those of you who aren’t always good at simply believing… bring your doubts and questions and hesitations, come to the table in this place, with these people, and recognize that the risen Christ is here… asking us to see, touch, taste, and believe. Let us pray. |
St. Paul's Lutheran Church § 824 N. Lewis § Waukegan IL |
