From Doubt to Daring
A sermon preached at
San Leandro Community Church
For Easter 2A
Based on John 20:19-31
by Tammy Nelson
San Leandro Community Church
For Easter 2A
Based on John 20:19-31
by Tammy Nelson
I bet there are a lot of us who can relate to the scripture for today. Don’t think so? Have you ever had a once in a lifetime event that you wanted to attend but for some reason you had to miss it? You had to work or it seemed too expensive at the time, or you had to be there for your spouse or child or parent, so you didn’t get to be there for that concert, that retreat, or that vacation. Or maybe you were afraid for some reason; afraid that you would be disappointed or it was too dangerous or you would have to go alone. Does that sound familiar?
Last week we began the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Christ is risen! That is a powerful thought. Christ is risen! It just bubbles up doesn’t it? A feeling of joy and triumph and excitement to know that Jesus, the one in whom we placed our trust, is alive! But I’m jumping ahead of myself. The people in today’s scripture don’t yet know the good news of Easter. So far all they have to go on is the desperate story of a grief stricken woman and the mystery of an empty grave.
Have you ever worked so hard for something, for years even, only to have it slip through your fingers just when it seemed you were about to grasp it? Everything you worked for, gone in an instant; that is what the disciples are going through right now. For three years they followed and learned from the man called Jesus. They saw the wonders he performed and grappled with their own ideas of what it meant to be part of the kingdom of God. They squabbled, they grew, their faith increased and their eyes were slowly opened. They saw their teacher enter into Jerusalem with all the pomp and ceremony of a conquering hero. And then in an instant, it all fell apart.
Jesus was betrayed by one of his twelve chosen disciples, he was tried and convicted on trumped up charges to sooth a mob mentality. His disciples abandoned him and Peter denied even knowing him. And then he was executed like a common criminal, outside of town. He was buried in a borrowed tomb in a hurry because it was almost the Sabbath. And now that Jesus was dead, what would stop the people who had orchestrated his execution from coming after his disciples?
Those are probably just a few of the thoughts that were whirling around in their heads as they were gathered in their locked room on that first Easter Sunday evening. Fear and confusion and doubt filled the atmosphere with a cloud of foreboding. Anger at self and Jesus’ enemies filled the room with tension and awkwardness. Locked doors and locked hearts.
It was into this maelstrom of emotions that Jesus walked, every bit as confident as when he calmed the storm on that long ago day at sea. Peace be with you. If ever you wondered why we have something called the “Passing of the Peace” every week, this is the reason. Peace be with you. Locked doors and locked hearts are not enough to keep Jesus out. Fear and failure diminish when confronted with the gifts of peace and forgiveness freely offered by the risen Christ. Tension and awkwardness relax into this new and compelling joy that threatens to override hesitation and anger, grudges and regrets. Sorrow turned to singing and the disciples instituted the very first Sunday Evening Worship Service.
Imagine what it would have been like for Thomas now. He missed that Sunday night meeting. The next time he saw the others, imagine how bewildered he would be by their bizarre behavior. Instead of dirges, he heard hymns of praise. A cacophony of joyous stories bombarded him as one after another his fellow disciples related stories of their “oh so alive” teacher. Maybe he recalls that some of this number used to be fishermen before they were chosen to follow Jesus. You know how sometimes those fish stories can be a little bit “embellished?” Whatever the reason, Thomas refused to believe the reports. If this had happened today, he would have probably jumped online and looked up Jesus’ resurrection on Snopes.com or Wikipedia.
Now, Thomas has gotten a bad rap over the years. We always hear about doubting Thomas and we know when someone says that, they rarely mean it as a good thing. But I want you to notice something; Tomas isn’t asking for anything more than the other disciples received. Mary encountered Jesus in the garden on Easter morning. The other disciples saw and spoke with Jesus on that first Easter evening. Mary had tactile and visual evidence of the resurrected Jesus. The other disciples had visual evidence; the scripture says that Jesus even went so far as to show them the wounds on his hands and side.
And Thomas is nothing if not loyal. It was he who declared that they should follow Jesus to Bethany when he went to raise Lazarus from the dead, even if it were only to die with Jesus since they knew that the religious leaders desired to stop Jesus from continuing his ministry. And despite the fact that it appeared his friends and fellow disciples had gone off the deep end or been fooled by some kind of trick, Thomas continued to meet with them. Despite their current “theological differences” Thomas was with the other disciples on that next Sunday evening.
Thomas showed up, and that made all the difference. Once again the disciples were gathered behind locked doors. Once again Jesus walked in their midst. Once again he stilled the tumult in anxious and hurting hearts. Thomas was given permission for something he no longer needed. Touch was unnecessary because Thomas knew Jesus by heart. The disappointment and longing that had constricted his chest since that horrible day Jesus had been crucified gave way to wild abandon as he confidently declared Jesus to be “my Lord and my God!” Suspicion turned to certainty in the blink of an eye. Another barricaded heart fell to the conquering power of Jesus’ remarkable love.
