Some of you might know that Penny and I have two dogs. If you follow me on Facebook, you probably know that 80% of my posts are something about one or both of our west highland terriers.
[Blu & Tipsy]
A couple of months ago, someone gave me this helpful tip when walking the dogs. I already knew this about dogs, but it was a good reminder for me anyway. And the tip was that when you take a dog for a walk, let them stop from time to time because they enjoy sniffing and picking up the many scents that are on the ground.
This person said, it’s kind of like how we like to scroll through social media posts. They’re curious about what has been recently happening in people’s lives and in this case, the lives of other dogs. They love scrolling through the scents that critters and other dogs have left behind thanks to their incredible sense of smell.
I did a little research on this and found out that dogs have 100 million sensory receptor sites in their nasal cavity compared to just 6 million in people. And the area of the canine brain devoted to analyzing odors is about 40 times larger than the comparable part of the human brain. It has been estimated that dogs can smell anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 times better than people.
And when dogs sniff other dogs that helps them to know what the other dogs likes to eat, what gender they are, if they’re happy or aggressive, and if they are healthy or ill. And if they meet that same dog again even if they have been separated for a long period of time, they are able to remember who that other dog is.
I’m glad this person reminded me of this dog walking tip, because a lot of times, I just want to take our dogs for a walk without stopping along the way. I really do need to remind myself to stop and let them use their powerful sense of smell.
So, I say all of this because I think we as humans also need to remember to use our senses as well. We have a sensory faith where we can encounter God in very meaningful ways if we take the time to do so.
One of the common ways that we encounter God is through listening to sermons. This is why I have dedicated my life to making sure that on any given Sunday, you’re going to hopefully hear a sermon that is engaging, thoughtful, challenging, biblically based, and spiritually enriching.
During a typical worship service here at Athens First, the sermon time takes up about a third of the entire worship service. Even if it’s an above average sermon, I still want us to encounter God through the other 2/3 of the worship service.
In some churches, the sermon takes up over half of the service time. Not everybody is going to connect with God by listening to a sermon. It might be through an inspiring choral anthem, a solo, a hymn, a spoken prayer, a call to worship, the benediction, and yes, even through the sharing of announcements. I have also heard some of you tell me that just by sitting in this beautiful and spacious sanctuary, you often feel God’s peace and presence in a very real way.
And these are just the spoken and visual parts of how we can connect with God through worship. We also can encounter God’s presence when we share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, when we actually taste God’s goodness by partaking of the bread and the cup. As one child who received communion for the first time said, “Jesus tastes so good!”
Several years ago, a member of a church I was serving went on a mission trip to Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. When she got back from her ten-day trip in which she cared for the dying and saw people eating out of the garbage just to have something to eat, it gave her a totally new perspective on the scriptures, especially the prophetic books of the Old Testament that talk so much about not forgetting the poor and those who are in need.
That multi-sensory mission trip experience was transformative for her. I remember when she called me on the phone after returning from Haiti. There were deep sobs on the other end of the phone as I listened to her tell me how her trip to Haiti gave her a totally new perspective in what it means to live out her faith. Her experience is very similar to the people who participate in our summer Honduras mission trip that we will be resuming this summer.
Encountering God by remembering that we have a sensory faith might provide a new perspective on this story of Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples. Thomas was the disciple who had refused to believe what the disciples had told him that Jesus had risen from the dead. Thomas needed more proof than simply believing what the others had told him.
[Doubting Thomas & the Risen Christ]
This story is why Thomas has been given the name, “Doubting Thomas.” But I wonder if we have given way too much attention to Thomas in this story and we have forgotten to appreciate what Jesus does for him. Jesus allows Thomas to touch his wounds to help him come to an Easter faith.
Jesus recognizes that even one of his own disciples needed something more than taking someone else’s word for it. Thomas needed to physically touch the Risen Christ before he came to faith. And at the end of this story, Jesus says, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
You get the feeling that when Jesus says this to the disciples, he is actually turning toward the people who are listening to this story, people like us who do not have the advantage of seeing the Risen Christ face to face as Thomas was able to do. We get this special blessing from Jesus since we cannot do what Thomas was able to do which was to actually see and touch the Risen Lord.
