In the evening of that same
day, the first day of the week, the doors were locked in the room where the
disciples were, for fear of the Temple authorities. Jesus came and stood among
them and said, "Peace be with you." Having said this, the savior
showed them the marks of crucifixion. The disciples were filled with joy when
they saw Jesus, who said to them again, "Peace be with you. As Abba God
sent me, so I am sending you." After saying this, Jesus breathed on them
and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are
forgiven. If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained."
It happened that one of the
Twelve, Thomas—who was called Didymus or ‘Twin’—was not with them when Jesus
came. The other disciples kept telling him, "We have seen Jesus!" But
Thomas’ answer was, "I will never believe it without putting my finger in
the nail marks and my hand in the spear wound."
On the eighth day, the
disciples were once more in the room, and Thomas was with them. Despite the
locked doors, Jesus came and stood before them, saying, "Peace be with
you." Then to Thomas, Jesus said, "Take your finger and examine my
hands. Put your hand into my side. Do not doubt but believe."
Thomas said in response,
"My Savior and my God!" Jesus then said, "Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed."
Now Jesus performed many
other signs as well—signs not recorded here—in the presence of the disciples.
But these have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Only Be- gotten, so that by believing you may have life in Jesus’ name.
Christ is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia!
Christ is risen, indeed! We have
seen the Lord! Alleluia! Amen!
But, you may still feel like
Thomas. Certainly in this building last week and again this week we have
proclaimed at the top of our lungs that Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
There were lilies up here and joyful music and an egg hunt and birds were
chirping and the sun was shining and it is spring time in San Francisco.
Alleluia.
But when we walk out the
doors of this place, it may not feel that way. When we walk out these doors
there is cold and wind. There is homelessness and hunger right here in our
neighborhood. There is violence on our streets. There is unrest in our
communities. There is fear in this country; there is hate in this world.
Children of color are afraid
to walk alone because our son Trayvon Martin did not make it home last
month—the shooter, George Zimmerman, was finally charged last week, but the
culture of the streets remains unchanged.Teens all over the US are
afraid of being their true selves because of the meanness of bullying in the
schoolyard. Six students in the Anoka-Hennepin school district in Minnesota
committed suicide because of rampant anti-gay bullying in their schools—the
district recently settled a lawsuit, but the culture and the policies remain
unchanged. Americans of all stripes sit
jobless, hoping for phone calls about applications and résumés, with little to
encourage them. Last summer, I spent a lot of
my time as a hospital chaplain with a woman named Jessica, who though she was
only 28 had had three miscarriages before the pregnancy I sat through with
her—high-risk twins.
And still, Jesus says that
blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
Blessed are the Martin
family—and many just like them—who have not seen justice for their sons, and
yet have believed that someday soon justice will be served.
Blessed are the families of
those Minnesotan students who have not seen a change in their school district
and yet have believed that, someday soon, reconciliation will come.
Blessed are the homeless and
the jobless who have not seen safety and security and yet have believed that,
someday soon, they will get back on their feet.
Blessed are Jessica and her
husband JT—and all other couples who struggle with infertility—who have kept
faith in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit and have believed that life
will come to them.
Blessed are those who have
not seen and yet have believed.
But didn’t we just read the
story of our friend Thomas, who did not know that his Savior had risen? Who was
unable to say “Indeed!” His friends, the other disciples, are calling and
responding—Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!—just as we have
done…and yet Thomas is unsure. He has heard from people he trusts that this is the
truth—Jesus the Christ is risen today! Alleluia! But Thomas looks around him
and says, “I don’t know, y’all. You saw him? I’d like to see him. I’d like to
touch his wounds and see his face and hear his voice—as you have done—so that I
may say, without a doubt, that he is risen.” And that’s not really too
much to ask, is it? The other disciples have seen and touched and heard,
shouldn’t Thomas be afforded the same?
Thomas had every right to be
skeptical. Just a week earlier he had watched as the empire crucified Jesus.
