Our Annual Conversation with Thomas

Text: Matthew 28:1-10

Theme: “Our Annual Conversation withThomas”

2^nd Sunday of Easter

May 1, 2011

First Presbyterian Church

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

In the Name of Jesus

The second Sunday of Easter has arrived; thus, it’s time for our annual conversation with the apostle Thomas. Thomas, a lesser-known figure in the Bible, checks in with us about once a year during the Easter season.

An “apostle” is defined as “one who is sent.” On Easter evening, Jesus instituted the sending of Thomas and the other ten disciples (the successor to Judas had not been chosen yet). Not only were they disciples, they were now apostles. Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Thomas wasn’t there to be sent that night. Apparently, he was A.W.O.L. – “absent without leave”. The other ten, though, were present and accounted for. On Easter Sunday evening, they were locked behind closed doors. Why the lock? The motive for locking the door was fear. They didn’t want anyone in who might be something other than favorably disposed toward them. Fear seems to segregate, doesn’t it? After all, Jesus went off and got Himself killed. Would they be next? So it was best to hide out.

But locked doors were never a problem for our Lord. Jesus, now risen from the dead, had no need of a key, a thumbprint, a combination, an access code, or a bar-coded ID card on a lanyard. The Gospel of John simply reports that He came and stood among them, and they were overjoyed. By the way, He did show them something: his hands (with the nailmarks) and his side (where the spear went through).

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you,” Jesus declares. Having so spoken, He then proceeded to breathe on them with more words: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” With that statement, the ministry of the church was born.

At Good Friday’s cross and Easter Sunday’s empty tomb, the forgiveness of sins for all of us was earned and achieved. The victory was won. In the ministry of the church, the fruits of that victory – specifically, the forgiveness of sins – are delivered. It’s one thing to win the gift; it’s another to pass it on. Jesus doesn’t waste any time. He starts that process right away – along with His Spirit to empower it.

But again, Thomas was A.W.O.L. Only days before Jesus died, Thomas was present and accounted for and did speak up. Having heard that Lazarus was sick, Jesus intended to go back to Judea where people had previously tried to stone Him to death. Thomas is reported to have said: “Let us also go with Him that we may die with him.” This comment is hard to comment on. It was either a statement of fierce loyalty to Jesus, or it came from a man with shoulders shrugged who was resigning himself to his fate. Sometimes much depends not on what you say but how you say it. For example: “Let us also die with him” (in triumphant tones) and “Let us also die with him” (resigned tones).

Thomas said very little on Easter Sunday for the simple fact that he wasn’t there. But sometime during the week that followed, his colleagues caught up to him with the news that they had seen the Lord. Thomas didn’t take this sitting down. He replied in words that need no further comment: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

There you have it, my friends. You just heard the reason why he is called “doubting” Thomas. For Thomas, seeing was believing. You have to see it to believe it. If Thomas were an American, I suspect that he would be a citizen of the state of Missouri. Missouri is called the “Show Me” state. Thomas is the kind of guy who says: “Don’t just tell me, show me!” Thomas was an empiricist; he needed hard evidence. If Jesus was risen from the dead, it had to be beyond reasonable doubt. “You can tell me 24/7/365 that Jesus is risen from the dead, but until I see it for myself I have my reasons to doubt.” Doubt is such a powerful, strong mindset for Thomas – and for many of us. Faced with the world as we see it, it is no surprise that people increasingly conclude that they’re not sure what they believe in anymore. Believe in anything too strongly, and you run the risk of being labeled a closed-minded bigot.

Last week, I learned that I need to drink one hundred ounces of water per day. I was asked how much coffee I drank. “Quite a bit,” was my reply. Then, I was told I needed to drink twice as much water than coffee. This extra water would be added to the one hundred ounces I already am supposed to drink. Later on, over at the gym, I reported this news to a trainer who doubted what I had just learned. “Coffee is a diuretic,” he said; “drink as much as you want.” At the end of the day, I was left in doubt as to how much or how little liquid refreshment I was to consume during any twenty four hour period. Doubts about anyone and nearly everything bang around in my brain like a pinball nearly every day.

One of the more trustworthy websites covering the political world is realclearpolitics.com. They report it all – from the far left to the far right -- with approval ratings reports and editorials across the entire spectrum. Based on what I’ve seen, I believe that they are objective. According to their data, 67.5 percent of the American populace feels as though the country is on the “wrong track”. Stated differently, if this grouping of people were told that the country was on the right track, they would – at the very least – have serious doubts.

We’re more accustomed to doubt than faith. From Madison Avenue to Main Street, doubt is urged upon us during nearly every waking hour. “Why buy that product when you can have this one?” “More Saving, More Doing: That’s the Power of the Home Depot.” The “power” of Home Depot for me, as a result, is to inculcate further doubt. I don’t go to Home Depot to save. I go there to spend money to fix the toilet, and then I go home and put that job off until later. Thus, there is no saving and there is no doing! What I have no doubt about is the simple fact that the water bill is high on account of a leak in the commode! I’ve observed it, verified it, with my own eyes!

Thomas sought verification. If Jesus Christ had really, truly risen from the dead, that would be a game-changer. Thomas, therefore, would not base the rest of his life on second-hand information even from friends. Thomas would have appreciated language like this: “Trust, but verify. Play the game, but cut the cards.”

On the next Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, Thomas was no longer A.W.O.L. He was present and accounted for. Again, they were behind locked doors. Once more, Jesus, not deterred by the locked door, stands among them and greets them. “Peace be with you,” He says. Then it’s time to talk to Thomas. Jesus says: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” He didn’t bark at him. He didn’t dress him down. He didn’t condemn him for his unbelief. He didn’t suck the positive vibes out of the room with His comments. He simply showed Thomas what Thomas wanted to see and said that he could stop doubting and believe now.

What came forth from Thomas was a short yet powerful confession of faith: “My Lord and my God.” It was not Lord and God in the abstract and impersonal. It was Lord and God in the concrete and personal. Thomas took faith one step further. He claimed God as His very own: “My Lord and my God.”

Do you claim God as your very own?

Jesus concludes the conversation: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief.

Amen.