Pillars of Faith In Our Church Community

Ali’s Story

In order to celebrate the joy that comes with Easter morning, we have to face our very mortality. You ultimately cannot journey through lent, without  acknowledging the big dark cloud that looms in the distance from Ash Wednesday to the excitement and new life that Easter brings. 

When you  consider the key players of the Easter saga. Perhaps you can relate to Judas, the one who chose darkness and will always be the villain with his one mistake made in a moment of greed. Perhaps you feel a familiarity to  Peter, the ever faithful companion, who lets you down in your darkest moment, or maybe some might even relate more to Mary, the mother of Jesus, helplessly watching in horror as her child suffers in his final moments. Personally, however the man I  relate most to doesn’t show up until after everything is said and done. 

Thomas. Poor Doubting Thomas. We know he’s also known as “Didymus”, perhaps to his friends. (John 20:24, NIV) We don’t know much else. He could have been an award winning fishermen, or maybe he was a disciple who made sure the supplies were organized, he could have been an amazing friend! What we do know is he was the guy who dared to say:  “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.” ( John 20:25, NIV)  

Hopefully, you’ve heard the phrase, don’t be a doubting Thomas. However, have you ever considered why that is a negative term? Thomas had literally just seen Jesus, his leader, his hero, arrested and crucified. This was not a quiet death, it was dark and traumatic and literally changed the course of history. Three days later he’s sitting down and hears: “ Hey Didymus, can you believe it? Jesus is back! It’s wild” Would you not call it nonsense? Would you genuinely tell me you can say here, “oh yes, that makes sense.”if someone said this to you? 

 The best part of all this? Jesus doesn’t even show up until a week later, and is like, ‘Sure Thomas, come check out the hole in my side’. We always paint Thomas as someone to condemn however Jesus says: “ , “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ( John 20:29) 

Despite the good and the bad of life there are so many days that I doubt. Jesus said he’d be back and I can say confidently I don’t think anyone expected it to be 2000 + years and we would  still be waiting. There are days in the monotony of day to day life, between the laundry, the bills, work, trying to make sure that my family is loved and taken care of, sometimes that it can hit you hard. 

‘This is it? Is this all there is? The stress and exhaustion of trying to get it all together’. In the midst of it all you add, taking Sundays to come to church, perhaps you tithe 10% or at least give what you can back to God and your community, and you pray. You genuinely are trying to be an example and live your faith, all while facing some pretty big challenges, and ever changing seasons of life.  Genuinely, it is a lot. I can understand where Thomas would say : prove it. He gave his time, his money, his energy and his love into following Jesus for a whole two-three years. Thomas waited roughly 10 days between seeing Jesus die, and getting to see him with his own eyes. While everyone else celebrated and partied on, he sat in the middle I imagine.

On one hand his friends seemed so happy and sure, so committed to the teachings of Jesus and planning to build his church. On the other hand, he just had seen this man he loved brutally murdered. It sounds fairly conflicting. However, can you not relate? You're here today because you know there’s something more out there. Perhaps today you are in Church because it’s lent, and people come to church around Easter, or maybe you’re here every Sunday, or maybe, just maybe you came because you’re not sure, but you’re really hoping for more in this life. Ultimately, we all have something in common, Jesus. It's okay to live in the uncomfortableness of your questions.

Doubting doesn’t make Christ’s life any more true. The truth still stands that God loves you, that Jesus’s life brings hope so we can live freely and experience the joy of life. Ultimately though, one thing you should never doubt is that it is a miracle that the world and the universe that God created, divinely came together and you are  sitting here today. Never take that for granted, and never be ashamed to doubt. When Jesus said “ It is Finished.” ( John 19:30) I believe he meant it. Live today and go in peace and love. You only have one life, don’t waste it.