Is It Real Or Is It Photoshop?
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
On the Second Sunday of Easter, the lectionary showcases the familiar story of the disciple Thomas and his initial skepticism regarding his colleagues' testimony about encountering the risen Jesus. Thomas' attitude parallels quite closely our own modern mindset -- it's not so much that he doesn't want to believe as that he's wary of being taken in by the latest hoax... and in a world where every facet of reality can be so easily fabricated, we too often want to see concrete signs to assure us that our faith is not misplaced (as it so often is in human affairs). One is reminded of the old commercial for audio recording tape: "Is it real or is it Memorex?" While that technology is now largely obsolete, the paradigm of the ad remains the same: just as seeing the sound of a glass shattering in the ad causes us to believe that the sounds we are hearing are genuine, Thomas wants to see Jesus' fresh wounds to convince himself of the veracity of the resurrection. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin notes that while we may feel the same way, looking for scientific proof to assuage our doubts is a fool's errand. But at the same time, Mary points out, we need to embrace our doubts... for therein lies the pathway to true faith. When our skepticism leads to healthy questioning, Mary reminds us, it can lead us to a deeper and fuller faith -- just as it did for Thomas.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer offers some additional thoughts on this week's Acts text and the civil disobedience engaged in by Peter and the other apostles. Dean tells us that while it's important to follow Peter's dictum to "obey God rather than any human authority," discerning what is truly God's will as opposed to our own motivations is vital. It is all too easy, Dean notes, to confuse them, so we must be able to test where we are being led to determine if it is genuine. For Peter, the crucifixion, the forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Spirit were the evidence that he proclaimed before the religious authorities. For us, there are varying tests depending on one's faith tradition -- and we must employ them all, for if it is God's will, we are called to follow it even if it makes life infinitely more difficult and complex.
Is It Real or Is It Photoshop?
by Mary Austin
John 20:19-31
We live in a world of both science and of increasing skepticism. Now that everything can be changed with the click of a mouse, or "photoshopped," or spread as a rumor on the internet in minutes without a shred of proof, we constantly wonder: What is true? Of the things we read or see or have forwarded to us by friends, what is actually real?
We're not so far from our old friend Thomas, often called Doubting Thomas, as he reappears again after Easter.
THE WORLD
Yahoo News reports that a Christian who believes that "the literal interpretation of the Bible is real" is proposing a court trial and offering a prize of $10,000 for anyone who can argue and prove that evolution is real and the book of Genesis is wrong. If you believe that they're mutually exclusive, this is your chance to argue the science and put the mythology of the Bible to rest. Joseph Mastropaolo suggests that the contest will help sharpen the arguments on both sides. As the article reports: "For his part, Mastropaolo has a Ph.D. in kinesiology, and writes for the Creation Hall of Fame website, which is helping to organize the mini-trial.... The Creation Hall of Fame website describes the event as a 'chance to shine' for skeptics of creationism."
In a world of science, it can be tempting to use the tools of science to serve religion. Piles of proof, the back and forth arguments, resolved by the sound of the judge's gavel at the end will make it all seem settled. But who will come out of such a trial convinced?
THE WORD
In truth, matters of faith are never settled. We continue to learn, evolve, and deepen our faith. There is no last word in the life of faith. Even when the judge rules in the trial of Genesis vs. evolution, chances are good that neither side will have convinced the other.
Thomas expresses that perfectly for all of us. He wants the real experience of Jesus that the other disciples got. He's bold enough to ask for it, to pray for it, and Jesus answers his bold prayer. "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
David Lose of WorkingPreacher.org says: "I don't think he's a 'doubter' as much as he is a realist. I mean, he saw Jesus nailed to the cross and die. And so you can't blame him for wanting a real encounter with a really risen Lord just like the other disciples got." Lose adds: "And that's what strikes me about this story: the realism. Not just of Thomas, but the realism also about how hard it can be to believe, at times. When you read through the resurrection accounts of all four gospels, you quickly realize that Thomas is not alone in his doubt. In fact, doubt isn't the exception but the rule. No one -- even after all the predictions -- no one says, 'Welcome back.' Or 'We knew it.' Or even 'What took you so long?' No. No one anticipates Jesus' return, and when he shows up everyone doubts. Everyone."
There's no question about Thomas' bravery. Earlier in the gospels, Thomas offers to go and die with Jesus when they're in danger. Tradition has it that Thomas is the founder of the Christian church in India, where he went to spread the gospel after Jesus died. He followed the trade routes from the Mediterranean to India and started a number of churches there. When Portuguese explorers arrived in India in the 1600s, they were surprised to find flourishing Christian churches there -- legend has it, thanks to Thomas.
Thomas is on exactly the right track. Doubt opens the door to really knowing Jesus. He voices his doubts and gets an answer. Doubt can hold a spot for faith, keep the conversation open, and keep the connection with God alive, until faith comes back. Doubt leads to questions -- until the answers come. For Thomas, and for us.
If the church recorded and preserved Thomas' doubt and faith in the gospels, there's room for ours too. For us, like for Thomas, experience is our greatest teacher. Someone else's words are never going to be enough.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Doubt is a big part of the Easter stories, in the same way that it's a big part of our stories. We have tried to stuff down, hide, banish, and shame ourselves out of our doubts over the years, but doubt is part of faith. Often it's a doorway to something new in faith, as our questions lead us somewhere we hadn't planned to go. But we, like Thomas, need the personal experience of faith to get there, not someone else's experience.
The sermon might focus on doubt as an essential part of faith, painful as it is while we're in the thick of it.
