The Afterglow

April 24, 2022 Easter 2 Year C Afterglow Opening Song Welcome to the Easter season. Easter lasts for 50 days until Pentecost. But every Sunday is Easter. Call to Worship L: Happy Easter Season! Today is the first day of the week. P: The joy of Easter still sings in our hearts. L: Breathe the breath of new life in your spirits! P: We open our hearts to all the wondrous work God has for us to do. L: Welcome to worship this glorious day! P: Let our lives be testimony to God’s redeeming love! AMEN. (Nancy C. Townley – Ministry Matters) Song – Breathe on Me Breath of God - UMH 420 Prayer of Reflection and Growth Spirit of Serenity- You tell us “peace be with you,” but we set that peace aside to live with drama and chaos. We are drawn to highly emotional situations instead of the peace that only comes from you. How can we set aside turmoil to live within your realm of peace? When we cannot sense your holy tranquility surrounding us, open our souls to your warm and calming presence. May we embrace your peace and scatter serenity into our world. Amen. (Rev. Michelle Torigian – UCC Worship Ways) Assurance of Grace The God who walks with us scatters the seeds of grace behind us and before us, allowing us to understand the future with healing and hope. Amen! (Rev. Michelle Torigian – UCC Worship Ways) Scripture John 20:19-31 Sermon – afterglow It is Easter….again. Easter is not just a day- but it is a season. Easter is a way of life. Every Sunday is Easter. I look forward to the 50 days of Easter – because the scriptures this time of year challenge each of us sitting here with our faith. – Why are we even sitting here in the first place? All of the rest of the year- we follow the life of Jesus. Jesus is a nice person who teaches us how to live right. His advice is good for us, whether we actually believe that he is the son of God, whether we actually believe in miracles, we can go along with the story. But this time of year, people can really struggle with the whole Easter story. Did a man really die and then raise from the dead? And yet Easter is the crux of our faith. Easter, not Christmas is the beginning of our story. Easter is where the rubber meets the road. The lectionary scriptures help us to think for ourselves and to come up with our definitions of church, faith, Christianity, and resurrection. What is it that you actually believe about these words? And how do your definitions affect your life. Easter is something that should live in each of our hearts. I listened to a webcast this week featuring my favorite theologian – John Dominic Crossan. Crossan has done a lot of work on the history of the resurrection. He is my favorite theologian, because when I served in Aurora, the ministerial association paid for him to come and teach a weekend class for us. Theologians are good at defining faith, but don’t always have faith. Crossan says that for us Easter is a metaphor. He says the whole bible is a metaphor – a symbol for a deeper meaning which may or may not have happened in history. But before we decide that the resurrection did not happen – let me say that Crossan points out that everything in our life is a metaphor. A metaphor is the way that we define reality. The question is not if we believe in the resurrection, the question is do we live the resurrection. When we live in the resurrection, it becomes truth. It is not about the life and death of a man 2000 years ago, but how does that story affect our actions today? How did this story affect the people who heard it? Are we still willing to tell that story today? Does the resurrection story create a better world? Our Easter scriptures are all about how witnesses responded and felt called to create the church – a community of believers. You know that bible never does say what happened to the body that was laid in the tomb. But the New Testament is full of stories of how Christ appeared to the disciples after the resurrection. If there was one set of stories, that could be someone’s opinion. But these stories are widespread in all of the gospels. It is these appearances that convinced them to write down these stories for everyone else to hear. Luke tells the story of the walk to Emmaus. We don’t look at that story this year. This year, John will be the gospel all throughout Easter. Our story today, the story of doubting Thomas appears every year. Jesus comes into a locked upper room and talks with the disciples. Thomas was not there, and refuses to believe it until he sees it himself. Thomas forever has the reputation of being a doubter. And yet the resurrection stories are double stories – there is a part of the story that we can follow easily and have faith, and some parts of the story don’t make any sense. In life, faith and doubt go hand in hand. Ants in The Pants of Faith Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving. Frederick Buechner Doubt is like a front porch. All of us go through it before we get into the house of faith. William L. Self, The Prelude to Faith, ChristianGlobe Networks All of us have to decide if we really believe the resurrection story. Is it a convenient metaphor that we tolerate, or is it the reality that we live? Encountering the Crucified Risen Lord In a Lecture Series given by D. T. Niles, he finished by saying, "Let me conclude with a story told by a famous French bishop to his congregation. Three university students of Paris were walking along the road one Good Friday afternoon. They noticed crowds of people going to the churches to make their confession. The students began to discuss this custom of the ‘unenlightened,’ and talked in rather cynical terms about the survival of religion, which they described as superstition. Suddenly two of the students turned to the third, who was the leader among them, and said to him, ‘Will you go into this church and tell the priest there what we have been saying to each other?’ ‘Sure, I will,’ he said, and went in. He stood in the same queue of those who were going to their confession, and when his turn came, he looked at the priest and said, ‘Father, I have come here merely to tell you that Christianity is a dying institution and that religion is a superstition.’ The priest looked at the young man keenly and said, ‘Why did you come here, my son, to tell me this?’ And the student told him of his conversation with his friends. The priest listened carefully and then said: ‘All right, I want you to do one thing for me before you go. You accepted the challenge of your friends and came here; now accept my challenge to you. Walk up to the chancel and you will find there a large wooden cross and on it he figure of Jesus crucified. I want you to stand before that cross and say these words: ‘Jesus died for me and I don’t care a damn.’ The student looked defiant but, to save face, agreed. He went up and stood before that cross and said it: ‘Jesus died for me and I don’t care a damn.’ He came back to he priest and said, ‘I have done it.’ ‘Do it once more,’ said the priest; ‘after all, it means nothing to you.’ The student went back and looked at the cross for some time and the figure on it, and then he stammered it out: ‘Jesus died for me and I don’t care a damn.’ He returned to the priest and said, ‘I have done it; I am going now.’ The priest stopped him. ‘Once more,’ he said, just once more and you can go. The young man walked up to the chancel and looked at that cross again, and at the Crucified. He stood there for a long time. Then he came back to the priest and said, ‘Father, can I make my confession now?’ The bishop stunned the congregation when he concluded with these words: ‘My dear people, that young man was me.’" D. T. Niles, Preaching the Gospel of the Resurrection. ______________________ We all have a personal story of why we are sitting here right now. I am here because Christ has revealed himself to me time and time again. I can believe in this story and let it center my faith. Our stories are different, our faith is different. For some of us our faith is based in signs, some of us don’t need any signs, some of us are questioning, some of us are certain, some of us have a shallow faith, some have a deep faith, some of us are faltering in faith, some are seeking , some are growing. But it is the Easter story that draws us all together in one place, on one community. As a matter of fact, each of the disciples has a different story of how they were affected by Christ’ story. You notice in today’s scripture Jesus didn’t chastise Thomas for doubting, he understood. We don’t know a whole lot about Thomas situation. He is named in the other 3 gospels, but nothing is said. John only briefly mentions his twice. Some think he may have been John’s brother, or even Jesus brother. He becomes a missionary to India, and is reportedly killed by a Hindu priest who didn’t appreciate him converting people. December 21st the traditional day that he is remembered. There is a gospel of Thomas that is not included in our bible. John is the only disciple who was not killed while spreading the gospel. John’s message to us – Jesus was the messiah, we can believe his story and form our faith around it. Beleiving is not just about reading the bible, or praying a certain prayer, or a set of actions to do to guarantee going to heaven. Believing is a way of life that feeds your soul and gives you the strength to go forward. Believing is living a life that radiates and helps others to see God clearly. When Jesus tells Thomas that he is blessed, but those who believe without actually seeing the nails in Jesus hands are even more blessed – Jesus is inviting us to become a part of the Easter story. We today can live the Easter story and become witnesses to the resurrection. We can believe in a way that truly changes circumstances. You know, your can only believe in something that you belove. Easter in Us The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote an ambitious poem entitled 'The Wreck of the Deutschland.' It commemorates the death of five Franciscan nuns drowned on the German ship Deutschland at the mouth of the Thames in the winter of 1875. One half-line especially intrigues me: 'Let him Easter in us.' Let Christ 'Easter' in us. A rare verb indeed, but it suits this sacred season, ... How does Christ Easter in us? In three wondrous ways: (1) By a faith that rises above doubt. (2) By a hope that conquers despair. (3) By a love that does justice. Walter J. Burghardt, Let Christ Easter in Us, Dare to Be Christ: Homilies for the Nineties (Mahwah, NJ.: Paulist Press, 1991), 51. Amen. Let us pray…. Prayer Patient God, you know us better than we want. We like to think that we can fool you with our bravado and high-flung phrases of faith. We hear the story of doubting Thomas and think “What a fool he was!”. We think that we would never have doubted. And in our arrogance we preen and strut about. But you know us fully. You know that we all have our moments of doubts and fears. We all wonder where you are. We want to know that everything is going to turn out for the best. We are frightened. And in our fear we cannot even face our own doubts. Help us to understand your forgiving grace. Help us to know that you understand our weakness and confusion and that your love extends to us in spite of that weakness. Strengthen our faith and our commitment to you. As we have offered prayers for those near and dear to us; as we have lifted situations of darkness and fear before your throne of grace, help us to be people who truly believe that you hear our prayers and answer them. Where we have not seen, give us faith to believe in all you have said and done. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN. (Nancy C. Townley – Ministry Matters) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment The risen Christ appeared to his disciples a week after his resurrection. John tells us Thomas was there (along with the others), and Christ gave them all new energy as he spoke simple words: “peace be with you.” Today, we have opportunity to follow the Christ, giving new energy and hope to those struggling with fear, despair, scarcity, hunger or loneliness. We share the peace of Christ with our neighbors, our sisters and brothers, through offering our time, our talents and our treasure. Your gifts today help provide (use specifics from your own congregation, as you can…or fill in with this general statement:) “hope, abundance, food, relationships and deep peace.” In the coming weeks, our offering will be translated into resources, sharing Christ’s peace with our own community and beyond. As you have been blessed, so now you are invited to become a blessing for others as we receive our morning offering. Offertory Doxology Prayer of Thanksgiving God of Life and Love, we rejoice in the new life the risen Christ continues to bring to a weary world. So receive these gifts, and allow them to be multiplied and translated into all that will become PEACE for our neighbors, near and far. Build us up, that we might grow in our capacity to give, and to live out Christ’s love for each and for all. AMEN (Center for Faith and Giving) Song I Love to Tell the Story - UMH 156 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Peace to you from the One who is and was, and is to come. Grace and peace to you from the One who loves us and frees us, the One who gives us repentance and forgiveness. As God sent Jesus into the world, so the Spirit now sends us to continue God’s holy work. To God be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen. (Bill Hopp – Ministry Matters) Community Time Benediction Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! We are an Easter people! Live into the hope of Christ’s resurrection! May the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with you now and always. Amen. (Terri McDowell Ott – Presbyterian Outlook) Children’s Time John 20:19-23 describes Jesus' first postresurrection encounter with the disciples. His appearance tells us two things about his resurrected body. First, he appears inside a locked room; his "new" body is not like the physical body he had before death. Second, his body bears the wounds of crucifixion; his body is still the same. Children will be curious about this. During this encounter, Jesus reassured his disciples that he was indeed alive, and then he put them to work. The message to children is that Easter is not an ending; it is a new chapter in God's work. On Easter evening, Jesus is already looking ahead. He gives his disciples the gift of the Spirit and sends them out, saying, "As the Father sent me, so I send you." To help the children identify what the Father sent Jesus to do, explore key stories about Jesus' ministry. Their challenge is then to find ways to do that kind of work today. Just as Jesus fed the hungry crowd, children can work to help relieve hunger. Just as Jesus befriended the friendless, children can make friends with the lonely people they meet, and so forth. The story of Thomas reassures children that the Risen Lord is still the kind, understanding Jesus. Thomas, who was left out of the first encounter with Jesus, raises the kinds of questions any child might raise. Jesus is not offended by the questions, but honors them and offers to let Thomas touch the wounds, if that's what it takes to answer his questions. In so doing, Jesus blesses all our questions. No honest question is too silly, disrespectful, or unworthy to be asked and answered (or at least discussed). 1. These texts and those for the following Sundays suggest a sermon series about Easter People. Explore who the Easter People are, what they do, and what they are like. Challenge worshipers of all ages to see themselves as Easter People. Consider giving each worshiper a small token, perhaps a plastic or metal cross to carry in a pocket each day during the coming weeks, as a reminder that each of them is one of the Easter People. Ask the choir to sing Avery and Marsh's song, "Every Day Is Easter Day," today and several times during the series. From today's texts we learn that Easter People experience God's peace (John), praise God (Psalms), obey God first (Acts), and are sent to serve (Revelation and John). Additional Illustrations If I were to mention the names of certain disciples to you and ask you to write down the first word that comes into your mind, it is unlikely you would come up with the same words. If I were to mention the name of Judas many of you would write down the word "betray" but not all of you. If I were to mention Simon Peter, some of you would write down the word "faith," but not all of you. If I were to mention the names of James and John, some of you would write down the phrase "Sons of Thunder," but not all of you. But when I mention the word Thomas, there is little question about the word most everyone would write down. It would be the word doubt. Indeed, so closely have we associated Thomas with this word, that we have coined a phrase to describe him: “Doubting Thomas.” You may be interested to know that in the first three gospels we are told absolutely nothing at all about Thomas. It is in John’s Gospel that he emerges