Sermon 20190428 Easter2C Faith – Shaken, not Stirred :19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.” 26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 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.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

“For fear of the Jews”. Many people read this line as, “Jewish authorities”, to convey the reality that life under the Roman occupation was such that the – the leading Jewish council – were acting as intermediaries in the delicate balance between Roman authority and the permission for the Jewish people to practice their own religion, something not known elsewhere in the empire. They remember that it was who said, “it is better for one man to die...”1, and it was these leaders who enticed the people to yell and scream for Jesus' blood before Pilate2. Remember that Jesus, with things like healing on the Sabbath and upsetting the marketplace in the temple courtyard, had made himself a threat to the political status quo of the day. By validating the human dignity of the poor and outcast and by saying the elite had already 'got theirs' he was setting himself apart from and against what 'power' wanted to hear. We must also remember that all of Jesus' first followers were Jewish. In our first reading this morning from Acts, when the apostles are brought before the council and the High Priest is trying to control their behaviour, these are Jews talking to Jews. It isn't until later, when Paul comes along, that God's salvation in Christ Jesus gets thrown open to the Gentiles of the world as well. We must also remember that John's gospel was written much later in the first century, to a particular community that may have had their own issues as their sect of 'Jesus followers' was breaking away from mother Judaism. So the phrase “for fear of the Jews” not only sets one group apart from another, it can also indicate fear of a specific few, fear of those in authority, or even fear of lawless acts of terror.

There are Christian communities around the world today that also live in fear of specific groups of people, or various other forms of persecution. We are very blessed here in North America

1 :14 2 Matthew 27:20 that we are free to practice our religions and to live our faith without having to watch out for 'religious police' or feeling outside of society. But that does not mean that there are plenty of things that shake our faith. A recent attack on a mosque in New Zealand by a White Supremacist was an awful event of terror. If there is any good news, some of it is that New Zealand acted quickly to establish laws that control access to the style of automatic weapons used in the attack. Would that other countries would make the same urgent efforts to work toward the safety of their people. How tragic that last week's Easter morning saw a terrorist-led, co-ordinated bomb attack carried out against select Christian churches and select luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. In all the sadness, part of what baffles me is some on the news saying the attack against Christians in Sri Lanka was revenge for the attack against Muslims in New Zealand! The idea that a terrorist attack can be revenge for a different terrorist attack defies the logic of what terrorism is. As head scratching as that might be, it causes us to doubt. We not only doubt the sanity of the world, and the competency of our leaders, we also begin to doubt our faith.

Here in the West Thomas is called “Doubting Thomas”. Here is a guy who, in a world of chaos and anxiety, manages to catch up with his fellows and is told the impossible – the Lord, who we saw crucified and put in the tomb, has risen! Thomas' response is, “No way!”, “I won't believe it until I see it for myself”. We understand. Your teenager says, “I already cleaned my room”, or, “Absolutely I will bring the car back with a full tank of gas”. Your friends say, “Don't worry, losing this job will open up new opportunities for you”. Our political leaders say, “Vote for me and the economy and your lives will improve”. You say, “God, show me the way out of this disaster, or this mistake, or this disease”. These are all statements that can be true, but they are also all statements to which we likely bring the same doubtful attitude as Thomas, “I'll believe it when I see it”. And that is OK. There is plenty of room for doubt in our lives and in our faith. It is doubt that causes us to engage, that makes us ask questions. Through those questions we discern whether or not something might be true. It is doubt that hones the precision of our faith.

It may turn out that we have little faith in our teenagers' self-starting ability to clean their rooms or gas up the car, so parents put incentives in place to make it happen; It may be that the doubt that hides in the anxiety of losing a job helps us discern what our next best steps should be; It may be that our faith in our leaders only lasts one election cycle. If they deliver on promises then sometimes two.

A week later the disciples are again gathered in that upper room and Jesus again appears to them, this time to Thomas as well. While the Western Church likes to call him 'Doubting Thomas' the Eastern Church calls him 'Believing Thomas'. He is an example of coming to faith in spite of the doubts we carry around. Every now and then I feel the world pressing down on me. With the news full of abuse, violence and scandal, some days feel heavy with despair. And then someone will change my mood. Hearing a complement or witnessing an act of kindness lifts me out of my despondency. You know what talking about. Many of you have shared similar stories with me. The expression is 'my faith in humanity is restored'! As necessary a thing like doubt might be, it has a way of keeping us from seeing beyond our challenges. It is not until we look back at a trial or an ordeal that we can see the hand of God in bringing us to a solution. Jesus calls us people, “of little faith” because we so easily miss the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the good and faithful choices being made, all around us, every day. Like Thomas, embrace your doubt, and let it lead you to ask better questions. It will ultimately lead you to a stronger faith. Amen