Sermon of Thomas and His First Epistle, on the Holy Day of Easter
Hosanna! Hosannas in the highest!
Seeing is believing. I have always believed that.
And believing is seeing.
…I’ll tell you: I struggle with that.
Today, on the day of Resurrection, if there is any man or woman with whom I most identify… it is Thomas.
In so many ways, I am Thomas.
Do you find that a startling revelation? You might have thought of me more akin to Peter, in his brashness and overconfidence. Peter, in his passion and powerful voice. Peter, in his aggressiveness and masked cowardice.
True. There is some of Peter in me, the weaker parts, the foolish parts, the parts that long to be the first in line, the last to leave, the one to know.
Yet in a deeper way, I have always been Thomas.
You see, I never started out to stand in this pulpit. I never dreamed I’d be a spokesman for the Almighty. I had other plans. Simpler plans. I wanted the tangible, the graspable. I longed to know the world like a banker knows the smell of currency or the scientist the elements of the earth. I never dreamed of knowing the world the way a painter knows the canvas or a player the notes of the score.
I wanted what I could hold in my hands, feel against the flesh of my skin, see and behold with my very own eyes!
“Seeing is believing,” I would say. “Give me a life without mystery, without ambiguity, without vulnerability!”
The Church doesn't remember Thomas kindly. "Doubting." He's hardly the first.
Do you know the first question mark in the Bible?
Genesis 3:9
“And the Lord said to the man, Where are you?”
Even the Almighty. The first question: Are you here?
Thomas... It takes courageous faith to look the resurrected Christ in the eye and ask: Are you here?"
And Christ saw Thomas and said: "You first."
"Reach out your hand and put it by my side."
We know so much more about the science of touch now. Touch goes beyond the doctrinal faith and knowledge of Peter. Touch is connection, sharing, healing. It is the discovery of the conversation and of the answer. It is intimacy with the Divine.
Almighty, grant us Your mercy: Should we be as Peter or as Thomas? Would You have us believe or to seek?
And God ANSWERS US today!
God gives us this day to know and to seek. He sacrificed His Son for those of us like Peter, who were strong in their faith. For people like me who need to believe.
More so than Creation, the Resurrection - the Re-Creation! - is His greatest wonder.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a reality! Countless men and women are living proof of the amazing power of our resurrected Lord! Just look at them, won’t you? They are alive!
Christ asks us to believe when we see Him!
Listen, men and women, listen!
You must believe it!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Without it, the believer has no hope for this life or for the life to come.
I am not going to try to prove to you the truth of the resurrection. But I will tell you, today, that I believe it with all my heart.
And I will not argue the fact of the resurrection from shrouds, or witness reports, from tradition, or even from an empty tomb. I don’t have to!
The truth or falsity of this event can only be proved in the lives of those who believe it! In the faces of men and women, young and old, who come to be in worship each Sunday and especially on Easter.
It is proven when year after year comes and goes and that song cannot be stopped. It is proven when heads are turned and hearts are moved. It is proven when the tomb is empty for us as well, and we rediscover our need to seek His presence in our lives!
It is proven when we no longer need to touch the wounds to see the risen Lord!
Believing is seeing! That is the truth of this day.
Hosannas! Jesus Christ is risen, today!
If you would only believe it, you will see that it is so.
Hosanna!
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