Why Don't You Believe?

Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:35-48

There once was a great tightrope walker back in the mid 1800's who was well known for his ability to walk the tightrope over some very dangerous heights. One day, in 1860, a large crowd was watching this man cross the Niagara Falls. In fact, he crossed the gorge several times -- a 1,000 foot trip, 160 feet above the raging waters.

After finishing one of his passes, he asked the crowd if they believed he could take one person across on his shoulders. The crowd shouted, "Yes!" Then he approached a man in the crowd and asked him to get on his shoulders. The man immediately refused. In fact, everyone the great tightrope walker approached that day refused to get on his shoulders, which seems to prove that mental assent or even verbal assent is not real belief, at all.

I can say that I believe in something, and I can believe something with my intellect, but I may still not believe with my heart.

I have flown on several long trips on jet airplanes. And, just about always, I have noticed several persons nearby who seem to be nervous about flying. You could tell these persons that flying is safer than driving a car the same distance, and they would tell you that they believe it. You could tell these fearful persons about the pilot and the airline company's near perfect safety record, and they would tell you that they believe it. You could sight airplane safety statistics for a half hour, and these worried persons would tell you that they believe it. But, even after all of this convincing, they would still be afraid. Why? Because, while they had accepted what you had to say with their mind, they had not accepted what you had to say with their heart. And that is where faith must take root. That is where true and perfect believe must reside: In the heart.

In our gospel lesson for today, we are told that two of Jesus' disciples had just returned from a walk to Emmaus. And they described how on their way they had encountered the resurrected Christ. Being that this was shortly after the resurrection and other accounts of similar encounters had been heard by the disciples, this news was very curious to most of the disciples, but most of them didn't know what to think about it.

But, what is wonderful is that while they were there, simply talking about it, Jesus came and stood in their midst. Other places in the scriptures tell us what happens when two or three gather together to speak of the Lord. In fact, the exact words are in Matthew: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

The disciples were together, speaking about Jesus, speaking about the news that seemed to be coming in from all over. They had heard from Mary of Magdalene, from Peter and John, from the two disciples who had been on the road to Emmaus. And what they were hearing was critically important to the future of the Body of Christ -- the Church. So, Jesus very dramatically played out the teaching found in Matthew. For as they were talking, as they were sharing the good news, Jesus came and was with them.

So often we forget this wonderful truth as we worship together in the church. Most of us simply come in here and sit down. We do a variety of things: We look through the bulletin to see what's happening. We listen to the music Kathy and Carol play. Some of us may try to shut out the other things that have been on our mind throughout the week. As we sit here some of us may be forced to quietly struggle with an issue that's been with us, or with a noisy child, or even with a spouse. But, what we may not always remember is that while we are here, sharing the good news of Jesus' resurrection, Jesus is here, as well.

And doesn't this remind us of the wonderful power God has in this universe of ours? The other night, my daughter Heather and I were in the church and it was dark. And as she and I were leaving she asked, "Dad, do you think there are ghosts in the church?" And as we were going out the door, I puzzled about this and just answered, "No, after all, how would they manage to keep up with us? The earth turns on its axis at about 1,000 miles an hour and it orbits the sun at about 70,000 miles an hour. And then the solar system travels around the Milky Way Galaxy at over 150,000 miles an hour. And who knows how fast the Milky Way Galaxy is travelling through space. So, how could ghosts, who are supposed to be weightless, keep up with the earth as it travels on its dizzying course through space, let alone keep track of any particular location upon the earth they might want to haunt? And Heather looked at me in the half light of the street lights of West Corunna Avenue and said, "Hum, I never thought about it that way before."

But, it made me want to pause for a few moments to think. If it was true for ghosts, if it would be difficult, if not impossible, for ghosts to keep up with us as we make our way through the universe, how does God do it? How is it possible for Jesus to be in our midst when two or three are gathered together in his name?

There is a song that has become popular since the war with Iraq, called, "From a Distance." The song, sung by a popular recording artist, is being played all day long by most of the radio stations. And the one line which is repeated over and over in the song is, "And, God is watching us from a distance." I guess what concerns me about this song is that even though it is true that God can see us from a distance, what is more remarkable, and what is even more important for the Christian, is that God has the power to relate to us personally, as well, through Jesus Christ. To be sure, the song is a pretty one and has a nice beat, but the words should be troublesome to those who know the Bible well, and to those who believe in their hearts that God is here and struggling with the problems of humanity, and not distant, at all.

The disciples of Jesus had a hard time believing that Jesus was really in their midst. At first, some of them were frightened and troubled. But, then, as the reality of Christ's presence dawned on them, some of them found it difficult to believe because of their joy and amazement.

Isn't it interesting how we react to things that happen to us? Even if it is something wonderful that has happened, we put our hands up to our foreheads and say, "I just can't believe it! It's too good to be true."

Perhaps we're like this because we forget that God really does love us. And we forget that if God loves us then we should expect some wonderful things in our lives. We should expect miracles.

Fellowship is one of those things which the scriptures tell can bring about the miracle of God's presence. When the resurrected Jesus had shown himself in the midst of his disciples, one of the things he did to make his presence perfectly clear to them was eat with them. Sharing food with his disciples was something that Jesus did quite often at very important times. His first miracle had been turning water into wine at a wedding. His feeding of the multitudes helped his followers to understand who he was. His table-fellowship with his disciples in the Upper Room was extremely important in shaping the work and worship of the future Church. And we remember how important that kind of fellowship is as we share food in our church-life.

The Come Join Us Class has a potluck dinner every month. The Young Christian's Bible Study Group has a table fellowship every six weeks, or so. Every first Sunday we share the Lord's Supper in our worship service, followed by coffee and cookies in the Green Room. During the Wednesdays of Lent we have potluck dinners with other churches. Once a year our church opens its door to the whole community with a steak dinner. And in a real way we do these things because we know that it is through this kind of fellowship that Christ makes himself known and real.

One of the most important ministries being done by our church at this time is the work of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in fighting world hunger. On about every continent of the world our Church is involved in projects to help persons have the food they need. And our church does this work quietly without paying for expensive advertising. The work our denomination does in world hunger is done though local churches just like this one.

People sometimes wonder why our church does this. And the answer to this question is mostly seen in our belief that as Christ revealed himself in the sharing of food, so we also are able to share Christ with others as we share our food.

When Henry Norris Russell, Princeton astronomer, had concluded a lecture on the Milky Way, a woman came to him and asked: "If our world is so little, and the universe is so great, can we believe that God pays any attention to us?"

Dr. Russell replied, "That depends, madam, entirely on how big a God you believe in."

God is so great that he is not distant. God is so great that he can be personal. God is so great that he becomes present in our fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in our moment of need. Amen.