Finding God in the Unexpected

Jesus is risen! We continue the Easter season of celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  “We say Jesus IS risen.” We could say, “Jesus HAS risen,” and make a claim of a historical fact to place the event in the past. This is a true statement.  But the more powerful claim and the one that truly makes a difference to me and to you is that Jesus is alive and reigns as Lord of heaven and earth.  So we say Jesus IS risen to relate the truth of the present reality.

That Jesus who was born in Bethlehem and lived about 33 years and was crucified by the occupying Roman Empire was raised from the dead with an imperishable body and is now the head over all things.   Jesus is the fulfilment of the story of the people of Israel. In Jesus all people find the fulfilment of the story of God in this world. Jesus is the Messiah; Jesus is the son of God.

This is the truth that this church is built upon. This is what we believe.  That is the truth that we are to share so that believing, others may also have life in his name.

But this is difficult teaching. You can’t measure with any physical devise the presence of God in your life. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a something that would detect the presence of God in your life? 

Actually what would be more useful, would be something that would detect our attentiveness to God in our lives, because that is what really wavers and changes.  The fact is: if we had something that could measure the presence of God in this world the thing would be pegged at “maximum” all the time.

God’s glory fills the earth! The Kingdom of Heaven has come near! Jesus IS risen!

We are all at different places on our spiritual journey.  We all have different understandings of what it means to know God. In the Gospel lesson this morning, Thomas was in a different place physically and spiritually.

When it was 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." Scripture doesn’t record where Thomas was or why he wasn’t with them, for whatever reason he was not there when this happened. The gathered community of the followers of Jesus experienced his presence and received his blessing while one of their own was separated from the group.

Remember it had been quite a day. It was only the day before yesterday that they watched as their friend and teacher was nailed to a cross and died. And that morning they found out that his body was missing from the tomb.

It must have seemed that their world was crumbling. Everything that they invested their lives in was gone and it was getting worse. Where they thought they would find deliverance seemed now to be replaced by loss, and fear for their own lives.

One of the spiritual disciplines is solitude.  Learning to be alone in the silence with God is something that many spiritual seekers have sought after in their practice to grow spiritually.  For some the practice of solitude is a discipline that takes intentional effort.  For others of us it is a spiritual necessity. Perhaps Thomas was one of those that needed to be alone for a time to sort out what was happening. Whatever Thomas was doing, eventually he came back to the fellowship.

When he came back, he was met with some news.  Can you imagine?  He walks in the door and sees the other disciples who have just seen Jesus. They just heard Jesus say “Peace be with you."
"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." "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 disciples who saw Jesus die had this living encounter with him. They experienced death, they huddeled in that small space and they were given new life when Jesus visited them.

 What do you think their demeanor was?  What was the look on their faces?  What was the one of their voices when they told Thomas “We have seen the Lord.”?

Was Thomas convinced?

When God called me to the ministry it was a life changing event. I knew in that moment that my life would never be the same again whether I answered the call or not, because God made his presence known to me in a way that I had never experienced before or since. I was so excited. I wanted to tell everyone about God.  I started inviting people to read what I was reading, attend gatherings that I was attending trying to get people in a place where they could experience God the way I did. I noticed people, especially the ones that knew me best, pull back. I realized that the worlds coming out of my mouth were the same words that left me less than fully convinced before I surrendered myself to God and opened myself to His presence.

No matter how real it is. No matter how excited we are. There will be those who are unconvinced.  They will only be convinced when they experience God for themselves.  That won’t happen by our arguments.  That won’t happen by manipulating emotions.  It will happen when we welcome them into the fellowship of believers and God reveals himself to them.

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."

Jesus invited him to touch the wounds on his hands and in his side.  Thomas didn’t need to do that.  He just responded with the strongest profession of faith one could say, “My Lord and my God!"

The spiritual journey is not a linear path.  It is a process of living this life. The spiritual life is one that ebbs and flows.  It seems easy and light sometimes and other times is may seem baron and difficult.  We can thank and praise God that we have a community in which we can live out our spiritual journey.

Our purpose here at St. Paul is to know Christ and to make him known. There are a lot of people right outside those doors whose lives are in turmoil and turned upside down.  We are not going to convince them with our words that Jesus is their answer.  It won’t be our building or our programming that will give them life. But if we can surround them with the love of God through our fellowship Jesus will reveal to them the peace that Jesus intends for all of us.  Those folks out there are cynical and skeptical that the church has anything good for them much less that the source of peace and life can be found here.  But if you are convinced that they can, then invite them to come and see.

So, how is it with you today?

No matter where we are on the faith journey we have the opportunity to know Christ more.  Over the next several weeks the discipleship team will be introducing you to a process through which we can all enter and grow in our faith. Whether you are a first time visitor or a lifelong member there is a place for you at St. Paul.