Overland Park Christian Church
(913) 677-4646
  • Home
  • About OPCC
    • Guest Information
    • Vision & Core Values >
      • 2023 Missional Planning
    • Our Team
    • Our Story
  • Worship
    • Worship This Week
    • Virtual Worship
    • Sunday AM Worship
    • Worship Arts
    • Children in Worship
    • Children Worship & Wonder
    • Funerals >
      • Digital Funerals
    • Communion
  • Ministries
    • Stewardship Ministries >
      • Stewardship
      • Online Giving
      • Landscape Ministries
    • Children's Ministries >
      • Nursery
      • Children Worship & Wonder
      • Children in Worship
      • Vacation Bible School
    • Family Ministries >
      • Families, Youth & Children During COVID-19
    • Youth Ministries >
      • Youth Group
    • Young Adult Ministries
    • Adult Ministries >
      • Christian Ed for Adults
      • Empty Nesters
      • Men's Fellowship
      • Girlfriends Unlimited
    • Caring Ministries >
      • Pastoral Counseling
      • Congregational Care
      • Caregiver Support
      • Grief Support
      • 12-Step Support Groups
    • Music Ministries >
      • Choir Recordings
  • Outreach & Missions
    • Global Outreach >
      • Mission Trips
    • Local Outreach >
      • Local Assistance Info
      • OPCC Food Pantry
    • Building Use Ministries >
      • Wedding Information
      • Building Use Requests
  • Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • Opportunities to Serve >
      • Serve in the Church
      • Serve in the Community
      • Serve in the World
    • Joining our Faith Community
    • Affiliations
    • 2023 Missional Planning
  • News & Media
    • Newsletter
    • Virtual Worship
    • Worship Bulletins
    • Social Media & Blogs >
      • A Community of Voices (Blog)
  • Contact Us
    • Employment Opportunities

Touching God, or, Caution in the Presence of Mystery? 

4/15/2015

 
(Thomas) said to them, "Unless i see the marks of the nails in is hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
                                      - John 20.25
In a recent discussion over coffee with a friend I expressed reservations about a project he wanted to undertake, and he responded by calling me a Doubting Thomas. And – you know what? - it didn’t sound to me like a compliment. Most of us, in fact, think of doubt as something shady, dubious, unhealthy, or just plain dirty. We think of doubt as the beginning of a slippery slope careening off the narrow way. It may be a road less taken, but that’s okay because it’s not a road worth traveling. This is harsh stuff, no doubt (pun intended; I couldn’t resist), but perhaps this dark assessment of doubt explains why I was conditioned to feel guilty, even ashamed, for expressing doubt by the Southern-fried religion in which I was raised.

I reckon I should confess that I didn’t prove to be an outstanding representative of this proud religious heritage. To me, doubt didn’t feel dirty from the inside out; that was imposed on me from the outside. For me, doubt was simply a necessity. It was there no matter how hard I tried to walk the walk of a fundamentalist and root it out with piety and stubborn belief. And in the end it was not a bad thing. In fact, it was only when I embraced my doubts and questions that they began to open out to spiritual insight, strength, and growth in the Spirit of which I was incapable before.

I think Thomas, commonly dubbed Doubting Thomas, would understand my plight; I think he experienced something quite similar in his spiritual life; and I think that this passage from John 20 reveals the origins of a spiritual giant that can serve as role model for faith. Faith, that is to say, that develops not in spite of, but through doubt. To be perfectly honest, I think the moral of this story is as simple as it is overlooked – doubt saves the day.

Before his encounter with the risen Lord, Thomas suffered from the same fears that drive many of us. He wanted hard proof of this claim of resurrection before he would be willing to risk anything on it. He didn’t want to christen anything as true unless he could feel it, touch it, probe it, and in so doing clearly define it, limit it, and make it manageable.

Please note, however, that when Jesus invited Thomas to touch, probe, and feel resurrection life… he declined, and exclaimed in near ecstasy, My Master! My God! His fear had vanished, and solid, earthbound evidence had become inadequate, even superfluous. Thomas’ doubt was transformed in the presence of resurrection life into what could be called caution in the presence of mystery. His questions, his reservations, were not barriers to faith. Rather, they reflected his recognition that what he sought was beyond his understanding; it was beyond his control, that he had nothing to give to resurrection life, but had only to receive its fullness.

Like Thomas I say, Give me doubt or, to express it more forcefully, I doubt therefore I believe. Doubt as skepticism that is dubious of the strange, the new… not so much. Doubt as cynicism that is fundamentally distrustful of the motives and goals of others… not so much. Give me doubt that entices me beyond the narrow limits of my truth, my understanding, and my conclusions to something mysterious and wonder-full. Something like resurrection life. 


Bo

Comments are closed.
    Permission to use and stream music in our worship services obtained from ONE LICENSE #A-730652
    and CCLI #36152
    and CSPL #143030. 
    All rights reserved.
    ​

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    Acts
    Advent
    All Saints
    Amy Luckenbill
    Ann Weems
    Bo Crowe
    Body Of Christ
    Bonhoeffer
    Children
    Compassion
    Crucifixion
    Discernment
    Early Church
    Eastertide
    Encounters With God
    Epiphany
    Faith
    Faith Community
    First Corinthians
    Forgiveness
    Fred Craddock
    Frederick Buechner
    Generosity
    Genesis
    God
    God As Present
    God In Our Image
    Gospel Of John
    Gospel Of Luke
    Gospel Of Mark
    Gospel Of Matthew
    Grace
    Holy Books
    Holy Friday
    Hope
    Humility
    Image Of God
    Isaiah
    Journey Of Faith
    Joy
    Justice
    Laura Phillips
    Lent
    Light
    Lisa-setty
    Living Faith
    Love
    Madeleine L'Engle
    Maya Angelou
    MLK Jr.
    Narrative Lectionary
    Peace
    Poetry
    Prayer
    Psalms
    Rainer Maria Rilke
    Reconciliation
    Reel Theology
    Reign Of Christ
    Resurrecting Easter
    Sacred In The Secular
    Spiritual Life
    Stewardship
    Struggle
    Thanksgiving
    The Lord's Prayer
    The Star Of Bethlehem
    Trinity
    Unity
    Vbs
    Vision
    Vision & Mission
    William Sloane Coffin
    Women In The Bible
    World Communion
    Zachariah

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Donate to OPCC Online
Picture
Calendar
When viewing our calendar:

OPCC
= Overland Park Christian 
RAV = Rios de Agua Viva Iglesia
IHN - Interfaith Homeless Network

CMS = Case Management Services
AIM = Advocacy in Motion
​HBCS
 = Honeybee Community Services
Monarch = Monarch Montessori Preschool
Most other names of groups are 12-step support groups.

Church Office Hours: 
Monday - Thursday: 9:30am - 4:00pm
Friday: 9:30am - 3:00pm


©2013-2022 Overland Park Christian Church
​7600 West 75th Street
Overland Park, KS  66204
(913) 677-4646
office@opccdoc.org
Worship Schedule:
10:30am Sundays In-Person
and Online Live-Stream Worship
913-299-9002 Sunday Worship by Phone