Sunday Sermon - 27 April
Just like the Gospel this morning I’m picking up from where we left off last week so here’s a quick recap:
I spoke about the fact that Jesus repeatedly foretold his death and resurrection and yet the apostles still doubted the fact that Jesus rose from the dead when the two Marys, Joanna, and the other women, told them Jesus had risen. Peter, in his own disbelief, had to run to the tomb to see for himself. I then spoke about doubt and faith - something we constantly wrestle with as Christians. I talked about using our God-given intellect and critical thinking to help us, not just to question but to seek understanding and to move from belief in the Jesus story to a deeper sense of faith and purpose. I spoke of the importance of not just focusing on the belief of what happened, but also on the faith of why it happened. I said none of this matters if we don’t live the life Jesus calls us to live. He came back to forgive us and to call us to a life of loving purpose.
The message of doubt resonates even more loudly in the story of Thomas. Traditionally, preachers and biblical analysis of this passage tend to overly focus on the theme of doubt. In fact, there is even a very common saying; “Don’t be a doubting Thomas”, that comes from this story. For me, this isn’t the fundamental point of this part of John’s Gospel. Yes, John does point out that he is writing this so that those who weren’t in that room believe, but belief is only the first step. The real message in this passage comes from the quoted words of Jesus, when he arrived in the room and stood among them.
Jesus said: “Peace be with you.” And again, he repeated, “Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
This passage is less about a doubting Thomas and more about the commissioning, actually it is better stated as the empowering, of the disciples.
Let’s take a look at the scene John paints for us.
The disciples are scared, hiding out in a house behind locked doors, for fear that they may be arrested and killed for being disciples of Jesus. Jesus arrives mysteriously. He just shows up in the room and greets them with; “Peace be with you.” They don’t realize it’s Him for some reason, until he shows them his wounds. Then he repeats; “Peace be with you”, and commissions them saying; “as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” But he doesn’t just use his words - he breathes on them, bestowing upon them the grace of the Holy Spirit, and orders them to forgive the sins of others and to not retain sin. This is an intentional foreshadowing by John of the events to come at Pentecost.
Thomas missed all this because he wasn’t there at the time. When he is told what happened by the others he doesn’t believe them. Well, what would we expect? Let’s face it, it’s kind of hard to believe. The door is locked and Jesus just shows up in the middle of the room?
A week later, Jesus returns. He repeats his greeting; “Peace be with you”, and tells Thomas to touch his wounds in order to confirm his physical presence. John tells us the words of Jesus; “blessed are those who haven’t seen, but come to believe.” This line is directed as much to us as to Thomas. John wrote it for everyone who wasn’t a witness to Jesus’ resurrection.
As I said, today’s sermon is a continuation of last week’s message. Doubt is expected by our Lord and we are also expected to use our God-given intellect to challenge our beliefs. We are also called to accept the grace of God and to faithfully embrace the why.
Why Jesus was resurrected.
Why God came to us in human form, died a horrible death for us, and came back.
Belief is about the facts of the event, the what. Faith is about the why.
Let me share a bit more about Thomas.
After Thomas experienced Jesus and, yes, believed that he had come back from the dead. After he acknowledged the fact that Jesus was indeed resurrected, he didn’t just leave it at that, believing in the what and saying; “Hey, ya, you guys were right after all.”
Thomas embraced the why of Jesus’ resurrection. Thomas took his belief further and did as Jesus asked. Remember when he entered that room the first time, the time Thomas wasn’t even there, Jesus said; “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Thomas was sent and Thomas went.
One of the most fascinating and lesser known facts about Thomas is his evangelistic work. Thomas was one of the original 12 but, unlike the others, like Peter, James, John, he is not considered one of the Jerusalem Apostles because he left Jerusalem. He fully embraced the why of Jesus’ resurrection and travelled extensively throughout the land spreading the Gospel. To this day, there are communities of Christians in India, called the Thomas Christians, who trace their Christian identity directly back to St. Thomas and are considered; “..ecclesiastically, liturgically, and linguistically … one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world.” (Britannica)
The point is this. The interpretations of this passage tend to overly focus on the issue of Thomas’ doubt and subsequent belief because he sees and then physically touches Jesus. John notes that we are called blessed if we believe without seeing or touching our risen Lord but this passage is so much more than just about believing in that which we can’t see or touch.
If that’s just it, our belief is hollow and purposeless focusing on the what and not the why. Our belief must drive our actions and purpose as Christians. Like the Apostles, we too are sent out by Jesus, called to leave the safety of our rooms (or in our case, our churches) to continue the work of Jesus in our world today. This is why we also read from the Book of Acts this morning.
In Acts we hear of the Jerusalem Apostles who stood in judgement before the council of High Priests. They were empowered by Christ to spread the Good News and to hold the council accountable for their actions and they were being scrutinized for their behaviour. The Apostles left the safety of that room, they stepped out and stepped up, proclaiming and defending their conviction to Christ. For some it cost them their life.
Just as Jesus bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, we come to church on Sundays to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, in worship and in the eucharist and then we are to leave the comfortable confines of our safe church and go into the world to serve, to fulfill our (literally) God-given purpose. We too are called to step out and step up for Christ.
Serving God in our world does not have to be complicated or, quite frankly, overly demanding. Serving God in our world can be quite simple and Jesus Himself reminds us how to serve God when he talks about peace and forgiveness.
When Jesus says; “Peace be with you”, as a Jew he would have used the Aramaic/Hebrew term ‘Shalom’. Shalom is not just a casual greeting and is not just translated as the word peace, meaning without conflict. It is so much deeper and richer than that. Shalom, peace be with you, involves reconciliation with God through faith in Christ. Peace speaks of an inner tranquility that comes from knowing and trusting that our sins, our weaknesses, our errors are forgiven. Peace speaks of that soulful comfort in knowing that we are loved unconditionally by God.
For us, as Christians, peace is also a way of life to be pursued as modelled by Christ. It is about forgiving others who sin against us. It is about seeking justice and embodying love and mercy in our interactions with others. Peace comes from being in harmony with the world around us. Peace takes work, I said it wasn’t complicated, but I didn’t say it was easy. We are called as Christians to work at it. This is ultimately the why behind the resurrection, a why that goes beyond believing the facts but understanding, faithfully, why Jesus came back for us.
So today, I pray that we all find true peace in our lives, the peace that Jesus bestowed upon Thomas and the Apostles and bestows upon us. And I pray that, like Thomas, we may find the strength to leave our safe havens and fully live out His call for us. I pray that we go into the world rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, sharing the Good News of our Risen Lord, bringing His peace and love to all those around us.
Amen.