Finally the sun is shining for the first time since stepping back on Michigan soil.
I have been doing a study called "At Home With The Word. " We have a study book but instead of going to class we write our thoughts via the internet. I love it because I don't even need to get out of my pajama's to attend.
This week we were to write our thoughts on John 20:19-31. Doubting Thomas. I decided to take the easy way out and post my thoughts to my blog today. Here goes:
I’m having some doubts about this chapter!! Ha Ha
I've read the doubting Thomas story over about 5 times and last night before going to sleep I read it again and noticed that when Jesus appears to the apostles without Thomas, John mentions the fact that Jesus showed them all His hands and side. Jesus doesn't just stand before them in His resurrected body and they believe. No, he reveals himself to them. In other accounts, Mary Magdelene had to hear him say her name before she recognized Him, the disciples on the road to Emmaus didn't realize it was Jesus until he broke bread, and even John who was the first to believe, had to see the evidence of the burial clothes.
Yet Jesus says "Blessed are those who believe even though they haven't seen?"
Well, needless to say that left lot's of questions rambling around in my empty head as I went to sleep. After much tossing and turning as I pondered it all, I came up with the following thoughts:
After his appearance Jesus' instructions were "Okay now that you've seen, go out and tell everyone about me". Even though the story was pretty preposterous, when the apostles told the story of the Risen Christ, others believed them, because of their first hand knowledge. The apostles must also have had something special about them that made them credible witnesses to others, something that reflected Christ.
As the news spread, how come it didn’t get to be unreliable? Wouldn’t it eventually be like saying "I know it's the truth because my uncle heard it from my aunt who heard it from her son who heard it from his best friend, etc.
It made me think about little kids always asking "Why" Sometimes parents can give them an explanation they understand; other times the parents don’t really have a good answer and so they say "Because I said so". While the kid ends up following in his parents footsteps, does he really believe anything?
I think many of our churches are full of people who believe like that. But what kind of a witness for Christ can that belief be? "Because I said so" doesn't make it believable.
But when someone tells me how Christ makes a difference in their life, and can give eyewitness accounts of His faithfulness, and their life, as well as their words, reflect His goodness, I find it easy to believe. And once I believe, then God can reveal Himself to me on a personal level and he changes me inwardly and outwardly so I can be a reliable witness for Him to someone else. I believe that’s how the Gospel spreads.
Could Thomas' testimony have been reliable if he only had the words of the others to testify about?
I believe we need to ask God more not less to reveal Himself to us. Not because we can’t believe without seeing Him, but because the revelation of God strengthens our resolve and gives credibility to our testimony. I think God wants to do that more than anything else in the world. Faith is believing that the Christ will reveal Himself to us, but most likely we won’t see the nail scared hands, we will see someone who looks like Jane or John Doe.
Last fall I heard Margaret Nutting Ralph (or is it Ralph Nutting?) speak. She's the author of "And God Said What?"
She told the story of preparing to teach a class on the Resurrection, and she was totally perplexed and annoyed that she didn't understand why the apostles didn't recognize Christ when He returned.
As she was preparing for class her dad had a stroke and she had to rush to the hospital. She found out that when her father was released he would be going home instead of to a rehab center. She knew her mother wouldn't know how to care for him and Margaret was really getting upset and didn't know what to do.
In tears and not wanting to talk to anyone she got into the elevator to go for coffee and prayer. As the elevator doors closed a voice behind her said
"You probably don't recognize me but I took a class from you last year."
Margaret didn't really want to get into a conversation with the woman, but felt like she needed to be kind and so she said half heartedly,
“What ministry are you in?"
The woman replied "Oh I'm not in the ministry; I am a home health care director. I oversee an organization that goes into people’s homes and teaches them how to care for their loved ones who have had a stroke or an injury."
After hearing Margaret’s story, the woman offered to personally come to her fathers home and stay until they felt confident to care for him.
Several months later, Margaret’s father had to return to the hospital and when she went to visit she noticed that his lips that were fine when he left his home, had become dry and cracked and he had not been getting the proper oral care.
When Margaret mentioned this to the nurse the nurse got angry and said,
"We are just too overworked and there are some things we just can't get to. If it needs to be done, do it yourself"
Again, visibly shaken, Margaret headed down for coffee before doing or saying something she regretted.
She got into the elevator feeling glad she was alone. The door closed and as the elevator started to move, it gave a violent shake and the doors opened back up.
Margaret wasn't about to stay in the elevator so she headed to the stairway. As she walked down the corridor she heard a voice behind her say
"You probably won't recognize me, but I was in a class you taught last spring."
Margaret said she already knew the routine so without turning around she said,
"And just what do you do for a living?"
The woman replied "I am a patient advocate. I intervene for the patient when they feel they are not receiving proper medical care."
Margaret said all at once she realized that Jesus’ Resurrected body looks like an every day person. Often we never look for God in the every day occurrences, or in the people we meet on the street. But that is where the Risen Lord will most likely be revealed. Don’t chalk it up to coincidence.
I believe that finding Jesus in those every day happenings is what will give meaning to our testimonies and how our belief in Christ can become that of an eyewitness. But I think we need to ask God to reveal himself to us and believe that he will. After all doesn’t he tell us "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” Matthew 7:6-8
That doesn’t sound like a “Because I said so” kind of God to me.
Earlier in one of the Gospels when Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” and Peter answers, “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God”, Jesus praises Peter saying “Blessed are you, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Again God reveals himself. Matthew 16:15-17
So after much deliberation, I believe the true sin of doubt isn’t needing to see, but doubting that God will and wants to reveal himself to us if we only ask.
