Sermon for Easter 2 A

Text: John 20:19–31

This is one of the most defensive sermons that I preach in a given year.

Because, every year on this week, the gospel reading is the story of Saint Thomas, often called “doubting Thomas,” because he would not believe in the resurrection until he saw Jesus and touched his wounds.

And every year, I want to say:
“Hey now. That’s not fair.”

And I wanna say this for two reasons:

First of all, because doubt is not a sin. Doubt means that you’re taking something seriously enough to ask tough questions. So if anything, St. Thomas the Apostle is not a “Doubting Thomas,” but the patron saint of critical thinkers.

And second of all, Thomas is not the only person in this story who has doubts.

St. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and sees actual angels. They tried to explain the situation to her, but she doesn’t believe them.

Later on, she sees Jesus and goes back to tell the disciples—but they don’t believe her either, until Jesus finally shows up and shows them his hands and his side. That’s when they believe.

So when Thomas comes along and says, “Unless I see the mark of the nails… I will not believe,” he is not asking for anything special; He is simply asking for the exact same thing that the others had already received.

So why is he the only one who gets stuck with the label, “Doubting Thomas?” It’s not fair.

So no, I don’t think that Thomas deserves the bad reputation he gets by asking to see the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands. That’s why I want to come to Thomas’ defense.
He’s not a doubting Thomas; he’s the patron saint of critical thinkers.

But here’s the thing:
I don’t think this story is actually about Thomas. I think it’s about all of us who came late to the party of the resurrection.

Like Thomas, we don’t get to see what the other disciples saw on that first Easter Sunday. We don’t get the luxury of absolute proof; we have to live with the uncertainty.

Because of that, it’s easy to sometimes feel like we are second class citizens in the kingdom of heaven. We were late to the party, so we don’t get what the others got.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like that a lot of the time. I look around the church and wonder if maybe everyone else understands something that I’m missing.

Other people seem so confident in their faith, but I know that I am riddled with doubt.
Other people seem so peaceful, but I know that I am overwhelmed with anxiety.
Other people seem so kind and loving, but I feel the fire of anger within me.

It makes me wonder: am I missing something?

If I’m not alone in that feeling, if you’re feeling it too, then Thomas is our guy.

Because Thomas knows what it feels like to be late to the party, to feel like you missed something important, and now everyone else gets something that you don’t.

Thomas is right there with us, in the middle of that angsty feeling, and so is Jesus.

Behind the locked doors of fear and doubt, Jesus appears again: Speaking not judgment, but peace.

Another interesting detail is that the risen Jesus keeps his wounds, even in his resurrected body. Whatever resurrection means, it does not erase the pain we have endured.

He shows us his wounds, not just as proof of the miracle, but as signs of compassion. He says, “Are you hurt? Look: So am I. You are not alone in your pain.”

That tender place is where the encounter happens that inspires Thomas to proclaim his great statement of faith: “My Lord and my God!“

And then Jesus says something that “breaks the fourth wall.”

If you’re not familiar with that term, it comes from television and movies. “Breaking the fourth wall“ is what happens when a character on screen looks into the camera and speaks directly to the viewers at home. It’s a way of including the audience in the story itself.

And that’s exactly what Jesus is doing when he says, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

When Jesus says that last line, he’s no longer speaking just to Thomas; he’s speaking to all of us as well: “Blessed, are you who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Kindred in Christ, what this means is that you are not late to the party. You have not missed out on something that everyone else gets.

You are blessed. Because you have not seen and yet have come to believe.

This is a bold statement. What I’m going to say next is even bolder:
That if this blessing applies to us, “who have not seen and yet have come to believe,” then it also applies to those who have not believed, and yet have come anyway.

Blessed are those who keep showing up, even though they’re not sure about what they believe.

When those who stand outside traditional faith choose to do the right thing, they do it for its own sake, not in hope of eternal reward or fear of eternal punishment. They do what’s right out of the goodness of their hearts and we Christians could learn a thing or two from that.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Blessed are those who have not believed and yet have kept showing up anyway.

Kindred in Christ, there are no second class citizens in the kingdom of heaven. The blessing is bigger than we think. The Holy Spirit is already at work in the lives of those who don’t even have words for it.

So then, the message for us in today’s gospel is actually very simple:
Go easy on Thomas.
Go easy on yourself.
And go easy on each other.

Faith is not a finish line;
it’s a process.
And sometimes that process looks like asking a lot of tough questions.

Sometimes it looks like showing up week after week, not because you have it all figured out, but because something in you has a hunch that something here is worth holding onto, even if you can’t yet identify what that “something” is.

And the good news is this:
Wherever you are in that journey of faith and doubt, Jesus shows up.
Behind the locked doors of fear and doubt.
In the middle of our questions and uncertainties.

And the words that he speaks are not words of judgment, but of peace.

“Peace be with you,” he says.

So, don’t be afraid of being called a “doubting Thomas.”

Keep asking those tough questions.
Keep showing up.

Because it turns out…
that’s exactly where the blessing is.