The sermon for Sunday, April 11, 2021 was preached by the Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews, vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick. It was delivered as a response to John 20.19-31. The sermon was based on the following manuscript.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Please be seated.
Jesus welcomes our doubt,
loves us in and through it, even.
On this second Sunday of Easter,
we’re in John
on the day of the resurrection.
It’s been the whole day
since the women brought the good news
of Jesus’ resurrection
and John outruns Peter twice.
Now it’s the evening.
The eleven are locked away,
worried that the locals —
not the Jews —
will come after them.
Scared because Jesus’ body is gone
and no one knows what to do
with someone who has defeated death.
Jesus shows up,
and Thomas misses the meeting.
Whether Thomas the person
is doubtful
or Thomas represents the doubt
of anyone who hasn’t seen Jesus,
Thomas wants to see.
All the other disciples see,
and then they believe.
Thomas, too,
wants to see Jesus
like the Greeks at the festival.
“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,
Jesus shows up,
and Thomas proclaims
“My Lord and my God!”
In John’s gospel,
most of the characters
are screens onto which
we can project ourselves.
Thomas in today’s passage
is so many of us
in so many ways.
Maybe we have our doubts
or question if any of this is worth it
when the fourth wave is starting
and we’re doing Holy Week
not together.
Again.
Maybe we wonder where God is
when children get cancer
or die in car crashes.
Feeling like we work so hard for good,
and evil seeming to triumph
can prompt us to ask
“Is any of this real?”
As Derek Chauvin stands trial
for killing George Floyd,
A Black and Latino Army officer
has filed a lawsuit
for being held at gunpoint
during traffic stop.
When Caron Nazario
told the police stopping him
that he was scared to get out of his car,
they said he should be.
We work and work and work
or last feel like we do
and nothing seems to change.
Just how long is the arc of the moral universe?
Could it bend toward justice
with a little more speed?
“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.”
When Jesus comes back a week later,
he knows Thomas’s doubt.
Jesus welcomes it
and loves Thomas through it.
Before Thomas can even ask,
Jesus says,
“Put your finger here
and see my hands.
Reach out your hand
and put it in my side.
Do not doubt but believe.”
And then Thomas,
having doubted
and having had it assuaged
makes a proclamation
that had gotten Jesus in trouble!
My Lord —
greater over my life than Caesar —
and my God —
Jesus, you are truly God incarnate.
Jesus welcomes Thomas’ doubt
and loves Thomas through it.
The NRSV,
what we hear each week,
translates Jesus’ words,
“Have you believed
because you have seen me?”
A question.
There is just as strong a case to make
that this is a statement,
an observation.
“You have believed
because you have seen me.
Blessed are those
who have not seen
and yet have come to believe.”
This is not a chastisement!
Jesus welcomes Thomas’ doubt
and loves Thomas through it.
Thomas’ proclamation
that Jesus is God
is a reminder
that Thomas is not.
Whether Thomas the person
is doubtful
or Thomas represents the doubt
of anyone who hasn’t seen Jesus,
Thomas wants to see.
With characters in John’s gospel
being people we can project ourselves onto,
Thomas is primed
for our projection.
Thomas isn’t the only person who doubts.
In the other gospels,
Jesus only shows the disciples his wounds
because they doubt too!
When Jesus says,
“Blessed are those
who have not seen
and yet have come to believe,”
Jesus is talking about us.
John is talking about us,
and the people in his own community
who didn’t know Jesus first hand.
Jesus welcomes our doubt,
loves us in and through it, even.
When we face our doubts,
when we wonder if any of this is real
or if keeping the baptismal covenant is worth it,
faith is what we’ve got.
We didn’t have Jesus
walking through a wall
to break up our meeting.
But here we are proclaiming
that Christ is risen from the dead
trampling down death by death
and to those in the tombs
bestowing life.
Doubt exists
even for the people Jesus told
multiple times
that he would die
and rise from the dead.
It’s an ebb and flow with faith.
Even in Thomas’ doubt,
in our doubt,
Jesus’ love doesn’t wax or wane.
While our doubt and faith
ebb and flow,
Jesus’s love is constant for us.
Jesus’ defeat of the grave
stands
even when we have trouble standing ourselves.
Jesus welcomes our doubt,
loves us in and through it, even.
Christ is risen from the dead
trampling down death by death
and to those in the tombs
bestowing life.