A sermon I preached at Restoration Anglican on
Sunday, April 27, 2025, the Second Sunday of Easter.
Scripture Readings:
Psalm 111
Acts 5: 12a, 17-22, 25-29
John 20:19-31
I’d like to begin with prayer:
Heavenly Father, we bow in your presence. May your word be our rule, your Spirit our teacher, and your greater glory our supreme concern, through Jesus Christ, our risen Savior and King. Amen
Our gospel text this morning contains a famous story, usually referred to as “the story of doubting Thomas.” That seems harsh to me—no one should be forever remembered for having honest questions, honest doubts. I suppose I feel this way because like Thomas, I have over the years wrestled with hard doubts, difficult questions, serious reservations about what is true and what is not, what is correct, and what is misinformation or lies. And truth be told, I still do. St. Thomas is one of my biblical heroes.
Today, doubt and questions of what is true extends far beyond religious issues. With lies and disinformation and misinformation swirling around us, we discover lots of sad divisions between friends and family members over what is actually true. In the New York Times, Krista Tippett, host of On Being, summed up our societal situation well:
We live in an extraordinary moment. It is one of seismic change. That can be beautiful and fascinating but also so difficult. [Our culture is] redefining basic things like marriage, family and gender. That is huge. On top of that, we have an ecological crisis, a political fracture, a racial reckoning. We have broken health care systems and economies. We had a pandemic that threw our nervous systems into distress for three years. We have a lot of energy that masquerades as something else that is really human beings in despair.
It turns out our ancient Gospel text speaks directly to us and our culture today.
John 20 is a very rich passage. In it we are taught a great deal if we have ears to hear. More specifically, we learn something about doubt, something about the Church, and something about our calling as followers of Jesus. Something about doubt, something about the Church, and something about our calling as the followers of Jesus. I’ll identify these as we work through this text together this morning.
First, some important context. In the passage just prior to our text, St John tells us how Mary Magdalen, in the early morning darkness before the sun rose, went to Jesus’ tomb, and found that it was empty. She ran and told Peter and John, who went to the tomb to see for themselves. Mary was correct. Peter and John saw and went back home. But Mary stayed at the tomb, and the risen Christ met and spoke with her with gracious gentleness. So, Mary Magdalen became the first witness to the resurrection, and “announced to the disciples,” the radical good news, “I have seen the Lord!” (20:18). Our text follows directly from Mary’s encounter with the risen Christ at the empty tomb.
Verse 19: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” He shows them the horrible scars of wounds inflicted during his trial and crucifixion. And they believed. How could they not? The Truth was right there, present with them.
What happens next teaches us something about the Church. We are told Christ breathed on them so they would receive the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Verse 22. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Fr Rick often invites us to meet with him. There we can confess our sins, and he will speak a biblical word of absolution, both done in the presence of the risen Christ. This is the biblical reason he can extend that invitation as our priest.
There is a popular myth among 21st century American Christians that says the church is merely voluntary. As long as we’ve privately accepted Jesus as Savior, that’s all we really need. The church is helpful, especially if the preaching is good, but not really necessary. Nothing could be further than the truth. The Church, though its sacraments, word, and ministers dispenses grace we can find no where else.
And now Thomas enters the story. Verse 24: “Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.” The disciples who had been there told him what happened, but Thomas didn’t buy it. For one thing, he knew people didn’t rise to life after three days in the grave. For another, if you’ve read the four Gospels you know that Thomas knew that Peter often blurted things that shouldn’t have been said at all.
Whatever his reasons, Thomas doubted their report. Verse 25: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Thomas wanted evidence of the truth before he would believe that Christ was risen from the dead.
And here, thanks to Thomas and his doubt, is where we learn some important things about doubt.
One thing is this: a doubter doubts things that are obvious to others, including their closest friends. Think of the situation in our text. All the disciples except Thomas have seen the risen Lord. All of them have been with him and interacted with him. It’s obvious to them that Jesus is risen from the dead. He is alive. They’re sure of it. But Thomas hesitates, is unsure, and says he needs more evidence before he will believe. Doubters doubt things that are obvious to others, including their closest friends. And this fact leads to two serious problems.
The first is that it makes doubters hesitate to bring up their doubts and questions. The problem with that is that unless we face our doubts and are willing to explore the issue, we are unlikely to uncover the truth and resolve our doubt. Doubters need safe places to discuss such sensitive issues and questions.
If I am to bring my doubts to you, I need the assurance that you are safe, so that you will not be dismissive of what troubles me. Which is the second problem. Since doubters doubt things that are obvious to the rest of us, it’s tempting for us to treat their doubt less seriously than we should. Really? You have a problem with the resurrection?! Really? Maybe we don’t say it aloud, but our attitude expresses it. Or maybe we are willing to discuss it but settle for quick answers that don’t really satisfy.
