Doubting Thomas

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.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has 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.’ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, 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 and 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 believed 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 Gospel of John, chapter 20 starting at verse 19

This reading is the one from which the name Doubting Thomas originates.

I always feel sorry for Thomas. He was an extremely faithful disciple. Indeed, in an earlier passage from John, when Lazarus has died and the other disciples do not want to go with Jesus back to Judea, it is Thomas who persuades them; and even says “Let us also go, that we may die with him”.

Again, when Jesus explains He is going to prepare a place in His Father’s house for His followers, it is Thomas who had the foresight to ask “Lord, we don’t know where you are going so how can we know the way?” This gained us that vital answer from Jesus that He is the way, the truth and the life; revealing that Jesus is the only path to God, moving the focus from a physical location to a spiritual relationship.

In that locked room where all the disciples except Thomas were gathered, Jesus appeared to them. He stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After saying this, Jesus showed His disciples His hands and His side.

Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Let’s be clear on this, the disciples had already had the testimony of the empty tomb with the folded grave clothes from Peter and John. They had had the testimony of the women and from Mary who had seen the risen Christ. Yet Jesus still joined them in the room although all the doors were locked and showed them His wounds before they recognised Him.

Thomas, on the other hand, by not being with the other disciples had missed out on seeing the proof of the resurrection that the others had been shown freely by Jesus without having to ask for it.

Thomas, like the others had been, was in mourning for Jesus.

When we look at it this way, it does seem a little unfair that Thomas should be dubbed for all time The Doubter when he merely asked to experience the same as the others had already received.

Thomas is a wonderful gift to us … and we are, and should be, so thankful for the gift of Thomas.

He demonstrates true love, loyalty and faithfulness in going back to Judea with Jesus, even if it meant death, and persuading the other disciples to do likewise.

He demonstrated wisdom and courage in asking Jesus how we find our way to His Father’s house; which gifts us the teaching and understanding that Jesus is the way and we must follow His example and become like Him.

It is because of Thomas that we can be reassured that it is okay to have doubts.

Doubt can, after all, serve to bring us to deeper faith and understanding. It can be an invitation to ask sincere questions which can lead to a stronger relationship with God. Doubt is questioning that seeks answers. Honest questions are part of the spiritual journey for many. “Thinking is believing and believing is thinking” is a crucial part of our faith.

Thomas, by declaring “my Lord and my God” when Christ reappeared and showed Thomas His wounds, was the first person to explicitly acknowledge Jesus’s divinity.

Thomas was an enthusiastic apostle full of great fervor, an extremely human figure, close to each of us, symbolizing the doubts that can lead to greater awareness and the uncertainty that nurtures faith.

When the disciples scattered after Pentecost to bring the news of new life in Christ to all, Thomas went east, first to the Persians and then to India. From there he eventually reached the Malabar coast (present -day Kerala).

Thomas was completely filled with the Light of the Resurrection. In this light, full of the deepest faith and belief, Thomas was martyred in Chennai, India, in 72AD.

In a kind of paradox, Thomas’s death turned his statement from the events of Lazarus’s death and resurrection into a prophecy, for Thomas did indeed die to go with Christ.

Thomas The Apostle viewing Jesus’s wounds.

Electricity Fails

In the darkness
Let your light shine,
May we glow bright
By your love.

Though the dark be cold and grim,
Your light brings joy and warmth within.

Though man-made lights
Do fail and dim
Or do not work,
Not so for Him.

Though power trips
And lets us down,
Nothing can take
Our dear Lord's crown.

Candle light in the dark. (Photo by Anugrah Lohiya on Pexels.com)

Let Our Little Lights Shine

A long time ago, possibly even in Bethlehem, a story about a little owl called Plop was very popular. The main thing about this story was that Plop, the baby owl, was scared of the dark.

I wonder, who here is, or used to be, scared of the dark?

And how many of you sometimes think that there are monsters or bad things in the dark? Or that the darkness is something bad?

And when a light appears do you feel better?

The opposite of dark is light. So if darkness is bad or scary then the light is good and friendly.

The magical thing about light is that you only need a teeny tiny spark to transform the darkness.

That light, that tiny spark, shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.

There is a lot of darkness in the world, selfishness, greed, things that cause hurt, sin. But a light came into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.

Jesus is the light of the world, the light in the darkness. And like when one candle shines in the darkness and then another is lit, and then another and another; soon all there is is light.

Jesus starts with us, forgiving the darkness in us so that we can shine; and as each of us are filled with His love, light and forgiveness, the light shines brighter and the darkness diminishes.