Murdered this man who was his teacher, his friend, his Savior. We talk a lot
about the trauma of crucifixion for the ones being crucified, certainly, but
what about the witnesses? What about the trauma suffered by the disciples and
their mothers? It is unlikely that in one week’s time they have forgotten the
sound of the nails being hammered into the flesh and wood, or the jeers of the
crowd there, watching the same horrific scene, but mocking the life and death
of Jesus. Thomas and his friends will not easily forget that scene. Trauma like
that will haunt their waking and their sleeping for a while yet. And a week is no time to have
grieved the loss of Jesus, either. Thomas may very well still be coming to
terms with the idea that all of it even happened. Weren’t they just traveling
the Palestinian countryside together, the 13 of them, a few weeks ago? Weren’t
they just riding in to Jerusalem? Wasn’t Jesus just here?
Everything has been ruined.
The man who was supposed to bring about the kingdom of God has been wrenched
from their grasp. What is there to believe in
anymore?
With all this rattling around
in his mind, what does it feel like to hear the other disciples proclaim that
Jesus is risen from the dead? A
lot of people get hung up on the logistics of how someone could possibly rise
from the dead, but what about the psyche of Thomas, here?
Thomas has been told
that Jesus is not dead—Jesus is alive! He was here! But Thomas just watched
Jesus die. Was that real? Did that happen? Was it not Jesus that he saw nailed
to the cross, after all? Was this all some kind of trick? Or, what if the
disciples are mistaken? What if it is an impostor claiming to be their Savior?
Thomas needs to see this man who claims to be the risen Christ and see and
touch those wounds. This is important. Thomas does not ask that he see Jesus
perform a miracle. Thomas does not ask that Jesus break bread with them. Thomas
wants to touch the wounds—Thomas wants to know that the resurrected Jesus
continues to be the crucified Jesus. That all of that was real. That Thomas did
watch his friend die, and that that friend who really did die is really now
raised.
The range of emotion in these
few weeks of the life of Thomas would be enough to send any of us off the deep
end. Because then, a week later, Jesus does appear! A whole week! What was
Thomas doing the week in between these events? Trying to grieve the death of
his friend, trying to reason out how he could be resurrected, trying to figure
out who to believe...
And as is the nature of Jesus, he arrives, saying, “Peace be
with you, my brother Thomas. Touch, see, hear that your Savior is alive and
with you.” And Thomas recognizes this resurrected Jesus as his friend, teacher,
Savior—the one whose torture and death he had witnessed just two weeks before.
It was true, what his friends had said! He is risen! Thomas recognizes him,
exclaiming “My Savior and My God!” And Jesus’ cryptic words, as well, prove
that he is the same man. “But did it take the seeing and hearing and touching
for you to believe it was true?” He asks. “Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have believed.”
These days, you and I, we are
among those who have not seen. The risen Christ does not appear in the flesh
before us this evening to allow us the opportunity to see, hear, touch. We have
not seen Jesus as the disciples saw Jesus. And yet; we have proclaimed that he is
risen, indeed. Alleluia! Jesus shows up for us just as Jesus showed up for
Thomas. Instead of the living flesh of Jesus, we have seen the goodness of the
Savior among us this evening. Instead, we have heard the word proclaimed.
Instead, we will eat the bread and drink the wine—we will taste and see! Jesus
has come to us today, just as he came to Thomas, just as he will come every
day.
As our dear friend Martin
Luther might remind us, it is not up to us to see Jesus—he will make himself
known. He comes to us. Our doubt and our belief not withstanding, Christ comes
to us though we are trapped in our deepest and darkest of traumas, though we look
out onto this world and struggle to see resurrection joy. Despite the locked
door, the risen Christ shows up.
So, you see, whatever way you
stack it, we are the blessed. Whether we have seen the face of Jesus or whether
we still look. Because Jesus has promised that he will be made known. We may
not have the slightest idea what it is we are actually looking for, but that’s
just it. We believe there is something to see.
Christ is risen, indeed! –
Alleluia, Amen.