as a distinct personality, but even then there are only 155 words about him. There is not a lot about this disciple in the Bible but there is more than one description. When Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem the disciples thought that it would be certain death for all of them. Surprisingly, it was Thomas who said: Then let us go so that we may die with him. It was a courageous statement, yet we don’t remember him for that. We also fail to point out that in this story of Thomas’ doubt we have the one place in the all the Gospels where the Divinity of Christ is bluntly and unequivocally stated. It is interesting, is it not, that the story that gives Thomas his infamous nickname, is the same story that has Thomas making an earth shattering confession of faith? Look at his confession, “My Lord, and my God.” Not teacher. Not Lord. Not Messiah. But God! It is the only place where Jesus is called God without qualification of any kind. It is uttered with conviction as if Thomas was simply recognizing a fact, just as 2 + 2 = 4, and the sun is in the sky. You are my Lord and my God! These are certainly not the words of a doubter. Unfortunately history has remembered him for this scene where the resurrected Christ made an appearance to the disciples in a home in Jerusalem… ________________________ We Know Where We Are Going The story is told about Albert Einstein, the brilliant physicist of Princeton University in the early 20th century. Einstein was traveling from Princeton on a train, and when the conductor came down the aisle to punch the passengers’ tickets, Einstein couldn’t find his. He looked in his vest pocket, he looked in his pants pocket, he looked in his briefcase, but there was no ticket. The conductor was gracious; “Not to worry, Dr. Einstein, I know who you are, we all know who you are, and I’m sure you bought a ticket.” As the conductor moved down the aisle, he looked back and noticed Einstein on his hands and knees, searching under the seat for his ticket. The conductor returned to Einstein; “Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry. I know who you are. You don’t need a ticket, I’m sure you bought one.” Einstein arose and said “Young man, I too know who I am; what I don’t know is where I am going.” And that is the good news of Easter; that we know where we are going. We have been told by the Savior that his life and death has promised us life eternal. And Low Sundays don’t change that promise. And unemployment doesn’t change that promise. Neither does divorce, or bankruptcy, or cancer, or depression, or felony, or failure. Through elation and deflation and every emotion in between, this truth remains; we know whose we are and we know where we are going, because the Son of God has promised. And this, my friends, is faith. Steven Molin, Elated....Deflated Peace Be With You...It Already Is! Theologian Karl Barth once remarked that to say the old line from the creed, "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church" does not mean that we believe in the church. It means rather to believe that God is present and at work in the church, that "in this assembly, the work of the Holy Spirit takes place. ... We do not believe in the Church: but we do believe that in this congregation the work of the Holy Spirit becomes an event." Barth's words rang true for me some years ago, when I was invited by a church in a nearby town to be the worship leader at a special evening communion service. The church staff had planned this service to be educational as well as worshipful. The idea was that, first, the congregation would gather in the sanctuary and I would give a brief talk about the meanings of the Lord's Supper. Then, we would go into the fellowship hall and be seated around tables for the service itself. At each table there would be the flour and other ingredients to form the dough for the communion loaves. The plan called for each table to prepare a loaf and, while the loaves baked in the ovens of the church kitchen, the people at each table were to engage in various exercises designed to get them talking about their experiences in the faith. It was a good idea, but like many well-planned events, things looked better on the drawing board than they turned out in reality. There were problems. Children at many tables began to play in the baking ingredients, and white clouds of flour floated around the room coating everybody and everything. There were delays in the kitchen, and the communion bread baked with agonizing slowness. Some of the tables ran out of things to say; children grew weary and fussy; the room was filled with commotion and restlessness. The planners had dreamed of an event of excitement, innovation, peak learning, and moving worship. What happened was noise, exhaustion, and people making the best of a difficult situation. In other words, despite the rosy plans, it was the real church worshipping down there in the church basement. Finally, the service ended, and, with no little relief, I was able to pronounce the benediction. "The peace of Christ be with you all," I said, and just as I did, a child's voice from somewhere in the room called out strong and true, "It already is." Just that -- "It already is" -- but with those words the service was transformed into an event of joy and holy mystery. That small voice captured what the Gospel of John is trying to say. In the midst of a church that can claim nothing for itself, a church of noise, confusion, weariness, and even fear, the risen Christ comes to give peace. The peace of Christ be with you? Because the risen Christ comes to inhabit our empty places, then, as the child said, "It already is," and the church with nothing becomes