Thanks be to God, Thomas was welcomed into a safe place a week later. Verse 26: “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, 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; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’”
Let me ask you a reflection question. What do you find most surprising in this text? Is it that one of Christ’s disciples would have doubts about the resurrection? That after following the Lord for three years, hearing him teach, see him care for the vulnerable, heal all sorts of diseases, cast out evil spirits, and raise Lazarus from the dead, he would doubt his fellow disciples’ testimony that Christ is risen? I don’t find that all that surprising. Perhaps that’s because I have had serious doubts, but still. His doubt seems normal, almost expected to me. He, like us, is finite and wasn’t there when Jesus joined the other disciples the first time.
Here’s what I do find surprising. Christ’s warm welcome to Thomas, his invitation to come and see, to explore and think and come to accept the truth. I was always taught that doubt is bad, indicative of weak, anemic faith. But no. “‘Peace be with you,’” Jesus said. Don’t be afraid, even though I just appeared in this room with you without first unlocking and opening the door. And then he gave an invitation to the doubter himself. Come and check me out. Touch my wounds, know I am alive. Here is the truth. Here is the answer to your doubt. Explore the evidence. It’s the true truth, to use a term Francis Schaeffer liked. “Do not disbelieve,” Jesus told Thomas, “but believe.” And Thomas had a satisfactory answer to his question, to his hesitation and doubt, and so he believed. Verse 28: “Thomas answered [Jesus], ‘My Lord and my God!’” Doubt does not diminish faith but provides the opportunity to deepen it.
And then the Lord says that those of us throughout history who believe in the resurrection, not by seeing Jesus personally but believing because of the witness of the apostles are “blessed.” And that includes all of us who believe here this morning. Do you hear this? Jesus says we’re blessed.
By the way, history, legend, and tradition also tells us that when the apostles spread out from Jerusalem with the gospel after Christ’s ascension, St Thomas traveled the long silk trading road all the way to India. And there, on the southwestern coast of India we still find the Mar Toma Churches that Thomas planted by proclaiming the good news of a risen Savior.
So, the first thing this text teaches us about doubt is that doubters doubt things that are obvious to others, including their closest friends.
The second thing about doubt this text teaches us is that doubters need a safe, welcoming place to bring their questions and hesitations. Nobody is going to bring up what they doubt and find impossible to believe unless they feel welcome and safe and loved even with their doubts.
Hear me on this: The Church and our homes should be those safe places. As Os Guinness has said, “Although a Christian should believe simply, he should not ‘simply believe.’” For many years Margie and I have prayed that our living room would be known as a place where anyone can bring up any question and find a warm welcome and eager conversation.
Honest questions deserve honest answers. And because Jesus is the Truth (capital T), we are free to say, “I don’t know. But that’s an interesting question. Let’s meet again and search for an answer.” The shame is not in saying “I don’t know.” After all, we are finite and won’t know everything infinitely even in glory. The shame is in pretending to know.
A safe place is what Thomas found in this second gathering of the disciples the second week. Why was it safe? Because Jesus was there. And he was the one who invited Thomas to explore the facts, to find the truth of the matter.
And that brings us to the third thing this text teaches us about doubt. Doubt is resolved by truth. The solution is not keeping quiet about our questions. It is not just taking a leap of blind faith because our friends all believe. It’s not thinking our questions and doubt are personality disorders and so we need therapy. Doubt is not a character-fault. Cynicism and skepticism, so revered by our culture can be. That involves disbelieving everything, even the possibility of truth. It’s a foolish position to hold, because if you believe that truth is impossible, then even that belief has to be disbelieved. It’s a lose-lose philosophy. Having sincere doubts and hard questions is not being cynical—it’s being honest in a search for the truth.
The solution to doubt is to find the truth. If we wish to believe the truth, we will need to explore, read, study, reflect, pray, converse with listening, caring, thoughtful friends. “Great are the works of the Lord,” Psalm 111:2 says, “studied by all who delight in them.”
And then St John ends his Gospel with his famous statement of purpose. Verse 30. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” And as a proverbial doubter, I am glad that one of the many wonderful things Jesus did was meet with Thomas so warmly, so safely, so kindly.
And so, to close.
Do you have hard questions and doubts? You are welcome here. You are welcome to bring your hesitations and expect to find a safe welcoming place to talk and search together for the truth. And if we aren’t welcoming, if we don’t make you feel safe, if we aren’t good listeners, I would urge you to tell us straight-out that we aren’t like Jesus and so should meet with Fr Rick for confession and absolution. Deal?
And to my fellow members of Restoration. One of the core values of this church is hospitality. That’s what I’m talking about when I mention safe places for hard conversations. Let’s agree to pray and to work so that Restoration’s various classes, studies, table groups, potlucks and even casual conversations between services make people feel both welcome and safe, whether they have doubts and hard questions, or not. Our calling is to be like Jesus, and Jesus treated Thomas like we need to treat the doubters that God brings our way.
And I would guess there are some with doubts here this morning. Perhaps you doubt aspects of Christian doctrine, or have questions about Anglican practice, or find parts of the Bible impossible to believe, or wonder how to discern truth from lies and disinformation in society. To you doubters, whatever your age, whatever your questions, again, I say Welcome. You are welcome. Let’s spend time with Jesus together, searching for the truth.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Photo credit: the author with his iPhone
