John 20:19-31
2nd Sunday of Easter
Do you have a brain? :-)
How do you know for sure? You can't see it. Those in medical school get to see someone else's, but you can not see your own. Even an MRI is just a magnetic image of the real thing, but not the actual thing. We come to believe that we have a brain because we learn how to recognize the benefit the brain gives to us.
Is there oxygen in the air we're breathing, right now? :-)
How do we know for sure? We can't see it. Again, we come to believe there's oxygen in the air because we learn to recognize the benefit that oxygen gives to us.
Our brains, and oxygen are two examples of things we believe without seeing, because we come to learn how to recognize the benefits they provide us. In today's text, Jesus blesses Thomas with the opportunity to believe by seeing and touching his resurrected body. But, then Jesus immediately turns the attention away from himself and from Thomas toward all of us today who come to believe without the benefit of seeing. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who do not see, and yet believe."
We are those who have come to believe without seeing. It's not easy for us. I think sometimes we would all prefer to have our own personal Thomas experience, where we get the opportunity to actually see the risen body of Jesus. But, Jesus has ascended to the Father. We do not get to see, but Jesus did leave behind the Holy Spirit. His risen body may be in heaven, but his Spirit lives among us. It's the Holy Spirit that we encounter. And, by the Spirit we come to believe in the resurrection of Jesus---something we can not see.
I once worked with a man named Dave. Dave was blind. He was a truly remarkable inspiration to anyone with capable eyes to see. His blindness didn't stop him, or even slow him down from most things. His talent to interpret the world around him was jaw-dropping. He made use of his sense of touch, and hearing in ways that astounded we sighted people. The enhancements made to his other senses in order to compensate for his lack of sight seemed at times unbelievable. Dave could not see, but he became a blessing and an inspiration to everyone around him. "Blessed are those who do not see, and yet believe."
Faith in Jesus makes all of us who believe like Dave. Our faith is blind. We do not get to see Jesus, and yet with enhancements to our other senses we come to believe without seeing. We come to see, without the need for actually seeing. We do not get the privilege of seeing the risen Jesus. But, that does not mean we are incapable of believing in the resurrection. It simply means that our other senses need to be enhanced so that we learn to recognize the resurrection by its benefits.
Let's start with the sense of touch. We do not get to actually touch the body of the risen Jesus. But, that doesn't mean we are incapable of recognizing how we feel when His presence is near to us. Now, let me be clear, I am not referring to feeling some sort of strange movement of air as if the Holy Spirit were to behave merely as some sort of ghost or apparition. While there are stories of these sorts of theophanies in the bible, I'm mainly referring to our emotions. The work of Jesus is the same now as it was when he lived before the resurrection. His work among us is the work of compassion, love, friendship, sacrifice, forgiveness, generosity, etc. The first words the risen Jesus says to the apostles is "Peace be with you." When we feel that sense of peacefulness--shalom--this is the risen Jesus. Also, when we are passionate for justice, for righteous causes we are feeling the risen Lord's passion.
Hearing is enhanced when faith is blind as well. With our ears we hear the Word of God in scripture, worship, and prayer. But, as we grow in faith so grows our hearing. We become capable of hearing Christ's Word in art, music, literature, stories of love, sacrifice, and courage. By studying scripture, growing in faith, we enhance our hearing to compensate for our lack of sight.
Even our sense of taste is enhanced. "Taste and see that the Lord is good" the Psalmist says. Taste and SEE! Our sense of taste receives Holy Communion and believes that here in this moment the very presence of Christ is with me, and our faith is enhanced to believe and even taste a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.
We may not be able to see the risen Jesus. But, by practicing our faith; studying scripture together, attending worship regularly, prayer, charity, etc., we enhance our other senses to be able to recognize the resurrection without ever seeing it. We come to believe in the resurrected Jesus in the same way we come to believe that we have a brain, or that there is oxygen in the air. We learn to recognize the benefits. In other words, we come to believe in the resurrected Christ, because we learn to recognize the works of the risen Christ.
We learn to recognize what forgiveness looks like,
what love looks like,
what joy looks like,
what grace looks like.
We may not see Jesus, but we know what his work looks like.
Finally, we may not see Jesus, but we know that he was a human like us. Jesus may not have a body that lives among us any more. But, when we come together as the church, we are his body. When the church works together, worships together, prays together, we can see Jesus, alive and well, in the hearts and passions of each other.
Do you have a brain; is there oxygen in this room? Of course!
Has Jesus been raised from the dead? Of course!
And all who believe without seeing are blessed. We are blessed not just for our own spiritual encouragement, but we are blessed like my friend Dave; blessed to be a blessing for others.
Lord God, open the eyes of my heart, that I may see you and believe that you are with me always, and that you are in charge and have secured my future with you eternally. In Jesus' name. Amen
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