Doubt was not the reason Thomas disbelieved the other disciples; his doubt was a result of a larger cause. And doubt is definitely not what caused the disciples to meet in secret behind locked doors. Locked doors and locked hearts, heightened security and a mistrust of friends - all because of fear: fear for safety, fear of an uncertain future, fear that they had failed and were now facing the consequences of daring to believe that there was another way to live.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for Thomas? Jesus was dead, he’d seen it himself. All his hopes had been shattered. When he heard the disciples’ joyous testimony, he longed to believe it for himself, but what if they were wrong? He couldn’t go through the pain and disillusionment again. The fear of possible anguish was too great right on the heels of everything that had just happened.
One writer has summed up the effects of fear in this way,
“Fear is an acid which is pumped into one’s atmosphere. It causes mental, moral,
and spiritual asphyxiation, and sometimes death; death to energy and all growth.”
(Horace Fletcher)
So it is very fitting that when Jesus appeared to the disciples, he chose to breathe on them, much as the book of Genesis states that God breathed into the first human and he became a living soul. The disciples had been in a tomb of their own making as they awaited “what happens next.” But Jesus was raised from the dead; an impossibly heavy stone had been rolled away from his tomb, so he went to the disciples in their own tomb, threw the doors open wide and breathed life and vitality into a room that stank of decay and defeat. To borrow a phrase, the disciples were born again. They received a new beginning. It wasn’t a one-time event after which everybody lived happily ever after. There were doubts, as we saw with Thomas, there were retaliations from the religious leaders when it was discovered that the disciples were continuing the work and teaching that Jesus had originated. But each trial, each blow, each moment when nobody would have blamed them if they had given up, was countered by the sweet and gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit, bringing the miracle of Easter once again. Death brought new life, persecution spurred forgiveness, hatred was matched by love.
And yet we are still amazed when we feel the gentle caress of the Spirit’s breath each time she tries to bring that Easter hope back to us. We’re surprised when we catch a glimpse of the risen Christ in the lives of those around us. We’re suspicious when someone has a new beginning and their heart is re-created. We are fearful of being hurt when someone asks for forgiveness. We close off our hearts, lest someone sneak past and burst our bubble should we dare to dream that life can be different.
But thank God that Easter is never far from each of us! Locked doors and zip-locked hearts are no match for the risen Christ. When you are fearful, tell God. When you have doubts, that’s okay, God can handle it. And when someone comes to you with doubts and fears, treat them gently, because even the disciples had their struggles with such things.
Oh, and Thomas? After his encounter with the risen Christ, Thomas headed out to spread the good news of God’s unfailing love far and wide. He founded communities of faith as far away as India. In fact, there are still Christians in India who are part of the Christian communities that Thomas founded.
What could we do if we allowed the presence of the living Christ to breathe new life into us? What can’t we do if we allow the Holy Spirit to calm our fears and ignite our dreams of another way to live? How can we go back, once we have had a taste of that Easter reality?
As we live together in community, may God use each of us to reveal more of the miracle of Easter to our world and to each other. May it be so. Hallelujah!
Last week we began the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Christ is risen! That is a powerful thought. Christ is risen! It just bubbles up doesn’t it? A feeling of joy and triumph and excitement to know that Jesus, the one in whom we placed our trust, is alive! But I’m jumping ahead of myself. The people in today’s scripture don’t yet know the good news of Easter. So far all they have to go on is the desperate story of a grief stricken woman and the mystery of an empty grave.
Have you ever worked so hard for something, for years even, only to have it slip through your fingers just when it seemed you were about to grasp it? Everything you worked for, gone in an instant; that is what the disciples are going through right now. For three years they followed and learned from the man called Jesus. They saw the wonders he performed and grappled with their own ideas of what it meant to be part of the kingdom of God. They squabbled, they grew, their faith increased and their eyes were slowly opened. They saw their teacher enter into Jerusalem with all the pomp and ceremony of a conquering hero. And then in an instant, it all fell apart.
Jesus was betrayed by one of his twelve chosen disciples, he was tried and convicted on trumped up charges to sooth a mob mentality. His disciples abandoned him and Peter denied even knowing him. And then he was executed like a common criminal, outside of town. He was buried in a borrowed tomb in a hurry because it was almost the Sabbath. And now that Jesus was dead, what would stop the people who had orchestrated his execution from coming after his disciples?
Those are probably just a few of the thoughts that were whirling around in their heads as they were gathered in their locked room on that first Easter Sunday evening. Fear and confusion and doubt filled the atmosphere with a cloud of foreboding. Anger at self and Jesus’ enemies filled the room with tension and awkwardness. Locked doors and locked hearts.
It was into this maelstrom of emotions that Jesus walked, every bit as confident as when he calmed the storm on that long ago day at sea. Peace be with you. If ever you wondered why we have something called the “Passing of the Peace” every week, this is the reason. Peace be with you. Locked doors and locked hearts are not enough to keep Jesus out. Fear and failure diminish when confronted with the gifts of peace and forgiveness freely offered by the risen Christ. Tension and awkwardness relax into this new and compelling joy that threatens to override hesitation and anger, grudges and regrets. Sorrow turned to singing and the disciples instituted the very first Sunday Evening Worship Service.
