As a pastor, one of the most discouraging things I hear people say is: I just don’t see the purpose. For example they might say, “I don’t see the purpose in spending time praying. You pray and God doesn’t answer. What’s the point?” or “I don’t see the purpose in marriage. Why get married? It’s just a way for someone to break your heart and take your money.” Or “I don’t see the purpose in giving to help others; what’s the point? Why do the right thing, it doesn’t seem to matter!”. It’s really discouraging when people don’t see the purpose behind the things God calls us to do.
The truth is, sometimes bad things happen. You spend two years in a relationship with someone and they break up with you. And you wonder—what was the purpose of that? Or A spouse cheats on you. Or you lose your job, or get cancer. You wonder: why is this happening? Where is God? You may think that people hate pain. But that’s not true! People don’t mind pain. People go through a lot of pain: people with cancer go through chemo and radiation. Pregnant women go through pain. When my son was born, I thought, did I say I wanted two kids? The pain was terrible! But I decided to have another kid, despite the pain. When I was in college, I knew students on the crew team: a rowing team. They had practice at 5 a.m. every day for two hours. They would go down to the Potomac River for 5 a.m. practice! They didn’t mind the pain.
Sometimes people can endure a lot of pain if there’s a purpose behind it. If they feel like there is a purpose, they will go through a lot of hurt, uncertainty, frustration and pain.
After Jesus was crucified and died, his disciples were going through a lot of pain. Why did Jesus die? There was nothing good about his death. There was no point to it. Why did we follow him for three years for it to end like this? Following him led to nothing in the end, just pain?
Thomas was one of the disciples, and he was feeling that pain. Some of the disciples had seen Jesus! He came to them, when they had locked themselves in a room. He stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” And he breathed the Holy Spirit on them. I hear that and I think, “Jesus, wear a mask! Don’t breathe on people!” But there was no Covid 19 back then, so he could breathe the Holy Spirit all over them! He got them infected with a great thing: the Holy Spirit!
But Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus came to the disciples. When the disciples see Thomas again, they say, “We have seen the Lord!” They are overjoyed, so excited! Thomas is not happy, he is just feeling the pain. How painful it was to lose Jesus. He doesn’t want to hear how happy they are. He says, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hand, and put by finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
That may sound gory. But Thomas is saying, “I believe in pain. I believe in nail marks and spear wounds. I know Jesus’ pain was real. But I don’t believe there was any purpose to the pain.” Have you ever felt like Thomas? Like you have emotional or physical pain, and for no reason?
It took another week, and then Jesus appeared to the disciples with Thomas there! The doors were locked again, but Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Ok, put your finger in my wounds. Stop doubting and believe!” And Thomas did believe! There was a purpose behind the pain! Thomas could see that even in Jesus suffering and death, God had a purpose all along, to show His victory over sin and death.
We’re living through a painful time right now. A time to stay at home and social distance. We hear frightening stories of people who are very sick,or dying from coronavirus. It is frustrating and worrying, and painful. It feels like we are all under attack! What’s the purpose? Do you ever feel like Thomas? Do you ever believe more in the pain of this moment than in any purpose or point to it?
The challenge for us, like it was for Thomas is this: Don’t look at your life through a perspective of pain, look at your life through a perspective of purpose! We can spend time thinking about all we’ve lost in this moment, and how it doesn’t seem fair. Or we can believe in God’s purpose. God didn’t cause this. But God never wastes a hurt. And God helps us grow more through our pain than through our comfort.
God created us for more than just comfort. We like comfort: we like it when life is easy and there aren’t any bumps in the road. Remember when you could go eat out, go on vacation, or go on a cruise? Those were great times!
We’re not there now. We are in a difficult time. We are living through a shared moment, a moment of shared sacrifice, that we haven’t experienced since the Depression or WWII. To me it seems like, we got a knock on the head that at least reminds us: we need each other and we need to help each other. It feels to me like we have all gone camping together! Not camping for the fun boating, fishing, swimming, grilling part. It’s like we are camping as far as the gathering around the campfire, talking and telling stories together. Right now, it seems like just about everybody really wants is gather around the campfire and talk about this strange new world we live in. But out campfire is phone calls and social media.
This is a shared moment, although we’re not all in the same boat. Some of us are living alone, some have 6 people in our house. Some don’t go out even to the grocery store. Some go to work every day. Some have kids to teach, some are laid off, and some have health issues. But even though we don’t share the exact same circumstances, we’re together in this.
Maybe in the future we will look back at this time and see God had a purpose for us to look after each other more, to pay more attention to the people around us. We’re loving our neighbor. We’re staying at home, we’re checking on others. We’re different, and maybe that is God’s plan and purpose. We’re learning more than ever to put people first.
My homework for you is to say to yourself: I am a lifesaver! You have a purpose from God, to help other people get through this time.
So don’t look at your life through a perspective of pain, look at your life through a perspective of purpose! There’s a purpose behind the pain of this time. Somehow God will bring good out of this time, and his plan is that you will live out his purpose during this painful time, and help other people get to a better day. Amen.
Sermon from April 19, 2020
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 