Seeing Is Believing!  

THEME: We, like Thomas, sometimes have to see to believe.

OBJECT: A Mobius strip with a line drawn down the center. Read about the Mobius strip and how to make one on the Bellevue Community College web site. There is a link at the bottom of this sermon.

SCRIPTURE: Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

Do you find it easy to believe what someone tells you, even if what they tell you seems impossible? For example, suppose I said to you, "I am going to take this paper strip and cut it in half -- but after I cut it in half it will still be in one piece." Would that be easy for you to believe? It doesn't make sense, does it? If I cut this paper in half, it should be in two pieces, shouldn't it? Well, let's try it and see what happens. (Cut the Mobius strip along the center line that you have drawn on it.)

Well, look at that! I cut the paper in half, but instead of having two pieces, I have one longer piece. Now that you have seen it, do you believe it? Sometimes we must see something before we believe it, don't we?

On the evening of the first Sunday after Jesus had been crucified, his disciples were together in a locked room. They were afraid that those who had crucified Jesus would also want to put them to death. Suddenly, Jesus appeared there in the locked room with the disciples. It was hard to believe, but they saw him and Jesus showed them his wounds in his hands and his side, so they knew it was him.

One of the disciples, whose name was Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus appeared to them. When they told Thomas that they had seen Jesus, he did not believe them. He had seen him crucified and buried, how could he be alive? Thomas said, "Unless I see the wound in his side and put my finger in the holes where the nails were in his hands, I will not believe it!"

A week later, the disciples were in the locked room again and this time Thomas was with them. Again, Jesus came and stood among the disciples. Jesus, said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas fell on his knees and answered Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

You and I have never seen Jesus with our own eyes. The question is, will we be a doubter, or will we be one of those who Jesus said were blessed because they believe, even though they have not seen?

Dear Father, help us to believe in our heart those truths we find in your Holy Word, even though we have not seen them with our eyes. Amen.

Sermon Source:  This sermon is based on a sermon by Richard J. Fairchild.  Used by permission.
http://www.spirit-net.ca/sermon.html