Today's Sermon

 

“Doubt and Blessing"

 

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “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.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “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.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

This scripture passage is often referred to as the “Doubting Thomas” story. So much focus is given to that one moment when Thomas has a hard time believing the disciples about their post-resurrection encounter with Jesus. Often, his doubt is seen as a bad or a negative thing and his story is told as a sort of cautionary tale. I once heard a pastor describe it like this – “Thomas doubted. Doubting is bad. Don’t be like Thomas.” However, I think that is a gross mis-representation of both doubting and Thomas. This morning, I invite us to wonder and imagine together about Thomas and his doubts.

“Anything But Doubting” Thomas
By Rev. Chris Halverson

I can already hear your snickering. Yeah, especially you there in the back. I can hear you whispering “Look, the doubter. Look, it’s Doubting Thomas.”

It’s really not fair. You don’t name any of the other disciples that way. You don’t say “Look, Abandoning Peter.” You don’t even say “Look, Betraying Judas.”

Why can’t you call me “Twin Thomas”? That’s what the gospels call me. Or you could even call me “Brave Thomas.” After all, after Lazarus died, when all the other disciples were whining: “Oh, if we go back to Judea we’ll get stoned to death… poor us.” I said, “Well, then we’ll go to Judea and die with him.”

But noooo… I’m stuck with that name. I’m stuck as Doubting Thomas.

Doubting Thomas. All because of that one incident. Jesus had died for crying out loud! We’d all seen it. Our Lord, hung out there like a criminal.

And then, later, Mary told us he’d risen from the dead. We didn’t believe her. None of us, not one! We ALL doubted her. That’s why the other disciples locked themselves in the upper room. Yet I get the bad wrap as “Doubting Thomas.”

My point is this, we all doubted. At least I went outside. I wasn’t afraid to die. I didn’t lock myself in that room out of fear. I figured if they killed me for knowing Jesus, then so be it. (sigh) Yet, I’m the doubter.

I wasn’t in the room the first time, so I missed out. The next time I saw the other disciples, they were…changed. They told me about how Jesus breathed on them, how that changed everything for them.

That seemed kind of strange to me, honestly… being breathed on by a dead guy. Think of the halitosis! But I couldn’t knock it. It gave them peace. It changed them from frightened fishermen hiding out, to bold preachers front and center.

I was jealous of that. In fact, maybe that would be a better name for me - “Jealous Thomas.” I’d agree to that one. I was jealous of their new status - their new boldness. I mean, I was the bold one, after all. But not after seeing them.

I just couldn’t believe them. I couldn’t believe they’d seen Jesus. I couldn’t believe the transformation that had overcome them. I couldn’t believe … well, if I’m really honest… I couldn’t believe I’d missed it! I missed Jesus coming back. I missed this peace they all felt. I felt left out.

It didn’t help that they were so excited about that forgiving and retaining sins thing. In fact, they tried it out on me. I think they meant well, but it felt like they thought doubt was a sin. Do you know what it feels like to have your brothers and sisters whisper, and even say aloud, that you are a sinner because you doubt? A sinner because you weren’t there in that room. A sinner because you missed out. A sinner because they were all certain… and your uncertainty makes them uncomfortable.

And because of all that I blew up - I said something I didn’t really mean. I said I would only believe if I squished my fingers around in his wounds. Pretty gross if you stop and think about it. But I was in mourning. While everyone else had experienced resurrection, I was still in despair. Despairing Thomas.

Somehow, I toughed it out. I came back. Despite it all, I showed up in that room, with them, the next week. There, a voice came from behind me, and said: “Peace be with you.” And then Jesus took that gross challenge I’d thrown at my brothers, the challenge of “poking my fingers in his wounds,” and made it a redeemable moment. He made it a place from which I could believe. A place beyond my despair. And I shouted out, “My Lord and my God.”

Most people think what Jesus said to me next was a rebuke. That Jesus, too, called me a sinner for not being with the other disciples and for being a “Doubting Thomas.” But it wasn’t a rebuke. He just asked me a rhetorical question, “Have you believed because you have seen?”

Then he looked past me, through that room, and out into eternity. To future generations… to all of you…and blessed them, saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” It wasn’t a rebuke; it was a blessing.

