Believing
A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter
April 16, 2023
The Rev. Robin Teasley
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." 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, which are not written in this book. But 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. John 20:19-31
In this season of Easter we hear parts of the Resurrection story from Matthew, Luke, and John. All four gospels tell the story, though each gospel has its own particular details. Last Sunday we heard the story as told by Matthew; the two Marys saw the resurrected Jesus at the tomb and then went to tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. What we did not hear last week is that when they did meet the resurrected Jesus in Galilee, some of them doubted.
In the Gospel according to Mark the women discover the empty tomb and they flee in terror and amazement, saying nothing to anyone because they are afraid. Mark’s account ends there, but in an ending added later Jesus appears to his followers several times and they do not believe it.
In Luke’s gospel the disciples did not believe the women’s proclamation of Resurrection - they thought it was all an idle tale!
This week we hear from the Gospel according to John. In the verses before today’s reading, no one could quite grasp the implications of the empty tomb, and when Jesus spoke to Mary, she thought he was the gardener at first. When Mary returned to tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord, there is no record of how the disciples responded to this announcement, but it’s a good bet they did not believe it because they remained locked in the house in fear.
All of this is worth noting because in this terrible, stressful, and fearful time of great loss, the women and the disciples each reacted differently. They did not all come to believe at the same time or in the same way, suggesting that believing is not an easy thing. Just as no two of us will have exactly the same faith journey, we each have to come to belief in our own time.
A recurring theme in the resurrection appearance stories is the way that the early Christian communities struggled to understand and believe. So often we belittle Thomas, because he demands more tangible proof than the others. But isn’t he asking only for what the others already have received? Whatever the reasons for his doubt, it’s likely all the other disciples had those same doubts. When it came to seeing the resurrected Jesus, all of them had a difficult time of it.
“Have you believed because you have seen me?” Jesus asks Thomas, the other disciples, and the rest of us. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” The disciples themselves have trouble believing, even on the basis of seeing and direct testimony, but life is about to change in a radical way, because the Jesus movement will grow and the Church will be established as a result of the power of testimony, sharing what they experienced. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit upon his followers to empower them, sending them out to proclaim good news, to tell the story; a story that would be seen and heard in the lives of the believers.
It’s as if Jesus says, I understand your need to see me and touch my body in order to believe, but there’s an even greater form of faith and trust, a deeper understanding, that isn’t dependent on signs and miracles, or even on the presence of my physical body. It’s a deeper way of faith and trust to help you discern me within you and among you and throughout creation. Now I give you the Holy Spirit, and send you out, away from my physical body, into a new and deeper relationship with me. The cross and my resurrection are not the end of the story. In the power of the Holy Spirit you will go into the world to tell the story, to continue the story, with your very lives.
It's as if Jesus says to us, I know you are worried about many things in your life and in the world around you. But I want you to trust that your faith is stronger than what worries you; I want you to believe that I am within you and among you and throughout creation no matter where you are. I want you to trust that you have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, empowered to tell the salvation story now, in this world, to tell it by your very life.
Why would Jesus teach and encourage the disciples to move beyond their dependency on signs and wonders and his physical presence? The author of the letter to the Hebrews says that faith is the conviction of things unseen. In life, there are many things unseen, many things unknown and incomprehensible. Perhaps Jesus knew the disciples and the rest of us would need to manage change, accept change, even embrace it. Perhaps Jesus knew how tightly we would cling to what is known and comfortable, and fear what is unseen and unknown.
We have our doubts, we have a difficult time believing some days. We are in good company with Thomas and the other disciples, and with others throughout scripture and in the Church. That’s why we need the Church, It's the place where we can wrestle with our doubts as a community, where we can strengthen and expand our faith, believing that God is with us in all things, even as God is leading us into new life and new ways of being.
The Church is imperfect because it’s filled with imperfect people, and yet it is also perfect because it is the body of Christ. The Church is at its best when it can hold these two truths, perfection and imperfection, in tension together, learning from failure and encouraging success, forgiving wrongs and seeking justice and goodness. All of this, while providing for her members the space to learn and grow, to collaborate and question, to hold differing opinions and share in holy communion.
We are in a time of great change in the world, in the Church, and in this parish. While we long to return to the good old days, to what we remember as the old and familiar way of life, there will always be new life waiting for us. We must move forward, even with our doubts, yet we need not fear because Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare the way and Jesus will not leave us in our doubts but will meet us right where we are, breathing on us the peace and power of the Holy Spirit.
Each Gospel writer tells the story a little differently, but all of them are clear that the story does not end at the cross or with the resurrection of Christ. It continues in us. Our lives, even with our doubts and struggles to believe, are particular stories of our life in Christ. This fearful and anxious world is looking for something to believe, for someone to trust; waiting to hear that new life is possible, that love has not died. May we live this story with our lives, not fearing but embracing the new life in Christ that God has for us, so that the world, which has not seen, might come to believe.
Title Image:Doubting Thomas, Hosios Loukas Crypt fresco
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