Thomas poor poor Thomas gaping grief surrounded by broken faith.  In that moment cursed to wonder the labyrinth of the Street’s of Jerusalem, the tomb of his whole being sealed with the stone of his grief as dark as the tomb Jesus was shut in.   

Thomas is not doubting,  he is not doubting he is grieving. 

Thomas Lost it all, he can’t conceive going through it again. 

Blessed we who have not seen.   

We are entitled to our grief and we each move it in our own way.  There is some grief which never goes away, it becomes a sad corner of our hearts.  It is not a pain to be gotten over, it is one which is learned to live with.   

 What we are shown here is not to be afraid to face life in the presence of our grief.   

Thomas doubted life, not God.  He let his grief dictate his life. His eyes blinded to what was.   He is there and is at a point where his grief is raw and bleeding. A grief which cannot see beyond the moment.  To think on what the others have said even to ponder it a little would only hurt so it is better to deny then rip the fragile scab off his soul 

    Oh Thomas poor Thomas, sitting by himself behind those tomb like doors. The small group of followers those women and men who had gathered. The  others chatting like birds in the bazar, foolish talk.  Recalling that moment when they saw Jesus .  foolish stupid talk,  for the dead are dead and the pain is real. 

A quiet sorrowful sob cut short with Jesus standing there. Standing there in that moment He stands there.

Touch the wounds in my hands Thomas, in this moment touch the wound in my side Thomas.  In this moment. 

A gasp,  tears, disbelief belief awe, fear   “My Lord my God.”       

In that moment Thomas was blessed,  we do not know if he touched the wounds or not, but we to will become the blessed.

  Then there is the  moment   when beyond words Thomas sees Jesus. 

    Jesus comes to Thomas and he wakes from the sleep of his grief, he rises from the deadness of his soul he takes in the first breath of coming up from the waters of sorrow. 

Beyond the loss of someone dear to our hearts, there will be other things that we will grieve even if we don’t name it for what it is.    The changing world around us, the changing nature of church,  pain of betrayal,  what we once could do, dreams lost places we will not see, events we have missed , traditions that have passed into the past, changes in our life circumstances  Do not to be afraid to face life in the presence of our grief.    Wake, wake form your sleep, rise up from the dead rise from the deep waters. Christ is in your heart and head.   

We come to know that we are living in the morning light.  We are the blessed because we believe without seeing. Like Thomas we are saved by the risen Christ.  Saved in everyway that we can be saved. 

We are allowed our grief, we must at times cry till there are no more tears, We are even allowed our own pity parties, but we must face life in all that it has given us both good and bad and most of all live that life. 

 Look at what you do have, not at what you don’t and live joy into that.   

 We have each in our own way have experienced the risen Christ. 

In each other we see Christ, in ourselves we can see Christ.   He is reflected in our faith and where our faith meets the world we find, compassion, understanding, love and hope. 

We are an Easter people we cannot languish in the dark of grief but are called to step out of the tomb into life, to live life in faith.  To meet life head on.  To not say poor me, but to say I am a child of God and I will find the strength to do what is set in front of me.   

Wake, wake form your sleep, rise up from the dead rise from the waters deep Christ is in your heart and head. Christ is there for you are the blessed who believe and have not seen, for Christ stays with us through the pain.

Stay with us gentle Saviour until the night is broken by the morning light and we see that in life in death in life beyond death we are not alone     

Prayers of the people 

Hear our prayer we humbly offer

Grant to us your peace O God

Hear our prayer we humbly offer

Grant to us your peace O God. 

God, we know we are an Easter People, that we have the promise of life eternal through Christ breaking the chains of death.  We rejoice in the stone being rolled away.  Yet underscoring our joy at times is the stone that still seals the hurt, the brokenness of our souls our own grief.  We own that we are so much like Thomas, that pain in our souls in all of its forms holds us. Here in this moment we invite your Spirit to open our souls and remind us that we are blessed because we believe. It is our belief that you are with us God that gives us faith. Faith gives us strength and hope. 

In that hope we offer prayers for your broken bleeding world. We hold all those that are hurting and afraid. All those we live in fear and great uncertainty. We hold all those people that have been displaced in the world who long for security and home.  We pray for those that are a part of our lives who need your presence. We pray for ourselves. 

Lord we know that you hear our prayers and this brings us such great comfort. In prayer we find such strength.  In that strength we find the courage to move the stones in our souls to let your light free us.  To you we offer these our prayers as we say together the prayer which binds us as one. Our Father…. 

Offering

 One: We rejoice in remembering this day  God has given us the gift of eternal life. Let us bring our offering to God in Joy and thanks giving in gratitude for what we have received.

 

All glory , laud and honour

to you redeemer king.

To you we bring our gifts, 

our voices join and sing

The multitude of blessings

 you give us each new day

Our praise and prayer and offerings

before you we present.

Offering Prayer

All: This offering is our most significant statement of faith, O God. We hive because we believe this congregation is important, our ministry changes lives for the better, and we are part of something much larger than ourselves. Ultimately, we believe the church is our firmest link to your reality. Use our time, talent and treasure in ways that exceed our grandest design. Amen