Having Rabbi Lerner as a guest preacher this week, we didn’t get to hear this story, but the week after Easter is traditionally Doubting Thomas’ Sunday. It’s a good Sunday to have guest preachers, actually… since the pastors are always exhausted after Holy Week. So, many a seminarian has cut their homiletical teeth, preaching their first sermon ever, on this Guest Preacher Sunday. I’ll point you to the scripture traditionally read (here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+20%3A24-29&version=NRSV) , or remind those of you who know it well that Thomas insists he will not believe Christ is risen until he can touch his wounds with his own hands. Christ obliges, of course, at his next post-resurrection appearance, and says “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Churches don’t always make a lot of room for doubts, but we should. Because Jesus did, for one, and because without doubters – the people who doubt, that is – we wouldn’t even have much church left. If you eliminated everyone whose beliefs differed from the party line, the church would be slim indeed. From the earliest days the church argued over almost everything, and even the central event of our faith – the resurrection – was up for debate, as Paul writes to the Corinthians, “if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?” (I Cor 15:12). The history of our faith is so wide and diverse and full of disagreements, it’s foolish to try to sweep these differences of belief under the rug. They are nothing to be ashamed of, and in fact, they can be our strength.
I share this by way of invitation. One of our Family Life Small Groups, “Drinks and Doubts,” is due to begin next Friday 4/15, and there is still room for four or five more people to join us. It will be held on Fridays, 5:30-7 PM, at rotating locations (I’ll host the first one). RSVP to me if you’d like to join us, and bring your doubts out to play!
Every Blessing,
Talitha
PS I’ll be at Lake Tahoe on retreat with the youth group this weekend. Wish us well, and don’t expect any email replies from me until Tuesday when I’ve recovered!
Pictured above: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubting_Thomas#