the church with everything. Thomas G. Long, Whispering The Lyrics, CSS Publishing Watch and You'll See This story is about three accountants who doubted their three engineer friends. They were traveling by train to a conference. The accountants bought three tickets, but the engineers only bought one. "How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" an accountant asked. "Watch and you'll see," said an engineer. They all boarded the train. The accountants took their seats, but the three engineers crammed into a restroom and closed the door behind them. The train departed the station and soon the conductor came through the car asking for tickets. He knocked on the restroom door and said, "Ticket, please." The door opened a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor took it and moved on. The accountants agree that this is a rather clever idea so after the conference, they decide to duplicate the engineers' feat. They buy only one ticket, but are astonished when the engineers buy no ticket at all! "How are you going to travel without a ticket?" the accountants ask. Watch and you'll see, reply the engineers. When they boarded the train, the accountants crammed into a restroom with their ticket while the three engineers did the same in a nearby restroom. After the train departed the station, one of the engineers left the restroom and walked over to the restroom where the accountants were hiding. He knocked on the door and said, "Ticket, please." Author unknown Just Because We Can't See It A junior high school teacher was telling her class about evolution and how the way everything in the world was formed proved that God doesn’t exist. She said, “Look out the window. You can’t see God, can you?” The kids shook their heads. “Look around you in this room. You can’t see God, can you?” The kids shook their heads. “Then our logical conclusion is that God doesn’t exist, does He?” she asked at last, certain that she had won her audience over. But one girl from the back of the classroom said, “Miss Smith, just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We could do brain surgery and investigate the parts of your brain and we could do a CAT scan and see the brain patterns in your head. But we couldn’t prove that you’ve had a single thought today. Does that mean that you haven’t thought anything today? Just ‘cause you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Seeing is believing, right? But, “just ‘cause you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” C. T. Powell, "Seeing Is Believing" What’s the Good Word? A student from Korea was complaining about how difficult it is to learn the English language. He felt that American idioms were particularly difficult to comprehend. He said that he had studied English for nine years in preparation for attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On his first day at the school, as he was walking across the campus, an American student casually greeted him with, "Hi, What's the good word?" The Korean boy stopped dead in his tracks. He thought to himself: "I don't know the good word! You would have thought that after nine years of studying English, someone would have told me what "˜the good word' was!" Later, trying to solve this puzzle, he decided to turn the tables and ask an American, "What's the good word?" and listen to his reply. So, approaching a fellow student, he repeated, "Hi! What's the good word?" The quick response was, "Oh, not much. How about you?" It was obvious that neither of these students knew what the good word was. It's a rather plastic greeting. But I can tell you the good word for today: Christ the Lord is risen. That's the Good Word. And because it is; it says a great deal about our lives. Brett Blair and King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com I Just Have Questions Some of you are familiar with Jerry Kramer—he used to play professional football—now he writes. In one of his books he reflects on his own mortality. He says: "I think a lot about death these days, which is funny too, because I’ve never been healthier. I’ve had only one serious illness in the past ten years—only one near-death experience. I haven’t broken a bone, not even a finger, since I stopped playing football. And yet, now more than ever, I sense that I’m mortal." He confesses: "A year ago, I lost my father to cancer, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over his death. In some ways, I think it was more difficult for the family than it was for him. Dad was a very religious man and he was ready to go. Sometimes I wish I had that kind of faith—but I don’t. I just have questions." "Taking Their Word for It," by Dr. Leigh Bond Joy I recently saw a news report about an Army veteran named John Crabtree who had been receiving benefits from the government. Evidently he had been wounded in Vietnam and was now on permanent disability. One day, out of the blue, he received an official notification from the government of his own death. Needless to say, this was quite a shock! Mr. Crabtree wrote the government a letter stating that he was indeed very much alive and would like to continue receiving his benefits. The letter did no good. He then tried calling the government. (Have you ever tried to call the government? This required the patience of Job and the persistence of Noah!) The phone calls didn't change the situation either. Finally, as a last resort, the veteran contacted a local television station, which ran a human-interest story about his situation. During the interview, the reporter asked him, "How do you feel about this whole ordeal?" The veteran chuckled and said, "Well, I feel a little frustrated by it. After all, have you ever