4-7-24 Grace-Tucson Sermon

There are so many kids books out there. My grandchildren have tons of them, and I’ve been with them on a couple library trips. Those excursions are nothing like any that I had ever been on before! They go all the time and come home with 40 books or more! And they actually read them all multiple times! There seems to have been an explosion in the number of children’s books in recent years!

With so many now, I don’t know how much attention the animals of the 100-Acre Wood get anymore. It’s a little hard for some of us to believe maybe, but it’s been 100 years since Winnie the Pooh stories first began taking up space on bookshelves Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga and Roo, and of course, Eeyore. You might be wondering where I’m going with this. Here it is: It’s because of Eeyore that I bring any of this up today. If you’re well-acquainted with Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, you may have made the connection already. But it’s entirely possible that you have not.

You see, I’ve always thought Thomas to be a bit like Eeyore. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that before, and today may not be the last time I do. I can’t escape it. To Eeyore, the sky is always falling. I feel for him because he’s always gloomy and pessimistic and negative. It might be a beautiful day, full of sunshine, but he’s the type that is sure there’s a terrifying and destructive storm just out of sight and it will be here any minute. Is this what Thomas was like? I don’t know, tell me what you think. There are three places in the Bible where we hear things Thomas said. They are these:

1. When Jesus got word that his friend Lazarus had died, he told the disciples that they would go to see him. Based on what Jesus had told them about his own impending suffering and death, Thomas clearly feared that in going near Jerusalem, Jesus would be marching to his own death. His comment to the other disciples? “Let’s go too, so that we may die with him (John 11:16).” You might take it as determined devotion to Jesus, but I’m just not sure, given the other things we know.

2. The second time we hear from Thomas, Jesus is telling the Twelve about him going to heaven to prepare a place for them. He said, “You know where I am going, and you know the way (John 14:4).” Thomas’ response? “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way (John 14:4)?”

3. The third is before us this morning the one that gets him a nickname that is still attached to people today when don’t believe something “Doubting Thomas.”

When we hear about the locked room, it seems that Thomas is the center of attention. We’re told that he is not there the first time…when he comes back, he expresses doubt…the next time he is there…Jesus speaks to him about his doubt…Thomas responds with faith.

But is he the center of attention? He’s really not. This is about Jesus. It’s about Jesus coming to fearful friends and giving them proof of his resurrection and peace for their hearts. But important things Jesus says in that room, he says because of Thomas.

The Presence of Jesus Brings Proof and Peace

Limp and lifeless, that’s the way John saw Jesus last hanging dead on a cross. It doesn’t appear that any of the other ten disciples were there to see that. They had fled on Thursday when the angry mob invaded the Garden of Gethsemane and the Temple Guard hauled Jesus away. Other than Peter’s denial of Jesus on that Thursday night and a brief account of Peter and John running to the tomb on Easter morning, we don’t hear of them again until they are holed up in the locked room.

It’s difficult to come down too hard on the disciples though, isn’t it? I mean, if they didn’t see it with their own eyes, they knew Jesus was going to die he told them. Then they saw him dragged off to the authorities who had been wanting to kill him. And John certainly told them what he saw as he stood at the base of the cross with Jesus’ mother, Mary.

Judas is dead. Jesus is dead. They have lived in fear for four days, just trying to stay alive, thinking the authorities would be coming for them. All together…private room… locked up tight. Yeah, that kind of makes sense.

Thomas snuck out for some reason, so he wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to them on that Easter night. Despite the bolted door, Jesus appeared in the room with them! What some of the women had told them was actually true! Jesus was alive! They could see proof of his death in the wounds caused by the nails and spear and proof of his resurrection because there he was, standing right in front of them! The familiar Jewish greeting, “Peace be with you,” took on a whole new meaning when their resurrected Lord said it to them! Yes, along with overwhelming joy, there was actual peace in their hearts. He was their risen Savior alive and with them.

Can you imagine the terrible things now pushed out of their minds? Like the devastation that would have come with thinking that the One they thought was the Messiah, was not. Then what would they do? Where would they stand with God? Those spiritual fears were put to rest when the resurrected Jesus came to them.

The peace that ruled their hearts now would allow them to eventually leave the room, to be sent out by Jesus, offering the forgiveness of sins in the name of their risen Savior. Fearful disciples would be changed into bold apostles—because of the proof and the peace they received from Jesus.