Or, the sermon might talk about where doubt can take us. For Thomas, it leads to an encounter with Jesus. For us, it might mean a faith that fits us better as adults, once we examine and let go of some truths from our childhood Sunday school and reshape our beliefs to fit the lives we have now. Unpacking our doubts is frightening. There's a space there where it feels like nothing else will come along to replace the things we're leaving behind.
Or, the sermon might focus on the scars, bumps, and bruises in our faith. Our faith doesn't need to be perfect. Jesus himself shows up with battered hands and scarred feet, and that's how people recognize him.
Or, the sermon might talk about how the people who dare to ask questions have an important role in any community of faith, as they enhance everyone's experience. As a pastor, I so appreciate the people who are willing to ask questions. It helps me see where I haven't been clear, or what's so evident to me that I've failed to explain it well to other people. It helps me remember that other people don't have the training I have, and that we all need to be reminded of things. People's questions also help me see things in different ways, which adds fullness to my own faith. Blessed are those who ask the questions and who seek for more!
ANOTHER VIEW
Disobedience -- Civil and Otherwise
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 5:27-42
But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority..." (Acts 5:29)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that "the term 'civil disobedience' was coined by Henry David Thoreau in his 1848 essay to describe his refusal to pay the state poll tax implemented by the American government to prosecute a war in Mexico and to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law."
For an action to qualify as civil disobedience in Thoreau's sense, it must meet five standards, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia:
1) Conscientiousness. The act must be serious, sincere, and based upon moral conviction.
2) Communication. The actor acts in order to draw attention to an unjust law or policy, to demonstrate the actor's disavowal and condemnation of same, and to instigate a change in the law or policy.
3) Publicity. Acts of civil disobedience are never secret or covert. They are done in full public view in order for the communication to be effective.
4) Non-violent. Civil disobedience is, by definition, non-violent. This universally applies to violence against persons, and in many cases to violence against property, though this second part, also called non-violent sabotage, is not universally accepted as a necessary standard for civil disobedience.
5) Willingness to accept punishment. The acceptance of punishment gives meaning and depth to the disobedient act and keeps it before the public eye.
Historic examples of effective civil disobedience include the Boston Tea Party, the suffragette movement, the resistance to British rule in India led by Gandhi, the U.S. civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr., resistance to apartheid in South Africa as led by Nelson Mandela, and student sit-ins and marches against the war in Vietnam.
Current examples of civil disobedience include anti-abortion trespass demonstrations that block access to abortion clinics, the damaging of military property by opponents of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and acts of protest and sabotage taken by environmental groups and animal rights groups. Time will tell how effective or ineffective they will be.
In this week's passage from Acts, we see Peter and the apostles engaging in acts of civil disobedience for the sake of the gospel.
The religious/civil authorities, the high priests, have told them clearly that they are not to preach and teach about Jesus in the public square, but they have done it anyway. Whether or not they are doing so to bring attention to the unjust nature of the censorship is not clear, but they certainly are doing it because they feel called and compelled to do so, and the law against doing so is of little consequence to them.
They are hauled before the high priests, who don't understand why these guys can't follow simple instructions: "Don't preach about Jesus!" Is that so hard? Is it so difficult to understand? What's wrong with these guys?
Peter says that their loyalty is to a higher authority, and in the verses immediately following the lectionary pericope we learn that this angers the officials sufficiently that they want to have the apostles put to death. But Gamaliel makes a reasonable case. He suggests letting them go. If they are preaching of God, he tells the council, we'll be seen to have been kind to them. If they aren't, they'll fizzle out and be forgotten in a month. Either way we win.
So the officials have the disciples whipped, tell them not to preach about Jesus anymore, and let them go. And they go right back to doing what they were doing, even celebrating the fact that their ministries have been so effective that they got whipped for being faithful.
The problem of civil disobedience is the one that Gamaliel brings up.
If we decide that God demands we disobey a law, we must realize that there is probably a person on the other side of the aisle who is just as convinced that God is demanding that he/she enforce the law.
If we are going to claim "God's will" as our motivating factor, we must come up with some tests so that we can be reasonably sure that the voice we are hearing is God's and not our own.
Reason, experience, tradition, and scripture are four tests that have come out of the Methodist tradition. Other faith traditions have their own, which should be held close and scrutinized carefully before we engage in acts civil disobedience.
In the end, if the voice we hear calling us to disobedience passes the tests, we must be ready to disobey and accept the consequences, even unto Calvary.
And we, of all people, can do so because we know what lies beyond Calvary.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Henry David Thoreau, who was in jail for refusing to pay the poll tax, he asked, "Henry, what are you doing in there?"
Thoreau's response to Emerson was: "Ralph, what are you doing out there?"
Or as Edmund Burke put it in his Second Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies (1775): "It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do."
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Leah Lonsbury:
In a New York Times opinion piece titled "The Essay, an Exercise in Doubt", essayist and Columbia professor Phillip Lopate waxes on eloquently about the virtues and necessity of doubt in essay writing and life in general. The whole piece is worth the quick read for any preacher tackling Doubting Thomas in their sermon for Sunday.
In this first excerpt, the word "church" could easily be substituted for "school":
According to Theodor Adorno, the iron law of the essay is heresy. What is heresy if not the expression of contrarian doubt about communal pieties or orthodox positions? This is sometimes called "critical thinking," an ostensible goal of education in a democracy. But since such thinking often rocks the boat, we may find it less than supported in school settings. Typically, the exercise of doubt is something an individual has to cultivate on his or her own, in private, before summoning the courage to air it, say, in an essay.
In this second excerpt, Lopate could be talking about Thomas. His doubt can be seen as what impels him to ask and act -- what leads him ultimately to faith.
