A Sure Thing

Reverend Philip Stringer

John 20:19-31

LET US PRAY: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Speak to us now with your Holy Spirit -- through our worship -- through this meal -- and through this sermon -- that we may be filled with your endless love, now and forever. AMEN

Patty and I met in June, 1984 at a church camp where we were both working. I’d like to tell you that it was a romantic event -- that I was smitten at first sight . . . but I was actually a little slow . . . That summer, I decided to “date” someone I already knew. Someone whom I had actually dated a few years earlier, but then she dumped me for her old boyfriend from High School. She eventually saw the error of her ways and came crawling back that summer.

Actually, I knew that we weren’t a good match -- we had very little in common, but we were friends -- and I wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, so when it came down to choosing between the new girl, and the old -- I just stayed with what I knew.

It wasn’t until later -- late fall -- then Christmas break when I saw Patty again -- that I suddenly began to see, “Hey, there’s something special here. Not just her -- but between us. We fit together.”

She’ll tell you she saw it all along (who can blame her) -- but sometimes, it can take a while. She was there all along, but I didn’t see it.

Do you know a sure thing when you see it? How about when you don’t see it?

That is a question being asked in our gospel lesson for today: Do you know a sure thing when you see it -- or hear it?

Jesus has something very direct to say to us. He says: “I’m a sure thing.”

Thomas, as you know, wasn't with the others when Jesus first appeared to them. I think that Thomas has been treated unfairly by history. He has popularly been scolded as "Doubting Thomas,” suggesting that he should be ashamed of not accepting outright the accounts of Jesus' resurrection. But who can honestly blame him? -- His experience with Jesus had ended at the cross. No one else believed until they saw, so why should he be any different?

Furthermore, we need to remember that Thomas loved Jesus. He had left everything to follow him. During Jesus' ministry, when all of the other disciples were afraid to follow Jesus to Bethany, Thomas is the one who said, "we might as well go with him so that we can at least die with him there." Thomas would rather have died with Jesus than to live without him . . . but now that was exactly what he was facing. The death of Jesus was an agony to all of them, to be sure. But it was also a fact — a sure thing — and today's passage shows us that Thomas was willing to accept that reality.

The truth is that NONE of the disciples believed that Jesus had been raised until they saw him. But poor Thomas -- because he wasn’t with the others when they saw it, we call him “Doubting Thomas.”

It is unfortunate that this simplistic view of Thomas is so often seen as all he has to offer us. — Because if we look carefully at the text, we will see that there are indeed, some very good things we can learn from him. And if we watch what Jesus does, we can see a better way of looking at both ourselves AND Thomas.

Maybe it wasn’t as simple as not believing. Maybe Thomas did believe that something was going on -- after all, the others had obviously had SOME sort of experience. Maybe it was in their heads, maybe it was a ghost or some other supernatural impostor playing tricks.

Maybe Thomas was not so much “doubtful” as he was “cautious.” Perhaps he was basing his decisions on what he knew for sure -- the sure things.

Maybe what he was really thinking was, “The Jesus I know was crucified. Whoever it is you’ve seen -- if he isn’t carrying the marks of crucifixion, then he’s not the Jesus I know. I want the real Jesus.”

If that’s what Thomas was thinking, then he has something important to say to you and me today. Do we try to “sterilize” the image of Jesus to fit comfortably into our lives?

How about a Jesus who isn’t crucified -- wouldn’t that be convenient? We could follow the example of the savior who avoids sacrifice and pain. We would have the glorious promises of Jesus and all the blessings -- without having to face the reality of our sin -- of how it pains God -- of how it divides us from one another and brings suffering to the world. We could ignore the call of Jesus to turn from sin, and his call to enter into the suffering of others. When we think of Jesus in glory without remembering his sacrifice for us -- or that he calls us to live as servants, too -- we sometimes refer to that as “cheap grace.”

If Thomas was remembering that the marks of Jesus’ crucifixion were evidence of the real Jesus -- then he’s got an important message for us.

Thomas and the others loved Jesus, and he loved them. They had had a real relationship. They lived together for three years -- ate together, traveled together -- stayed in the homes of each others’ families.

Jesus knew who Thomas was. So, I am quite certain that Thomas and the others grieved as we all do -- thinking, “I want my friend, Jesus, back. And my friend Jesus died because he loved me. So, if this Jesus you say you’ve seen doesn’t have the marks, then he’s not the Jesus who is my friend. He’s not the Jesus who loves me.”

You and I should stand with Thomas in this regard. A Jesus without the marks of Crucifixion, is not the Jesus who loves us.

We will never really know what was in the heart of Thomas that day. But it is clear that history and the church have been hard on Thomas because of this passage. What I find interesting is who it is who is NOT hard on him. Jesus. The one person who could say, “shame on you, Thomas,” but instead, treats him with great gentleness.

Instead of thinking about this passage as a chastisement of those of us who waiver in our faith (which is all of us, after all) -- why don’t we look at it instead from the perspective of Jesus’ response.

Thomas has a need. He is being asked to believe the ridiculous. The crucifixion is “a sure thing” in his experience -- he has seen it with his own eyes. Nails in his hands and feet — a spear in his side. A sure thing is that Jesus is dead. And now he is being asked to believe that he isn’t dead anymore. He has proof that Jesus is dead. So, if they want him to believe otherwise, he will need proof that he is alive.

“Unless I feel the imprint of the nails with my own hands, and unless I put my hand in his side, I will not believe it.” Thomas needs proof. And instead of shaming Thomas for this need -- Jesus comes to him and meets him where he is. He subjects himself to the demands of Thomas. If you think about that for a moment, you’ve got to admit, that’s pretty wonderful. It’s as if he says, “Here are my hands, Thomas. Here is my side. Touch them and believe.”

“You need to touch? O.K. Touch” he tells him. But he also adds, “Thomas, I tell you a truth: People who live by faith are happier than people who live by proof.”

If we base our lives on only those things we can grab hold of as “a sure thing,” then much of the meaning of life will escape us. There are good things we cannot lay hands on -- powerful things which we cannot prove.

What sure things are you building your life upon? And how sure are they? On that day in an upper room, Jesus invited Thomas to decide that something he couldn’t touch is the greatest of all sure things: love.

The question that day before Thomas and the others was simply this: Do you believe in the power of love? Specifically, do you believe in the power of God’s love for you?

When Jesus comes to Thomas where he is, and meets Thomas’ demands, Jesus is saying to him, “Believe in me. Believe in my love for you.”

When he comes to us, he says the same thing. In the waters of our baptism; in the bread and wine of Communion — Jesus meets us where we are and invites us, “Believe in me. Believe in my love for you.”

Thomas came to see that the risen Jesus is a sure thing. And not only Jesus, but all that is connected to him:

God’s love is a sure thing.

God’s power is a sure thing.

God’s will and God’s way of life is a sure thing. His way of life that is peace and unity and harmony through the power of love -- it’s a sure thing.

Is it sure to result in a life of comfort and ease? Probably not. But choosing to live with faith in these things of God will SURELY give peace and fullness of life.

“Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.”

Do you know a sure thing when you see it? There are any number of things that you might lay hold of as sure things -- tangible, touchable realities in your own experience. But remember the one sure thing that lies beneath and beyond all other realities is this: Jesus loves you and lives for you -- and to be shaped by this truth, is to be blessed, indeed.

“It’s a sure thing.”

AMEN