Encountering Christ" by Rev. Sarah Lohrbach, Christ Church UCC Des Plaines

But if we let fear be what dictates our lives and actions, then we miss out on love. We miss out on connection. We miss out on experiencing Jesus in our midst. Christ is risen, and Christ is all around us. It's time to unlock the doors, to stop hiding behind our fears, to take risk, and do something. Because if scripture has taught us anything, it is that Christ is going to show up when we least expect it, and no locked door is going to stop him. [00:13:31] (43 seconds)  #FearLessLoveMore

We have been filled with Christ's peace, gifted the Holy Spirit and sent into the world, sent to witness firsthand our risen savior. So rather than sitting around waiting for Christ to show up in the safety of our comfort zones, in the safety of our churches and our sanctuaries. It's time for us to go out into the world, to continue the work that Jesus began, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to house the unhoused, to visit the sick and imprisoned, to free the oppressed, to heal, to love. [00:14:15] (47 seconds)  #SentToServe

We can't do Christ's work behind locked doors. We can't keep silent and hope that someone else will speak up. We can't sit around and wait hoping that someone else will do the work. We can't hide behind our fear forever because Jesus will show up. He always does, and he always will. We don't know when. We don't know how, but he will. Fear is real, and it can be healthy. It can protect us. [00:12:49] (43 seconds)  #FaithInAction

We don't know where Thomas was that night, why he wasn't hiding in fear with the others, but I like to think that Thomas was out there trying to continue the work that Jesus had begun. He was a realist. He probably didn't think Jesus was actually coming back, and he knew the work needed to continue. He knew that life had to continue. No matter how risky it was, no matter how upraged he might be, someone had to keep going, to keep feeding, to keep loving, to keep teaching, to keep welcoming, to keep turning tables, to keep doing what is right over what is easy. [00:11:49] (60 seconds)  #ServeDespiteFear

If we had experienced the gruesome nature and fullness of his earthly death and then witnessed him appear before us, open wounds alone. Wouldn't it be easier to understand if we too had a personal encounter with the risen Christ. We could cast aside all our doubts, our questions, our fears, our confusion, and we could rest solidly in our belief if only we were able to reach out and touch our savior, to see his wounds, to know without a doubt that he had died and risen. [00:04:47] (46 seconds)  #EncounterChangesEverything

He was merely wanting his own experience, his own experience with Jesus. He wanted nothing more than what the others had already received. The resurrected Christ standing before him, wounded and alive. Wouldn't any of us have wanted the same thing? Wouldn't it be easier to believe in the resurrection if we had witnessed it ourselves? If we had watched Jesus get nailed to that cross, witnessed him take his final breath, saw his body go limp, observed him being placed inside that tomb. [00:03:55] (52 seconds)  #SeeToBelieve

Thomas wanted his own encounter. He wanted to see and touch, to know Jesus was his just as much as the other disciples who were there to see him. And then a week later, Jesus shows up again. He showed up for Thomas, and he gave Thomas exactly what he needed, exactly what he asked for. He presented his wounds, invited Thomas to place his finger where the nail had been, to stick his hand in the wound in his side. [00:06:33] (44 seconds)  #JesusMeetsDoubt

Now one might expect the disciples to be celebrating this news, that they will be filled with joy and the knowledge that Jesus conquered death and has returned. That all he said, the promises he made, the foretelling of what was to come, all of it was true and coming to fruition. But instead, we find the disciples hanging, walked away behind closed doors in fear. When suddenly, Jesus appears before them alive and wounded. Jesus offers them peace while showing them the nail holes in his hands and the open wound in his side. [00:00:23] (47 seconds)  #PeaceInHisPresence