Jesus shows us the way to live a good life, full of light and offers us His power to live that way. When He comes again and God’s final judgement comes upon the world the darkness will be banished forever.

When you hold your Christingles look at the candle, as it is lit remember Jesus, the light of the world, whose light vanquishes the darkness.

Let that light into your hearts and lives lighting the way for others to find their way out of darkness into light.

Our task is to be those Christingles (it’s okay, dressing up is optional) to share the joy that comes to us through Jesus and to be His light bringing hope to those in the dark.

In the beginning there was nothing but God. And God created the world and everything in it. He filled the world with all sorts of good things – plants, animals, mountains, rivers, seas, the sun, the moon, and even people. And God saw that everything He had made was good.

But it didn’t stay good. The people did things they should not do. They did not look after what God had allowed them to borrow. They did not look after the world or each other.

This made God sad because He loves us. So He sent us a rescuer, but not just any rescuer. He sent us the best rescuer of all – His precious Son.

Jesus came to be the light to the world, to defeat the darkness and help people come to know God.

A light for everyone, shining in our world, our lives and our hearts.

Even though we are celebrating Christ’s birth (his first coming) on Christmas Day, we are already looking ahead to Easter when Jesus died on the cross and rose again to defeat all the powers of darkness, to defeat all those scary monsters, and to be our salvation.

The ribbon which represents the outpouring of Jesus’s blood also reminds us of the great outpouring of God’s love for us which encompasses the whole of creation.

Christmas and Easter are two parts of the story of God’s love for us. May we live out the truth of that story in our own lives, may we accept again this Christmas the greatest gift of Christ’s light and may we let our little light shine out of the darkness to the glory of God. Amen.

Rules for Life

“Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of Him upon you so that you do not sin.”

God wanted to help His people – not destroy them. But when they heard the thunder and the trumpet, when they saw the flashing and the smoke on the mountain, they were afraid.

Because of their fear, the people wanted a mediator; yet God had already granted them one in the form of Moses.

We, also, already have a mediator – Jesus.

The word fear has more than one meaning. There is the type of fear the Israelites had – that of being scared, afraid, terrified – but that is the wrong type of fear to have of God.

Then there is the right kind of fear to have of God, and that is one of awe, respect and reverence. It is through this that we are granted the boldness to approach God through Jesus Christ.

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The purpose of these is how to have healthy relationships with God and each other.

God invites us to have a personal relationship with Him.

The deep significance of the gift of the Ten Commandments has been obscured by society. As a result we lose the religious awe found in this passage of Exodus and lessen our understanding.

They are not “maxims for a good life”. They ARE the living words of the living God. The God who has redeemed us. It is not the Ten Commandments which save us. Salvation is a gift of God – which He gives us freely through His grace.

There are some who try to use the Ten Commandments to conclude that we have to somehow earn God’s love and care. But actually it is the opposite. They demonstrate God’s continued love and care – giving us the law in the first place proves God’s love for us.

Our obedience is a loving, grateful response to all that God has done and continues to do.

So what is the essence of The Ten Commandments?

Jesus already gave us the answer to this when He told us that the greatest commandment is this, “To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love everyone else as we love ourselves”.

Baptism is the act of making a God choice. The making of the promises is choosing faith in God above any other life. Living our baptism means living by a single loyalty to God.

Remembering our baptism, who we are and who God is, in the inner recesses of our hearts and in the life we share together makes us grateful that God has given us these commandments, that we might find strength and shelter in our darkest times – helping us to remember that even in our darkest times we are not alone.

Talk from Holy Trinity Sheerness 8th October 2023 (Exodus 20)

Easter Spoilers

Talk from 26th March (John 11:1-45)

Who likes reading spoiler alerts to find out what will happen ahead of the next episode?

Who avoids them like the proverbial plague? Ah okay, you might want to put your hands over your ears then because in some ways this passage from John is a little bit like a trailer or spoiler for two weeks time!

Today we hear about and celebrate the resurrection of Lazarus. In two weeks we hear about and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

There are lots of parallels in this story pointing towards what was going to happen. John even mentions at the beginning of this passage an event (Mary anointing Jesus’s feet) which does not occur until after the resurrection of Lazarus.

Jesus was very clear right from the beginning that EVERYTHING He does is for the glory of God. His wisdom and knowledge far exceeds ours.

It was still difficult for Martha and Mary that Jesus did not immediately drop everything and come to them upon hearing that Lazarus was severely ill.

Today’s society tend to want everything immediately. Patience and waiting are hard. Whilst I know that waiting times for ambulances are much longer than ideal at the moment; how many of us have to wait over two days before one leaves to attend to us?

