Learning to live with our scars is one of the toughest things we will ever face. It’s hard to do because they remind us of our pain. The reminder can be a point of grace, though, when we allow it to clarify what matters. Maya Angelou once said for her, writing is a hurtful process of “dragging my pencil across the old scars to sharpen it.”
Thomas, a disciple of Christ, doubts the story of the resurrection until he sees the scars in Jesus’ hands and feet. If there are no scars, it’s not real. Fleming Rutledge, writing about Easter faith declares, “It was not the sign of his glory that gave proof, but the sign of his sufferings.”
The same is true for all of us: Life comes with wounds. Our scars tell our stories.
Rutledge says, “Again and again this brings us back to the place where faith must stand – not in the place of clarity and certainty, but in the place of ambiguity and pain.” Thomas needs proof, not of Jesus’ new life, but confirmation of his suffering. If it was all just a big charade, if the deal was done before Jesus ever went to the cross, if there was nothing to worry about because Easter was coming, then the whole thing is a fraud.
We follow one whose life was taken because he preached grace and love for all. We follow one who was killed because the world is always fearful of mercy and forgiveness. The new life and the resurrection became signs for us that God will not allow pain and suffering and death to have the final word.
God in Jesus Christ took on the pain and suffering of this world and faced the same death that we do in order to become one with us and thereby offer us the gift of forgiveness and new life. On that ugly cross Jesus spoke the most beautiful words ever heard, “Forgive them.”
Laura Mendenhall, a seminary president, met with theologian Shirley Guthrie shortly before he died. She said to him, “You seem to be at peace.” His eyes twinkled and he said, “Yes, and the peace is bigger than I imagined.” He had quit worrying about all of the things he had to do, that he ought to do. “It turns out,” Guthrie said, “these things are not as important to God as I thought. It’s all about forgiveness.”
I will pray during this holiest of weeks that we will find the courage to let our wounds take us to the empty tomb and the gift of God’s forgiving love.
Grace and peace to you,
