The text is the story of Thomas, who isn't with the other disciples when Jesus comes to visit. When Thomas asks that he be granted the opportunity to see what the others have seen (the resurrected Jesus), Thomas gets labeled as "Doubting Thomas."
Pastor Jon said how important it is to believe what others in the community tell us. He lifted up the things which he knows to be true (knows to be true, not merely accepts as true) because a trusted member of the community has told him of these things.
My campus pastor told me that Christians are always "aliens in a strange land." His words have allowed me to be at ease, no matter how frustrated I was with the world around me.
My mother told me "those who don't know Jesus find it really difficult when someone they love dies." She said that at the funeral of her friend, as the woman's teenage daughter begged them not to lower the casket into the ground.
My intent this morning isn't to chide you if you find it difficult to believe, but to encourage you to lift up and speak of the things which you have come to believe as a result of a member of the community saying them to you. What we believe is very important and forms a foundation for our daily lives. So much of what we believe has come to us by way of trusted sisters or brothers.
Again, my intent is not to chide you for not believing me when I speak to you - but I would remind you of all the times I have told you (told you without reservation) that God loves you and cares for you and is pleased with you. I would remind you of the ability to preserve in the midst of challenges and trust that a brighter tomorrow is before you. I would say to you, once again, that the self-giving nature of Jesus may make us aliens in the many of the circles of our world but it makes us right at home in the community which bears Christ's name.
Listen; hear; believe; and speak of these things which the greatest of confidence.
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