Pray: From Doubt to Discipleship

Second Sunday of Easter + March 29-30, 2007
John 20:19-31

"Pray: From Doubt to Discipleship"

Martin Marty, a well-known Lutheran theologian and historian, writes about a summer day when he was a boy and a miracle occurred. A watermelon truck overturned right in front of his house. The driver, who was not injured, jumped out and watched helplessly as scores of neighborhood kids raced to the scene and dove into the spilled cargo. They had a summer picnic right there on the pavement, right in front of Marty's house. That was the good news. The bad news was that Marty's family was away visiting his grandmother on that particular day. Sometimes life is like that; we're not around when the action takes place. This is Thomas' story in the Gospel lesson for today. He was not around when the action took place. The watermelon truck of Easter had overturned! Jesus had risen from the dead and had appeared to the disciples on that first Easter evening. But Thomas wasn't there when it happened, and he refused to believe that Jesus was alive: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). A week later, the watermelon truck overturned again, and this time Thomas was there.

Our journey through 50 Days Ablaze! is underway as we move into week two. Last week on Easter Sunday, our focus was upon the first mission response of "learn." The first week of Easter is a great time to learn and grow in our faith in the risen Savior. Week #2 focuses on the second mission response of "pray." By way of review, 50 Days Ablaze! is for individual and congregational spiritual growth and commitment to strengthen us in sharing our faith in Christ Jesus. Involvement is three-fold: 1) Individual - Members read daily devotions based on the seven mission responses of the Ablaze! initiative. 2) Group - Members meet weekly in small group Bible studies based on the seven mission responses. 3) Congregational - Members participate in weekly worship services and hear sermons based on the seven mission responses. May the risen Lord Jesus Christ use this 50-day period for his glory, for building us up in faith, and for the blessing of others, especially those who do not know Jesus.

Thomas is usually referred to as "Doubting Thomas." I think he's something of an everyman for the age we live in. Jesus' design is not to leave Thomas where he is, but to move him from doubt to discipleship: "Do not doubt but believe" (John 20:27). The testimony given earlier in the service points out how there is not only doubt among people in the world toward the Gospel message, but a great deal of cynicism and distrust. This can be an exceedingly tough nut to crack! Where do we begin? How do we do this? It begins with prayer! When the Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two individuals to go ahead of him to the places where he himself would be going, he said: "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2). What's the operative word here? Pray! In good Lutheran fashion we might ask, "What does this mean?" This little book, Why Pray?, is one of the best explanations for this. Here, John DeVries, founder of Mission India, writes: "Do we work first and ask God to bless our efforts? Or do we pray first and ask God to show us how to work? How did Jesus start? He started with prayer... We often run the church like a corporation, with planning meetings, goals, and objectives; and when we have it all figured out, we bless it with a ‘word of prayer,' asking God to give us success... I realize I'm being a bit sarcastic. But it is true that we rely far more on our efforts than on prayer. Because of our sinful nature, we put the foot of work before the foot of prayer" (pp. 72-73). Could it be that our doubts may be due to starting off on the wrong foot - with the focus on us instead of God? Perhaps our first prayer ought to be one of confession and repentance for thinking that mission and outreach depend on us rather than God. Perhaps our reluctance to begin with prayer is rooted in a misunderstanding of prayer. As the Foreword in Why Pray? puts it: "... the purpose of prayer is not so much to get answers from the Almighty as it is to have fellowship with the Almighty!... many of us become discouraged because we do not get answers to our prayers; we would be better served if we were to enjoy the presence of God rather than the presents of God!" (p. 12).

When those first disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, what do you think they were doing? Scripture does not tell us what they were doing, but I like to think that they were praying - thanking the Father for raising Jesus from the dead, praying for wisdom and guidance to understand what Jesus' resurrection meant. And that is still our prayer today: thanking the Father for raising the Lord Jesus from the dead, praying for wisdom and guidance that we may understand and respond to what Jesus' resurrection means for us and for the world today. Those first disciples had something we don't: they saw the risen Savior. Thomas even touched the mark of the nails and the spear. We have not had that experience, and yet Jesus tells us we are blessed. In response to Thomas' cry of "My Lord and my God!", Jesus says: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (John 20:28-29). Friends in Christ, we are blessed! Despite our imperfections and faults, despite our sins and shortcomings, despite everything, we are blessed! We are blessed by the love and grace of a Savior who died the death we deserved and rose in triumph over sin and death. We are blessed by Jesus to be a blessing to others in Jesus' name. Let us pray that the risen Savior would transform hearts and minds from doubt to discipleship. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Amen.