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Showing posts with label scars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scars. Show all posts

Monday, May 2, 2022

Beautiful Scars, part 3

Introduction
Today is the third Sunday of Easter.  There are actually 7 Sundays of Easter. The resurrection is so powerful, it cannot be fully expressed in just one Sunday. Eastertide is the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost, which is June 5th this year. Eastertide is a time of expectant prayer where we wait for the Holy Spirit to empower us to serve God. We recall how the resurrected Jesus told the Disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to empower them to tell people about Him everywhere. During Eastertide this year, I challenge you to read through the Book of Acts by June 5th.

Today, we pick up the second half of the story of doubting Thomas from last Sunday.  First, let's read the full story.  Then we will go back and look at each verse.

John 20:24-29
24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Now, let's look at each verse.

John 20:24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.
First of all we see that Thomas was nicknamed Didymus (which means Twin). Fascinating!  The disciples were real people, just like you and me.  Apparently one of them had a twin.  We don’t know anything about His twin.  Was the twin male or female? Did his twin die or was he still alive? Was he a follower of Christ? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't tell us anything about Thomas' twin.  Sometimes we have to live with unanswered questions.

A more relevant unanswered question I have from this story is:  why Thomas absent the first time Jesus came?  Was he off on some important errand? Was he off by himself because that was the best way for him to cope with his grief at losing Jesus?  We don’t know.

How many times have you missed the powerful presence and working of Jesus because you weren’t there? We have so many things vying for our attention these days. It's easy to get distracted and miss out.  That's why we should make sure you make time for God.  We can make time through weekly sabbath rest and worship in church.  We make time through daily prayer and devotion.  We can make time to see God's power and work through occasional spiritual retreats (like the Walk to Emmaus) or a simple walk on the beach.  God is not confined to a set schedule, so always been on the look out.

John 20:25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
It is from this one verse that we get Thomas’ most famous nickname. The disciples nick named him “The Twin”, but we call know him today as “Doubting Thomas”.  It's unfortunate that Thomas walked with the Lord for at least three years and saw and did so many amazing things, but the one thing people remember about him is defined by this one verse where Thomas doubted.  

Has “One” moment in your life ever come to dominate your identity?  Maybe you were diagnosed with cancer and you were forever after known by your cancer.  Maybe you spouse died and you became a widow or widower.  Maybe you went through a divorce and that came to define your life experience.  Sometimes someone hurts us deeply and then forever after the wound shadows us whether we like it or not.  Even though we are so much more, our identities can become defined by that one thing that happened.  People see us through that one; we may even see ourselves through the lens of that one identity shaping thing.

However, Jesu came back to set us free.  We don't have to miss out on the future because of something that happened in the past.  Jesus came to redeem our identity.


John 20:26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

Even though the disciples were meeting behind locked doors, Jesus was miraculously there.  Nothing can keep Jesus from finding you.  No wound, no trauma, not even doubt can stop Jesus from coming for you.  No one get left behind in Jesus’ Kingdom. Jesus keeps coming back to find the sheep who doubt, or a little slower, or who just missed out on the chance to be with Him for one reason or another. Isn’t it good to know that Jesus doesn't give up on us?  He keeps coming back to invite us to come follow Him and find peace.

Even so, don’t put off answer Jesus' invitation, because no one knows how many more breaths or heartbeats you have.  Life is short and you don't want to leave this life with any regrets.  And you certainly don't want to leave this life without ever choosing to follow Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  That would be an eternal regret.  You would find yourself in hell, separated from God forever, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
Jesus had beautiful scars.  He didn't try to hide them.  He came to Thomas and said "Look!  It really is me!"  Jesus' scars were the most beautiful things ever trace upon human skin because they proved His true identity and the depth of His love.  They proved he died on a cross to pay for our sins, but that he also rose from the grave to defeat sin and death.  

Jesus wasn't ashamed of His scars and we don’t need to be ashamed of our scars either.  Remember, everyone has scars, even if you can’t see them.  But Jesus can redeem our scars so the wounds that caused them no longer define us.  Rather, our scars, if we are brave enough to share them with one another, tell the story of how Jesus has redeemed us or is redeeming us.  Our scars ceased to be a record of our brokenness and become a witness to Jesus' transforming power when we have faith and follow Him.

John 20:28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
This is the simplest profession of faith.  Jesus is the Christian's Lord and God.  Thomas proclaimed Jesus was his Lord.  This means two things for Thomas.  First, it meant the man standing there with scars was indeed Jesus, not someone else.  He was the man who walked with Thomas for three hears teaching and loving and healing and performing miracles.  He is also the man who hung and died on the cross.  He was the man Thomas loved.

However, "Lord" also means Jesus is Lord.  He has absolute authority.  He is to be followed.  He is to be obeyed.  Jesus is Lord of all!

