4/28/2019 My Lord and my God

Are scripture reading this morning comes from John chapter 20 verses 19 through 31.

When is evening on that day the first day of the week and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you. After he said this he showed them his hands in his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again peace be with you as the father sent me. So I send you when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them if you retain the sins of any they are retained. The Thomas who is called the twin one of the 12 was not with them when Jesus came so the other disciples told him we have seen the Lord, but he said to them unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails in my hand in his side. I will not believe A week later. His disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut. Jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you. Then. He said to Thomas put your finger here and see my hands reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe Thomas answered him my Lord and my God, Jesus said to him have you believe because you have seen me blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God and that through believing you may have life in his name the word of God for the people of God.

Good morning again.

Let us pray. Lord May the meditations of our hearts and the words of my lips be pleasing in your sight. our Rock and Our Redeemer amen

Scripture tells us blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

We all are created as beans to worship and to pray. Whether we pray only out of desperation. Or we pray with every breath you afraid. And this morning if you're here and you feel like it's been a long long time since you seen an answer to your prayer. Then this worship services for you. If it feels like you have done nothing, but ask and ask and ask and every door seems to be closed.

This worship service is for you.

If you have prayed and prayed and prayed so much. Only to have something not work out.

Then the sermons for you.

Jesus tells us that if we believe even though we haven't seen

even though we haven't seen maybe you have not yet seen. And yet you believe. That is a lonely lonely place.

Many of you may have may have prayed for children.

to have them and never were able to have them. on your own maybe some of you have prayed for your children. Only for them to continue to struggle.

Maybe you have prayed for relationship.

And prayed and prayed only.

To see that slip away.

Jesus says peace be with you. Peace be with you.

This morning. We see a glimpse into Thomas. Now the reason that we see this glimpse into Thomas is if I was going to refer to it in in the Hamilton way all the every all the disciples were gathered except for Thomas in the room when it happened where it happened and and he wasn't included. He was locked out. Maybe he was late. Maybe he was getting dinner somewhere. Maybe you got lost. Maybe they told him the wrong location because I like him you're not sure we just know he's not there. but everybody else is

and so when they come to Thomas and they tell him that their savior that the Jesus is risen. He's probably hurt. Feeling alone. And feeling like maybe Jesus doesn't love him as much as he loves everybody else.

Why didn't Jesus appear to him?

The reason Jesus hasn't appeared to you in bodily form is since the Ascension the opportunities gone.

but we connect so much with Thomas because there are times in our lives when we cannot help but doubt.

You know.

Sometimes people in faith try to convince us that doubt is an activity. That is somehow less than Godly. Like we have to believe and never cast a doubt. on to our faith We did God's not big enough to handle our deep questions. Not just the questions of why did I not get this job or this house or or why did this relationship not work out but why did this happen to this person or what did this person died? Unexpectedly ER or why does this happen? Those things are all things that we can take to God.

But we don't necessarily always get answers that we want or that makes sense to us.

You know in our need to see the work of God around us. Sometimes all we can do is put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.

and in this case to keep moving forward in the work of the Kingdom. We we learn from Christian tradition and history that Thomas what do you want? No, says.

Why?

Why don't you know him is let us go that we may die with him Thomas. Cuz he said that to Jesus. Earlier in John to Jesus and the disciples had left from Jerusalem they ran away cuz they were going to Stone Jesus and and they're out ministering and Lazarus sister send somebody to come tell him that Lazarus is going to die and so to come back. Okay, so they won't come back to Jerusalem. Here's downside those people that wanted to Stone Jesus. They're still in town. So the disciples say don't go to Jerusalem. Okay, now jesus takes two days to decide if he's going to go back and see Lazarus K in the disciples find Jesus was taken a time out to figure out what he wanted to do. In Jesus's mind. He was waiting for Lazarus to be super dead before you heal them you wanted to No Doubt. So the two days pass and then Jesus says, let's go to Jerusalem. And this doubting Thomas that you tell me if says to the other disciples, let us go to that we may die with him.

That they were going to die with Jesus. He was convinced that they were going to Stone Jesus and he was willing to go with him to Jerusalem.

Now Thomas is eventually scatter with the rest of the disciples later on in the story.

But we don't know him for that or why don't we know him for his statement my Lord and my God.

That's what he says at the end when he sees and he touches he says my Lord and my God.

That's a better way to remember because what Thomas would do. Is go Minister all the weights at what is current day, India?

And start a church there. But we remember him for his doubt. We remember him for the pain in the agony of not being in the room where it happened and then just feeling ostracize we remember that he dared to question.

The difficulty in this is that we live in a very healthy skeptical world, right? Like we are people who question the way things happen. Because we've been hurt in the past by them. Right like when we look and see that the love of God in the work of Christ in the world around us. It isn't as though we're bringing people up in wheelchairs and magically getting them to stand up and dance.

