RUMC May 1 ,2011
SLIDE 1
· By now all last week's Easter eggs have been transformed into egg salad and consumed. Right?
· The contents of all those Easter baskets have disappeared.
· On this Sunday the spiritual and sugar high of Easter Sunday is wearing off.
· The excitement of the confirmations is tucked away in our memories.
· The Easter Lilies are thinned out and starting to droop.
· And we set our face toward mother’s day and just over the hill Memorial Day.
Hence the in formal designation of this Sunday after Easter as "Low Sunday."
After the "high" of Easter, we come back to the everydayness of life. We seem to be "low" in energy, when we look around and realize that in spite of the preacher’s promises that resurrection changes everything… the world looks just like it did 7 weeks ago, before ash Wednesday. In addition… we start to entertain some doubts about ourselves, our lives, our choices and our faith.
Faith is not nearly as easy as we would like to believe.
Though Noah seemed to have no problem, Abraham and Sari sure struggled mightily with faith and doubt. Fortunately, faith won out.
Though Joseph seemed to have little trouble, Moses and the Israelites of the Exodus sure battled the demon of doubt didn’t they? Faith won, but not by much.
David, Jonah, Job, Isaiah, they all struggled with doubt.
After his baptism, Jesus was driven into the wilderness. There he faced temptation. What was the very first temptation- The devil said, “If you are the son of God.” That little work “IF” was an attempt to plant the seed of doubt in Jesus mind. Trying to get him to doubt what he had just experienced; to doubt the dove, the voice, and his identity.
We are no different. It probably does not surprise you to know that I struggle with doubt. Sometimes wondering how anyone could believe this utterly unbelievable story I preach. In the dark quiet of my heart I sometimes wonder about my faith . . . sometimes, but then I remember Peter Boehler’s advice to John Wesley “Preach faith until you have it, then because you have it, you will preach faith.”
Do you ever doubt? Do you ever wonder about the strength of your faith, the truth of the gospel, or the validity of Jesus life and claims?
I think there are two kinds of Christians those who admit they struggle with doubt, and those who lie.
The story of Thomas’ struggle which is traditionally read the Sunday after Easter has lead Christians over the years to call him “DOUBTHING” Thomas. Now I think that is being pretty hard on this poor guy who, if I have to be honest, is not all that different from me! Besides that, in the end of the story he is no longer doubting Thomas. He is “believing Thomas. “
The truth is, that Thomas struggle is not with doubt and faith, it is with epistemology . Epistemology is the study of knowledge. Thomas’ story causes us to ask the question how do we know what we know? Why do we believe what we believe?
There are some of you who might believe because; as the old song says “The Bible Tells Me So.” That’s OK. Bless you . The word of God is a great place to find truth. But only about 1/3 of Americans believe the Bible is the word of God. Interestingly that is about the same percentage of Americans who believe that Jesus was raised from the dead: 36%.
There are others who say they believe because they were brought up that way. They say their parents, grandparents, the church, Sunday school teachers, and the preacher all taught them to believe in Jesus and his resurrection. That is OK too. Appealing to authority is a valid reason to believe in something. And indeed there are things about which we simply have to trust an authority.
Third there are those who believe because it makes sense. There are some who believe in God, as the confirmation class learned last month, primarily because it makes sense to them. Or to put it another way, the world doesn’t make sense without God. That is OK too. Some beliefs really are grounded in reason and science.
Thomas’ faith, however, is of a different kind. He is not likely to believe because the Bible says so, or because someone else says so, or because it is the only explanation he can think of. He is not likely to believe that Jesus is raised because the prophets predict it, or because Peter and the others testified to it, or because the tomb is empty and no one can explain where he is.
Thomas’ faith is a faith of experience. He believes what he sees, and touches, and smells, and hears. He believes because of personal, up close, one on one, real flesh and blood experience. When he says “I will not believe until I see the wounds and put my hand in his side,” he is not being stubborn or willful. All he is asking for is the same experience the other disciples already had. All he is asking for is personal experience.
Over the years we have condemned him because he demanded proof- he doubted until he had concrete proof in front of him. But all of our belief’s need some kind of proof. We don’t condemn those who appeal to Biblical proof , the testimony of others, or logical evidence to support their faith. Neither should we condemn Thomas for seeking a personal experience.
For most of us faith is based on a combination of these. That is perfectly OK. At some point though we have to have the experience. Religious experience is a key element to Wesleyan and therefore our Methodist heritage.
Faith might start with the Bible (click) You might know everything there is to know about the Bible- speak Hebrew and Greek and have large portions memorized, but if you have never seen the wounds or placed you finger in them you are missing something.
You might be an expert in history and doctrine. (click)You might be the one the pastor consults before he climbs into the Pulpit on Sunday. You might know all there is to know, but if you have never stood face to face with the risen and glorious lord, your faith is all in your head.
You might be the greatest theologian we have ever known. (click)You might be St. Augustine, John Wesley, Karl Barth, and Hans Kung all rolled into one. But if you have never enjoyed a seat at the feet of Jesus- If you have never felt the resurrection in your heart, Your theological explanations are only the world’s greatest cure for insomnia.
Faith does not consist only of bible knowledge, tradition, and reason. As important as each of those are to faith, they are not the sum total of faith. Faith is not personal until we have (click) experienced the love of Jesus in our hearts.
The cross is not something we can simply read about in a 2000-year-old book.
The Resurrection is not something that we believe because someone told us.
The power of the Christ in our lives is not something we reason out.
But when we die on that cross with him , and are raised with him and experience the power of Christ in our lives- personally and completely our faith becomes more then a literary experience, more than a great legend, more than an intellectual exercise. When faith is real and experienced- when we have seen the marks on his hands, and touched the wound in his side- when we have tasted the bread and sipped the cup that is when faith becomes real and personal .
Come- not to read and memorize.
Come- not to study and understand.
Come- not to reason out and systematize.
Come- to experience and celebrate that reality that Christ is risen in your life. Here and now.
AMEN
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