And Jesus is "God".  Jesus is more than “just a man”.  He is more than a good man, more than a prophet, religious leader, revolutionary, miracle worker, healer…  How many times have you tried to limit Jesus to what you wanted Him to be – the person who could get you out of a bind, save you from hell, heal your friend, teach your kids to be kind…  Jesus may be all of the above, but He is not just those things.  Jesus is God.  Let that sink in.  Let that define your relationship with Him.

John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
We can “see” Jesus in a thousand ways today.  We still see miracles. healing, answered prayers.  We see Him through the way He works out His plans, bringing people together in a million different ways.  We can even see Christ's power in a sunset or the beauty of nature.

I see Jesus in the workings of my church all the time.  He makes things happen in ways that no man could do by himself.  Jesus is still alive and full of power and working miracles every day.

When we are immature, we may need to see the signs and wonders of Christ to believe. However, our goal is to grow up so we can walk by faith and not by sight. That means we don't have to depend upon frequent sighs and wanders in order to trust Jesus.  No, even if we see nothing, we know Jesus is alive.  We have faith.  That is enough.

See Jesus Through Holy Communion
Even so, Jesus knows our weakness.  That's why He gave a us such a gracious gift in Holy Communion.  This is the sign sacrament Jesus instructed us to practice again and again to remember Him.  It reminds us of His nail scarred body given freely for us.  It reminds us of  His blood shed for our sins because of His love that has no end.  It also reminds us He died for us, but he is not dead.  He is here among us.  Just as Jesus came back so Thomas could believe, Jesus comes back so we can believe every time we celebrate Holy Communion.  

Have you missed Jesus before.  We’re you off somewhere else or distracted when everyone saw the risen Christ?  Did you miss the miracle?  Or have you been like Thomas and you’ve doubted because of something terrible that happened in your life.  Maybe you wondered how Jesus could really be alive and love you because that happened.  

In this bread and this wine of Holy Communion, you can see a miracle.  Don’t miss it.  Come touch Jesus’ nail scarred hands as you hold the bread in your hands.  Come place your hand in the spear wound in Jesus’ side as you partake of the cup of wine.  These are the glorious, beautiful scars Jesus reveals to you to show His love for you.  And keep your eyes opened for the millions of other ways he shows you His life and love.  

Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!

Monday, April 18, 2022

Beautiful Scars - Easter Sunday

Introduction
For Easter, Our choir shared a beautiful Easter Cantata (which you can watch here).  They used music and narration to share the story of Jesus' resurrection so beautifully.  Now I want to share one ramification of that resurrection.  But first, let me read Paul’s words about the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:19-26
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Incredible Hope
Christians have incredible hope.  We believe our hope transcends what happens in this life.  The fact is, some of the problems in this life aren’t going to be put right in this life.  There is no greater example of this that what happened to Jesus.

Here was an absolutely innocent man–the very best kind of man who ever lived–who was humble and yet full of incredible power to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and open the ears of the deaf.  Jesus only ever loved and helped people, yet he was arrested on trumped up charges and tortured and executed–the greatest injustice ever wrought on earth.

If that was the end of the story, then it would be the most tragic story ever told.

It wasn’t the end of the story.  Easter is a Sunday that is traditionally the most well attended day of church the whole year, because we celebrate Christ’ resurrection. 
And resurrection means death is not the end.

This life–with all its troubles, many of which are never resolved in this life–is not the end of the story.  Christians believe that what is not resolved in this life, God will make it right in Eternity.

First Fruit
The Bible calls Jesus the “first fruit” of a great harvest.  What this means is His resurrection is the example of what will happen to all His followers.

Many people--including me--started gardening during the pandemic.  Perhaps this is because the pandemic began near the beginning of spring and we couldn't go anywhere or do anything except go outside.  Plus, there were concerns about food shortages.  So we took to our gardens.  And this is the time of year you plant things like tomatoes.  There's nothing like a homegrown tomato.

So you plant a tomato after Easter, after the danger of frost has past.  Then you car for the plant for several months, dreaming of those fresh tomatoes.  And then it happens. you get that first tomato.  It starts out green, and slowly ripens.  So you pick it and take it inside.  It looks great, but how will it taste.  You slice it and taste it.  And you are so pleased when it is delicious!  But the greatest things is knowing that tomato won't be the only one.  It is an example of how all the other tomatoes will taste.  If you've been successful, you will have many more tomatoes just like the first one.

Jesus is the first fruit.  Just like Christ died, we will all die.  But hang on.  It also means that just as He rose to new and eternal life, so will we (if we truly follow Him). So if we want to know what’s in store for us after this life, we just have to look at Jesus.  He shows us what it will be like.

Living with the Scars
One of the unexpected things that strikes me about the resurrected Jesus is this:  He had scars.