Strangely enough, doubt need not impede action. If you really become friends with your doubt, you can go ahead and take risks, knowing you will be questioning yourself at every turn, no matter what. It is part of living, a healthy evolutionary adaptation, I would imagine. The mistake is in trying to tune out your doubts. Accept them as a necessary (or at least unavoidable) soundtrack.
* * *
On Easter Sunday Google ran a "doodle" on its main page that resembled the late labor activist Cesar Chavez, in honor of his birthday on March 31st. Apparently this set conservative Twitter feeds afire with short diatribes about Google's attack on Christianity. According to these feeds, Google choosing to spotlight Chavez over Easter was like a clerk at the store wishing a customer "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" -- another weapon in the arsenal used in the war on Christmas (and Christianity). Google, it seems, was getting a jumpstart by starting with Easter.
In "Google Doodle Easter Dustup Portrays Faithful as Feckless", Jason Linkins suggests that the backlash -- portraying Google as "a countervailing force, rising in opposition to religion" -- is off-base. He writes:
And it's deeply weird to suggest that Google is. The whole concept of "faith" involves a firm, indefatigable belief in matters beyond the material sphere. And faith communities give those faith muscles regular workouts, by offering adherents the opportunity to pursue rigorous spiritual contemplation, participate in meaningful sacraments and traditions, and participate in fun and rewarding fellowship with other believers. The bottom line, I think, is that when you invest in these practices, it's supposed to prevent you from completely falling to pieces when fate occasions a moment where you do not receive immediate, perfect validation of your beliefs.
I'm not sure Linkin's definition of faith as involving a "firm, indefatigable belief in matters beyond the material sphere" is spot-on, but his thoughts on faith communities as places like gyms for building strength and learning how to flex the faith muscle seems optimistically accurate. Perhaps doubt has a place in that kind of gym as a strengthening, flexibility, or core stabilizing exercise?
* * *
Here is an excerpt I wrote for my denominational body about my experience as a person of faith and my brush with (almost) civil disobedience during the protests in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2011...
These have also been powerful weeks full of opportunities for creativity and solidarity. Wisconsinites have marched tirelessly in numbers over 100,000 people strong. They have peacefully "occupied" their house, the capitol, for more than two weeks -- night and day. Students, managers, union members, stay-at-home parents, retirees, and private sector employees have slept on hard marble floors; testified tirelessly at hearings; and built grass-roots systems to attend to peace-keeping, cleaning, feeding the crowd, providing medical and child care, and gathering and sharing information all under the capitol's dome. They have sung and chanted and bothered their elected officials in the kindest and most polite ways possible. They have rubbed shoulders with bussed-in Tea Party supporters without incident. They have chanted "thank you" again and again to the police officers and firefighters who have joined their efforts despite the fact that these first responders are exempt from Walker's cuts.
During these weeks, I have sensed in the capitol and all over Madison a palpable strength, resolve, and commitment to what is good and just. It is growing from and between the people I have protested with, and it shored up my shaking legs as I marched into the capitol building last Sunday to face what I thought would be my first arrest for civil disobedience. (Turns out the police on duty defied orders and allowed the people to stay even though they had been ordered to leave!) It's helped me speak from the pulpit, to the press, to my elected officials, to my children, and to those I encounter in my daily life with bold words drawn from my faith tradition about standing with the vulnerable and oppressed and protecting the dignity and voice of all God's beloved people. It's helped me to act on those words as well. It will help sustain my family that depends on a public employee's paycheck and all those who will feel the blow of this legislation if the governor eventually finds a way to get it passed. It has hushed the cynical voice that chats on and on in my head and convinced me that Dr. King was really on to something when he said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" because "there is a creative force in this universe, working... to make a way out of no way..."
* * *
From team member Ron Love:
When she remained seated on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus, Rosa Parks began a new chapter in the civil rights movement. While the impetus for the storied incident is most often depicted as Parks being too tired from her job as a department store seamstress to stand up so a white man could sit, Rosa Parks subsequently noted that she was tired -- but in her own words, "the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."
In actuality, Parks had been an adamant civil rights advocate for several years before her arrest on the Montgomery bus and remained so for decades afterward. And two events in the summer of 1955 made her "tired of giving in": a seminar she attended on strategies for desegregation, and the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
Application: As we often misinterpret Rosa Parks' motives, so too the motives of Thomas and his questioning of Jesus are often misinterpreted. Tradition assumes that Thomas was a doubter, but perhaps he was skeptical. It could be that rash conclusions were not for Thomas. We will never be certain on what caused Thomas' hesitancy, but we can be sure of his belief.
* * *
On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis went to Casal del Marmo prison and washed the feet of 12 young people who were incarcerated there, two of whom were women. Tradition dictates that the pope should only wash the feet of men who are specifically selected priests. Thus the actions of Pope Francis, who took his name from the one who ministered to the poor, caused an outcry among conservatives in the church. The Vatican's chief spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, defended the pope's actions. Referring to the inmates, he said, "This community understands simple and essential things, they were not liturgical scholars."
Application: We do not have to be liturgical scholars to cast away our questioning and believe in the resurrection of Jesus.
* * *
In his first Easter sermon, Pope Francis called for change in a world "still divided by greed looking for easy gain." This sentiment reflects the austere lifestyle he has accepted for himself as pope.
Application: Will the world listen to Pope Francis any more than the Sanhedrin listened to Peter?
* * *
The Washington Post is often accused of being secular and liberal in orientation. Yet on Easter they published an article titled "Five Reasons to Believe that Jesus Christ Rose from the Dead", written by Gary Habermus, a professor at Liberty University.
Of the reasons Habermus offered, those which relate most to this week's lectionary readings regard the eyewitness accounts of the Resurrection. Paul wrote that he listened to the testimony of Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. Paul recounted that 14 years later he returned to Jerusalem, and once again listened to the firsthand account of the Resurrection from Peter, James, and also now John.