Because those Miracles quote on quote. Approving sometimes most always all the time to be inspired by greed. Pride

just

Flatout trickery Do you all remember the show while okay for those of you that remember Johnny Carson? Okay, Jimmy Fallon two generations ago. All right. He had this guy that would come on and he was called The Amazing Randi. Do you guys remember the amazing Randi? Okay, the amazing Randi was a magician. He's born in 1928. He's Canadian. And so but that doesn't mean he's super nice. And so he would he started off in ran away join the circus doing magician things, right? You really fell in love with me escape artist like Harry Houdini. Okay. And so by the time he was in his mid-fifties, you know for some of you in the room that are that are there you can kind of tell your body kind of wears out right and so popping out of straight jackets and popping up out of cans filled with water that kind of stuff takes a toll on your body. And so Randy knew that he was going to have to get out of it. But he also knew that the way he started every single show was the following way. He would go out to Star and he'd say I'm going to lie I'm going to cheat and I'm going to trick you and you are going to be entertained. When we think about it, that's what magic is it's not as if we think that that the people that are magicians are God's we know that we're being fooled in some way. Some of us really want to figure out how that's done. But if we pay a ticket and go see a magic show, we all agree that we're paying to be entertained, right so for going around the world And they were doing things and saying that God was doing them through them. They were making a lot of money maybe even some of you went to some of these out of your own quest of faith. And so there was this one named Peter Popoff right you guys remember? and so so Peter he was a

I'm your minister, but he was like a different kind of Minister cuz he would fill auditoriums and he would also in the preaching say God will return to you tenfold what you give and they didn't have offering plates. They had trash bags. Big old cuz you can give a lot right? And they pass them around. Well Johnny Carson and some others asked Peter or asked the amazing Randi to go look at this guy and figure out how he was doing what he was doing cuz they were pretty sure he was just a scam artist. and so some of his magician friends when they sit in the audience and they actually get caught up in all of of the the worship, right, which is actually is his worship, right but They get caught up in it, but afterwards they get together and they say that I think he's got something in his ear like way way way in his ear you can just kind of see the tip of it. But I think there's something in the ear. So the amazing Randi hires a private detective and their private detective goes in and they said let's search the the arena for new radio frequencies after the worship starts. It's the guy dressed up like a security guard goes into the facility stats up his equipment and turns it on and right before Peter starts getting these things by God. Who is pops on the air? And says PD, are you there? If not, you're in trouble. Peter was in a lot of trouble it was his wife. She was reading the prayer request cards. He was getting them in his ear and spitting them out his mouth as if God told him shame on him. Right but those people that were up in in in the worship space. They were convinced, right? So their faith is real but the activity that creates it. Isn't right and so as a result many of us are skeptical. when these things happen because it it pulls on our faith and and it asks us to remove any doubt. So we expect to see Miracles like that that are created. In the short term because that's what God's work really looks like but every time the research these and they said they've looked into these that's not what the Miracles of God look like. The miracles of god look quite different. Stop the ability to tell you what your address or your prayer request is or how you're hurting this day. It's God's opportunity to provide healing. And not just the healing and body but the healing and spirit and the healing and relationship, you know, the most powerful Miracle I've ever seen. Is the change of a heart? God's ability to change the heart of someone.

God's ability to change the way someone cares about another person. That's a miracle. Forgiveness is a miracle.

love is a miracle and so we're called to have faith like Thomas but it doesn't have to be faith without doubt or without skepticism.

Our god is so big that God can handle all of the deep questions we have. but God also will ask us questions as well. See we might I ask why bad things happen or why War happens or why Injustice happens or why famine happened or why such as wide spreading wealth Gap in the world today happens. God may ask us the same question. Why do we let those things happen? Why do we let Hatebreed in our hearts so much. They were convinced that someone that lives across an imaginary line. We call a border is somehow not a child of God. How do how do we then feel about hurt and pain and suffering? When others aren't given the same opportunity to access healing as we are. These are deep theological issues. see

Thomas

we are also part of Thomas. Thomas's doubt Thomas's desire to see is in US Some of that skepticism as well, but also some of that faithful activity in response. Cuz he Jesus says that that the blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.

and so if you've not seen yet you believe

You kind of just putting one foot in front of the other doing what God has called you to do because God has called you to do it.

When you switch stories for a second. You guys remember Matthew the sheep and the goats? Because you're younger cake the cake song she can go tonight. Anyway, sheep go to heaven goats. Go to hell the story of The Last Judgement. Doesn't say exactly in scripture, But so what happens if Jesus comes back in Jesus's when he comes back when the son of man returns everyone's going to be gathered together and there's going to be she is going to be goats. And is she for the people that? The people that expect to be sheep are people that are expected because of their good behavior.

Because they worship the right God. to be part of the sheet and the people that are convinced they're goats are people that have never worshipped God in the first place. And Jesus tells them that those who did not.

Serve Jesus those who didn't okay, so it's care for the for the poor for the widowed for the naked for the orphaned for the hungry. When we don't do those things. Then we're not following where God is leading us. But if we do do those things no matter what no matter what? Then were worshipping God. So it does not matter whether we have no it does not matter whether we have all the doubt in the world. Or no doubt at all were called to follow where God is leading us. And so if you get out of this morning and you have doubt or you have skepticism and you're not for sure. Welcome to the club.

But that club doesn't mean that we decide not to follow Christ, but rather we decide to follow Christ and on the way, we look for miracles together. Miracles like the changed heart Miracles like forgiveness reconciliation Redemption You can Grace.

Those are the Miracles we look for today. May God lead us in finding them.

amen