But Jesus knew what He was doing and so He waited. Once the time was right He told the disciples He was going back to Judea. The religious leaders there already wanted Jesus dead and this worried His disciples. Ironically, it is Thomas (later to be known as the doubter) who persuaded the disciples to accompany Jesus even if it meant death.

Jesus is the Light of the World. As He says, if we walk during the day (in the light) we will not stumble because we see (have) the light of the world (Jesus).

Those who walk at night stumble because the Light (Jesus) is not in them.

By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.

Decomposing!

Stinky!

Yuk!

Martha (the sister who in another passage we are told did all the chores whilst Mary sat listening to Jesus) heard Jesus was on His way and came to meet Him.

Martha says “Lord, if you had been here…” Martha knows and believes that Jesus has the power to heal. Is she declaring her faith? Or is she displaying anger that Jesus was not there in time to stop Lazarus dying? Jesus tests her and she proclaims her faith and her belief.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life and He was about to prove it whilst showing, again, through this miracle that Jesus is the Giver of Life and the Saviour. He was also showing His followers a preview of how He would be defeating death.

It is important that we understand the relevance of Lazarus having been in the tomb for four days. Jesus had raised people to life before after all, so we need to know what makes the resurrection of Lazarus so different.

Well, previously when Jesus had raised people from the dead the timescale between their death and resurrection was a great deal shorter.

Jesus needed this miracle to be determinate.

To help us understand let me explain that at that time people believed that a person’s spirit left their body on the third day after their death. On the fourth day there is no doubt. The person is really dead. Not sleeping. Dead Dead!

This was important as it meant there could be no dispute over the fact that Lazarus was actually dead before Jesus resurrected him.

Martha went to Mary and told her “The Teacher is here”. Jesus is the Ultimate Teacher. Mary went to Jesus and used the same words as her sister, “Lord, if you had been here …” Mary and the Jews with her wept. Jesus wept. But, Jesus was not mourning Lazarus. Jesus knew all along that He would be raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus wept for those who did not understand. He wept for those who had lost hope. He wept at the sight of the very suffering He came to save us from. Through Jesus believers are to grieve with hope.

Jesus went to the tomb, He called for the stone to be moved away. The stench of death was all around. Jesus prayed. He did everything with prayer. He knows God always hears Him and thanks God for this. But He also needed the crowd to see that God had sent Him and that He was acting with God’s authority.

Jesus called out in a loud voice “Lazarus, come out!” Jesus has compassion for each one of us and calls us by name.

Lazarus came out still bound in the burial cloths BUT no longer a rotting corpse. Instead he was fully and completely healed. Jesus told the crowd to unbind Lazarus and they helped free him.

Lazarus, a new creation, freed from the tomb and welcomed back to life.

Jesus died to defeat sin and death, the Ultimate Sacrifice and our Saviour is raised from the grave so we can be forgiven and reconciled with God.

Not only that but Jesus came to have a relationship with EVERYONE, not just the Jews.

So how does that affect us. Basically, we cannot experience the resurrection unless we experience death. By this I mean that we cannot accept new life in Christ, if we do not allow our old, sinful lives to die.

We need to let go of whatever is holding us back, whatever is stopping us from being a new creation in Christ.

Let us hear Jesus calling us by name, let us say goodbye to what is holding us back, let us leave the tomb and walk in the light of Jesus.

And more than that, as we are told in Romans; by believing and having faith in Jesus, what He has done, is doing and will do, we are able to take part in bringing glory to God in all we do.

Let us give Him the glory, great things He hath done.

Light the Dark

Christmas is coming
The turkey’s getting fat
Children cry for presents
Thinking that is that.

But what is forgotten
The greatest present of all time
That Lord Jesus died for us
And saved your life and mine,

It’s not about the goodies
Or about the Christmas tree
Although they’re very nice to have
And certainly not free!

It’s not about the stockings
Or the mince pies and reindeer
It’s not dear old Father Christmas
Or the so called festive cheer.

It’s not a time for greed greed greed
Or want want want want want
It’s not a time to break the bank
Or waste what we haven’t got.

It’s the time when darkness turned to light
The birthday of our Lord
A little babe who did no wrong
And who should be adored.

So whilst you’re busy having fun
And fielding demands
Remind them why we celebrate
And what our God has done.

A lowly stable’s all He had
His bed a bit of straw
Sent to us to save our souls
Our debt of sin He bore.

The stars shine bright to light His way
As angels His praises sing
So don’t forget on Christmas Day
Who gave us everything
Life everlasting
Love, hope and peace,
A light in the darkness
Be thankful at least.