“Do Not Doubt but Believe”
A sermon by Lay Preacher Ginnie Glassman
Today’s Gospel takes us to the upper room where the disciples have been hiding in fear. They are terrified and worried that with Jesus crucified, they might be next. Mary Magdalene and the other women had told them excitedly that morning about the empty tomb … how Mary had met Jesus in the Garden. Jesus had sent her to tell the disciples he would meet them in Galilee. Luke tells us that “the apostles thought what the women said was complete nonsense, and they did not believe them.” (Luke 24:11)
Then, suddenly, Jesus enters the room through the locked door and says “Peace be with you.” He shows them the scars on his hands, feet and side. Luke says they were terrified thinking they were seeing a ghost. Jesus invites them to feel that he has flesh and bone. They still had doubts. Finally, he asks them for food which he eats with them. (Luke 24:37-43) They realize this is truly Jesus risen from the dead and they are overjoyed. Jesus commissions them to go out in the power of the Holy Spirit, which he breathes onto them.
Now later that evening, Thomas, who had been away (Dunkin run?) returns and the disciples tell him:
“We have seen the Lord.”
“Thomas, it was really him. We saw the scars in his hands and in his side.”
“He even had some bread and fish with us.”
These disciples had experienced the resurrected Jesus with their senses: seen him and his scars, touched his flesh, heard his familiar voice and even eaten with him. Thomas does not believe it was really Jesus and says “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.”
Is Thomas lacking faith? Is he doubting? Or is he searching for a way to believe? Thomas is simply asking to experience what the others already had. The other disciples did not believe at first either even though they had the physical proof of Jesus’ resurrection in front of them. Thomas is not able to believe second hand information. He needs to see for himself.
How does Jesus react to Thomas? Does he ignore Thomas? Does he berate him for not believing? No. Instead, he slips through the locked doors again the following Sunday evening and speaks directly to Thomas. “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.”
As Thomas does this, Jesus invites him to “not doubt but believe.” At this, Thomas exclaims “My Lord and my God.” He now has seen the evidence he needs to fully believe that Jesus has been raised up again by the Father.
Jesus then says “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Jesus is talking to us. Through Thomas, Jesus gives a special blessing to future generations. Those of us who believe based on the gospels and the evidence of Jesus in our own lives and yet have not physically seen nor touched him.
In today’s epistle, Peter also reassures us of Jesus’ blessing. “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
A closer reading of the Gospels will uncover many people who doubt or question – the people who most loved Jesus and were his strongest supporters. His disciples who had heard him talk about these events many times.
When Mary Magdalene was in the Garden, she did not recognize Jesus and thought he was a gardener. Yet, when he speaks her name, she recognizes him.
When she hurries back to tell the disciples, they do not believe her and think it is nonsense. Peter and John go to the tomb themselves before they will believe her.
When Jesus first appears to the disciples in the upper room, they think they are seeing a ghost and don’t believe it is Jesus until they have the physical evidence through their senses.
Next week, we will hear about the two men on the road to Emmaus. They did not recognize Jesus even though they were just discussing the events of the previous week. Jesus spoke to them for most of the trip but it was not until Jesus broke bread with them that they recognized him.
For each of these people, there was a moment of recognition, something they heard or saw to realize it was Jesus. Jesus simply said Mary’s name in the Garden for her to know him. For Peter and John, it was the neatly wrapped tomb clothes. For the disciples on Easter evening, it was the physical senses that lead them to recognize him. The two men on the road to Emmaus knew him only when he broke bread with them. Jesus shows himself to each of them in a way that they would understand and recognize.
When Jesus met his disciples in Galilee, Matthew tells us “When they saw him, they worshipped him, even though some of them doubted.” (Matthew 28:17) This raises the question, can we have faith but still have doubts?
