John 20: 19-31

 There are lots of statements of faith that we can pray as call and response, even if we do not hear them very often in our tradition. Think about “the word of God for the people of God” - “thanks be to God”. “In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.” “In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven. Praise be to God.” “God is good all the time.” “All the time God is good”. But perhaps the one that is most meaningful to me personally is “Lord we believe” “Help our unbelief.”

Because the truth is no matter where we find ourselves on this journey with Jesus - whether this is your 100th year walking with him or you are brand new to the faith, we all have questions. We all have things that we may be struggling to believe - perhaps most especially in times of difficulty. 

Which is where the disciples find themselves today. A really difficult time. Let’s rewind and remember what has happened recently - in short order the disciples have ate what they didn’t know would be their final meal with Jesus, watch him be betrayed by one of their own, see him catered off and put on trial again and again, he’s killed, and now they are hiding in fear that the same thing would happen to them for just being associated with Jesus. 

Earlier in this chapter, Mary had an encounter with the Risen Christ and he sent her to tell his brothers, the disciples, that he is going to ascend to God. And she runs off with joy overflowing out of her, as the first evangelist, to tell the disciples “I have seen the Lord!” And all that Jesus had said to her.

Friends, its still the same day. John 20: 1 starts out “early on the first day of the week” and how does today’s passage start out “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week”. Same day. Same day that Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved saw the empty tomb and heard Mary say that someone had taken he body of the Lord. Same day that Mary returned proclaiming that she had seen the Lord. Same day. 

And yet, the disciples are still behind locked doors. They are still afraid, even in the face of the second-hand powerful proclamation that Mary brought that she had see the Lord! The disciples still hadn’t. And in the face of all that they had experienced less than four days ago, they are afraid that the Jewish leaders are going to come after them next. And this time, denials weren’t going to be enough to save them. So they gathered together and bolted the door, trying to keep all that was outside, out there. 

But if a heavy stone sealing a grave couldn’t keep Jesus in, then a locked door wasn’t going to keep Jesus out. 

Jesus shows up, right in the middle of the disciples, showing them his scars and saying “Peace be with you”

Peace - even in the midst of your fears. Peace - even after what you witnessed and heard about. Peace - even if what I’m going to ask you to do next, means you need to leave this room and do hard things in my name. 

And the disciples were overjoyed. 

Except for Thomas. Thomas who wasn’t present. Sometimes we get into a bit of trouble with those dividers you see in your scripture that give passages of scripture names so you can remember what they are about. Friends, those weren’t part of the original text. They are something that we added much later, but they also do their job - because they are often the first thing that we remember about a text. So what do we say this passage of scripture is about? “Doubting Thomas”

Only Thomas is actually the only one brave enough not to be behind a locked door. Just a few chapters earlier, when Jesus is on his way back to Jerusalem, to face the anger of the Jewish leaders, but to be with Mary and Martha and raise Lazarus, its Thomas who proclaims “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

And so Thomas, who is brave enough not be with all of the other disciples, misses this experience and then gets labeled as “doubting” because he doesn’t believe their second hand news. But the disciples behavior at the beginning of this chapter shows that they didn’t believe Mary’s second-hand news either - at least not in a way that would invite them to leave the safety of the room!

Thomas, knowing and seeing and experiencing, all that had taken place wanted proof that it was really Jesus. He wanted what the other disciples had - the opportunity to see the scars that were still there. To hear from Jesus himself. 

And in that way, this text - it isn’t just about Thomas. Or the disciples. Its about us as well. Because we don’t want to hear about Jesus second hand either. We want our own experience with him - we want to know that Jesus is with us. 

Sometimes when we have been walking with Jesus for a while we can be prone to forget. Case-in-point, I have had so many people come to me over the years and not understand why when they share their personal experience with Jesus, their testimony, their story of faith - other people don’t automatically believe them. To which I will ask them to tell me about how they came to know and accept Jesus Christ and it is rarely because someone told them. It’s because someone walked with them through an experience they had with Jesus. 

Now does that mean we shouldn’t share our faith story? Absolutely not. It may be illuminating to someone and the Holy Spirit can use that to form connections when people have questions about their own, personal experience with Jesus. But we cannot shame people for desiring to see and hear from Jesus themselves. Because it is true for us as well. 

But that’s the easy part of this story. The harder part friends is the call of the Gospel to leave outside of our locked doors. Because friends, we still hide behind our own locked doors. We still let our own fears put a barrier between us and the world. 

Jesus shows up to the disciples at the beginning of this passage with a call to action - a call to go, to receive the Holy Spirit, and forgive people’s sins. But its not the first time Jesus has tried to teach his disciples about the meaning of the peace of his Kingdom. In John 14: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. From John 16: I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Jesus’s version of peace isn’t saying that things are going to be easy. It’s saying that he will be with us, even in the midst of our fears, but we have to go. To go and tell. Friends, the gospel text doesn’t end with the salvation offered to us on the cross or  the victory of the resurrection and the empty tomb. It ties together the cross and the resurrection with a commission - that we are sent to go and tell. To go and proclaim. To go and walk beside people. We are sent out. 

We are here today as part of a wonderful celebration - that this church has been part of this community for 150 years. But part of the questions you are asking and living into is what does it look like to be the church for the next 150 years? And friends, that can only happen if we go out. Go out and live our faith. Go out and accompany people on their faith journey. Stretch beyond our fears as we walk with Jesus. 

Are we willing to go forth, in Jesus’s name? Amen.