Episode Transcript
Hello friends and welcome back to Gritz and the Gospel. All I'm going to name is Reverend Katie Griffiths and it is good to be with you the second Sunday of Easter as we work our way through the Lechurchable calendar. We are now in the season of Easter. It doesn't mean that you have to have the Easter Bunny back, but it means that you get to keep eating those Reese eggs, which are my favorite. So, I hope you enjoyed your Easter services and I hope that you will enjoy this week's sermon. Just as much as I enjoyed writing it is always a good thing that we get to redeem Thomas every year. And I am excited to share this message with you. Let us now come together in a time of worship on the second Sunday of Easter, the Lord be with you. And also with you. Today's Psalm is the 150th Psalm. It is the last Psalm of the book and it is a wonderful way to remind us as we finish that book of a way for us to praise the Lord for all the things that we have been celebrating this Easter season. So here now the Word of the Lord and Psalm 150. Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty firmament. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His surpassing greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound. Praise Him with lute and praise Him with tambourine and dance. Praise Him with strings and pipe. Praise Him with clanging symbols. Praise Him with loud clashing symbols. Let everything that breathes. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. The Word of God for us, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Excuse me. Let us come together now in this Easter season and say this word to the Apostles Creed, those things that we believe and continue to believe all the year long. Friends what do we believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ is only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. The third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven and stood at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Let us pray together. Through the Lord as we come together today with our doubts, with our unbelief, turn them in to beliefs strong and sure, things that we hold fast, things that we can believe in and trust in, just like Thomas was able to see and believe after he touched the holes in your hands. And put his hand in your side. Hear us now as we pray those words that your Son, our Savior taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name by kingdom come, by will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And we just not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Today's Gospel lesson is a continuation of the Gospel according to John. We are moving on through verse in chapter 20 to verse 19 through and ending in verse 31. Here now the Word of the Lord. When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were 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 a sod, then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. And 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 him 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 nail and 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 him. 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. And 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 sons and the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. And through believing you may have life and his name, the Word of God, for us the people of God. Thanks be to God. Would you pray with me? Do Lord as this message was given to me, let it touch the lives of those who hear it. With the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and my sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen. The following is a list of things I have doubted recently. I have doubted that a letter I mailed would arrive at its destination. I have doubted that the pollen would ever go away. I have doubted if I have ever had a more delicious cup of strawberry ice cream. I have doubted that Auburn would ever win another football game. I have doubted that I would find the courage to get out of bed. I have doubted that the FedEx truck could find my house. I have doubted that the braves would win a game. I have doubted that I would ever see a sunset that would be quite so beautiful. I have doubted that I can ever find love again. I have doubted a putt would go in. I have doubted my ability to get over my senioritis and finish my papers. I have doubted that my knees would hold up. I have doubted my eyesight. I have doubted myself. Doubt is a normal part of life. Doubt and questioning often give way to growth, reimagining and belief. So why do we give Thomas such a hard time? Each and every year an electionary this Sunday after Easter, we vilify Thomas for his doubt. We bully him and pick on him and call him names and warn everyone else not to be like that silly doubting Thomas. Never doubt how dare he question that Jesus had risen. What a scoundrel. We don't have to look too far in the rearview mirror to find several other people in Scripture who had just as much doubt. Here in the 20th chapter of John, we see Simon Peter and even the one who Jesus loved doubt what they were saying at the tomb. Even Mary Magdalene doubted and didn't believe what she was seeing and heard from the angels. She didn't even recognize Jesus until he said her name. Even the disciples who were locked in her room when Jesus appeared didn't believe it was him until they saw his hands and feet. They all doubted every one of them on some level doubted what they were seeing. They all had to see or hear to believe. So what in the world do we pick on Thomas? He makes a perfectly reasonable request. Unless I see the mark of the nail in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side I will not believe. I am sure I have no doubt at all that if someone walked in this church right now and said they were Jesus, I would have some serious questions about the whole thing. The questions may be different than the