Application: Peter stood before the Sanhedrin and proclaimed, "We are witnesses." The story of the Resurrection will continue if we confess that in the Holy Spirit, we are still witnesses.
* * *
A new Bible version was recently published titled A New New Testament. A committee of 19 religious scholars, ecclesiastical officials, and megachurch pastors determined that 10 additional texts -- from the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Acts of Paul and Thecla, and Secret Revelation of John, along with pieces of poetry and prayers -- should be added to the biblical canon. They contend that these verses are authentic and were omitted by the early church. They also write in their preface that many of Paul's writings are "offensive and outmoded."
The biggest change in our present understanding of Jesus and the apostles is from the Secret Revelation of John, which quotes Jesus as saying, "I am the Father, I am the Mother, I am the Son." With this addition, the patriarchal leaning of the scriptures is changed.
Application: Do we need a new, new Bible to tell an old, old story that we have confessed for centuries -- that Jesus was resurrected, his resurrection was witnessed by others, and because of their testimony we believe this day?
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is our strength and our might;
People: God has become our salvation.
Leader: There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
People: The right hand of God does valiantly;
Leader: O give thanks to God, for God is good,
People: for God's steadfast love endures forever.
OR
Leader: God calls us to wholeness and to life.
People: We have come to listen for God's voice.
Leader: The voice of the world is strangely attractive.
People: We know we are apt to mistake the voice of the world for the voice of God.
Leader: Together we can discern more clearly who is actually calling us.
People: We will share together so that we might heed God's voice.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Now the Green Blade Riseth"
found in:
UMH: 311
H82: 204
NCH: 238
CH: 230
LBW: 148
ELA: 379
W&P: 311
STLT: 266
"The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done"
found in:
UMH: 306
PH: 119
AAHH: 277
NCH: 242
CH: 221
LBW: 135
W&P: 290
AMEC: 162
"Thine Be the Glory"
found in:
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELA: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 153
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
found in:
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
W&P: 457
AMEC: 282
Renew: 145
"Jesus Calls Us"
found in:
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELA: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
"O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee"
found in:
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELA: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
"Open My Eyes, That I May See"
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
"Trust and Obey"
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
"Sanctuary"
found in:
CCB: 87
Renew: 185
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
found in:
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us to life eternal: Grant us the grace to listen to you and to shut out the call of others who would lead us to destruction and death; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship you, O God, and to listen to your voice that calls us to life eternal. So tune our hearts to your heart that we may distinguish between your call and the call of the world. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our tendency to confuse the call of the world with the call of God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to listen for your voice, and yet we know how prone we are to listen to the voices within and around us that speak more of the ways of the world than of the ways of Jesus. We know that we are liable to the weakness of listening to our own self-interests and then to speak of these as being the ways of our God. Forgive us and by the power of your Spirit help us to hear more clearly your voice, O God of our salvation. Amen.
Leader: God calls us to life and to wholeness and is ever ready to claim us and renew us in love and grace.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
Praise and glory are yours, O God, by right. You are the ground of all being and the source of all creation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to listen for your voice, and yet we know how prone we are to listen to the voices within and around us that speak more of the ways of the world than of the ways of Jesus. We know that we are liable to the weakness of listening to our own self-interests and then to speak of these as being the ways of our God. Forgive us and by the power of your Spirit help us to hear more clearly your voice, O God of our salvation.
We give you thanks for the faithfulness with which you call us all to life and to wholeness. We thank you for those who have echoed your call through the ages and in our own lives.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our needs and for those anywhere who find their way to life and wholeness blocked by their doings or the doings of others. We pray for those whose pain in body, mind, or relationships causes them to miss your call to love and grace.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Relate a time when you thought you heard someone calling you, but it turned out to be someone you didn't know or someone you knew but they were calling someone else. God calls us too. God calls us through the Bible, prayer, the church, our parents, and other Christians. Other voices call us as well. But when we share together we can better determine if the voice we think is God's sounds like the voice of Jesus.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Are You Who You Say You Are?
John 20:19-31
Object: a driver's license, Social Security card, or other form of identification
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you know who you are? (let the children answer) If I asked each of you that question, could you prove to me who you are? How can you prove that you are who you say you are? (let them answer) Do you have a piece of paper or are you wearing something that proves that you are who you say you are? (let them answer)
If you asked me to prove to you that I am who I say I am, I might give you my driver's license or my Social Security card. (show them some of your identification) There are lots of times when I am asked to prove that I am who I say that I am. People in banks and stores want to know that I am who I say I am before they will let me cash a check or charge something.
But I want you to know that I am not the only person who has to prove that I am who I say that I am. Did you know that Jesus had to prove to one of his disciples that he was Jesus? (let them answer) He did. But Jesus did not have a driver's license, and he did not have a Social Security card. If he had something like this he might have used it, but I doubt that he did.
Let me tell you a story. You will remember that Jesus had been crucified on the cross and that he had died. When he was crucified, the people drove nails through his hands and his feet into the cross of wood. As you can imagine, it not only hurt a lot but it also left big holes where the nails went through his skin. It was after Jesus had died and was also resurrected that he had to prove himself.
Jesus had visited with all of the disciples except one: Thomas. Jesus told them how much he loved them and what he was going to do for them. The rest of the disciples could hardly wait to tell Thomas about Jesus being with them. But Thomas could not believe that someone who had died could come back to life and visit again. So Thomas told the other disciples that unless he saw the places where the nails went through Jesus' hands and feet, he would not believe their story.
