On Sunday at church we looked at the story of Thomas encountering the resurrected Christ. It was a wonderful experiential evening. My friend Tonya was teaching and she insightfully put together four different encounters based on different learning styles. There was a kinesthetic station of body prayer, an verbal station of telling the story, a tactile station of re-affirming faith through touching physical objects and a visual station with various artists' depictions of the story as well as a video of Nickel Creek's Doubting Thomas song. (I led this station; a few of the art works are shown here.)
Thomas often gets a bad wrap. Matthew 28:17 tells us that more than just Thomas doubted. Mark 16:14 says that Jesus rebuked all the disciples for their lack of faith. Thomas just didn't happen to be present when the rest of them first saw Him.
We all have doubts. Doubts are good. Without going through doubts our faith seldom goes deeper. Doubts mean we're thinking; we're interacting; we're engaged. Faith is a gift from God--not something we can produce ourselves. And just as Christ came to Thomas, He meets us where we are. And Thomas went on to do great things, supposedly being the only disciple who took the gospel outside of the Roman Empire to Syria and India.
So, don't be afraid to be a "Doubting Thomas." Just don't let your doubts hold you back.
1 comment:
Pastor Cecelia also had a great sermon on Thomas on Sunday. Podcast it if you can. She had a different take and it really resonated with me.
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