John 20:19-31
April 7, 2024
I know that I have recently mentioned
the weekly lectionary group I attend. The group has become a source of
inspiration and friendship for me over these past few years. And last week
provided another moment of inspiration. We all commented how the passage today
from John’s gospel is one that we’ve preached many, many, many, many
times before, and when you’ve preached a passage this often it can be a
challenge to come up with a new angle. As we were discussing the different
aspects of this story about the disciple Thomas, one member of the group said
something like, “Yep, Thomas definitely has a case of FOMO – fear of missing
out.” Hence, the title of my sermon today is F.O.M.O. – Fear of Missing Out.
At first glance, it’s not difficult
to believe that Thomas is suffering from a case of FOMO. Our story begins on
the evening of the resurrection, for us that would have been last Sunday night.
The disciples, minus Thomas, were hiding together in a locked house, fearful
that the religious authorities might show up at their door. They had heard the
story that Mary Magdalene had told them about talking to a man she thought was
the gardener, only to discover that it was their Rabbi, their Teacher, their
Jesus risen from the dead. Peter and the other disciple had gone to the tomb
when Mary first told them that the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was
empty. But Mary’s story about later seeing the risen lord had not alleviated
their fear. Whatever they believed or didn’t believe, they were still afraid,
hiding, and waiting – for what they were waiting they may not have known.
But to their wonder and amazement,
the risen Jesus came and stood among them. Even though all the doors were
securely locked, Jesus was suddenly standing in their midst. He said, “Peace be
with you,” and then he showed them his hands and his side – the places where
the nails and the guard’s spear had pierced his flesh. The disciples rejoiced.
Jesus said once more, “Peace be with you.” Then, “As the Father has sent me, so
I send you.” He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any,
they are retained.”
Jesus, resurrected and risen, shows
up in their midst. He offers them peace, he shows them where he had been
wounded, and he breathes on them the Holy Spirit – John’s Pentecost. And while
all of this is happening, Thomas isn’t there. We don’t know where Thomas was.
Maybe Thomas was the one who slipped out to the marketplace to buy some food
and other provisions. Maybe Thomas ran back to his own home to check on his
family. Maybe he was just walking around, getting some fresh air. We don’t know
what he was doing, but we do know he was not with the others. He rejoins them
after Jesus has left, after Jesus has breathed the Holy Spirit on them, after
Jesus has shown them the marks on his hands and side, after Jesus has offered
them his peace. Thomas comes in after all this has happened, and he is greeted
with the words, “We have seen the Lord!”
One commentator wrote that the first
time he went to New York City with a group of friends, he left the group for
just a minute because he wanted to get a hot dog from a street vendor. When he
returned to his group, the others told him they had just met the actor Will
Ferrell and had their picture taken with him! He couldn’t believe it! He was
gone for just a few minutes, and in that short span of time they met Will
Ferrell! Did he really need that hot dog?
If this commentator’s disappointment
was fierce over missing out on meeting Will Ferrell, how much worse would
Thomas’s disappointment and sorrow have been over not seeing Jesus as the
others had. Although John does not add the conversation to the text, I think
its fair to assume that they filled Thomas in on all that Jesus said and did
when he was with them. And when Thomas hears about this, he responds,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails
in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his
side, I will not believe.”
And this is the moment when Thomas
receives the moniker that will stay with him for centuries. In this moment he
goes from being Thomas to Doubting Thomas. It seems like this is the only way I
have ever known Thomas. He wasn’t just Thomas, he was Doubting Thomas, and you
did not want to be a Doubting Thomas.
But did Thomas really doubt? I will
say this every time I preach on this passage, traditional interpretations have
given Thomas a bad rap. Was Thomas really doubtful or did he only want to
experience what the other disciples experienced? Was this about doubt or was it
that the other disciples experienced the risen Christ in an unexpected way and
Thomas felt that he had missed out? Was this doubt or was this F.O.M.O.?
I
don’t believe that Thomas was doubting as much as he was disappointed that he
had missed this incredible experience, that he had missed this visible sign of
belief. And he puts that disappointment into words.
