Lessons: Acts 2:14a, 22-32, Psalm 118:19-24, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

 Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

 Brothers and Sisters in Christ, pray for me, that the words I say may be those God wants us to hear.

 Have you ever encountered someone who told you something too good to be true? Some really unexpected, totally off-the-wall good news? How did you respond? Did it take awhile to sink in and become real to you?  Did you have to verify what you heard through multiple sources? Or perhaps you are the kind of person who draws lines in the sand…unable to cross over into belief unless the benchmark evidence is present.

 If one of you came up to me and told me that my Mom, who passed away 15 years ago, was standing in the doorway of the church asking about me, I might go and look…not because I thought I would see my Mom standing there, but to satisfy my curiosity as to what you, the witness, could possibly be trying to tell me. And if a whole group of people, including my sister and brother and some of my Mom’s best friends, people who knew and loved my Mom, verified what the first witness said, what then? I would think that perhaps something strange and wonderful indeed had happened…but I am not sure whether or not I would accept that it was really true, even after thinking about it, and listening to them talk about it for a few days…and not only that, but I would feel kind of left out, too. I love my Mom. Why should they get to see her, but not me?

 So, no. I didn’t see it. I couldn’t speak as an eyewitness. I could say with truth that people I love and trust somehow experienced my Mom’s presence and tried to tell me about it, and I could even be happy for them, but I couldn’t be part of their witness. And from then on I would feel sort of left out...like I wasn’t a real part of the group anymore.

 Now, consider Thomas in our Gospel lesson. First he hears reports from Peter and the beloved disciple that something strange has happened at the tomb. Then Mary Magdalene claims she has seen Jesus. Then the occupants of the house where the disciples meet see Jesus. John is not specific about who was present for Jesus’ first appearance to the group, just about who wasn’t.

 Thomas wasn’t. We aren’t told where Thomas was, or what he was doing, but he wasn’t there.

 Thomas was not present when Jesus stood among those gathered and said, “Peace be with you”. This greeting must have reminded them of what Jesus told them the evening before his death: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

 Thomas wasn’t there to hear the words of Jesus…”as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He didn’t feel Jesus’ breath upon on him, and he didn’t hear the words, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”

 Thomas missed a lot. Too much. No wonder he set up a benchmark…”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 lot of people have criticized Thomas over the years for his doubt, but it seems very reasonable to me, on 2 levels…the level of being a practical person and needing more proof, and the level of being left out, with the circle of witnesses somehow being incomplete.

 It is as though some kind of healing is needed here for the wholeness of the community, as well as for Thomas.

 What else do we know about Thomas? He is mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the listing of the 12, but nothing else is said about him. In Acts, he is mentioned as being present in Jerusalem with the other 10 disciples just after Jesus ascends into heaven, gathered with others, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers, in an upper room, constantly devoted to prayer.

 John never lists the 12, although he refers to them. Thomas appears in John’s Gospel in 4 places. We first meet him in the story about the raising of Lazarus. Jesus hears of the illness of Lazarus, and waits 2 days before deciding to go to Bethany, where Lazarus lives with his sisters Mary and Martha. His disciples must have been relieved when he didn’t respond to the summons immediately, for when Jesus does decide to go, they remind him “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” When Jesus, undeterred, tries to explain that Lazarus has died and why he is going anyway, Thomas says to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

 So, like the other disciples, Thomas thinks Jesus is doing something unwise and dangerous, but he follows him anyway…passionately, too, because he expresses willingness to follow Jesus even to death.

 Although John does not mention Thomas again in the Lazarus passage, this statement infers that he was an eyewitness to the raising of Lazarus. So Thomas must believe in resurrection…he has seen one before.

 The next place John mentions Thomas is during the discourse in the upper room, after Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet. He, along with Peter and Phillip, question Jesus about his departure. Each of their voices carries us in a different spiritual direction. Peter asks, “Lord Where are you going?” to which Jesus replies “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward”. A few verses later Thomas, ever practical, says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”, to which Jesus responds, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied” to which Jesus replies “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still don not know me?”…

 So we have a picture of Thomas…eyewitness to at least one miracle…willing to go wherever Jesus leads, but not knowing where or how. Told that from now on, since he knows Jesus, he knows and has seen God. Then seeing Jesus die. Seeing the way, the truth, and the life, die. How can the one who is God die?

 We don’t know where Thomas was during that first resurrection appearance to the disciples, but I know if someone told me something as amazing as that I would hang around with them for awhile in hopes that it would happen again. So it’s not surprising that the next week Thomas was present when the disciples gathered. Once again, Jesus was present, and once again, he began by telling them, “Peace be with you.”

 Then he gives Thomas the most wonderful invitation. See. Touch. Know the good news. Know it every way you need to. With your senses. With your mind. With your heart. Do not doubt, but believe.

 And Thomas, beholding with his senses, speaks what his mind and heart together tell him. “My Lord and My God!” It finally all comes together for him. He isn’t left out any more. He can continue as an eyewitness, along with the others.

 George Herbert wrote a poem, which we sing as hymn 487, that sums it up so beautifully:

 Come my Way, my Truth, my Life; such a way as gives us breath; such a truth as ends all strife; such a life as killeth death.

 Thomas also appears in the last story of John’s Gospel, the story of the breakfast with Jesus on the beach. This is a story where loose ends are tied up, and themes are brought to conclusion. And Thomas is there, fishing with the other disciples. That is all we hear of him from the bible, although tradition holds that he evangelized the Parthians, and there are Christians who claim he also brought the Gospel to India.

 I am glad we have the example of Thomas. Sometimes it is really hard to accept the testimony of others who have experienced things that seem incredible to us, even though they may be people we know and love. In this passage, we hear that God understands that, and responds to it. We all receive this response differently…God speaks to us, to each individual, in ways we understand.

 We also see that, even though he declared his unbelief, Thomas did not just pick up his marbles and go home. He stayed connected with the others. When the only faith he had was his fellowship with the other disciples, he showed up anyway. And God worked through that to bring Thomas, and the rest of the community, to wholeness.

 Many have heard and believed because Thomas, along with the other disciples, didn’t just sit on the peace that Jesus gave, but brought it to others. We who have not seen have come to believe, through their struggles and their testimony. And through us, through our struggles and testimony, others will also come to believe. We have the task of not just sitting on the Peace that Jesus gives, either. And, we carry a special blessing from Jesus: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

 Let us pray: “Jesus, we believe you; all we heard is true. You break the bread; we recognize you, you are the fire that burns within us; use us to light the world.

Amen.”