This Sunday, November 23, is the last Sunday of the church year. As we approach it, I have been thinking about all of the stories we have experienced together in worship this year, and how they fit together to make up the larger Christian story. They are like chapters in a book…can we summarize it somehow? How would you summarize it?
The words that came to my mind are from the United Church New Creed - the title of this blog:
We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
And how do we respond to this new life? The Creed continues:
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
Rev. Donna has chosen the passage from John 20:19-29 for us to recall this week:
Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors of the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side. The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were awestruck. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”
Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”
But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”
Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”
Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”
Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”
Just as the creed summarizes, Jesus does not leave his disciples alone…he is sent by God to give them peace…and then sends his disciples out to do the same.
I invite you to prepare for worship by reflecting on the Christian story too. What words or passages come to your mind? What does it mean to live with God in his world?
“…in spite of all its extraordinary variety, the Bible is held together by having a single plot….
God creates the world; the world gets lost; God seeks to restore the world to the glory for which he created it. That means that the Bible is a book about you and me, whom he also made and lost and continually seeks…”- Frederick Buechner
Image by Hanneke Visschers from Pixabay