It was almost a week later when Thomas was with the other disciples and Jesus came again. Jesus knew that Thomas did not believe, so he showed Thomas the scars on his hands and on his side. Then Jesus asked Thomas if he believed.
Of course Thomas did and that is the day that Jesus proved who he was.
We can't see those nails, but we must believe what happened, just as Thomas and others like him did. That is why we call our kind of believing "faith." The next time you see someone prove who he or she is with a driver's license, you can remember the day that Jesus proved who he was with the marks of the nails in his body.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 7, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer offers some additional thoughts on this week's Acts text and the civil disobedience engaged in by Peter and the other apostles. Dean tells us that while it's important to follow Peter's dictum to "obey God rather than any human authority," discerning what is truly God's will as opposed to our own motivations is vital. It is all too easy, Dean notes, to confuse them, so we must be able to test where we are being led to determine if it is genuine. For Peter, the crucifixion, the forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Spirit were the evidence that he proclaimed before the religious authorities. For us, there are varying tests depending on one's faith tradition -- and we must employ them all, for if it is God's will, we are called to follow it even if it makes life infinitely more difficult and complex.
Is It Real or Is It Photoshop?
by Mary Austin
John 20:19-31
We live in a world of both science and of increasing skepticism. Now that everything can be changed with the click of a mouse, or "photoshopped," or spread as a rumor on the internet in minutes without a shred of proof, we constantly wonder: What is true? Of the things we read or see or have forwarded to us by friends, what is actually real?
We're not so far from our old friend Thomas, often called Doubting Thomas, as he reappears again after Easter.
THE WORLD
Yahoo News reports that a Christian who believes that "the literal interpretation of the Bible is real" is proposing a court trial and offering a prize of $10,000 for anyone who can argue and prove that evolution is real and the book of Genesis is wrong. If you believe that they're mutually exclusive, this is your chance to argue the science and put the mythology of the Bible to rest. Joseph Mastropaolo suggests that the contest will help sharpen the arguments on both sides. As the article reports: "For his part, Mastropaolo has a Ph.D. in kinesiology, and writes for the Creation Hall of Fame website, which is helping to organize the mini-trial.... The Creation Hall of Fame website describes the event as a 'chance to shine' for skeptics of creationism."
In a world of science, it can be tempting to use the tools of science to serve religion. Piles of proof, the back and forth arguments, resolved by the sound of the judge's gavel at the end will make it all seem settled. But who will come out of such a trial convinced?
THE WORD
In truth, matters of faith are never settled. We continue to learn, evolve, and deepen our faith. There is no last word in the life of faith. Even when the judge rules in the trial of Genesis vs. evolution, chances are good that neither side will have convinced the other.
Thomas expresses that perfectly for all of us. He wants the real experience of Jesus that the other disciples got. He's bold enough to ask for it, to pray for it, and Jesus answers his bold prayer. "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
David Lose of WorkingPreacher.org says: "I don't think he's a 'doubter' as much as he is a realist. I mean, he saw Jesus nailed to the cross and die. And so you can't blame him for wanting a real encounter with a really risen Lord just like the other disciples got." Lose adds: "And that's what strikes me about this story: the realism. Not just of Thomas, but the realism also about how hard it can be to believe, at times. When you read through the resurrection accounts of all four gospels, you quickly realize that Thomas is not alone in his doubt. In fact, doubt isn't the exception but the rule. No one -- even after all the predictions -- no one says, 'Welcome back.' Or 'We knew it.' Or even 'What took you so long?' No. No one anticipates Jesus' return, and when he shows up everyone doubts. Everyone."
There's no question about Thomas' bravery. Earlier in the gospels, Thomas offers to go and die with Jesus when they're in danger. Tradition has it that Thomas is the founder of the Christian church in India, where he went to spread the gospel after Jesus died. He followed the trade routes from the Mediterranean to India and started a number of churches there. When Portuguese explorers arrived in India in the 1600s, they were surprised to find flourishing Christian churches there -- legend has it, thanks to Thomas.
Thomas is on exactly the right track. Doubt opens the door to really knowing Jesus. He voices his doubts and gets an answer. Doubt can hold a spot for faith, keep the conversation open, and keep the connection with God alive, until faith comes back. Doubt leads to questions -- until the answers come. For Thomas, and for us.
If the church recorded and preserved Thomas' doubt and faith in the gospels, there's room for ours too. For us, like for Thomas, experience is our greatest teacher. Someone else's words are never going to be enough.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Doubt is a big part of the Easter stories, in the same way that it's a big part of our stories. We have tried to stuff down, hide, banish, and shame ourselves out of our doubts over the years, but doubt is part of faith. Often it's a doorway to something new in faith, as our questions lead us somewhere we hadn't planned to go. But we, like Thomas, need the personal experience of faith to get there, not someone else's experience.
The sermon might focus on doubt as an essential part of faith, painful as it is while we're in the thick of it.
Or, the sermon might talk about where doubt can take us. For Thomas, it leads to an encounter with Jesus. For us, it might mean a faith that fits us better as adults, once we examine and let go of some truths from our childhood Sunday school and reshape our beliefs to fit the lives we have now. Unpacking our doubts is frightening. There's a space there where it feels like nothing else will come along to replace the things we're leaving behind.
Or, the sermon might focus on the scars, bumps, and bruises in our faith. Our faith doesn't need to be perfect. Jesus himself shows up with battered hands and scarred feet, and that's how people recognize him.
Or, the sermon might talk about how the people who dare to ask questions have an important role in any community of faith, as they enhance everyone's experience. As a pastor, I so appreciate the people who are willing to ask questions. It helps me see where I haven't been clear, or what's so evident to me that I've failed to explain it well to other people. It helps me remember that other people don't have the training I have, and that we all need to be reminded of things. People's questions also help me see things in different ways, which adds fullness to my own faith. Blessed are those who ask the questions and who seek for more!
