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
Comments