One of the ways the early disciples knew they were actually talking to the resurrected Jesus and not some one else pretending to be Jesus, was Jesus’ scars.  Remember, he was nailed to a cross until He died, and a soldier pierced His side with a spear to make sure He was in fact dead.  So one of the ways Jesus authenticated His identity after the resurrection was to point out His scars.  He said, “Look at my hands and feet.  Look at my side.” 

And I want to point out that these scars were not gross or festering wounds.  These scars were fully healed, but they were not erased  And they were also somehow beautiful.  These scars were a badge of honor.

Do any of you have physical scars that you received earlier in your life? Maybe you have a great story that goes along with your scar.  I got a scar once doing something really stupid.  (My friends told, "Don't tell people you got that scar doing that.  Tell them you got it fighting a bear or something.")

I have a friend who likes to tell people he doesn’t have a belly button.  It's true.  Apparently, he had a surgery when he was very young and it somehow erased his belly button.  So he likes to introduce himself saying, "Hi, I'm Dave and I don't have a belly button"  It's quite memoriable! 

Jesus’ scars tell the story of a man who was the absolutely perfect Son of God, worthy of all glory and honor and praise.  And yet, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (Philippian 2:6-8) 

“He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) 

“He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.” (Romans 4:25) 

So, when Christ shows His scars, they are the highest badge of honor that can ever be traced upon human skin. 

And that got me thinking about what scars we have now–scars that we’ve received from our own personal tragedies–whether physical or emotional.  And perhaps they won’t be completely gone when we enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Maybe they will be like Jesus’ scars.  They will be there to remind us–and remind others–who we are and what we’ve been through.  But they will also not be horrific reminders.  They will be like Jesus’ scars–beautiful badges of honor that God has miraculously transformed so that we will gladly show them to people and say, “Look at my scars!  Touch them.  It’s really me!  But Praise be to God!  My wounds have been healed by the blood of the Lamb!” 

What would that mean for you?  What wounds have you received?  What scars do you bear now?

The Apostle Paul who wrote so brilliantly about the Good News of Christ, shared his own struggles.  In 2 Corinthians 12:7, he said, “...to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” 

People have speculated as to what was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”, but we don’t know for sure what it is.  There’s no record left as to specifically identify the "thorn in his flesh ".  Some have said it was a temptation he struggled with throughout his life.  Others have said it was a speech impediment, which for a man whose passion was to preach the Gospel would have been awful (because no matter how brilliant this arguments, there would always be some people who paid more attention to his impediment than the force of his arguments).   Others have said Paul had a crippling ailment like arthritis, a chronic eye problem, malaria, migraines, or epilepsy.  It could also have been a wound that wouldn’t heal, perhaps something he sustained in one of his meaning beatings, imprisonments, or the time he was nearly stoned to death.  Those tribulations had to leave their marks. 

And Paul was just like us when we have a painful and nagging problem.  He wanted to be free of it.  He wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 - “8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

Sometimes God brings healing from our physical, spiritual, and emotional wounds in this lifetime.  When He does, it brings glory to His name.

Sometimes, we must bear up under our wounds–with God’s help–until God heals us in eternity.  

When we endure our hardships, it brings Him even more glory.  But I believe there will be a great reward in this too.  For the wounds and scars we’ve carried throughout this life will not be anything for which we will be ashamed in eternity.  Perhaps, they will be like Jesus' scars that He gladly shows.  Perhaps they will be our beautiful badges of honor in the next life.  We will be able to show them to the people we love and say, "Look at my scars!  It really is me!  Remember how I carried that burden all through my life?  But I made it!  I thought I was carrying it alone, but I wasn't.  Christ was there carrying it with me!  Remember when my loved one died and it nearly killed me too?  I didn't know how I could get out of bed and keep going.  But Jesus brought me through!  Remember how I survived that divorce (or devastation, or tragedy, or trauma, etc.)?  Jesus brought me through it and here I am and all my former hurts and wounds and scars are now fully redeemed!  Look at the scars that tell my story and the story of how Jesus set me free!" 

That’s what the power of Christ’s resurrection does.  It has the power to transform death into life.  Look at the cross.  It started out as a symbol of the cruelest, most shameful form of execution known to man.  Easter transformed the cross into the greatest symbol of hope and love we have.

Christ resurrection changed the most evil act humanity could do–murdering the Son of God–into the greatest act of grace and salvation God could offer.

Jesus was the first fruit.  He is the example of what we will experience if we follow him.

We can’t imagine how our resurrection to eternal life will completely transform us–even transforming our scars.  So as you go through this life and face whatever trials and sorrows and burdens you must bear, find hope in the Resurrection.  The Resurrection changes everything! 

And the Resurrection can change you–both now and for eternity.  I pray God will open your eyes today to see things as Jesus sees them.  See your wounds as future glory of God’s triumphant grace.

Invitation
So now, I invite you to repent of your sins, turn to God through Jesus, and follow Him so you can experience the Ressurection to eternal life.  Won't you?