John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, 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 that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Sermon Text

I am a lifelong skeptic. I do not believe anything easily. Despite this, I have a fascination with the fantastical. Stories of the paranormal and whispers of secret realities always interest me, not so much because I believe any part of them, but because I think it is interesting how we get from the stable ground of reality into the shifting sands of speculation, Whether the topic is UFOs, ghosts, cryptids, or just mysterious internet rabbit holes, I am always ready to learn more about something, especially if that thing lets me understand more of why we believe the things we choose to believe about the world.

Being a skeptic is not a virtue unto itself. In fact, I would say, that many times it leads me to question things that you could just take at face value without issue. Likewise, being a person who questions things, I can sometimes swing around to accepting supposed truth from a trusted source without further investigation. Afterall, if I did my due diligence previously, then I should not need to do it again. Why question what has already been answered? As with anything, the virtue of “prudence,” is found in discerning how much questioning is reasonable and how much goes too far or not far enough.

In our own faith, discernment is a specific term given to describe a spiritual as well as mental ability to evaluate a situation or teaching and determine its validity and character. We are all called to discernment in our lives, but some are gifted with a special degree of sensibility. A story comes to mind of a friend of mine who, while attending a revival, had to leave during the altar call. When asked about it, he said, “I don’t care what he’s saying, but I can tell that man preaching is of the devil!” From anyone else I would question that assertion, but knowing my friend, and his usual response to others, I’m willing to say something was happening that night that he, being a discerning soul, could see that others could not.

The scripture we read today is usually presented in terms of skepticism. Thomas, having been absent for Christ’s appearance to the disciples, doubts them when they tell him that Jesus is raised and that they saw him in the room with them. We are never told why Thomas was absent, but his absence is the root cause of his doubt. While everyone else saw Christ, examined his wounds, learned about the resurrection, Thomas is left to take them at their word. He refuses to accept what they said, unless he sees the truth himself.

Another personal story comes to mind. My Grandfather, in his final months of life, was on a lot of drugs to manage pain some of his worse cancer symptoms. One day, my family came home to him talking about the pure white chicken that had perched outside his window. All of us refused to believe there was actually a chicken in the middle of Martinsburg and wrote it off as his pain meds causing vivid hallucinations. Yet, one by one, we saw that chicken outside. Though we never learned where it was from, we learned that it was a real bird perched outside our house. Until we saw it, though, none of us were willing to take our other family members at their word regarding that bird.

Thomas is not asking something unreasonable by saying that he will not believe Christ is risen and walking around unless he sees him do so. He is asking only for what the other disciples were given. “If you all really did see him, then I want to see him too. More than that, I want to investigate those wounds and prove you aren’t just painting some guy who looks like Jesus to look like he’s been hurt. Thomas eventually gets his wish, he sees Jesus and Jesus offers his side and his hands to Thomas… Yet, when given the chance to investigate further, Thomas refuses. He has been given the gift of Christ visiting him once again, and that is more than enough for him to believe.

The lesson that we should take from the story of Thomas is not that we should believe something without evidence. “Blessed are those who believe without seeing,” is a blessing of all Christians after Christ’s ascension, not a reprimand for folks who need an extra push to believe in Christ. The real lesson is that, when Thomas needed something more to move from unbelief to belief, Christ was willing to provide that for Thomas, so that he could believe. Jesus offered Thomas his hands and side, and if Thomas needed to examine them, Jesus would have let him, because Christ is much more interested in us believing, than the means by which we come to believe.

I had a group of young people in one of my churches. One of them said, “I struggle to have faith in God right now, because I look at the people of God and how they treat each other and people not like them, and I cannot imagine having faith in something that makes people like that.” So I followed that up with a question. “Ignoring the people you know are doing the wrong thing… Who is the godliest person you know?” Immediately they named a sweet, kind, prayerful lady in the church. “If you cannot believe God for God’s sake,” I told her, “Then believe God for her sake. If you can believe God is good because the Godliest person you know is good, then that is a bridge at least to getting you to faith for its own sake.”

I am a skeptic, as I have said before, and if you want to know how a skeptic keeps their faith and is able to be a minister, the answer is, “With great difficulty!” I need more help than some others to keep my faith going. That’s why I take intentional time to be in prayer, to celebrate the sacraments as often as I can, and to engage with the work of God in the world. I need those extra trappings to keep my faith fed. Other people can simply sit down and say, “I believe in God because of who God is.” God bless them for it. Most of us, above this, fall somewhere on a spectrum of how easily belief comes to us. All are valid, so long as we acknowledge and pursue what we need to believe.

I like to leave you all with a practical note, so I’m going to give you some questions to ask yourself this week. Take time to notice, maybe even write down, the times this week you feel close to God and the times you feel far from God. What triggers those feelings? Once you know which things make you feel closer to God, ask yourself what you can do to more intentionally and frequently engage with those things. Finally, for those things that make you feel far from God, if they are things you cannot avoid entirely, then ask how you can wrap them in one of the practices that does make you feel close to God.

Here’s an example of this kind of examen. I feel close to God when I am in prayer, even if it is just praying “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Repeatedly. Therefore, to feel close to God I should take intentional time to pray – sneaking down to the sanctuary throughout the week to be alone and pray as well as praying as part of my nighttime routine. I feel farthest from God when I am caught up in busywork – the third load of laundry for the day or the second run of the dishwasher. Dishes need done and laundry needs folded, so what would it look like if, as I did both of those, I layered prayer into my work. Every time I take something out of the basket, “Lord Jesus Christ son of God…” Every time I finish folding it, “Have mercy one me a sinner…” In this way, I may strengthen my faith, even just a little.

Belief is the state of trust we have in God because God’s goodness and power has been proved to us. It is not a static sensation or reality. It needs fed, nurtured, and sometimes coerced into being. Sometimes we will be on fire for God, sometimes it will feel like we need a lot of help to even utter an “Amen.” The good news is that, when we doubt or are unsure, God offers us what we need to believe. If we are willing to ask… If we are willing to try… Amen