Somehow, the disciple Thomas follows me wherever I go. Emmanuel, Spirit of Joy and for this sermon, Pilgrim. I was supposed to preach my final Ministry In Context field placement sermon at Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School in Chicago on Good Shepherd Sunday, Easter 4A. But since a guest preacher wanted that text the Sunday after Easter, we flipped and picked up Thomas on Easter 4.
Slide 1 (Title slide)
What DO you believe in?
What do you believe in so completely that it would be difficult if not impossible to shake it? What events, principles and institutions do you trust so thoroughly that you would stake your life on them?
After the past few years, I think that list has dwindled for many of us. We’ve struggled to keep our faith in things we once considered trustworthy beyond question:
- After nearly 7 million people died from Covid-19, many of us no longer trust institutions like the Centers for Disease Control, or even trust our neighbors to do what is necessary to keep us safe during a deadly pandemic.
- After so many mass shootings in this country, with no end in sight, we don’t trust that our elected officials are acting in our best interests.
- With most scientific minds in agreement that we’re going to need to change the way we behave to have a livable planet, we don’t trust that our children and grandchildren will have the same opportunities and a better life than we had.
- With our media pandering to the left and to the right, we don’t trust that our news reports represent the truth.
That’s my short list. I imagine you have a list like this, too.
So I ask again, what DO you believe in?
Today’s gospel asks us to ponder that question. We find ourselves with Jesus’ closest followers: on Easter night, most of them were gathered in Jerusalem. It is three days after Jesus, their teacher was crucified. A few women said they saw Jesus early this morning, and he said he was going on to meet the disciples in Galilee; Peter had gone into the tomb and he reports seeing the discarded grave cloths. Cleopas and another follower just ran back all the way from Emmaus where they believe they met Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
Mind you, these are folks who are still on edge – their fears are very real. It the Romans could crucify Jesus for riling up the city, what will they do if these disciples start spreading the news that this Jesus rose from the dead? No doubt, their conversations center on what they believe, and what will they do with their beliefs.
Slide 2
Suddenly, Jesus is standing there with them.
This group of disciples saw the risen Christ – saw him, heard him, felt his presence among them. They had no doubt Christ had risen, risen as he said he would. What a celebration that must have been!
Somehow, though, Thomas missed out. Our text doesn’t tell us where Thomas was, just that he wasn’t with the other 10. If we remember our last words with Thomas, he was the one that convinced the disciples to leave the Jordan for Bethany and Jerusalem, even if it meant dying with Jesus. So, some people have suggested Thomas was out looking for his Lord. Just the kinda guy Thomas was. Whatever the explanation for his absence, Thomas missed it. The Celebration. The Rejoicing. The Big Reveal.
So, I think Thomas gets a terribly bad rap from gospel writer John, who tells us that Thomas insisted on seeing Jesus’ wounds before he would believe. That and Jesus’ response have given Thomas a dreadful nickname through the church’s history: Doubting Thomas. Completely unwarranted in my book. Wouldn’t you want to know for sure if you were among the disciples? The others saw Jesus, touched his wounds. Why would we expect anything different from Thomas?
Slide 3
So, a week later, Thomas is with them. And Jesus joins them again. And you hear something from Thomas that is missing from the week before – a testimony: Thomas recognizes Jesus, sees his wounds and exclaims: “My Lord and My God!” No holding back. No uncertainty. No doubts. A declaration of faith in five words: “My Lord and My God.” No one else had that kind of immediate, profound response. So I’ve always preferred to call Thomas “Faithful Thomas.” “Believing Thomas.” “Trusting Thomas.”
So where does that leave us, nearly two millennia after the Resurrection? The ones who saw the empty tomb and the Risen Savior have been long gone since the early second century. We can’t talk to anyone who knew Jesus, much less reach out and touch Jesus’ hands and feet and side. Twenty generations have passed between us and those who saw the resurrected Jesus.
Perhaps it was not Thomas, but disciples like us that Jesus was addressing when he said “Blessed are those who have not seen but yet have come to believe.”
