This is a manuscript for a sermon to be preached the week after Easter next year. It's based on John 20:19-31. Enjoy!!
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.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 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.”
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.” 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.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 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.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
You might say that we are a busy people. Not just here at the seminary but in the city. Especially in this country. So that means that we miss events. We can't travel to them. Or we've made other plans. We get sick. Or perhaps we just don't want to go.
Which happens right? But then that just makes it ten times worse when you hear about how AWESOME the party was. “You should have been there!!” which is inevitably followed by “You'll never believe what happened!” That's when the stories start pouring out. Who was there. What happened. All the that's what she said's... he said's. Ya know, the scoop. The details.
And then BAM – instant blues. Even if our reason for not going was completely justified, we might still feel just a bit sorry for ourselves. Why'd we have to miss THAT one?
Well I think Doubting Thomas could join in on our pity party. He could lead it! After all HE missed the event of the season. THE party. JESUS himself showed up and he missed it.
Can you imagine the disciples clamoring around Thomas the next day? “You should have been there!! You'll NEVER BELIEVE what happened!! We have seen the Lord!” And there's Thomas looking from face to face to face, waiting for them to crack up in laughter. They can't be serious. It couldn't have been Jesus.
Of course the beautiful irony is that after their “You'll never believe” is that fact that Thomas DOESN'T believe them... Even after all the “No, seriously. It was Jesus! He showed us his hands and his side! It was HIM!” Thomas doesn't believe the second hand story. If he were us, he'd have asked for a picture. Then again, if they had a picture, he'd have suspected it was photo shopped. Nothing is going to convince him.
After all, this isn't just some guy showing up to the party off the street. This is JESUS who was just crucified. Who is dead, right?? I mean, there's this rumor that Mary found the tomb empty and then saw Jesus... which we could believe.... except that no one really believed her when she told them either...
Okay, so... let's just say that Thomas does believe, at least a little bit, that Mary and the other disciples are telling the truth. These are fairly trustworthy sources. They don't usually like to trick him. They seem pretty serious about it.
Okay fine, what you are telling me is true. I believe your story. Jesus showed up at your party. But when does it become REAL for me? I believe that he's alive but, well, when do I get to see him? Where is Jesus NOW?
It's an honest question. One that we certainly ask today. Thomas asked it then of his friends. Thomas asked the question we could not and said what we might be afraid to say today. “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.”
What would happen if we said that today? What kind of challenge would that be?
Then again, perhaps we just say it in a different way when we ache with loneliness for a god that we can touch. Something to hold onto and claim, “this is my lord and my god!” Someone to run to. Someone to look at. Someone to reach out and touch.
So I wonder what's behind Thomas' doubt. Perhaps it isn't about a lack of faith in a risen Lord so much as it is a longing for the real presence of Jesus.
And while we are still reveling in the mystery of the resurrection, we might miss the simple fact that Jesus keeps showing up. Not just for Mary. Not just for the disciples the first time. Jesus keeps showing up for people. First Mary. Then the disciples.... And then... then Thomas. Doubting Thomas.
But today... well, today we are confronted with a tomb that has been empty for about 2,000 years. So we are left wondering if we still have Jesus. We are left wondering if Jesus is still showing up.
Each week in Sunday School, we go around asking the question “Where did you see Jesus this week?” The answers are usually that we see Jesus in a friend or a mom or dad. But one of the girls, Kacie, told us that she saw Jesus when she was playing basketball in her back yard. She wasn't very good at sports. He told her to relax and breathe. She did. And she won.
Kacie was beaming as she told us this. Couldn't wait to tell us. The unshakable reality that Jesus was with her in that basketball game rested upon her face in an ear-to-ear smile. Her excitement was palpable. Jesus showed up.
So where did YOU see Jesus this week? Where is Jesus showing up today? Because the question is no longer “Does Jesus still show up?” but “where?” And if Jesus is doing what he's done before, he's showing up in locked rooms.
(Pause) And.... He's coming to US. HE is coming to US. Jesus is showing up in the places where we already are.
What's more? Jesus keeps showing up. In the present tense. Today.
NOW. (walk to table)
HERE. (point to table)
And perhaps like Thomas, our response will be a simple, “My Lord and my God....!”
And though Jesus challenges Thomas by asking if he has believed because he has seen, it still seems abundantly clear that Jesus showed up anyway. Because it really isn't about Thomas' doubt. It's about how steadfast and faithful and loving our Lord is to us. Over and over.
The story even ends by saying that more things happened that weren't written down. “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
So we might say that the stories keep happening. We might keep looking to see where else is Jesus showing up for us? Perhaps in more locked rooms. In the middle of back yard basketball games. At the table. Or in the middle of us now. Jesus keeps showing up.
Amen.
