Family Sunday: Faith through our senses!
(As it is Family Sunday - We began with an experiential part with brown paper bags, each one containing an item. The bags were labeled with one of our 5 senses. Participants from the congregation were asked to identify the contents of the bag using the Sense specified on the bag.)
One of my favorite passages in Scripture comes from Mark 9 Listen as I read it to you. (vs24: Help me overcome my unbelief)
Our Gospel Text this morning reminds us how our world is full of unbelief and doubt is part of our everyday life. We all have had moments of doubt. We’ve all doubted whether our team will win the big game, or whether someone will call when they say they will. We’ve all experienced moments of unbelief. We all have been like Thomas – and even doubted God’s resurrected life among us.
Doubt isn’t the problem. The problem is when we get caught up in one system. The problem is when our eyes are so focused that we can only see things through one perspective. The problem is when we devoted to a singular system of thinking, experiencing and believing.
For Thomas, the problem was his thinking – he was caught up in one system. He was caught up in thinking things have to work a certain way. His problem was being devoted to knowing things through only one avenue.
Thomas thought he couldn’t believe in Christ’s resurrection unless he saw Jesus with his own eyes. Thomas wouldn’t believe unless he touched the body of Jesus; unless he put his hands in the holes and felt across the scars. Thomas was caught up in thinking the world only functioned in one way. He forgot that God is God, and God will work however God chooses.
Jesus says: Blessed are the ones who believe without seeing.
In many ways – that’s us. Blessed are those who believe without seeing. Unlike the disciples, we have not literally - physically seen Jesus. Unlike Moses, we have not seen Him in burning a bush. Yet, God has given us the ability to look at our life and know he is here. We can see him throughout creation. We can feel him in the hug of a friend. We can smell him, with the fresh cut flowers. We can hear him, as the wind blows by and the birds chirp. God has given us our senses, these unique ways of knowing – believing – and having faith in Him.
Jesus says: Blessed are the ones who believe without seeing.
You know, God gave us our senses, and he expects us to use them! He has given us tools to use to look at life and see him at work.
Before you came in the sanctuary this morning – you could smell something couldn’t you? As you took your first step into the building, your senses began churning. You smelled popcorn.
Before you could see the popcorn, before you could touch the popcorn, before you could taste the popcorn, you believed there was popcorn nearby. God is like this. God is often moving and working, and if we allow ourselves to utilize the tools he’s given us – we can see him, touch him, and experience him!
I believe God equips us. Along with the Holy Spirit, God has given us many tools to engage and know Him. He’s not limited to one set. He has an entire shop full of tools, and they are available to us.
Being a part of a Holiness Church, one with its roots going back to John Wesley, we look and understand our relationship with God in four prominent ways; Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
The Holy Scriptures are the most profound and direct way for us to know God. That’s why we dig into them, memorize them, study them, and come back to them time and time again. The Scripture gives us room to explore who God is and how he interacts with us. But we don’t sit only upon the Scripture. We see our lives and how they interact with Scripture.
We know God through our Scriptures, our Tradition, our own Experiences and our God given ability to Reason. we know God because of one another, and in many ways – when we read Scriptural texts like the one today revolving around Thomas – we are given another opportunity to practice our God-given gifts.
While Thomas believed he needed the visual – God asks us to have faith like a child. And yet he has given us many ways to know him, believe him and have faith in him. We have our senses, we have our experiences, we have our traditions, and we have our Scriptures.
I believe there are times in life when it is appropriate to use particular sense or avenue to know and interact with God. We can experience God’s loving embrace through the hug of a friend. We see God’s loving creation in the butterflies and humming birds, in the ocean and the waves. We can taste God’s care for details as we eat strawberries and oranges.
In many ways, I believe we are God’s hands and feet here on earth. We are his body. We are his mode of transportation. We are his ambassadors. We are his flesh and bone in the twenty-first century. As we move throughout our days, let’s not get stuck in one avenue of thinking. Let’s not limit the ways God can and will interact with us. Let’s not Doubt, simply because we refuse to utilize some of our God given gifts.
Our Gospel text this morning says: Blessed are the ones who believe without seeing.
We all have had moments of doubt and unbelief. We’ve all doubted whether our team is going to win the big game, or whether someone will call when they say they will. We’ve all doubted. We all have been like Thomas. But doubt isn’t the problem.
The problem is when we get caught up in one system. The problem is when our eyes are so focused that we can only see things through one perspective. The problem is when we devoted to a singular system of thinking, experiencing and believing.
It is through all these aspects that we know God. We know him through Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason. And in many ways – when we read Scriptural texts like the one today revolving around Thomas – we are given another opportunity to practice our God-given gifts.
I believe it’s often through our senses that God teaches and interacts. In many ways, I believe we are God’s hands and feet here on earth. We are his mode of transportation. We are his ambassadors. We are his flesh and bone in the twenty-first century. As we move throughout our days, let’s not get stuck in one avenue of thinking. Let’s not limit the ways God can and will interact with us. Allow your senses to be heightened to the presence of God. And ask him to help you overcome your unbelief!
As you go, allow your faith to blossom through your senses. Go and Love!
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