“Unless
I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the
nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
So
a week later Jesus comes again to the disciples, to Thomas. He gives Thomas
what he asked for. He gives Thomas permission to touch him, touch his hands and
his side. See firsthand the proof of the resurrection. Thomas says, “show me.”
And Jesus says, “here I am.”
Because of this, Thomas is seen as the
cynical, skeptical doubter. But I still think that this text is not so much
about doubt as it is about faith. Most of the translations of the Bible we have
at our disposal, including the NRSV, the one I use, translate Jesus as saying,
“doubt.” Do not doubt. But the Greek word for doubt is not used in this story
at all. The more literal translation for the verb apistos is “unbelieving.” Jesus tells Thomas, “Do not be
unbelieving, but believing.”
Do not be unbelieving but
believing.
Do not be unbelieving but believing.
Go from being without faith to having faith. Not having faith isn’t the same as
being cynical about faith, is it? It’s
not quite the same thing as doubt. Unbelief and belief are opposites, but doubt
and faith are really two sides of the same coin.
Thomas asked for what he needed to
believe. Thomas asked for the same experience of Jesus that the others had, and
Jesus offered to Thomas exactly what he asked for. Jesus offered himself as
motivation, as a sign for Thomas to believe, to have faith, to go from
unbelieving to believing.
When Jesus offers himself as proof
and motivation for faith, Thomas utters one of the most profound confessions of
faith in the gospel. “My Lord and my God.” Thomas is not exclaiming here. He is
confessing his faith. My Lord and my God.
When we examine the interaction
between Jesus and Thomas in this light, then the next words of Jesus sound
different as well.
“Have
you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have come to believe.”
Is Jesus trying to shame or scold
Thomas? That’s what many of us have been
taught. Or was Jesus confirming what had just happened? And in his
confirmation, he opened the door to faith for generations of believers yet to
come. This is one of those moments in the scriptural witness when we can see
ourselves firmly in the story. It’s as if Jesus isn’t just speaking to the
disciples, to those standing next to him, he’s speaking to us.
It
seems to me that Thomas wants the same experience as the others. He wants to
see and touch Jesus. He wants to experience this risen Jesus just as the other
disciples have. “Hey, I missed out on your experience of him, so now I want one
of my own. I need one of my own.” Thomas needed his own experience of Jesus to
believe, and Jesus offered him that experience. And isn’t that where faith
springs from? From our experience with the risen Christ. From our encounters
with Jesus even when we didn’t know we were encountering him.
I
will admit to anyone that when it comes to my faith, it walks hand-in-hand with
my doubt. It’s hard not to look at the state of the world and not experience
doubt. But even as I doubt, I still believe. And while theology and liturgy and
confessions help me and teach me, my faith has been strengthened in those
moments when I have experienced the risen Christ. It is in those times when I
have made my own confession of “My Lord and my God.”
When
I was in my early twenties and new to the Presbyterian church, I found out that
a beloved high school friend had committed suicide. I was living in another
state, away from my parents’ home, and my mother called to tell me about it
when I was at work. She was worried about me being alone when I heard, and she
knew that at work other people would be there with me. I was distraught and I
called the church office. The associate pastor that I knew somewhat well was
not in, but the head of staff was. The church I was attending was fairly large
and I know now just how busy this pastor must have been. But he dropped
everything and met me at a restaurant for a cup of coffee. And then he just listened.
He listened to my grief and my confusion. He didn’t pretend to have answers and
he didn’t offer me platitudes. But the one thing he told me was that God was
grieving too. God was grieving and holding my dear friend closely in his loving
arms. Those words opened my eyes and my heart in a new way. I experienced the risen
Christ in a way that I had not before. I went from unbelief to believing. I
experienced the risen Christ. Jesus made sure I saw the marks on his hands and
his side too.
Thomas
wanted to experience what the others experienced. And Jesus made sure that
happened. Jesus wants that for us as well. Don’t fear that you will miss out.
Look for him and he will be there.
Let
all of God’s children say, “Alleluia!”
Amen.
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