ANOTHER VIEW
Disobedience -- Civil and Otherwise
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 5:27-42
But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority..." (Acts 5:29)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that "the term 'civil disobedience' was coined by Henry David Thoreau in his 1848 essay to describe his refusal to pay the state poll tax implemented by the American government to prosecute a war in Mexico and to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law."
For an action to qualify as civil disobedience in Thoreau's sense, it must meet five standards, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia:
1) Conscientiousness. The act must be serious, sincere, and based upon moral conviction.
2) Communication. The actor acts in order to draw attention to an unjust law or policy, to demonstrate the actor's disavowal and condemnation of same, and to instigate a change in the law or policy.
3) Publicity. Acts of civil disobedience are never secret or covert. They are done in full public view in order for the communication to be effective.
4) Non-violent. Civil disobedience is, by definition, non-violent. This universally applies to violence against persons, and in many cases to violence against property, though this second part, also called non-violent sabotage, is not universally accepted as a necessary standard for civil disobedience.
5) Willingness to accept punishment. The acceptance of punishment gives meaning and depth to the disobedient act and keeps it before the public eye.
Historic examples of effective civil disobedience include the Boston Tea Party, the suffragette movement, the resistance to British rule in India led by Gandhi, the U.S. civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr., resistance to apartheid in South Africa as led by Nelson Mandela, and student sit-ins and marches against the war in Vietnam.
Current examples of civil disobedience include anti-abortion trespass demonstrations that block access to abortion clinics, the damaging of military property by opponents of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and acts of protest and sabotage taken by environmental groups and animal rights groups. Time will tell how effective or ineffective they will be.
In this week's passage from Acts, we see Peter and the apostles engaging in acts of civil disobedience for the sake of the gospel.
The religious/civil authorities, the high priests, have told them clearly that they are not to preach and teach about Jesus in the public square, but they have done it anyway. Whether or not they are doing so to bring attention to the unjust nature of the censorship is not clear, but they certainly are doing it because they feel called and compelled to do so, and the law against doing so is of little consequence to them.
They are hauled before the high priests, who don't understand why these guys can't follow simple instructions: "Don't preach about Jesus!" Is that so hard? Is it so difficult to understand? What's wrong with these guys?
Peter says that their loyalty is to a higher authority, and in the verses immediately following the lectionary pericope we learn that this angers the officials sufficiently that they want to have the apostles put to death. But Gamaliel makes a reasonable case. He suggests letting them go. If they are preaching of God, he tells the council, we'll be seen to have been kind to them. If they aren't, they'll fizzle out and be forgotten in a month. Either way we win.
So the officials have the disciples whipped, tell them not to preach about Jesus anymore, and let them go. And they go right back to doing what they were doing, even celebrating the fact that their ministries have been so effective that they got whipped for being faithful.
The problem of civil disobedience is the one that Gamaliel brings up.
If we decide that God demands we disobey a law, we must realize that there is probably a person on the other side of the aisle who is just as convinced that God is demanding that he/she enforce the law.
If we are going to claim "God's will" as our motivating factor, we must come up with some tests so that we can be reasonably sure that the voice we are hearing is God's and not our own.
Reason, experience, tradition, and scripture are four tests that have come out of the Methodist tradition. Other faith traditions have their own, which should be held close and scrutinized carefully before we engage in acts civil disobedience.
In the end, if the voice we hear calling us to disobedience passes the tests, we must be ready to disobey and accept the consequences, even unto Calvary.
And we, of all people, can do so because we know what lies beyond Calvary.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Henry David Thoreau, who was in jail for refusing to pay the poll tax, he asked, "Henry, what are you doing in there?"
Thoreau's response to Emerson was: "Ralph, what are you doing out there?"
Or as Edmund Burke put it in his Second Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies (1775): "It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do."
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Leah Lonsbury:
In a New York Times opinion piece titled "The Essay, an Exercise in Doubt", essayist and Columbia professor Phillip Lopate waxes on eloquently about the virtues and necessity of doubt in essay writing and life in general. The whole piece is worth the quick read for any preacher tackling Doubting Thomas in their sermon for Sunday.
In this first excerpt, the word "church" could easily be substituted for "school":
According to Theodor Adorno, the iron law of the essay is heresy. What is heresy if not the expression of contrarian doubt about communal pieties or orthodox positions? This is sometimes called "critical thinking," an ostensible goal of education in a democracy. But since such thinking often rocks the boat, we may find it less than supported in school settings. Typically, the exercise of doubt is something an individual has to cultivate on his or her own, in private, before summoning the courage to air it, say, in an essay.
In this second excerpt, Lopate could be talking about Thomas. His doubt can be seen as what impels him to ask and act -- what leads him ultimately to faith.
Strangely enough, doubt need not impede action. If you really become friends with your doubt, you can go ahead and take risks, knowing you will be questioning yourself at every turn, no matter what. It is part of living, a healthy evolutionary adaptation, I would imagine. The mistake is in trying to tune out your doubts. Accept them as a necessary (or at least unavoidable) soundtrack.
* * *
On Easter Sunday Google ran a "doodle" on its main page that resembled the late labor activist Cesar Chavez, in honor of his birthday on March 31st. Apparently this set conservative Twitter feeds afire with short diatribes about Google's attack on Christianity. According to these feeds, Google choosing to spotlight Chavez over Easter was like a clerk at the store wishing a customer "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" -- another weapon in the arsenal used in the war on Christmas (and Christianity). Google, it seems, was getting a jumpstart by starting with Easter.
