"I Won't Believe It!" A Sermon on Jesus and Thomas. John 20:24-29

Easter is the high point of the church calendar, a day when we celebrate our Savior’s resurrection from the dead. But the story doesn’t end there. For the next few weeks we will be discussing what happened after Easter. Jesus rose, but now what?

We read this morning in the Gospel of John about Jesus appearing to his disciples. He appears to Mary Magdalene earlier in this chapter, and then he appears to almost all of his disciples. But during this miraculous meeting, Thomas is gone.

Thomas misses it. He is gone and he doesn’t see Jesus. He is understandably upset. Have you ever accidentally missed a big moment? It feels terrible! You got distracted right before your child scored a goal. You missed the winning touchdown because you were distracted by a phone call. You were driving to the hospital to witness the birth of a grandchild, and the baby arrived before you did. It’s a terrible feeling, and this is how Thomas feels. He returns to the gathering of disciples and they tell him that they have seen the Lord. They are overjoyed, but Thomas is frustrated and uncertain. He saw Jesus die. He can’t just accept this news. He says, “Unless I put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

If we only read about Thomas in John chapter 20, we don’t know much about him. But Thomas is mentioned twice before in the Gospel of John. The first time we read about him is in chapter 11. Jesus wants to return to the region of Judea, but his disciples don’t want him to go. “Don’t you remember that the Jews tried to kill you there?” they ask. “You want to go back? Are you crazy?”

But Jesus is determined. He tells them that he is going to Judea even though it will be dangerous. And out of all the disciples, Thomas stands up and says, “Fine. If you’re going, we’re going with you. We are not afraid to die with you.” What faith!

The second time we encounter Thomas is in chapter 14. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, telling them that his Father’s house has many rooms, and that he is going to his Father to prepare a place for them. Jesus says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” The disciples puzzle over this for a moment, and then Thomas speaks up and says, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus replies, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Twice, Thomas’s response to Jesus is one courage. He admits that he is willing to die with Jesus. He asks a brave question—how can we know the way to God? Thomas is a man whose life is marked by faith, not doubt.

But when we meet him in this story, he is full of doubt. He doubts the disciples’ story. He doubts that Jesus is alive. He just can’t believe it. Here is where Thomas starts to get a bad rap. He’s often called “Doubting Thomas,” as if he did something terribly wrong. This raises the question for us: Is it wrong to doubt?

Nearly all the great leaders of our faith struggled with doubt at one time or another. Martin Luther once wrote that “Knowledge and doubt are inseparable to humans. Only God and certain madmen have no doubts!” Author C. S. Lewis, poet Denise Levertov, and—this name may be familiar—former Green Bay Packer Reggie White, all admit to struggling with doubt. Not only that, but we have biblical accounts of many heroes of the faith who struggled mightily with doubt, including Thomas.

Doubt is common. It is not something that we should despair over. If we think deeply about our faith, most of us will doubt at one point or another. If you doubt, you are in good company.

So what does God say to those of us who doubt? In our passage this morning, Jesus arrives, stands in front of Thomas and shows him the nail holes in his hands and the wound in his side. Jesus does not say, “Feel terrible for your doubt.” He does not say, “WHY do you doubt? What’s WRONG with you?” He does not chastise Thomas or shame him. Instead, he meets him in the midst of his ocean of doubt and speaks life and truth and peace. Thomas has an encounter with the Risen Christ, and he is never the same.

It is only after the Risen Jesus stands in front of Thomas, that he says the words, “Do not doubt, but believe.” Even at this point Thomas could have failed to believe. Proof does not create belief. Evidence helps nudge us toward belief but it cannot create faith.

For example, if my husband Daryl tried to prove his love for me with evidence, he couldn’t do it. He could show me pictures from our wedding, or remind me of the dates we have gone on or kiss me or cook me dinner or buy me a present or change the oil in my car… but do these things prove that he loves me? No. I know he loves me because I know it here. Because I have experienced it. I compute the evidence in my head, but it rests in my heart. So it is with faith. Evidence is important, for our faith is not blind faith. We do not believe nonsense. But evidence only goes so far, because faith is, essentially, about love. The two carry one another forward.

Thomas doubted, but he also wanted to believe, and this is important. If our hearts are angry and hardened toward God and we do not want to believe, we will not believe. But a heart that is open to God is a heart that God can use. He can shape it, strengthen it, and grow faith in it. In the Gospel of Mark we read of a boy’s father who says to Jesus, “I do believe! Help my unbelief!”

In John chapter 20 Jesus continues, saying, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” It is here that Jesus extends the promise of faith beyond Thomas to us. His words contain a promise that belief will not be limited to those who see what Thomas has seen. Jesus reassures future generations of believers, including us, that having seen Jesus is not necessary for faith. That we can believe without having to touch the nail holes in his hands.

So how do we handle our doubts today, when Jesus probably won’t show up in our living rooms? What do we do when we doubt?

First, we must continually put ourselves among people who will tell us about Jesus. This is how the Gospel spread in the first place. This is why church exists, and it is why coming to church every week is important—not just when we feel like it. This is why it’s important to have our youth and children in church. When we put ourselves among the people of God and the stories of God, we will encounter him. If you have doubts, church is exactly the place for you. Resist the pull of doubt toward isolation, because this is where danger lies. We are simply not designed to survive alone.

There’s a great song by a bluegrass band called Nickel Creek called “If I Lose My Faith.” In the chorus the singer says, “If I lose my faith, just remind me. Just remind me.” This is one of the most important functions of the community of faith. We remind one another of the reasons for faith. We carry one another through seasons of doubt by reminding each other of God’s faithfulness.

Secondly, we must pray. It may seem odd to pray when we’re not sure God is even up there, but when we are honest about what is going on in our hearts, God can break through. He isn’t afraid of our doubts. We can talk to him about them. We can tell him we don’t really think he’s there, but we would like it if he was. Prayer opens our hearts to God.

Finally, we must spend time in Scripture. If you doubt this whole Christianity thing, think it’s nice for making people good citizens, but it doesn’t really mean anything, it isn’t really true, I challenge you to read through the book of John. Read the words of Jesus. Let them soak into your heart. Wrestle with them. Read through the book and then read it again. Ask God to show you that he’s real and then read the story of his life on earth. It will change you.

Do you know what happened at the end of Thomas’s story? After Jesus revealed himself to Thomas, Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” He doesn’t call Jesus “the Lord,” he calls him “MY Lord,” because Jesus is, indeed, his Lord and his God. This is the faith God calls us all to—a faith that bows before Jesus as OUR Lord and OUR God.

Tradition holds that after Jesus ascended into heaven, Thomas became a missionary to India. Today the Christian church in India owes its start to one faithful disciple whose doubt was transformed. After this encounter with Jesus, Thomas believed so deeply in the Risen Christ that he endured great hardship in order to spread the Gospel.

If you are struggling with doubt here this morning, take heart. As a British minister once said, "Those who doubt most, and yet strive to overcome their doubts, turn out to be some of Christ's strongest disciples."

Alleluia. Amen.