Doubt... Sermon on Thomas, John 20:19-31

Doubt... Sermon for St. James Lutheran

St. James Lutheran Sanctuary, Hanford, California

John 20:19-31 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin[a]), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 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.”

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah,[c] the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

You ever hear that joke about two men who walk into a bar?    Yeah… you’d think the second one would have walked around it after the first one ran into it…

Oldie but a goodie…

You know, sometimes we humans have the most fun laughing and pointing at someone who has done something embarrassing that we would certainly have done if we had had the opportunity, don’t we?  A mis-step, a foolish question… when all the time… we know… we would have done the same if we had gotten there first.  It’s that little questionable side to us that loves slapstick comedy.  And I’ll laugh as hard as anyone. 

And Thomas – he’s all that.  You’ve just got to feel bad for the guy!  For two thousand years, people have been pointing and laughing at him for wanting something that all of his friends had already gotten.  Proof.  The word in the text isn’t really even “doubt” but a verb “unbelieving” – yet start to type the word “doubt” into Google and “doubting Thomas” is the first automatic thing that pops up.  Add to that the blessing for those who believe without sight and wow do we get to feel smug on top of it all!

Yeah… It’s pretty great. 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Risen Savior; Amen

So we know Thomas’ reputation and have had our little bit of entertainment at his expense… but who was he, really?  Does the book of John tell us any more about Thomas?

The first time John speaks of him is in chapter 11 – the story of Lazarus.  Starting with verse 5:

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.  Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”  The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”  Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”  After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”  The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”  Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”  So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Thomas sees this situation plainly.  It seems, from early on, he knows where this bus is headed.  He decides to stay on, and tells his fellow disciples that they should, too.  Thomas is a realist, but he isn’t a coward.  He has made the decision that following Jesus, even to death, is better than not being with him.

The next time we hear from Thomas is in chapter 14 – when Jesus tells his disciples that he is the Way.  Starting with verse 1:

 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.   From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Again, Thomas is demonstrating that what he wants, what he most desires, is to be with Jesus.  He doesn’t care if the others aren’t asking the hard questions, he’s going to, so he can be sure of his ability to be where Jesus is, to follow him regardless of where he is headed.

With this in mind, I think it’s important also to consider where Thomas isn’t.  When Jesus first appears to the disciples, they are hiding in fear behind a locked door.  They’re afraid of the people that killed Jesus – they are afraid that they might be next.  We have Thomas’ story of needing proof because he isn’t there with them – does he refuse to hide out?  Is he going on with his life?  Is he trying to carry on Jesus’ mission, tell his stories?  We don’t know what he’s doing, but we do know that he isn’t in their hiding place. 

Later they tell him their story – and really, he just wants what they have had.  He wants to be in the presence of Jesus again.  He says so with a little bit of hyperbole for emphasis, to be sure!  But if we listen carefully we can hear the longing behind the words, can’t we? 

He stews in that for eight days.  Eight days.  Can you imagine?  Eight days of feeling that he missed the opportunity.  Eight days of wondering if the other disciples were just wishfully thinking or if it could actually be true.  Eight days, maybe, of hanging with these yahoos behind closed doors in the hopes that Jesus shows up again.  Thomas isn’t going to miss it this time. 

And then He’s there.  No knock, just present, standing among them – Jesus IS the door, how could a lock mean anything to him?  He says “peace to you,” and then tells Thomas he can do whatever he needs to do in order to believe.  But Thomas doesn’t do anything.  He simply confesses the strongest statement of faith found in John’s Gospel:  “My Lord and my God.” 

Doesn’t seem like much of a doubter to me. 

So now that we have repaired the reputation of our guy Thomas – what does all this have to do with us? 

I think Jesus, and then John, both answer that question almost immediately.  Jesus says to Thomas “You have believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who believe without having seen.” 

This is sometimes read as a rebuke to Thomas, but I don’t think it is.  Mary saw him and didn’t believe until she heard his voice.  The other disciples didn’t believe her, but believed when they saw Jesus.  Others believed when they ate with him.  Jesus seems to be okay with his disciples believing because they trust their senses – sight, hearing, taste – but he knows that there will come a time when the experience of Jesus Christ will not always be a sensory thing for believers.  So he gives an extra blessing to us who believe without having seen. 

And then, just in case we didn’t get it, John drives the point home.  These things are written in this book in order that the people who read it might believe – and because of that belief, have life in the name of Jesus. 

We’re not so different from the disciples Jesus appeared to.  We were told by someone else that had experienced Jesus.  For some of us, that was our parents or another family member; for some it was a trusted friend – and then some of us have had our own experiences and some of us are still waiting for them.  But, like Thomas, we are here because we long for that relationship, we long for that experience, and we long for the life that Jesus offers us. 

The promise of this text is that Jesus will keep showing up, keep taking us to the next level of our faith.  In some ways, the tough questions, the desire to experience Jesus and his resurrection are not really doubts – they are not the absence of faith but an integral and important part of faith.  We all have experiences that lead us to question God’s presence, God’s goodness, God’s promises.  Being faith-filled people doesn’t mean we don’t have questions.  It means we live with the tension of them, and allow Jesus to hold us through these questions. 

We don’t have to have it all figured out.  We don’t have to have it all figured out in order to come to church and be a part of a community of faith; we don’t have to have it all figured out to help someone in need; we don’t have to have it all figured out to feed someone who is hungry – and we don’t have to have it all figured out in order to tell others of our experience with Jesus and with our community of faith. 

Jesus shows up ---

Jesus shows up, and then, Jesus sends us out – just as he did the disciples; “as the father sent me, I am sending you.”  What we do with our experience of Jesus matters.  This is true of us as individuals and it is incredibly, vitally true of us as a group, as a church. 

I know that right now this is a church without a pastor.  And I know that it is difficult and those difficulties break my heart – I’m not here all the time but I love this congregation and I pray for this community every day; that you will find a pastor that can lead this church. 

But that being said, and acknowledging that reality of being a church without a pastor -- what you are NOT is a church without a mission.  You have that mission direct from Jesus in this passage:  As the father sent me, I am sending you.  To serve, to heal, to feed, to forgive, and to tell the next in the line of believers so they too can experience Jesus, can believe and therefore share in His life. 

How are you as a church succeeding in that mission?  What is getting in the way?  These are important questions, not just for this church, but for every individual and every group of believers.  But particularly, at a moment in time filled with so much potential, it is an opportunity for this community of faith to zero in on strengths to build on and roadblocks to remove.  I don’t know what those are as well as you do.  But what I do know is that you are called, you are sent, and Jesus does not send you without giving you what you need to accomplish the mission.  This church is not a community hiding behind a locked door.  This church is a community that has been given the Holy Spirit, with the special blessing of not having seen and yet having believed. 

Like Thomas, some of that mission may be to ask the tough questions and commit to following when the road looks incredibly difficult and risky – but as we ask them and make that commitment, we may find that Jesus shows up among us. 

We may find that Jesus shows up in such a definitive way that, like Thomas, our only possible response is our own confession of faith: “My Lord and my God” – and through that belief, together have new life in his name. 

Amen