rest of the disciples, the ones that they had, all those thousands of years ago. But there will be plenty of doubt and questions that I would have before I believed. Mary Magdalene, the Hannah owned disbelief as well, all of them, once they were able to really see that it was indeed Jesus believed and shared the gospel. Throughout scripture we see people doubting Moses doubted that he could lead because he had a stutter. So doubted that God was still there, Elizabeth doubted that she was still able to have a child, Zachariah doubted so much that God took his voice. Even the founder of Methodism had his doubts. John Wesley struggled with the faith he was given from his mother and the things he heard in scripture. He didn't always believe what he was preaching. He preached what he was inspired today to say. He did that until he believed it. It took that famous moment at Aldersgate for him to really see and believe all that he had heard and preached on for so many years. The famous quote says this in the evening, went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate street. Where one was reading Martin Luther's preface to the epistle of Romans about a quarter before nine when he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith and Christ. I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ Christ alone for salvation and an assurance was given me that he had all had taken away my sins, even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death. Did you know that at Camer, we have temporary tattoos that we give out in the shape of a heart that says strangely warmed. I have a stress ball in the shape of a heart that says it to. John Wesley's moment of belief has become the official unofficial slogan of the United Methodist Church. I'm sure he would be thrilled to know that this moment of belief is now burned on people's flesh, however, temporarily. There's a clue in the book of John about why they pick on Thomas. It tells us that even after the revelation of Jesus to his disciples, he did other things to convince people to change their doubt that he had indeed been raised from the dead. Verse 30 and 31 tell us this. Now Jesus did many other signs and the present of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. When you'd love to know what those things were, most people, it seemed, need a little convincing of this amazing story. So I want to redeem Thomas. Tom doesn't deserve the finger wagging that he seems to get. I think that instead of looking at him and the other disciples for that matter as doubting, I think we should look at them as believing. Simon Peter doubted and then believed. Mary Magdalene doubted and then believed the disciples scared and locked in a room doubted and then believed Thomas who was not there with the twelve to get the chance to see the holes in his hands doubted, but then he came to believe. I think because they had the chance to doubt and question and see and believe each one of these men and women were much stronger witnesses to the people that they went out and spoke to. They could say to people, yeah, I get it. It sounds pre-walled. I didn't believe it at first either, but then I saw the holes in his hands. I put my hand in the hole in his side. I heard him speak. I saw him eat. I believe because I have seen and you can believe too. It is a much more powerful witness when we have doubt, but then we believe. Doubt it seems as a natural part of life. Belief of faith and of witness. My own faith is stronger because I have question things. I have doubted things. I have pondered things. I have taken the time to work things out and study and grow. My faith and my relationship with God are better than they were before I went to camera. They are better after loss and struggle. There are things that I have doubted. So call me down and Katie if you want to. But if you call me that, you also have to call me believing Katie. Just like we should call Tom, believing Thomas. Here are some things that I believe. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and sits at God's right hand. I believe that my voice as a woman is just as important as that of a man. I believe that nats are God's creatures, but serve no purpose at all. I believe that we are more alike than we are different. I believe that even in the darkest moments, there is always hope. I believe that we are all created in God's image. I believe that Auburn is now a basketball school. I believe that water falling over rocks can heal my soul. I believe in the Trinity. I believe that the smell of freshly cut grass is the smell of summer. I believe that my balcony saints are watching over me. I believe that animals are the greatest healers that God has ever given us. I believe that the best sandwich is a tomato sandwich on sun beam white bread with dukes mayonnaise. I believe that the second best sandwich is an ice cream sandwich. I believe I am a child of God. Moses, Job, Elizabeth, Zachariah, Mary Magdalene, Thomas, and the rest of the disciples. And even John Wesley all came to believe. They all went on to be great witnesses and carried their faith and beliefs throughout the world for centuries. If God can do amazing things with their doubt and belief, imagine what He can do with ours. Imagine the great witnesses we can be if we show that it is okay to have doubt. That it is okay to question and push back and struggle. That God is still there. Just like Jesus was still there for His disciples, He helped them believe He showed them just how much He loved them. And by reading and sharing their stories, generations of people have come to believe as well. Let all of our doubts become beliefs and let all of those who have doubts see us and start to believe as well. Amen. As we go throughout this week, let us all take time to examine the things that we doubt and struggle with them and question them and rely on God to help them become beliefs because in life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen.
