Yesterday's Gospel reading was the account of doubting Thomas. I was at St. Johns church in Markyate yesterday, and as I said to the congregation there that I think doubting Thomas comes in for a bad press! I think he should be called ‘normal Thomas’ because surely each of us has a tendency to doubt sometimes. But the opposite of doubt I would like to suggest is hope. Not in the kind of “I hope the weather is nice tomorrow” sentiment, but hope that comes from the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We attach a number of words to hope, don't we? We have blind hope, false hope, vain hope; all of which indicate how often and how easily our hopes are dashed.
However, the Bible teaches us that we have a hope in which we can boast, a hope in which we can rejoice:
In God’s great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
This hope is one that lives inside of each of us, planted in us because Jesus rose from the dead. And my prayer is that this grain of hope may grow and take hold in each of us. And as it becomes stronger and more vibrant may it be a hope that radiates to others. At this time when our friends, our neighbours, our communities need hope more than ever, may they detect in us the hope of the risen Christ.
And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13) Amen