Doubt and Faith All Rolled Together
John 20:19-31
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ May 1, 2011
With Celebration of our Lord’s Supper
I love the way Karoline Lewis describes John’s Gospel:
"This is a full sensory Gospel. Sometimes it's tasting (John 6), sometimes it's smelling (John 11), sometimes it's hearing (John 10), sometimes it's touching (John 13:23), and sometimes it is seeing. This is what it means to be human and to experience relationships as human beings. A full, intimate, meaningful relationship will encompass the entirety of who we are and what it means to be human. God wants nothing less than this kind of relationship with us"
Today as we reflect on this full sensory Gospel story, we prepare to celebrate our Lord’s Supper with a full sensory God.
19When 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.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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.”
26A 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.” 27Then 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.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But 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.
SERMON
We are all a combination of doubt and faith. Thomas gets a bad rap for what most of us at one time or another have asked to have. PROOF. Proof that our faith makes sense, that our faith is true, that our faith has meaning. But scripture tells us “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) So faith and proof do not necessarily go together. Yet Jesus returns to give Thomas just what he asked for, proof.
In Peter Woods’ blog he writes
"Like (Thomas) I have had moments of loss, confusion and chaos when I have shut down and denied the possibility and probability of any return from the dark desperate void of my own broken grief. My heart has shut down as securely as the locked doors of that upper room on that first Easter evening.
I am never sure how, or why, Jesus has come to me and stood in that sequestered place of fear and forgetfulness, but he has again and again. He is miraculously there despite my barricades and belligerence that often make Thomas sound tame."
What are the barricades, the conditions you have put up to having faith rule in your life? Control can be one. It is so nice to pretend we have control. We are blessed if we can control our own behavior let alone anyone else, including our children. We can influence but control is in God’s hands. Another barrier to faith is resentment. When we carry around anger or even more destructive hate, it eat away at our faith. Only love will overcome resentment and open a door to faith.
Woods is right that having faith is miraculous. It is as amazing as one of Jesus’ healings. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit for those of us barricaded in our fear and doubt. We want proof that there is hope and that love is real. What does Jesus give us? He gives us what we need. He gives us stories that broaden our understanding of God and one another. He gives us this miraculous meal. It is about encountering that full sensory God, not with proof but with faithful devotion to all who doubt and at the same live in faith. Every so often as the bread is broken we really do see Jesus offering us his very life that we might let go of control and resentment, that doubt washes away and all that is left is faith that he has risen. He has risen indeed. And because of his sacrifice and resurrection we have life eternal. He gives us what we really need. He opens the door to God’s unconditional love. Let us walk through that door and embrace God. Amen.
RESOURCES
Karoline M. Lewis is Assistant Professor of Preaching at Luther Seminary, see:http://www.workingpreacher.org/
Is it Really You?” – Easter 2 posted by Peter Woods
SEE: http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/is-it-really-you-easter-2/
