Living for who we believe in beyond closed doors

Let's begin with a brief moment of prayer.  God, we are thankful for all the early alerts and preparedness and that there are so few reports of injuries or death.  And, we know there has been property damage.  Now that the sun has risen, we’ll get more accurate assessments of these damages.  We pray for each person impacted by these damages – perhaps they no longer have a place to live, perhaps they won’t be able to get to work, perhaps this storm has only added to the adversity they’ve been facing in their lives.  We pray for the conviction and motivation of everyone who will be offering relief and repair in these situations – may your grace and compassion surround them through the Holy Spirit. 

Here we are together in the second Sunday of Easter.  Note that I said of not after – Easter Sunday brings us into a whole season of Easter.  For the next six weeks, we’ll be consider what it means that Christ, our Good Shepherd, is risen and we’ll end the season by

concentrating on some of his final lessons and instruction to us before he left his earthly ministry.  We’ll also be hearing about the growth of the early church and wisdom from the apostles during this evolution.  Our Paschal candle remains burning throughout this season as a sign of the light of Christ in our midst – a call to ‘see’ things new and to follow him from the bondage of sin into liberation in the new kingdom. Our Easter season culminates this year in
the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the last Sunday in May – the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

Each year on this morning, on what is traditionally considered the 8^th day of Easter (the conclusion of the Easter octave), although our other lectionary readings vary according to the cycle we’re in, our Gospel reading is always the same – John 20:19-31 (Jesus’s appearances to his disciples in the upper room, with a focus on the initial unbelief of Thomas).

There is much to explore in what we’ve heard this morning.

In Acts 4:32-25 we hear about the unifying power of the Holy Spirit brining thousands of early believers into such communitarian harmony that they’re compelling to share their resources in common compassionately, assuring that “there was not a needy person among them.”  We could explore this in more depth, consider when, why, and how long that lasted and ask ourselves what it means to us as a community today. 


In 1 John 1:1 - 2:2, we hear about the conviction that a common life in the light of Christ

calls us to admit to and confess our sins against God and neighbor and seek cleansing forgiveness and atonement in the blood sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us.

And then we have our Gospel reading, that some people simply summarize as the reading about ‘doubting Thomas.”  Surely many of you have heard the story many times.  In fact, as we discovered when we explored this Gospel reading together in our campus ministry program at K-State this past week, for some of you it might be one of the most memorable or meaningful stories in scripture.  There’s so much more going in this passage that simply one person doubting that Christ is risen… and more to consider as relevant to our life in Christ today.

First, however, let’s just address this matter of ‘doubting’ Thomas head-on.   Rather than forever cast Thomas as the great doubter, recall that there’s more to this apostle – in fact, we might say Thomas is more perennially faithful than doubting.  This is the same apostle who boldly suggested that the group travel with Jesus back to Bethany after the death of Lazarus even if it meant they would be stoned to death with him (John 11:16).  This is also the same rather practical-minded Thomas who chose to ask out loud what others might have been wondering silently - “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way” - when Jesus was being rather indirect in his comments about not being with them much longer.  And we can only imagine that in the grief and fear of that week following his lord’s cruel execution, he was understandably a little incredulous when told something so unbelievable by the other apostles who were still huddled, hiding in the upper room.  Thomas wasn’t asking for anything that the others hadn’t already received – some sort of credible proof that he could believe in.  We might say Thomas was a kinesthetic learner – he needed to actually feel the risen Lord rather than just hear about him.  Many of us can put ourselves in Thomas’s sandals if we’re honest.  And, this is the same Thomas who, after encountering the risen Christ on his own terms, offers us one of the most pithy confessions of faith in all of the New Testament (verse 28) – “My Lord and my God!”  Furthermore, tradition tells us that Thomas might have traveled farthest of any of the apostles in this eventual preaching the Gospel to people in India.  So, let’s give Thomas a bit of a break.  He has been a strong believer and (pardon the pun) no doubt yearns to believe what his friends are telling him… but the stakes are so high in this case and he doesn’t want to be duped… believe in a concept isn’t enough, he needs a personal encounter to stoke his belief in a person - the risen Christ – in order to be released from his fear and suspicion – how many of us can relate to that?

