Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." John 20: 24-25, NIV

I like Thomas, a LOT. He was never one to hold back and he always spoke his mind ... a LOT like me! AND Thomas demands proof ... a lot like MANY of us. How hard is it to believe in the unseen ... well, for some. It seems that I have friends who find it easier to believe in ghosts than in a resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.  But back to Thomas. Thomas seems to be a man who doesn't believe in a thing just on the word of those around him. He is not a gullible kind of guy (so UNLIKE me!). When the others excitedly tell Thomas "guess what, Jesus was just here! We SAW Him!! We SPOKE with Him!!!", Thomas' response is almost a guffaw - a "yeah right and I saw flying monkeys this morning!" I love that about Thomas because he so - well, so everyman.

Now admittedly you tell me ANYTHING under the sun and I typically believe it but there are not many out there in the world like that. Most people are like Thomas - disbelieving until shown. Doubting until evidenced. Requiring proof to know. Thomas is often referred to as the 'doubting Thomas'. Pastor John implied in a previous blog entry (see A Word from John) of another title for Thomas and I am extremely curious to see where he will be going with his sermon message this week.

Back to the story of Thomas though. Jesus comes into the room and walks up to Thomas and gives him the opportunity to have the evidential proof that he requires. He allows Thomas to touch the places of woundedness. Now up to this point nobody has been allowed to touch the resurrected Jesus so I find this quite an honor. Thomas doubts that Christ was among the disciples earlier and Christ, instead of reprimanding the man for his disbelief, he offers himself to Thomas. Wow.

Wow! That's it isn't it? Christ offers himself to us, continually. Whether we believe or not Christ makes himself available for examination, criticism, and proof.  Wow ... (the light bulb goes on!) ...

Lord Jesus, may I always be aware of your availability to me and may all of us, each and every one of us, find our way to belief in You.

Until next time,
peace and blessings to each of you.

I'm about 100% sure that John is NOT going to preach a "ghostly" visage of Jesus this Sunday however the text lends itself to going there and I can't help myself.

You see, the passage for this coming Sunday is from the Gospel of John and is the account of Jesus visiting 10 of the remaining 11 disciples in the Upper Room - a room that they are all securely locked in afraid of their own possible arrests. And yet, there in the scripture appears Jesus, just words after letting us know that the disciples are behind locked doors.

How is that? Is he some visage? A ghost? Spirit? Ethereal shadowy mist that can slip under the door frame or materialize through walls?

Well actually, none of that is important. What is important is that there are a group of disciples hiding from the world behind closed and locked doors. Not exactly what Jesus had intended of his disciples. So, he visits them -
"Peace be with you, my peace I give to you."
What amazing words - how calming a presence Jesus must have been to the terrified disciples.

How many times in my own life am I just like those 10 disciples, afraid of my own shadow, afraid of leaving safety and venturing into the unknown and possibly threatening world to be the hands and feet of Christ? Truth be told I am almost ALWAYS terrified of the different, the unknown, the uncomfortable. I don't fear harm or arrest but nevertheless I fear.

And so I sit here and wait for the calming words of Christ to wash over me - "Peace be with you, my peace I give to you."

May I accept the peace of Christ and offer such to the broken and outcast of the world.

Peace to you all,
memonica

Lent is past - Easter morning is but a memory. Now we move into Easter Tide, the time between Easter and Pentecost.

True North will be moving into a series of resurrected Jesus sightings for the next six-weeks beginning with the Road to Emmaus and ending with the Ascension. It will be quite a journey as we seek to understand the disciples fear, disbelief, and doubts. I love the pragmatic 'doubting' Thomas who speaks so poignantly to my own heart - a proof seeker.

So, come join us for the new sermon series - oh and we'll be meeting outside by the cross(es) for the next couple of weeks (weather permitting).

Peace,
memonica

Link: http://memonica-putupwithit.blogspot.com/

This is a link to the images of the various stations that were set up for the previous six-week sermon series Journey to the Cross where we walked through the fifteen Stations of the Cross.

It was really quite fun designing the various stations to be both visual and meaningful.

Thank you all for traveling the journey with us!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/my_videos

All the True North videos that have been uploaded to YouTube can be found at this link. Enjoy.