Sermon given at Imperial Plaza in Richmond on April 12. Scripture: John 20:19-31.
Doubting Thomas: Is Seeing
Believing?
I call this sermon Is Seeing Believing, but
I thought of calling it Faith from Doubt.
And I will explain that idea in a moment,
but first the idea of having to see something in order to believe.
The idea of seeing and believing is present
throughout our lives today.
We need proof that something has been done:
a
receipt for expenses,
a
copy of a letter,
a
report turned in,
evidence
and facts.
So the question presents itself:
Is seeing believing? Do you and I have to see something to know it
is true?
Or can we have faith, even when we do not have evidence in front of us?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen.
Words like assurance,
hope, and conviction,
do not point to needing proof,
but to believing
in the unseen.
What gets my attention in this 20th
chapter of John is the story of how the disciples came to learn of and believe
in the resurrection.
These are characters on a faith journey
and their different ways of responding to
Jesus.
In the first verses of chapter 20, it
begins
with Mary Magdalene who discovers the stone
removed from the tomb. She runs to get
Simon Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved (who we know as John). They hurry to the tomb.
Simon Peter goes into the tomb first and sees the linen cloth, but does not understand what has
happened.
Then the beloved disciple enters the tomb,
then sees
and believes.
It is such a simple little line in
John 20 verse 8, it is easy to miss: “..Then the other disciple, who reached the
tomb first, also went in and saw and
believed…”
At this point Peter is confused,
but the beloved disciple believes!
Here is the question to ponder;
How can the evidence of an empty tomb lead
to faith?
Why did the beloved disciple believe?
He believed because he already believed.
Belief
in Jesus.
Belief
in Jesus’ promises about himself and God.
Earlier in the Gospel of John, we hear
these promises:
Jesus
as the way to the Father and the promise of the Holy Spirit:
In that one moment,
on seeing the empty tomb, the linen
cloth,
the
beloved disciple believes!
This puts him ahead of Peter and the
others, and Thomas who doubts,
who will not believe, until he ‘sees it
with his own eyes’.
Before we get to Thomas, we need to go back
to the scene of the empty tomb and Mary Magdalene.
Peter and the beloved disciple leave and
Mary Magdalene is alone at the empty tomb.
She is weeping.
She sees someone she doesn’t recognize,
assumes he is the gardener and asks,
“…where have you
laid him…”
Mary Magdalene sees Jesus but does not ‘see’ him.
She does not see with the eyes of faith.
With one word –her name- her eyes are
opened
and she sees Jesus.
It is the sound of his voice that she
recognizes as he calls her by name.
You and I need to be reminded that the good
shepherd knows his sheep by name,
and they respond to his voice.
When Mary Magdalene is called by name,
she abandons her grief.
When she hears her name, she
makes a connection with Jesus.
All she can manage to say is “Rabbouni!” –teacher.
In this week’s scripture we come to the
verses about Thomas.
Thomas, who will need evidence before
believing.
From his doubts, faith does arise;
from the darkest of
doubts, can come the greatest of faith. And there it is faith from doubt.
Thomas’ words are a statement of faith.
“My Lord and my God!”
Thomas sees God fully revealed in Jesus.
It is not touching Jesus that leads Thomas
to his confession of faith, but Jesus’ gracious offer of himself.
Jesus offers Thomas what he needs.
Thomas is an example of a spirit that was
present in that early community; he represents the doubts and denials voiced in
his day.
How do you and I doubt?
What doubts do we carry in our everyday
lives?
How do we move past these doubts to be
disciples?
How might we grow in our faith?
Even through our doubts,
even though you
and I are sinners,
even though we are
flawed,
–God loves and guides us!
Belief itself comes from another source
than evidence.
It is a gift from God.
So back to our original question:
Is
seeing believing?
Let’s try a quick example of going on faith
and trust. What do you see?
Right here, right now –what do you see?
Now close your eyes –do you still see?
If I asked you to keep your eyes closed and
walk from your seat to the front row, could you do it? –without stumbling or
tripping?
Do not worry I will not ask for any
volunteers.
Please open your eyes.
Now some of you may have been able to do
that, crediting your good sense of direction,
balance, or knowledge of your
surroundings.
A few of you may have peeked to make sure
you were on the right path and one or two of you may have bumped into something
along the way.
Thomas could have only done
this with his eyes open.
Simon Peter would have given it a try but
ended up a little short on his first attempt.
Mary Magdalene would have been guided
by Jesus’ voice.
And the beloved disciple would be sitting
here in the front row.
Where would you be? Where are you?
Do you see with the eyes of faith?
You and I have faith, we are believers;
we know:
we
are loved by God,
Jesus
is our Redeemer and our Savior,
there
is life anew given by the Holy Spirit.
And you and I, who have not seen,
but have come to believe are blessed.
But this is not the end of the story.
And ‘he is
risen’ is not the message Jesus
gives to Mary Magdalene to tell the disciples.
But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.’
There is more after
the resurrection,
Jesus will ascend
to God;
the love of God
which was embodied in Jesus,
is not
something temporary that was present only in the incarnation, but continues.
God is still with us.
Jesus’ return to
God makes new life possible.
God who gives hope to his people;
Jesus conquering death, taking on the sins of
the world, our sins, and letting you and I experience God’s love
for us.
We are blessed for we are
among
‘those who have not
seen and yet have come to believe.’
Amen.