Blessed are we, who come together, week after week, to worship the Risen Christ that we confess, though we have never seen him…
…Or have we? Have we never seen Jesus?
Perhaps none of us were there that night, but, for one, I know I’ve seen Jesus. I’ve had the privilege of serving the past eight months at Pilgrim, working alongside you, sharing conversations and building relationships. And while I’ve been here, I’ve seen Jesus. I have. I’d like to tell you where that’s happened:
- I’ve seen Jesus in people who week after week gather to prepare hot meals for people who are hungry, not only for food, but also for a kind word, a place to belong. I know I’ve seen Jesus at Hot Meals.
- I’ve seen Jesus in people who care deeply about worship – people who practice and lead music, who bake bread and prepare communion. I’ve seen Jesus in our young people who faithfully show up to carry the cross and serve as acolytes. I’ve seen Jesus in multimedia technicians who work behind the scenes to carry our worship to those who cannot get to this place. I’ve seen Jesus in our worship.
- I’ve seen Jesus in people who make sure people who have mobility challenges get to worship and are taken Holy Communion in their homes and hospital beds. I’ve seen Jesus in the way that you care for the least, the longing, the lonely. I’ve seen Jesus among the Care Team.
- I’ve seen Jesus in our staff: in our pastor who is sometimes sending emails after midnight and with his family have opened their home to people, teaching hospitality without preaching a word. I see Jesus in the diligence of each of our staff: the mix of seriousness and joy in their work. I see Jesus in two interim school administrators who stepped up when they were needed, and in every teacher who puts in a full day here, then goes home and grades papers and creates projects and participates in fund-raising and service projects. Pilgrim staff – I’ve seen Jesus in you.
I could do this all day but indulge me just one more sighting: I’ve seen Jesus on Zoom. Yes, Jesus on Zoom! I’ve seen Jesus in a group who assembles every single Saturday morning to pray for the ministries of this congregation, for our kids, Pilgrim School, people who are sick or in need, for the needs of the community, the nation and the world. I have never experienced anything like it, and if you’ve never logged on, you should make time some Saturday morning at 8:30. Prayer team – I’ve seen Jesus in you.
I suspect that there have been a few Jesus sightings among you as well. Places where the Risen Christ is present for you. Here, in the body of Christ, gathered to worship, to serve, to build relationships. We occasionally hear “Jesus sightings” in Mission Moments and Testimonies. Perhaps “Jesus sightings” need to be a regular part of our life together as Easter People.
That’s because I am convinced that the way that our Christian faith is sustained in this age, this time in which our faith in so many other things is shaken, is through our relationships with others. Other Christ-followers who have seen the risen Christ. And those who need to hear about those Jesus sightings to grow and sustain their faith. We feed each other every time we gather, at the Lord’s table and around the fellowship table. At our Bible studies and at choir practice. At church council and at the quilting group. This is why we can’t do our Christian faith alone To become Jesus’ disciples, we need one another.
Slide 4
Pastor Kyle Childress explained it this way:
"Sometimes we have to keep at it in order to get it. We keep talking, keep showing up in worship, keep praying, keep singing hymns, keep forgiving and receiving forgiveness, keep feeding the hungry and giving a cup of cool water in his name, keep practicing the Way of Jesus and we too will see the Risen Jesus. By our continuing dialogue with Jesus, we are trained and taught by him in how to see him. It is as if the scales slowly fall from our eyes, and one day we look up and we recognize the Risen Christ in ways and places we never had before. He was in front of our noses the whole time. "
Final Slide (Title Slide Again)
Pilgrim, my time with you is growing short. So just a few more thoughts for you:
Keep loving each other and loving the world. Keep worshiping together and welcoming everyone, including those the world struggles to include. Keep doing life together, even when it’s challenging. Keep forgiving one another, because we are all broken and in need of grace. And while we keep walking the Way of Jesus, day by day, moment by moment, look around. Look around and see the Risen Christ in this place, and in each other.
Amen.
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