Jesus was promising them, and promising you, his love and faithfulness, his resurrection, his peace, his forgiveness. It wasn’t about me or my doubting, but about his blessing that conquered the grave, conquered our despair and division, and continues to bring life to this day - to this very moment.

I may be “Doubting Thomas,” but we all are “Blessed Disciples” and “Blessed Children of God!” 

Often, when we are in a place of doubt in our faith journeys, it is seen as a weakness. If only your faith was stronger, you wouldn’t doubt! But, Thomas was anything but weak! He was the only disciple willing to go outside of that locked room. Willing to take the risk to be in public when things were so uncertain following Jesus’ death and resurrection. Have you ever wondered what in the heck he was doing when he wasn’t with the other disciples? Perhaps running an important errand that no one else would do? Picking up some groceries? Taking a message to a family member? Who knows! But it was Thomas who ventured out.

Then, even though he was struggling with this news from the disciples about the risen Jesus, he continued to be with them. He continued to show up even though he was now the outsider in the group. He continued to be in relationship even though he didn’t have or understand their new-found peace.

Yes, Thomas doubted, but his doubt came not from a place of weakness, but from a place of curiosity – of wanting to know more and understand more. He wanted to see Jesus for himself … and wouldn’t we all! Rather than being a burden to our faith, our doubts are an integral part of our faith. They are what keep us learning and growing. They are what keeps us asking questions and yearning to know more. And, just as Jesus met Thomas right where he was, in the midst of his doubts, so he does with each one of us, breathing his peace upon us.

Though Thomas gets a lot of attention in this story – that is one moment I do not want us to overlook. When Jesus appears to his disciples, the very first thing he says is, “Peace be with you.” Then, just in case they didn’t hear or understand it, he says it again, “Peace be with you.” Of all the things he could have said to the disciples upon seeing them following his resurrection, his message was peace. I’m sure they were all doubting the events that had just taken place – full of questions and anxiety and fear – and Jesus appears to them with a message of peace.

Fast forward to the year 2026 and many of us are full of questions and anxiety and fear. And Jesus’ post-Easter message to us remains the same – “Peace be with you.” That message does not erase our troubles, but hopefully it makes them more bearable. It reminds us that we do not walk the road alone. God’s peace surrounds us, uplifts us, comforts us, energizes us.

Back in 2020, I also preached the Sunday after Easter on this same scripture passage. We were about a month into the Covid lock-down at that point, and – imagine this – we were filled with questions, anxiety, and fear. Seems to be a pretty consistent part of the human experience. In that sermon, I introduced a practice that I want to remind you about … just in case you weren’t glued to your screens when that worship video came out six years ago. The practice was created by the Rev. Molly Baskette, a pastor who just recently retired from a church in Berkeley. She calls it “Dancitation.” It is a combination of meditation and dance. It begins with a breath meditation – breathing in God’s peace. Feeling the Spirit filling your body with each breath. We are going to hear much more about the importance of breath and Spirit next week.

Then, we dance. Dance was an important part of Baskette’s ministry. In fact, her retirement party last month was a dance party! She advocates for dance as a spiritual practice not because she is a trained dancer, but because it gets our whole body involved. Just think about the physical differences – how it feels in our bodies – to cower in a locked room verses turning on some music and seeing how the spirit moves through you.

Why do we dance? We dance because we are Easter people. We dance because we celebrate the promise of resurrection. We dance because God’s love is stronger than any fear or hate. We dance because in the face of oppression, sharing God’s joy is an act of resistance. We dance because the world is really hard right now and we need moments of levity to sustain us as we work for justice and for peace. We dance because even when we doubt – perhaps especially when we doubt – we are blessed children of God.

Don’t worry, I won’t make you dance right now. In 2020, we were all in our own homes, so we really could dance like no one was watching. But, I do hope you will dance at some point this week. And the week after that. And the week after that. To inspire you just a bit, I want to show you just a brief clip from that 2020 Sunday after Easter worship video. Yes, in the middle of the sermon, Ben and I danced.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder.
You get your fill to eat, but always keep that hunger.
I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance.
Never settle for the path of least resistance.
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance.
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance. [i]

[i] “I Hope You Dance,” By Lee Ann Womack