On Doubt, Fear and Recognizing Resurrection

Second Sunday of Easter: 2020

"The great Easter truth

is not that we will be born again someday --
but that we are to be alive here and now
by the power of the resurrection.”

This verse came to me on an Easter card --
so long ago that I don't remember either the who or the when --
but every year it reminds me
that Easter is not just an ancient story
but a present reality.

And every year it reminds me that “here and now”
is sometimes easier said than done ...
teaches me once again
that celebrating the resurrection
is sometimes a whole lot easier

than figuring out how to recognize it.

And that has perhaps never been more true

than in this year of unprecedented challenges
in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic.

So if you're struggling with that this morning --
as I know I am --
I hope you'll take heart -- as I do --  
that we’re in good company.

Notice that throughout these Fifty Days of Easter
we will hear the stories of those who actually
had the direct experience of the Risen Lord –
and still struggled to figure out this resurrection thing.

There were the women at the tomb –

who seemed to had an attack of collective amnesia
about Jesus telling them he would rise after three days.
It took the angels to remind them of that rather important detail.

And then when they ran back to tell the disciples;

who Luke tells us “dismissed it as an idle tale.”

(There's a whole 'nother sermon in that ... but not for today.)

There was Mary in the garden

mistaking the risen Jesus for the gardener.

And then there is this morning’s Gospel

where Jesus appears to the disciples:
who John tells us “were huddling in fear behind locked doors.”

Nevertheless, Jesus appeared and “breathed on them.”

Except for Thomas,

who is stuck with going down in history as “Doubting Thomas”

for his refusal to accept the testimony of others,
for his demand of his own experience of the risen Lord.

What took him away from the community that day?

Why was he out of the room?
Had they drawn lots for someone to run out for food?

We’ll never know -- but there are plenty of possibilities.

Imagine, missing one Sunday, and coming back to hear

“Guess who showed up while you were gone?”

Would you believe it?

It’s always seemed a bit unfair to me

how quick we are to make Thomas
the poster child for faithless doubt when –
truth be told -- the rest of the bunch
weren’t exactly stepping up.

What strikes me about this story every single year

is that Thomas came back at all.

Whatever had taken him away from the community,
he came back.

And it was in the community that Jesus came to him,
and -- without so much as a confession or absolution --
went straight to Thomas – with hands outstretched –
knowing what Thomas needed to believe and giving it to him, saying:
“Here ... check it out. Is this what you need? Touch, me Thomas.”

One of Thomas’ great virtues

was that he absolutely refused
to say that he understood what he did not understand,
or that he believed what he did not believe.

There was an uncompromising honesty about him:
he would never still his doubts by pretending they did not exist.

Thomas had doubts,

but he refused to surrender to the fear
which kept the disciples shut up in that locked room.

He both ventured out

and then had the courage to return:
to face a community which had had an experience he did not share
and to be willing to insist on his own experience of God.

And so for me, Thomas becomes a symbol not of faithless doubt,

but of courage.

Courage to trust

that there are no doubts so profound that God cannot answer --
to believe that Jesus cares enough to show up a second time ...
a third time ... an umpteenth time ...
to breathe that breath of life on Thomas – and on us ...
to give us what we need not only to believe

but the courage to act on what we believe.

I truly believe that it was Thomas' willingness to doubt
that led him to an even deeper faith:
a faith that was his own and not somebody else's.

In words I have often quoted before,

Verna Dozier famously wrote:

Doubt is not the opposite of faith: fear is. Fear will not risk that even if I am wrong, I will trust that if I move today by the light that is given me, knowing it is only finite and partial, I will know more and different things tomorrow than I know today, and I can be open to the new possibility I cannot even imagine today.

Thomas' example calls us to risk the doubts that call us to greater faith --

that open us to the things we cannot even image today --

that equip us to recognize resurrection

as we move forward into God's future.

And I cannot imagine a time when the gift of being open to new possibilities is more crucial than it is right now.

·       New possibilities of cooperation between public and private sectors in creating safety nets for the most vulnerable among us;

·       New possibilities for worship and community building on virtual platforms as we re-imagine what it means to "be church" in the world;

·       New possibilities for dismantling the polarization and division that have infected our civic discourse;

·       New possibilities for changes to our economic system that continues to build more wealth for the few and perpetuates debt and poverty for the many;

·       New possibilities for reversing the damage we have done to this fragile Earth, our island home;

·       New possibilities for healthcare equally available to all and for ending the affordable housing crisis;

·       New possibilities to finally become a nation where “liberty and justice for ALL” is not just a pledge we make but a reality we live.

The story of Thomas

speaks with particular power to generations of Christians

like us

who inherit the stories of the risen Lord,

but who must -- at some point --

insist on their own experience of Christ

as we continue to make the great Easter truth

not just an ancient story

but a present reality.

Continue to strive to be alive -- here and now -- by the power of the resurrection.

Continue to have the courage to ask for what Thomas asked for --
and to trust that just as Jesus met Thomas where he was

and gave him what he needed to believe

He will do the same for us when we need Him to.

What we celebrate

as we journey into the fifty days of this Easter season

is the awesome privilege and responsibility

of being the church in the world:

being Jesus on earth:

being the place

where those who come seeking the risen Christ,

doubts and all,

not only seek but find

that breath of new life that God offers all creation.

Listen to Jesus say today:

See me.

Touch me.

Ask for what you need in order to believe

and I will give it to you.

And then,

give thanks that Easter is not just a Sunday but a season
and that we have 50 days ahead of us
to celebrate the great Easter truth

... not that we are going to live newly after death,

but that we are to be new here and now

by the power of the resurrection.

Alleluia, Alleluia. Amen.

[Preached via Zoom on Sunday, April 19 for the 11:15 service; All Saints Church, Pasadena]