In "Google Doodle Easter Dustup Portrays Faithful as Feckless", Jason Linkins suggests that the backlash -- portraying Google as "a countervailing force, rising in opposition to religion" -- is off-base. He writes:
And it's deeply weird to suggest that Google is. The whole concept of "faith" involves a firm, indefatigable belief in matters beyond the material sphere. And faith communities give those faith muscles regular workouts, by offering adherents the opportunity to pursue rigorous spiritual contemplation, participate in meaningful sacraments and traditions, and participate in fun and rewarding fellowship with other believers. The bottom line, I think, is that when you invest in these practices, it's supposed to prevent you from completely falling to pieces when fate occasions a moment where you do not receive immediate, perfect validation of your beliefs.
I'm not sure Linkin's definition of faith as involving a "firm, indefatigable belief in matters beyond the material sphere" is spot-on, but his thoughts on faith communities as places like gyms for building strength and learning how to flex the faith muscle seems optimistically accurate. Perhaps doubt has a place in that kind of gym as a strengthening, flexibility, or core stabilizing exercise?
* * *
Here is an excerpt I wrote for my denominational body about my experience as a person of faith and my brush with (almost) civil disobedience during the protests in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2011...
These have also been powerful weeks full of opportunities for creativity and solidarity. Wisconsinites have marched tirelessly in numbers over 100,000 people strong. They have peacefully "occupied" their house, the capitol, for more than two weeks -- night and day. Students, managers, union members, stay-at-home parents, retirees, and private sector employees have slept on hard marble floors; testified tirelessly at hearings; and built grass-roots systems to attend to peace-keeping, cleaning, feeding the crowd, providing medical and child care, and gathering and sharing information all under the capitol's dome. They have sung and chanted and bothered their elected officials in the kindest and most polite ways possible. They have rubbed shoulders with bussed-in Tea Party supporters without incident. They have chanted "thank you" again and again to the police officers and firefighters who have joined their efforts despite the fact that these first responders are exempt from Walker's cuts.
During these weeks, I have sensed in the capitol and all over Madison a palpable strength, resolve, and commitment to what is good and just. It is growing from and between the people I have protested with, and it shored up my shaking legs as I marched into the capitol building last Sunday to face what I thought would be my first arrest for civil disobedience. (Turns out the police on duty defied orders and allowed the people to stay even though they had been ordered to leave!) It's helped me speak from the pulpit, to the press, to my elected officials, to my children, and to those I encounter in my daily life with bold words drawn from my faith tradition about standing with the vulnerable and oppressed and protecting the dignity and voice of all God's beloved people. It's helped me to act on those words as well. It will help sustain my family that depends on a public employee's paycheck and all those who will feel the blow of this legislation if the governor eventually finds a way to get it passed. It has hushed the cynical voice that chats on and on in my head and convinced me that Dr. King was really on to something when he said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" because "there is a creative force in this universe, working... to make a way out of no way..."
* * *
From team member Ron Love:
When she remained seated on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus, Rosa Parks began a new chapter in the civil rights movement. While the impetus for the storied incident is most often depicted as Parks being too tired from her job as a department store seamstress to stand up so a white man could sit, Rosa Parks subsequently noted that she was tired -- but in her own words, "the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."
In actuality, Parks had been an adamant civil rights advocate for several years before her arrest on the Montgomery bus and remained so for decades afterward. And two events in the summer of 1955 made her "tired of giving in": a seminar she attended on strategies for desegregation, and the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
Application: As we often misinterpret Rosa Parks' motives, so too the motives of Thomas and his questioning of Jesus are often misinterpreted. Tradition assumes that Thomas was a doubter, but perhaps he was skeptical. It could be that rash conclusions were not for Thomas. We will never be certain on what caused Thomas' hesitancy, but we can be sure of his belief.
* * *
On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis went to Casal del Marmo prison and washed the feet of 12 young people who were incarcerated there, two of whom were women. Tradition dictates that the pope should only wash the feet of men who are specifically selected priests. Thus the actions of Pope Francis, who took his name from the one who ministered to the poor, caused an outcry among conservatives in the church. The Vatican's chief spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, defended the pope's actions. Referring to the inmates, he said, "This community understands simple and essential things, they were not liturgical scholars."
Application: We do not have to be liturgical scholars to cast away our questioning and believe in the resurrection of Jesus.
* * *
In his first Easter sermon, Pope Francis called for change in a world "still divided by greed looking for easy gain." This sentiment reflects the austere lifestyle he has accepted for himself as pope.
Application: Will the world listen to Pope Francis any more than the Sanhedrin listened to Peter?
* * *
The Washington Post is often accused of being secular and liberal in orientation. Yet on Easter they published an article titled "Five Reasons to Believe that Jesus Christ Rose from the Dead", written by Gary Habermus, a professor at Liberty University.
Of the reasons Habermus offered, those which relate most to this week's lectionary readings regard the eyewitness accounts of the Resurrection. Paul wrote that he listened to the testimony of Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. Paul recounted that 14 years later he returned to Jerusalem, and once again listened to the firsthand account of the Resurrection from Peter, James, and also now John.
Application: Peter stood before the Sanhedrin and proclaimed, "We are witnesses." The story of the Resurrection will continue if we confess that in the Holy Spirit, we are still witnesses.
* * *
A new Bible version was recently published titled A New New Testament. A committee of 19 religious scholars, ecclesiastical officials, and megachurch pastors determined that 10 additional texts -- from the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Acts of Paul and Thecla, and Secret Revelation of John, along with pieces of poetry and prayers -- should be added to the biblical canon. They contend that these verses are authentic and were omitted by the early church. They also write in their preface that many of Paul's writings are "offensive and outmoded."
