This is manuscript from the sermon I preached on April 27, 2014 - the second Sunday after Easter. The sermon is based on John 20:19-31.
We also celebrated our Confirmation. We celebrated with ten of our youth as the made public proclamation of their faith.
John 20:19-31
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." 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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." 26A 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." 27Then 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." 28Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But 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.
“Where Have You Seen Jesus?”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
So goes our victory chant for the season of Easter. But if we look carefully at the first Easter story, the victory chant starts out rather quiet. Our story from John this morning picks up on that evening of the first Easter. And it’s an evening not marked by shouts of joy and celebration. That first easter evening is marked by locked doors and fear. The disciples huddle together behind a locked door, perhaps whispering over candle light, scared that they will be over heard by the authorities who led the shouts of “crucify” on Friday. There is fear and trembling. And who should show up, but Jesus.
Right through the locked door Jesus appears. The first words out of his mouth are “Peace be with you.” A greeting of peace for weary disciples. Jesus then shows him his hands and sides, gets his chance to tell the story of his scars (don’t we love that!). The darkness of the room begins to lighten. The faith crisis that had set on Friday begins to subside. God does have the power to work life out of death.
But Thomas is not with them. And if you have been around the church long enough, you are probably familiar with the phrase “doubting Thomas.” Actually it’s a phrase we use in all parts of our lives when someone doesn't believe what we have to say. A catch phrase if you will. One that Thomas is probably not proud of - and certainly one that is not deserved. Poor Thomas has gotten a raw deal for centuries. Perhaps it’s time we set the story straight.
Thomas was absent from the locked upper room the first time Jesus entered without a key. Thomas, who probably drew the short straw and had to venture out to the grocery store to get the makings of dinner, left a room full of fear and returned to a party. He missed the key moment in-between. And by the time he managed to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, trying to tell him the miraculous story of Jesus’ peculiar locksmith abilities, Thomas is more than skeptical. But let’s not go so far as to call him a doubter. Thomas is a realist. He just wants to experience what everyone else is trying to explain to him. Jesus is risen. And Thomas wants to see him.
And can we blame him? He asks for what any other person, any one of the other disciples, any one of us, would have asked for. He wanted to see Jesus. Thomas’ faith had gone through the same roller coaster as the other disciples, only he did not get to experience the resurrection as they had. Thomas is still in the throws of the crisis. He is having troubling believing the story. He is having trouble trusting what the disciples are trying to tell him. And have all been there - we know what it’s like to have our faith tested. And the good news is that God is still with us through the darkness.
Jesus does not get angry with Thomas. He meets him right in the moment of his crisis and does the work of love in building up his faith. What happens next is the moment John has been working towards since chapter one. Thomas’ confession.
Thomas’ confession of faith - “My Lord and my God” - is a climactic moment for John’s story of Jesus. Thomas confesses Jesus to be God. It connects the arch of the story that John started with his first words; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…..And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” Thomas, when pushed on his unbelief, on his lack of trust in the resurrection event, confesses Jesus to be who John says he is, God incarnate in the world. God who came to give life.
The story that John wrote was written for us. Though he did not have Fredericksburg, Texas in mind when he put pen to paper almost two thousand years ago, John wrote this story for us. For ones who would not see, but believe. “But these are written so that you may come to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that through believing, you may have life in his name.” We are the ones who gather around this story over and over again, to catch a glimpse of Jesus, the son of God. We read and hear the signs that John recorded so that we may come to believe. Or to put it a little differently, so that we may come to trust. We around these stories from John, and others, so that we can come to trust that God is at work in our world. We have been given the sacraments of baptism and communion to give us strength on the journey of faith. So that we can confess the work of God to the world. So that we can trust that God is still at work in our midst.
The power of today’s story is the confession on the lips of Thomas. It’s not about doubt. It’s about Jesus moving us from a place of unbelief (lack of trust), to a place where we confess that God is indeed present in our lives.
In this season leading up to and celebrating Easter, we have been talking about resurrection at Theology on Tap. One of the key moments from this month’s gathering has been asking the question - “Where have you seen Jesus?” I learned to ask this question while I was in Aggie Lutherans during my time in College Station. My mentor Deb Grant taught us to ask this question with our lives. Every gathering, every devotion, sometimes multiple times a week, we would ask each other - “where have you seen Jesus?” We would listen to each other’s encounters with the risen Jesus. We learned to see the rhythm of God in our midst. I still like to ask this question, so I offer it up to us this morning - “Where have you seen Jesus?” It’s a moment of confession for modern day disciples.
I saw Jesus this week on Wednesday evening. On Wednesday evening we gathered in the sanctuary to celebrate the past two years of study. We lovingly questioned these young men and women about the tools that we have to develop our faith. The Bible. The Ten Commandments. The Creed. The Lord’s Prayer. The Sacraments. And they performed beautifully. We then got to sit back a listen to faith statements, my favorite part of the evening.
With nerves running high, each one took their turn in front of the crowd and confessed their faith. Little “Thomas’” everyone one of them. Confessing their faith, their trust in the work of God in their lives. Faith shaped and inspired by parents and grandparents and friends and teachers and cabin leaders and pastors. Faith that will continue to grow. For this is not the end of the journey.
We celebrate a step in the journey of faith today. We gather around ten of our youth to celebrate their affirmation of faith. We call it confirmation. It’s a journey that started around the font a few years ago. A journey that started with water, God’s word, and a few promises from those who would journey with these young men and women. I see Jesus at work in these young people. I see God at work in this faith community. God is alive and well and continuing to do the work of life in this place.
So where have you seen Jesus? This question becomes a way for us to witness what God is doing in our midst. It becomes a way for us to proclaim God alive and well in this world. It becomes a way for us to talk about what we are often shy to address. I commend this question to you this week and in the weeks to come. Ask it around the dinner table. Call up your parents or kids and ask them where they have seen Jesus. If the question feels a bit strange, practice it for a while. Bring it up on Facebook. You know Bethany has a Facebook page now. Social media is great medium for sharing our faith and witnessing to what God is doing in our lives. So let’s continue to ask each other - “Where have you seen Jesus?”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
God is still at work in our world. Let’s go out and witness it with our lives.
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