tried to prove that you're alive?" That's a pretty good question for all of us. Could you prove that you are alive? Really, genuinely, deep-down alive? When was the last time you had an alive moment? Not the last time you took a breath or had your heart beat inside your chest, but the last time you felt yourself alive to your living, alive to your loving, deeply present with the gift of life itself?" R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense, St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1996, 116-117. A Seeking Doubt Someone described Thomas' doubt as a "seeking doubt, a doubt that wants not to continue to doubt but to come to believe." Thomas makes it clear to us that there is more than one kind of doubt. There is the kind of doubt that does not want to believe, that reaches for arguments in order to deny the affirmations of the faith. But there is also that "seeking doubt." This is a person who earnestly wants to believe but honestly admits that he struggles to understand. This kind of doubt actually energizes and expands faith. Mickey Anders, A Doubt That Leads to Faith, ChristianGlobe Networks __________________________ Bereavement Visions vs. Resurrection Visions I was traumatized by a tragic death several years ago, so I am personally familiar with the phenomena that bereaved people experience. I can speak out of personal experience. Right off the bat I can see very significant differences between bereavement visions and the resurrection accounts. I was the only person who saw my bereavement visions, and I was very much aware at the time that they weren’t part of the reality I live in. I saw them out of the corner of my eye, in a flash, in a dream, or in the foggy moments while awakening from sleep. The vision went away as soon as I looked at it directly or became fully awake. The visions were momentary and fleeting, but they were comforting and helped me make peace with what I had witnessed. From what I have read, my experience was normal and typical for a person who had witnessed a tragic death. The resurrection accounts do not fit this pattern. There were multiple witnesses who were all wide awake at the time, the duration of the incidents was too long, and skeptics, such as Thomas, could see them. Thomas was not an exceptional case. All of the disciples were skeptical of the resurrection until they saw the Risen Jesus, only then were they convinced, and the resurrection appearances did not comfort them, they emboldened and energized them. Bereavement visions comfort the bereaved; they do not end the bereavement, as the resurrection appearances did. Bereavement visions certainly do not charge up a person to the degree that they can evangelize the world and march fearlessly into death! There is no doubt in my mind that the disciples must have experienced the same sort of bereavement phenomena as I did. However, the resurrection accounts in the gospels are something entirely different. Whatever the resurrection accounts are, they are not the phenomena that accompany bereavement. I have heard a lot of Thomas-bashing in sermons and in Sunday school, but notice it does not occur in this passage. No one criticizes or rebukes Thomas for his lack of faith or for his skepticism. The passage does not tell us about how they put Thomas in his place, rather it tells us how Thomas was surprised! Thomas says he won’t believe until he can see for himself that Jesus is alive. What happens next? Do they heard Jesus’ voice booming through the room, rebuking Thomas and imposing some penalty on him? No! Jesus immediately appears and meets his demands! Jesus did not criticize Thomas for wanting physical evidence, but rather blessed those who believe without it. So if Jesus didn’t penalize Thomas for doubting the resurrection, He certainly won’t penalize you if you have misgivings about it. You are not saved by your beliefs but by your faith; by your reliance on Jesus Christ. Ken Collins, A Surprise Appearance _____________________________ No Substitutes Sometime back a writer at the web site www.TheOnion.com published a fake press release. The press release was touting an imaginary snack food meant to ease what the writer called, the "hideously bleak emptiness of modern life." The writer described this snack like this: "We're proud to introduce T.C. McCrispee's as the antidote you've been reaching out for. Our tasty new snack cracker will, if only for a few lovely moments, significantly lessen the aching, gnawing angst that haunts your very soul." According to this press release, participants in taste tests testified that the "satisfying crunch distracted them from the parade of tears that is life." A fictitious spokesperson summed up the campaign by saying: "We're selling the salty, unctuous illusions of happiness." And, of course, it is an illusion. Peace is not found in a snack food. Or a chemical. What are drugs--or alcohol, for that matter--but an inferior way to chemically induce peace of mind? Jesus said, "Peace be with you." But how and where do we find that peace? King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ____________________________ Doubt is not the opposite of Faith, but a part of it. As the poet Tennyson put it: “There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds.” It is significant that the English word “belief” is related to the word “love”. Originally, the things that people “believed” were what they held “beloved”. For too long the dogmas and doctrines of the Church have effectively locked the doors to keep out the doubters. Thomas’s doubt is not non-belief in some credal statement or other, but a lack of confidence to trust in the present reality of the Love of God. Keith Whyte