He has risen. He's alive. He is here.

Lord Halifax, a former foreign secretary, once shared a railway compartment with two rather prim-looking ladies. A few moments before reaching his destination the train passed through a tunnel. In the utter darkness Halifax kissed the back of his hand noisily several times. When the train drew into the station, he rose, lifted his hat, and in a gentlemanly way said:

"May I thank whichever one of you two ladies I am indebted to for the charming incident in the tunnel." He then beat a hasty retreat, leaving the two ladies glaring at each other as each doubted the behaviour of the other.

Today we’re going to think a little bit about doubt, or at least about the most famous doubter of all time – Thomas.

The gospel reading this morning (John 20:19-31) begins on the first evening of the first Easter as the disciples were gathered together in the house with the doors locked... The disciples must still have been afraid that what happened to Jesus could easily happen to them.

But apart from fear the room was probably also filled with a good degree of confusion – the two Marys and Salome had earlier gone to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty. Peter and John had also heard the story and gone and found the same thing.

The Mary had returned and said that she had seen Jesus alive ! And later on two disiples walking on the road to Emmaus had also seen Him. Yet as the disciples gathered in that room on that Easter evening, they had no idea what Easter was – As they discussed the events of the day, they did it without experiencing the power of Easter, the power of the risen Jesus.

And so, frightened and confused they stayed in the room with the door locked – but for some reason Thomas wasn’t with them, and then Jesus appeared and said very simply, ‘Peace be with you’...

Simple words yet absolutely incredible words, and as we share the peace in church, it’s always worth reminding ourselves that we’re not just being polite, we’re not just interrupting the flow of the service for a chat, we’re not even just offering genuine good wishes to other people, but we are actually expressing our desire to share with one another the peace of Jesus...

But back to that room where Thomas wasn’t ! We don’t know where he was. We know that he wasn’t a coward – we recall when Jesus first decided to go and visit Lazarus in Bethany (John ch.11), some of the disciples didn’t want Jesus to go because they knew there were people there who wanted to kill him, but it was Thomas who said, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with Jesus...’

For Thomas it seems that life without Jesus meant very little – if Jesus died what was the point of life ? And so we don’t know where he was but perhaps we can understand his doubt... Someone he continued to love and trust with everything had seemingly gone.

Good Friday had happened – what Jesus said would happen had happened... And in the confusion of that day Thomas ran away. Perhaps his way of dealing with the grief was to go and spend time alone – we don’t know...

But we do understand surely Thomas’ grief. Who was there now to give God’s words a human voice ? Who could do God’s work? Who would heal the sick, give hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind ? Who would give hope to the person desperately needing hope and love in the way that Jesus had ?

And then came Saturday and Jesus still wasn’t there – and maybe the sense of loss just got deeper. What sense could Thomas make of life ? Where was God when he needed him most ? This was no time for him to stay silent ?

And perhaps we’ve also experienced that Saturday in our lives. The day when things don’t seem to make sense and our cries of pain or grief don’t seem to be heard and we don’t know where to turn. Doubt and misery and a lack of hope seem to dominate our existence...

Saturday is perhaps also the day when the church seems lost – worried about lack of numbers attending or lack of money, or a building falling down, and failing to hold on to the vision of the church being the body of Christ on earth, living out his vision and his way... That way of healing and reconciliation and love...

It’s the day when the church loses focus on the body of Christ being at the centre of community and people’s lives, and instead becomes inward looking. It’s the day when small things which really don’t matter very much suddenly seem important, and big things, like mission and vision and love get lost somewhere...

That Saturday is about retreating and hiding behind closed doors, or just being somewhere else as Thomas was... But then Thomas saw the others and was told about the appearance of Jesus – and of course he doubted... He wanted to see the nail marks and the wound in his side before he could be convinced...

And then a week later Jesus appeared again and this time Thomas was with the other disciples. There were no recriminations and Jesus didn’t get angry about Thomas not listening to the others – he simply offered the proof he wanted and offered the advice, ‘Do not doubt, but believe !’

And Jesus went on, ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe’ – and in those words Jesus still speaks to us 2000 years later...

He calls on us not to doubt but to believe; not to be people stuck in Good Friday or that Saturday in the tomb, but to be alive as we celebrate resurrection and rely on the saving resurrection of power of Jesus to have our lives changed, and to change the lives of others...

The days of healing and reconciliation and extravagant love and forgiveness and hope and peace are back, because Jesus is alive... And the risen Lord Jesus spends every moment with us, strengthening us, comforting us, giving us hope, and loving us, and calling us to love others... He calls us to be people living out the new life that he has given us.

Jesus calls us and his church as one to be people of new life, people sharing a gospel message that even in the darkest moments of life, the light of Christ still shines through... He calls us to be people living out the life that Jesus led on earth – searching out those who are struggling, or without hope, or afraid, or lonely as well as celebrating with those who are happy... And we’re called to do it with joy...

Jesus has risen. Jesus is alive. Jesus is here... Do not doubt but believe... AMEN