2 Easter, Year A

“OUT OF STRUGGLE COMES GREAT BLESSING”
Acts 2: 14a, 22 – 32; Psalm 118: 19 – 24; I Peter 1: 3 – 9; John 20: 19 – 31
A homily by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, March 30th, 2008

Does the thought ever occur that some of the most beautiful and comforting words ever recorded in the Bible were said as a direct result of someone’s personal struggle and doubt?

Here are those beautiful words to which I refer: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.” (John 20: 29, Jesus, speaking to Thomas.)

And here is the doubt and struggle to which I refer: Thomas says, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”[1]

It may well be that we expect too many quick and instantaneous answers to our doubts and struggles, as we come to the place where Doubting Thomas did, to belief in Jesus Christ, and particularly, in the reality and power of His resurrection.

It doesn’t help that we live in a society where quick, easy and facile answers are the expectation….After all, we can simply push a button, and we have instant results, instant answers to our questions and problems, in many cases. Is it not true?

But the walk of faith isn’t that way. It isn’t in the age in which we live, and it wasn’t in the time when Our Lord walked this earth and ate, drank and walked with His disciples.

Consider how long and awkward that week was between the first Easter Sunday when Jesus appeared to His disciples who were locked away in that upper room, and the appearance we read about today….In between, Thomas made his famous pronouncement: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Now John does not narrate the time that elapsed between the uttering of Thomas’ words and Jesus’ appearance, but that time that passed must have been awkward! It must have seemed like an eternity, with the 10 who had witnessed Jesus’ resurrection firsthand trying to understand why Thomas couldn’t accept their witness. And Thomas must have felt like the “odd man out”, the only one who couldn’t believe and who hadn’t “seen the Lord”.

In this situation, there were no easy or quick answers.

Thomas and the other 10 disciples had to live this one out, until the Lord would step in to meet Thomas’ needs in the way that would move Thomas from unbelief to firm belief.

Thomas’ situation is like our situation, oftentimes….We demand proof of the spiritual realities that would allow us to put our feet forward in faith to come to belief.

And we struggle as we seek the assurances we need.

Others see our struggle, some of whom are trying to come to faith themselves, while others are further down the road of belief, and who earnestly want others to take the first step as well, stand, looking back at us as if to say, “Well, come on!”

But each of us must walk begin the journey alone. Surely that was the case with Thomas: No amount of talking or pouring over the facts of Jesus’ resurrected appearance would have convinced Thomas. Only the Lord Himself could provide the grounds for Thomas to say, “My Lord and my God!”[2]

Where is the proof to be found today? The proof, that is, of the power of Jesus’ resurrection?

First and foremost, it is to be found in Holy Scripture….For the writer of the Fourth Gospel goes on to say, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in Him you may have life in His name.”[3]

And the proof is also to be found in Christians who have already come to a place of believing themselves, their own faith journey, in many cases, made possible by the witness of other Christians. Truly, the saying that says, “Christianity is often caught, not taught” is supported by years of evidence. And, it is also true that, the deeper, longer and harder the struggle a person has to come to faith, the more evident and firm is the resulting faith.

And then, I think, the Lord continues to provide the evidence we need as we are able to place our trust more and more in Him. Another saying says, “I believe in order to know, and I know in order to believe.” Simply put, as we grow in faith, we also grow in assurance with the help of the Holy Spirit.

May our faith walk and faith struggle be the source of comfort and assurance to others, as they, too, come to know the Lord personally and fully, coming to that place where we say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”

AMEN.


[1] John 20: 25
[2] John 20: 28
[3] John 20: 30 - 31