Rev. Jimmy Moore, preaching
The Evidence of Things Unseen: Faith Lessons from Dealing with a Virus
John 20: 19-31
A little girl in Ohio once asked her grandfather while they were watching some Amish folk ride down the street on horse drawn buggies, “Why don’t they use cars?” The grandfather answered, “Because they don’t they believe in them.” She replied, “But can’t they see them?”
Are there things that you deeply believe but cannot see? Whatever our faith teaches us, it is really easy to come to the point that we believe most powerfully in things that we can easily see. As we say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But at heart, we know that some of the world’s most powerful things in our lives are things on which we cannot lay our eyeballs.
Thomas, that disciple of Jesus, said he would not believe the tales being told of Jesus’ resurrection until he had seen the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and put his hands in the wounds on Jesus’ side. For this, Thomas has earned the name, “Doubting Thomas”. But as many have said, it might be more accurate and kind to call him, “Honest Thomas”. After all, he really just said the thing that revealed what he had come to believe, that he did not see anything getting better from that point. His friend was gone.
So from the standpoint of the resurrection story, Thomas was facing a test. He could not find a way to believe anything better could be true unless he saw it with his own eyes. But as with all good tests, there was an opportunity to learn something remarkably new that would change him. In a similar way, the coronavirus, something we cannot see, has brought a test upon us. It is asking us what we see, and is asking how we see the risen Christ working grace in the midst of it.
And that’s what we’ll talk about in worship from St. Mark’s on Sunday. We’ll hear Sonia Lee read scripture; we will sing hymns, pray, have a time for children, and hear Stephanie and Patrick Conlin sing, “How Can I Keep From Singing?” The sermon is titled, “The Evidence of Things Unseen: Faith Lessons from Dealing with a Virus,” arising from John 20:19-31. To be a part, join the live stream by visiting the St. Mark’s website at www.smumc.church. We’ll look forward to connecting this Sunday at 10:30 AM.