My favorite part of my job has to be all the different ways that I get to interact with stories. As a Sunday School teacher I get to teach the bible stories that help form the foundation of our faith. I also get to help the kids and youth connect it to their faith journey. When I preach, I get the chance to dig into a bible story and weave in stories about my past or share the story of others. I will sometimes get e-mails or see pictures of what families are doing to connect the stories that they learn here at church with their own stories. In conversation I also hear stories from parents about how their kid’s faith is changing, growing, stretching and what new things it is causing them to think about. Hands down my favorite stories are when parents are met with a tough faith question from their kids. I love hearing about what the parent’s response is and the conversations that follow.
A couple weeks ago Sarah Wolff shared with me one of these stories. One evening her daughter Evangeline came to her and said “Mom, I want to meet Jesus. I want to see him.” She was ready to hop in the car and go find him. Being the faithful parent that she is Sarah responded “Well honey, you meet him everywhere…in many different places, in many different people and in many different things.” That’s a great answer! That’s how I would have answered. Evangeline though would not be swayed…she was convinced and wanted to go and meet the real Jesus. I haven’t asked Sarah yet how the search is going, but I have a feeling that the original answer is going to have to win out in the end.
In the light of our gospel text this morning Evangeline’s question shows us something: Thomas is alive and well. Now that may seem a bit harsh to say, given Thomas’ famous and prevailing title of “doubting,” but as we discuss what the gospel writer John is trying to tell us this morning, I think we will find that it’s an okay thing. I’m not calling Evangeline a doubting Thomas, but what I do know for sure is that this story of her desire and conviction to meet Jesus sheds some light on this story.
We encounter the disciples this morning in a locked room. Mind you this is post-resurrection. This is right after Easter! Right where we are now. At this point they have heard the story from Mary who had been to the tomb and encountered the risen Christ. They have heard the good news, “He is risen! I have seen the Lord” Hearing it from Mary apparently wasn’t enough because they are locked up tight in this hidden room so that the Jewish leaders won’t find them and do to them what they did to Jesus. It is into their fear, confusion and grief that Jesus appears through the locked door bringing a message, “Peace be with you.” Jesus shows them his hands and his side. It is only then that the disciples rejoice because they know that it’s Jesus. Then, Jesus empowers them with a new purpose, a new mission. He breathes into them the Holy Spirit which enables them to ignite the fire of belief in others. One of the big themes in John’s gospel is the tension between belief or unbelief. For John, sin isn’t something wrong that you do but rather, at its core sin is unbelief. So forgiving people’s sins are helping to kindle and encourage belief in them. To retain the sin means that they continue in unbelief because they don’t know what to do otherwise.
This is a great point to bring in Thomas. Thomas wasn’t with the rest when Jesus came so they begin to tell him about it. This is their chance to use their new found spirit power to really help Thomas believe! But…Thomas doesn’t. Now you may be thinking to yourself, “C’mon Thomas! These are your friends! You’ve been traveling around with these guys for years. You know them and they know you” So real quick show of hands…who has ever had a friend play a joke on them or kid around? How many of you have some sort of inside joke that only you and your friends would know about? Exactly. Friends kid around with friends all the time. I love my friends, but there are times when I have to really wonder if they are telling the truth or not. Thomas response is not out of bounds though it may be a bit overdramatic. Thomas doesn’t believe because he wants what the other disciples got. He wants to see Christ’s hands and his side. He wants to meet the risen Christ. He wants to see Jesus.
Fast forward a week and we find the disciples back in their locked room. Apparently they didn’t quite get the message about what they Holy Spirit was for the first time around. This time Thomas is with them. Jesus returns again with his greeting “Peace be with you” Then he shows Thomas his hands and his side and encourages him to believe. “Thomas don’t be unbelieving…believe in me” After encountering the risen Christ for himself Thomas makes one of the most deeply personal and profound expressions of belief, “My Lord and My God.” Then Jesus has a blessing for all of us. In the context of the passage it sounds like he is scolding Thomas, but the gospel writer really is giving us some words to strengthen our belief. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” That’s us. Those who believe 2,000 years later.
So that’s great and all, but what about us? We are blessed, but what does that mean? I’m glad you asked! John tells us the purpose for writing all these stories. He essentially says, “I left some stuff out, but these stories are written so that you may believe in Jesus and have life in his name.” There is always an unwritten part of the story. Something that didn’t get put in because of space or time or for the sake of clarity. We are the unwritten part of the story. Christ comes to us in our fear, doubt, confusion and insecurity and speaks a word of peace to us. Not only do we hear that word of peace, but we also experience it through our living and active savior. Christ breaks into our lives through the locked doors so that we might experience him, living and active. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus at the table, in bread and wine. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus in the community of the church, the living and moving body of Christ. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus in the questions that we have about our faith. Christ shows us his hands and his side so that we may continue to believe. He doesn’t hold anything back. Actually he even takes it one step further. He sends us to do the same. He breathes into us the Holy Spirit so that we might go and tell the story. He breaths into us that we might go out and show people the risen Christ. That we might continue to write the story for others.
It was my turn to do the preschool chapel this week and since I was thinking a lot about my sermon and this story, I thought I would field test some of my thoughts. I brought a fan in and we talked about what a fan makes (wind), then I told them the story about Thomas and we talked about how even though we can’t see the wind, we know it’s there because we can feel it and see its movement. That’s what Jesus encouraged Thomas about when he was unbelieving. Then I told them I had a very important job for them. It’s one Jesus told the disciples there and also he tells us today. I encouraged them to go out and show other people Jesus by showing them love. One of the younger kids responded with “Yeah, but sometimes it’s hard to remember.” No truer words have been spoken.
It is hard to remember. We get afraid of others. We may not know what to say. We may be too busy to take the time. For these reasons and many more we lock ourselves away. Locking ourselves away doesn’t change things. It doesn’t change that Thomas is still alive and well. People want to see Jesus. They don’t want to just hear stories about him…they want to experience the living and active Christ. They want to see his hands and his feet. What they want isn’t unreasonable because it’s the same thing that we have seen. It’s the same thing we have experienced. The living and active Christ breaking into our lives bringing peace. We are called to continue to write the story. Through us the story becomes real and people experience Jesus. In us, people are able to meet Jesus. I want to leave you with a question to think about…how will you help write the story this week? There are people that you encounter this week that are looking to meet Jesus. May you remember that you have been given the holy spirit to encourage belief in others. May you remember that in you people will experience the living and active Christ. He is risen indeed. I have seen the Lord. Alleluia! Amen.