Jesus tells Thomas, and everyone else (including us), to believe.  He goes further to call blessed all those of future generations who will not have seen his pre-Ascension resurrected body personally (i.e., “those who have not seen”) yet come to believe. 

This is not about our belief about something (like the resurrection), it’s about our belief in someone, in this case the risen Christ.  Follow me – there’s an important distinction here.

Belief about something is not the same as belief in someone.   

In Latin, the word credo means “I believe.”  Some interpreters say that the word connotes  ‘something to which I will give my heart” (belief as deep, emotional conviction).  Other analysts of the word’s etymology say that a more accurate denotation would be “something or someone we are willing to trust and commit ourselves and our resources to.” (see discussion on Ship of Fools: http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=008881)

I can say that I believe that many of you got yourselves here this morning, chose to be here rather than somewhere else, because you’re convicted about Christ and desire fellowship with others who are like minded.  That’s belief in the intellectual sense – something based on assumptions, induction, observable data, etc.

Or, I can say that I believe in you. What’s the difference?  What does that imply that’s more

interpersonal and emotional?

The most compelling aspect of our faith is not based on intellectual knowledge (i.e., what you can know with your mind) so much as it is a procession from the experience of compassionate love and the experience of holy grace (i.e., what you come to know through your heart through experience with other real people).

Now back to our Gospel lesson and what the Spirit might be calling to re-consider / re-conceive in our lives this second Sunday of Easter…


The men didn’t believe the testimony of the women that Jesus had been raised from the dead.  They didn’t believe it.  They were huddled in fear behind a locked door hoping to avoid judgment, persecution, and suffering.  The resurrected Jesus came to them offeringpeace, acknowledging the evidence in his body of his brutal execution while breathing the Holy Spirit upon them, authorizing them to forgive sins, and sending them out beyond the doors to live more freely.  They were so moved by the personal encounter that they began to testify

to what they’d seen.  

But, not everyone (particularly not Thomas) believed in what they were saying.  Jesus did something to help release belief from the grips of suspicion and fear – he makes another personal appearance to meet the doubter where he his and to provide him something he can see and touch.  It’s through the intimacy of this personal manifestation that the doubter is able to believe in the person standing before him.  He previously didn’t believe it, but he now believes in him, proclaiming “My Lord and my God!”

We’re called to believe in a person and the truth of the examples he has given us, not in a statement of faith or a religious concept.  And, this real person sends us out, beyond the closed doors, to proclaim what we’ve seen… and more importantly, what we’ve come to know in our hearts about the good news he has shown us.  Our belief – our mission in faith – is not about ‘facts’ that we are to think about; it’s all about relationships that we are to experience.

“…When God comes, we will recognize God’s presence in those moments when peace is offered, in those moments when life’s most brutal violence is honestly acknowledged, and when, in the midst of this bracing honesty, we realize that we are not alone but have, in fact, been always, already found.” (Serene Jones, President, Union Theological Seminary, NYC)

What does this mean to us today? 

First we might ask, is the risen Christ someone we are willing to trust and commit ourselves and our resources to?  If you’re
not there yet… if you have doubts…  if in your heart you’re not a firm believer in Jesus as resurrected and living Christ, that’s something to explore this Easter.  Let’s talk.  Engage in some intimate interpersonal conversations with those who believe.  Work alongside some of us in the charitable, community service work we do. Come along on some pastoral visits - watch and pray with us as we encounter Christ in personal healing and restoration of wellness and relationships.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you toward coming to know something new this season in your heart.

If you do claim to ‘believe’, we might want to explore this Easter how you’re living out your belief.  Talk with others about your shared life in Christ.  Check to see if you/we are hiding behind any closed doors.  Beyond what any of us can say about our beliefs, what are we doing interpersonally to live out examples of Christian faith and belief in action so that others can ‘see’ and ‘touch’ the fruits of life in the light of Christ.    


As we continue into Easter, what will you choose to see and believe in the world around you?  What life-giving possibilities will you live toward with the help of God?  What will your actions help others perceive about our risen Lord?  What life-affirming, loving choices can you make each day that might bring someone from darkness to light such that the eyes of their heart are opened and they are compelled to proclaim,  “My Lord and My God!”  AMEN.