Imagine what it would have been like for Thomas now. He missed that Sunday night meeting. The next time he saw the others, imagine how bewildered he would be by their bizarre behavior. Instead of dirges, he heard hymns of praise. A cacophony of joyous stories bombarded him as one after another his fellow disciples related stories of their “oh so alive” teacher. Maybe he recalls that some of this number used to be fishermen before they were chosen to follow Jesus. You know how sometimes those fish stories can be a little bit “embellished?” Whatever the reason, Thomas refused to believe the reports. If this had happened today, he would have probably jumped online and looked up Jesus’ resurrection on Snopes.com or Wikipedia.
Now, Thomas has gotten a bad rap over the years. We always hear about doubting Thomas and we know when someone says that, they rarely mean it as a good thing. But I want you to notice something; Tomas isn’t asking for anything more than the other disciples received. Mary encountered Jesus in the garden on Easter morning. The other disciples saw and spoke with Jesus on that first Easter evening. Mary had tactile and visual evidence of the resurrected Jesus. The other disciples had visual evidence; the scripture says that Jesus even went so far as to show them the wounds on his hands and side.
And Thomas is nothing if not loyal. It was he who declared that they should follow Jesus to Bethany when he went to raise Lazarus from the dead, even if it were only to die with Jesus since they knew that the religious leaders desired to stop Jesus from continuing his ministry. And despite the fact that it appeared his friends and fellow disciples had gone off the deep end or been fooled by some kind of trick, Thomas continued to meet with them. Despite their current “theological differences” Thomas was with the other disciples on that next Sunday evening.
Thomas showed up, and that made all the difference. Once again the disciples were gathered behind locked doors. Once again Jesus walked in their midst. Once again he stilled the tumult in anxious and hurting hearts. Thomas was given permission for something he no longer needed. Touch was unnecessary because Thomas knew Jesus by heart. The disappointment and longing that had constricted his chest since that horrible day Jesus had been crucified gave way to wild abandon as he confidently declared Jesus to be “my Lord and my God!” Suspicion turned to certainty in the blink of an eye. Another barricaded heart fell to the conquering power of Jesus’ remarkable love.
Doubt was not the reason Thomas disbelieved the other disciples; his doubt was a result of a larger cause. And doubt is definitely not what caused the disciples to meet in secret behind locked doors. Locked doors and locked hearts, heightened security and a mistrust of friends - all because of fear: fear for safety, fear of an uncertain future, fear that they had failed and were now facing the consequences of daring to believe that there was another way to live.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for Thomas? Jesus was dead, he’d seen it himself. All his hopes had been shattered. When he heard the disciples’ joyous testimony, he longed to believe it for himself, but what if they were wrong? He couldn’t go through the pain and disillusionment again. The fear of possible anguish was too great right on the heels of everything that had just happened.
One writer has summed up the effects of fear in this way,
“Fear is an acid which is pumped into one’s atmosphere. It causes mental, moral,
and spiritual asphyxiation, and sometimes death; death to energy and all growth.”
(Horace Fletcher)
So it is very fitting that when Jesus appeared to the disciples, he chose to breathe on them, much as the book of Genesis states that God breathed into the first human and he became a living soul. The disciples had been in a tomb of their own making as they awaited “what happens next.” But Jesus was raised from the dead; an impossibly heavy stone had been rolled away from his tomb, so he went to the disciples in their own tomb, threw the doors open wide and breathed life and vitality into a room that stank of decay and defeat. To borrow a phrase, the disciples were born again. They received a new beginning. It wasn’t a one-time event after which everybody lived happily ever after. There were doubts, as we saw with Thomas, there were retaliations from the religious leaders when it was discovered that the disciples were continuing the work and teaching that Jesus had originated. But each trial, each blow, each moment when nobody would have blamed them if they had given up, was countered by the sweet and gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit, bringing the miracle of Easter once again. Death brought new life, persecution spurred forgiveness, hatred was matched by love.
And yet we are still amazed when we feel the gentle caress of the Spirit’s breath each time she tries to bring that Easter hope back to us. We’re surprised when we catch a glimpse of the risen Christ in the lives of those around us. We’re suspicious when someone has a new beginning and their heart is re-created. We are fearful of being hurt when someone asks for forgiveness. We close off our hearts, lest someone sneak past and burst our bubble should we dare to dream that life can be different.
But thank God that Easter is never far from each of us! Locked doors and zip-locked hearts are no match for the risen Christ. When you are fearful, tell God. When you have doubts, that’s okay, God can handle it. And when someone comes to you with doubts and fears, treat them gently, because even the disciples had their struggles with such things.
Oh, and Thomas? After his encounter with the risen Christ, Thomas headed out to spread the good news of God’s unfailing love far and wide. He founded communities of faith as far away as India. In fact, there are still Christians in India who are part of the Christian communities that Thomas founded.
What could we do if we allowed the presence of the living Christ to breathe new life into us? What can’t we do if we allow the Holy Spirit to calm our fears and ignite our dreams of another way to live? How can we go back, once we have had a taste of that Easter reality?
As we live together in community, may God use each of us to reveal more of the miracle of Easter to our world and to each other. May it be so. Hallelujah!