Praying Together 16th April 2023

vast beauty of the milky way above a tree on a mountain

Collect for Easter 2

Almighty Father, you gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: Grant us so to put away the yeast of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Peter 1: 3-9

John 20: 19-31

You’ll have heard people tell you that they’ve ‘earned’ trust. Trust in you, trust in their leaders, trust in Jesus.

But that’s not how it works. In reality, trust can never be ‘earned’. I cannot insist that you should trust me, that I deserve your trust. We can’t tell people that they must trust Jesus, because He ‘earned’ their trust through His suffering and His cross. There’s no point in persuading them that they should – because even though they might say so, deep down, they probably won’t.

Trust is not ‘earned’. It can only be ‘awarded’. Doesn’t matter how much you think you should be trusted by someone – it’s entirely their choice, probably based on their perception, evidence and understanding, not of your words, but you behaviour and actions. You could say that ‘proof’, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

That’s Thomas in a nutshell. He’s heard the others describe what they saw – but rather than making a superficial commitment because they say so, he wants proof. When he receives it, he awards Jesus his future, whatever that may be.

Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Those who have not seen? Physically seen, like Thomas? No. But they have seen in a different way. It might be in the jaw-dropping beauty of creation. It may be that they have seen the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in the behaviours and actions of Christians they know personally, or those through the ages who have lived as Jesus body on Earth. Perhaps they’ve observed sacrificial love in action; commitment to truth and justice despite suffering and persecution. Faith opens their eyes, they ‘see’, and they believe.

However it may happen, when we see Him, we proclaim Him in the same words as Thomas – ‘My Lord and my God’ – and award Him our trust. Forever.