The biggest change in our present understanding of Jesus and the apostles is from the Secret Revelation of John, which quotes Jesus as saying, "I am the Father, I am the Mother, I am the Son." With this addition, the patriarchal leaning of the scriptures is changed.
Application: Do we need a new, new Bible to tell an old, old story that we have confessed for centuries -- that Jesus was resurrected, his resurrection was witnessed by others, and because of their testimony we believe this day?
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is our strength and our might;
People: God has become our salvation.
Leader: There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
People: The right hand of God does valiantly;
Leader: O give thanks to God, for God is good,
People: for God's steadfast love endures forever.
OR
Leader: God calls us to wholeness and to life.
People: We have come to listen for God's voice.
Leader: The voice of the world is strangely attractive.
People: We know we are apt to mistake the voice of the world for the voice of God.
Leader: Together we can discern more clearly who is actually calling us.
People: We will share together so that we might heed God's voice.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Now the Green Blade Riseth"
found in:
UMH: 311
H82: 204
NCH: 238
CH: 230
LBW: 148
ELA: 379
W&P: 311
STLT: 266
"The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done"
found in:
UMH: 306
PH: 119
AAHH: 277
NCH: 242
CH: 221
LBW: 135
W&P: 290
AMEC: 162
"Thine Be the Glory"
found in:
UMH: 308
PH: 122
NCH: 253
CH: 218
LBW: 145
ELA: 376
W&P: 310
AMEC: 153
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian"
found in:
UMH: 402
PH: 372
AAHH: 463
NNBH: 156
NCH: 454
CH: 589
W&P: 457
AMEC: 282
Renew: 145
"Jesus Calls Us"
found in:
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELA: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
"O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee"
found in:
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELA: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
"Open My Eyes, That I May See"
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
"Trust and Obey"
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
"Sanctuary"
found in:
CCB: 87
Renew: 185
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
found in:
CCB: 81
Renew: 247
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us to life eternal: Grant us the grace to listen to you and to shut out the call of others who would lead us to destruction and death; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We have come to worship you, O God, and to listen to your voice that calls us to life eternal. So tune our hearts to your heart that we may distinguish between your call and the call of the world. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our tendency to confuse the call of the world with the call of God.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to listen for your voice, and yet we know how prone we are to listen to the voices within and around us that speak more of the ways of the world than of the ways of Jesus. We know that we are liable to the weakness of listening to our own self-interests and then to speak of these as being the ways of our God. Forgive us and by the power of your Spirit help us to hear more clearly your voice, O God of our salvation. Amen.
Leader: God calls us to life and to wholeness and is ever ready to claim us and renew us in love and grace.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
Praise and glory are yours, O God, by right. You are the ground of all being and the source of all creation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to listen for your voice, and yet we know how prone we are to listen to the voices within and around us that speak more of the ways of the world than of the ways of Jesus. We know that we are liable to the weakness of listening to our own self-interests and then to speak of these as being the ways of our God. Forgive us and by the power of your Spirit help us to hear more clearly your voice, O God of our salvation.
We give you thanks for the faithfulness with which you call us all to life and to wholeness. We thank you for those who have echoed your call through the ages and in our own lives.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our needs and for those anywhere who find their way to life and wholeness blocked by their doings or the doings of others. We pray for those whose pain in body, mind, or relationships causes them to miss your call to love and grace.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Relate a time when you thought you heard someone calling you, but it turned out to be someone you didn't know or someone you knew but they were calling someone else. God calls us too. God calls us through the Bible, prayer, the church, our parents, and other Christians. Other voices call us as well. But when we share together we can better determine if the voice we think is God's sounds like the voice of Jesus.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Are You Who You Say You Are?
John 20:19-31
Object: a driver's license, Social Security card, or other form of identification
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you know who you are? (let the children answer) If I asked each of you that question, could you prove to me who you are? How can you prove that you are who you say you are? (let them answer) Do you have a piece of paper or are you wearing something that proves that you are who you say you are? (let them answer)
If you asked me to prove to you that I am who I say I am, I might give you my driver's license or my Social Security card. (show them some of your identification) There are lots of times when I am asked to prove that I am who I say that I am. People in banks and stores want to know that I am who I say I am before they will let me cash a check or charge something.
But I want you to know that I am not the only person who has to prove that I am who I say that I am. Did you know that Jesus had to prove to one of his disciples that he was Jesus? (let them answer) He did. But Jesus did not have a driver's license, and he did not have a Social Security card. If he had something like this he might have used it, but I doubt that he did.
Let me tell you a story. You will remember that Jesus had been crucified on the cross and that he had died. When he was crucified, the people drove nails through his hands and his feet into the cross of wood. As you can imagine, it not only hurt a lot but it also left big holes where the nails went through his skin. It was after Jesus had died and was also resurrected that he had to prove himself.
Jesus had visited with all of the disciples except one: Thomas. Jesus told them how much he loved them and what he was going to do for them. The rest of the disciples could hardly wait to tell Thomas about Jesus being with them. But Thomas could not believe that someone who had died could come back to life and visit again. So Thomas told the other disciples that unless he saw the places where the nails went through Jesus' hands and feet, he would not believe their story.
It was almost a week later when Thomas was with the other disciples and Jesus came again. Jesus knew that Thomas did not believe, so he showed Thomas the scars on his hands and on his side. Then Jesus asked Thomas if he believed.
Of course Thomas did and that is the day that Jesus proved who he was.
We can't see those nails, but we must believe what happened, just as Thomas and others like him did. That is why we call our kind of believing "faith." The next time you see someone prove who he or she is with a driver's license, you can remember the day that Jesus proved who he was with the marks of the nails in his body.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 7, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