Can we doubt and still believe? Yes, doubts are a part of faith. In her Good Friday reflection, Jessica shared how doubts can make us feel “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind”. We are uncomfortable which pushes us to seek answers through prayer, Bible study, discussion, journals or meditation. When Thomas doubted, Jesus did not ignore or criticize him, but returned for him. Thomas’ faith was deepened. When we have doubts and pursue answers, Jesus can come through in a conversation with a friend, a quiet moment in our day or a revelation in prayer and lead us to an enriched faith. Doubts will likely never go away completely but as long as you are searching for the truth, as Thomas was, God will bless our efforts. A friend of mine put it: Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it alive and moving!
There have been many doubts in my life, like the ten years when I could see no reason to attend church though I still considered myself a Christian. That was a long struggle with many doubts and much searching but here I am today convinced of my beliefs. Doubts take time, patience and searching to grow into belief.
There are many trying situations going on in the world right now with wars, constant gun violence, climate upheaval and political turmoil across the world. I worry, fear, get upset and wonder if and when God will act. But I still pray and trust that he does know what is going on and will help us.
When we are dealing with doubts, fears and worries, we need to include quiet apart time in our day. Take time to focus on what is good in your life right now, what God has provided to you. But also tell God your fears, doubts and worries. Argue with Him. Complain to him. Be angry if you are. Tell him how upsetting things are. He can handle it. Read some of the psalms to hear the laments and frustration directed to God. Above all, keep talking to God, keep seeking him, trust him. He will listen, he will bless your questions and doubts, he will respond in his time, in his way with answers or reassurances. He will extend the same invitation to us as he did to Thomas: “Do not doubt but believe.”
I want to share the words of a song written by Rev. Kate Heichler reflecting on today’s Gospel:
Ran into a gardener, my eyes were blind with tears
Pretty hard to see straight
when you’re living your worst fears.
The one I loved the most, gone without a trace –
Then he said my name, I knew that voice…
my heart began to race:
Was that you standing next to me
when all my hopes were done?
Was that you, alive and breathing,
when it looked like death had won?
Was that you loving me more than I could ever understand?
Don’t know why it always takes a while
for me to open up my eyes and see:
That was you, standing next to me.
Met a stranger last night, just outside of town
He didn’t seem to understand why we were so cast down.
But he sure did know where God had been,
and he stayed with us to eat;
When he broke the bread and blessed it,
the picture came complete:
Was that you coming close when I didn’t have a friend?
Was that you giving me hope when I was facing a dead end?
Was that you blessing me more
than I could ever understand?
Don’t know why it always takes a while
for me to open up my eyes and see:
That was you, walking next to me.
Tonight we hid for safety, just huddled there in fear;
Even though we’d locked the doors, he suddenly appeared.
He spoke to us of peace, and he showed his hands and feet,
As if to prove he’s not a ghost, he asked for food to eat.
Was that you coming back
where you’d spoken your goodbyes?
Was that you inciting joy in the face of all our “whys?”
Was that you imparting more
than we could ever understand?
Don’t know why it always takes a while
for me to open up my eyes and see:
That was you, bearing peace to me.
So where did you last see him,
where he wasn’t supposed to be?
He told us he’d be with the poor,
the lost, the last, the least …
He said that we would know him
in Word and bread and wine;
He promised to be with us, now – and to the end of time.
Is that you breathing peace to me
when storms rage in my head?
Is that you releasing power in me,
the power that raised the dead?
Is that you, loving me more than I could ever understand?
Don’t know why it always takes a while
for me to open up my eyes and see:
That it’s you, always next to me.
Jesus, you, right here next to me.
Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Acts 2:14a,22-32
Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd, “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.”
Psalm 16
1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; *
I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my good above all other.”
2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, *upon those who are noble among the people.
3 But those who run after other gods *shall have their troubles multiplied.
4 Their libations of blood I will not offer, *nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.
5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup; *it is you who uphold my lot.
6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *indeed, I have a goodly heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; *my heart teaches me, night after night.
8 I have set the Lord always before me; *because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *my body also shall rest in hope.
10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, *nor let your holy one see the Pit.
11 You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith– being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire– may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
John 20:19-31
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.