But there were others who needed something more than this physical encounter with the Risen Christ. For example, last Sunday, we heard how Mary had gone to the tomb early on that first Easter morning and she found that it was empty. Even when the Risen Christ appeared to her a little later that morning by the tomb, Mary didn’t recognize that it was Jesus. She thought it was the gardener, we were told.
It wasn’t until Jesus said her name, “Mary,” that she realized that this stranger was actually the Risen Christ. For Mary, she needed to hear her name said out loud before she was able to come to an Easter faith.
Next Sunday, our Gospel reading will be the Emmaus story when the Risen Christ appeared to two of Jesus’ disciples who were walking to the village of Emmaus. They didn’t recognize that it was Jesus until at the very end when Jesus broke bread with them. That’s when we are told that their hearts burned within them because they realized in that moment that it was Jesus who was now alive. It was when Jesus broke the bread that these two disciples remembered when Jesus broke the bread during the Last Supper.
Our I Peter scripture reading this morning also recognizes those who do not have the advantage of actually being in the physical presence of the Risen Christ. In I Peter 1:8, we are told, “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy…”
This letter was was written to Christians who became believers after the Risen Christ had ascended to heaven. They came to faith not only by hearing these stories of faith that we find in the gospel accounts, but also by worshiping and fellowshipping together. We help each other to believe through all of these ways which include using all of our senses.
The church is also referred to as, “The Body of Christ.” What a powerful name to help us remember that the Risen Christ is present with us just by being God’s community of faith. Jesus had told the disciples, “whenever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
There are so many times that I feel the presence of the Risen Christ through the life of our church family, like when we gather around someone who is being baptized or when we wrap Christmas presents for our Angel Tree families, like when we share in covered dish meals together and have a time of fellowship and fun, and yes, especially when we worship together, especially last Sunday when the beautiful Easter lilies were decorating our altar.
We aren’t simply known as a church located on 2 South College Street. We are the Body of Christ, the presence of the Risen Lord here in our community.
Deep down, I believe that we are all spiritual beings who want to encounter something that is beyond ourselves; something or someone who can show us the way to experiencing life in all of it’s fullness, to have hope in times of despair, to find comfort when our hearts are grieving, to be lifted up when we are feeling down, to receive and to offer forgiveness, to feel loved and to be loved, and to be able to offer all of our questions and thoughts about the mysteries of life.
Throughout my own life, the Risen Christ has filled this spiritual longing for me.
Sometimes it is a sermon in which God speaks to me in a very real way. Sometimes, it’s just by dipping some bread into a chalice and hearing someone say to me, “The body and blood of Christ given for you.”
Sometimes, it’s a hymn lyric that I’ve sung a million times but for some reason, a verse or a phrase captures my attention in a way I had never before noticed . Sometimes, it’s the smell of Easter Lillies reminding me of new life in Christ. Sometimes, it’s a church member, simply saying to me, “hey, I just want you to know that you’ve been in my prayers.” Sometimes, it’s when I’m walking to my car following a late night Christmas Eve service. It feels so quiet and peaceful and I find myself still singing the words from that beautiful candlelight service, “All is calm. All is bright.”
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need all of these ways to nourish and feed my soul and be reminded that the Risen Christ is with me. Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling are all ways that we can fill our deepest spiritual longings.
No wonder that Jesus said “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
When we use all of our senses, we can experience the presence of the Risen Christ in new and fresh ways, and these moments lead us to join the disciple, Thomas in saying, “My Lord and my God!”
God of resurrection, you know our doubts and our many questions. How can it be that Jesus rose from the dead? How can it be that the Risen Christ is present with us today? How can it be that you can make us alive in Christ? Moments of doubt and disbelief sap our strength. Forgive and restore us. Remind us to be open to the mysterious ways that you make your presence known to us. We pray this in the name of Risen Christ who offers us peace and assurance. Amen.
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