It’s easy for Christians to fall into a rut: Church is a thing you do, prayer is a box to check, and faith seems far from “the real world.” This fall we let Jesus himself confront our ruts. “Do you believe this?” he asks (Jn. 11:26).
To believe in Jesus is to experience him. It’s more than logic, argument, and doctrine. It is intimate knowledge of God himself. This fall, let Jesus himself speak to you in his seven “I AM” statements in the gospel of John. How is he changing you? What response is he inspiring in you? To believe in him changes everything.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Ponder:
Ponder the I AM statement: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Consider how Jesus said “way,” singular. Ponder how our society is pluralistic – many ways. What do you think when you hear Jesus’ exclusive claim?
Word
John 20:26
“Jesus came and stood among them.”
Meditation: Present in the Doubt by Grace Herzog
Ever since I was a little kid, I have heard the story of “Doubting Thomas” over and over again. The same cliche words were nailed into my mind: “Don’t be a doubting Thomas, Grace, believe like the other disciples.” I took those words with a grain of salt. It’s God, I thought, it’s not hard to believe.
As I got older, I’ve started to understand that believing is not as simple as my past self thought. Life happens. Pandemics disrupt my sense of normal. Family members pass away, and I’m stuck with questions about my faith and wondering where God is in the silence. My belief in God’s ultimate plan waivers and my faith foundation starts to crack.
Reading this passage again, I see myself in the shoes of the disciples and Thomas who “locked their doors in fear.” When the world is full of hate and my life seems like a mess, I become fearful of the world and others, too.
Yet I’m comforted in the hope of Jesus Christ. Even when the disciples are locked away in a cramped room, scared of the outside, Jesus walks through their barriers and reveals himself to them. The living Son of God goes so far as to breath on lowly and sinful human beings. Jesus gives them peace in their chaos like he does with me.
This is especially shown in Thomas, who explicitly says he will never believe. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Jesus did not have to come back to reveal himself to Thomas. Jesus did not have to reveal himself to anyone who did not believe in him. After all, we are the sinners. But Jesus, in his mercy, still returns to be present with Thomas and the disciples, meeting them in their unbelief.
When it is hard to trust in God’s goodness, Jesus provides us with reassurance and hope. He comforts us when we fear, revealing his tender character. Jesus stands among us in our doubts.
Dear Lord, thank you for sending your Son to stand with me in the times where my belief in you waivers. Help me live out my trust in you for the world to see.
Prayer
Jesus, you said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In a world of competing ways, show me the narrow path that leads to you. I have tried paths that lead to nowhere. You alone are truth and life. Draw me close to you. Amen.
Benediction
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (I Tim. 1:17)