Oh, but Thomas! Thomas wasn’t there for that. He showed up later to an excited group, but their twenty eyes were not reliable enough. Thomas needed to see him with his own two eyes. But more than just that—he wanted to actually inspect the nail marks and spear wound that they had told them they had seen.

You see the grace and mercy of Jesus as he joins the group a week later, don’t you? He didn’t have to, but he gives Doubting Thomas what he was looking for along with the command, “Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Then…Trusting Thomas! “My Lord and my God!”

Hearing all of this begs the question, Do we live by sight or by faith? Do we have “Doubting Thomas syndrome?” Jesus told him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We are squarely in the position where we cannot see Jesus physically and yet are called to believe. But that can be as hard for us as it was for Thomas.

We can begin to doubt that Jesus is the risen Savior, like Thomas did. Many around us believe that Jesus was an actual person who was a great teacher. Or that he was a role model for peace and loving others. Or that he was kind of a prophet, someone who pointed people to God. But actual God himself? No. Have a World Religions professor say things like that, or some friends, and let the doubting begin.

Do we take the bait when the Devil dangles the idea that death is simply the end, that there is no heaven? This is a Thomas-type temptation, right? If Jesus stayed in the tomb, death would have been the end. There would be good reason for fear and gloominess. There would be no hope for us, and even worse the reality that hell would await us. Thomas was facing concerns about death and filled with doubt. If we question what happens after we die, we’re facing death the same way.

Who here has never doubted anything the Bible says? Wasn’t this, in a way, Thomas’ problem too? Jesus had told them he would suffer, die, and rise from death. Thomas saw the suffering. He knew he died. Why the lack of faith that he also rose? Because he had a sinful nature that functioned the same way ours does.

We doubt things that Jesus says too. That God created the world, including the first people? I don’t know about that. But it’s not just Genesis that tells us this. Jesus himself said it when he was asked a question once. A fleeting doubtful thought…a seed of doubt planted in our minds…then growing doubt that leads to an acceptance of some other, more recent philosophy about life and the universe.

Has our doubting conscience grabbed a hold of us, making us think, “Can I really be forgiven for that horrible sin?”, even though a fellow Christian assures me that I am like the forgiveness the disciples were charged with sharing? Or despite the pastor saying it on Sunday morning like we typically do in worship? “But the guilt, the regret, the shame…what if I’m not forgiven.” Doubt again.

Doubting Emily, Doubting Brian, Doubting Ashley. Doubting Caleb. Doubting Ron. We could go from pulpit to pew, person by person, and the nickname would fit us all. We sometimes live by sight and not by faith when Jesus says to do it the other way around.

So, if you are tempted at all to look down on Thomas and the other disciples because you would have handled this better, I’m going to suggest you step back from that and confess your own sins that come popping out at you from this account.

And then think again about the grace and mercy Jesus showed to Thomas. In love, Jesus forgave him and called him to believe even at times when he would not see. You have also received grace and mercy and forgiveness from Jesus. And Jesus calls you, his forgiven follower today, to also believe and not doubt

Even though we don’t see him standing in front of us and hear him speak directly to us things like “I am your risen Lord. My Words are trustworthy and true. You are forgiven—this is why I came.”—we do hear his voice through the words of Scripture. We don’t have to see him. We don’t have to poke around in his hands and side. Blessed are we when we do not see and yet believe.

We have the assurance of his presence because he tells us he is always with us to the very end of all things and that he is present in the Sacrament and that he is with us when we gather together. No, we can’t see him, but that doesn’t make it untrue. He promises that he is with those who trust in him as their Savior.

The proof is found on the pages of the Bible. The peace is found in the report of the gospel writers and the testimony of the New Testament letter-writers, which assure us of Christ’s resurrection and the forgiveness and salvation that come with it

I’m not going to tell you that you’ve got to bounce around like a religious Tigger, but I will encourage you to not walk around like a spiritual Eeyore. Faith does not have a pessimistic view of life in Christ. Faith does not let fear conquer it or doubt destroy it. Faith goes forward with the assurance and optimism of living with Christ now and anticipating life with him for eternity.

Trust that the risen Savior is truly present in your life.

Trust that the wounds Thomas investigated are proof that Jesus died and rose for you.

Trust that the peace you have in Jesus now will become an even greater, eternal peace when you see your risen Lord face-to-face in heaven.

Amen.

Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.