"Blessed Are the Doubters" | Margaret Grun Kibben preaching | 04.12.26

"Blessed Are the Doubters" | Margaret Grun Kibben preaching | 04.12.26

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Well, good morning. Good morning. Oh, you are there. You are wonderful to see you. Despite your initial reticence, I have received a wonderful and warm welcome from all of you in just the very short time I've I've been here. I'm very grateful to be worshiping with you to bring a little bit of uh the DC experience down here or to run from it. I'm not sure which yet. But either way, we are in the house of God. God is present with us. Let us appeal to Him in prayer. Would you pray with me? Gracious and Almighty God, do lead us on the path you would have us live. In so doing, help us to realize that you reveal to us yourself to us in so many different ways along that path. Break open your word for us this morning, that we would hear what it is you would have us hear, that we would experience your presence and your inspiration, and be aware that in you all things from this point forward are new. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Hear the word of God. It comes to us from the Gospel of John in chapter 20. It's starting at verse 19. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. Now Thomas, also known as Didymus, one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. And he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. A week later, his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. And though 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. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. And Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God. Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. Now Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. And thank you for showing up. Typically, church attendance on Sunday after Easter is considered the lowest of the year. And so on this Sunday, often an unknown guest preacher or the just as worn-out but lesser-known associates are often called to preach, and some of you decide to stay home. There is empirical evidence. No matter how high the attendance on Easter, the following week is in fact the lowest of the year. Or more politely, a low Sunday. After all the celebration of last week, the energy, the full pews, this week can kind of feel like a letdown. Maybe it's a reflection of our culture. There's been all this height. There have been Easter displays since February in all the local stores, and bakeries were burgeoning with bunny capes. And now everything is relegated to the half-price shelf, and even that is picked pretty clean. No doubt, Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian calendar. And more people go to church on Easter Sunny Sunday than on any other day of the year. With all the yes, the flowers and the finery, more importantly, the music and the message, Easter is when Christianity shines its finest. Despite commercial efforts to reduce it to marketing and the secularization of Christmas, the Easter story stands alone as the most faith-defining events in a Christian's journey of faith. It proclaims certainty, it declares victory. When you walk out of here on Easter Sunday, there is no room left for doubt. So if Easter leaves no doubt, why does the church turn so quickly to the infamous doubt of Thomas? We could have picked several other stories that we didn't get to read last week on Sunday, Easter Sunday, but we could have picked several other stories to re-emphasize the importance of that first Easter day. We could kind of do like an Easter do-over today. There's all sorts of wonderful stories within Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that weren't read last week. We could talk about Mary and the women a little bit more. We could talk about the disciples, whether there were two of them or all of them. Or we could even go for that wonderful story in the Gospel of Luke on the road to Emmaus, when the disciples looked to each other after Jesus had broken open the scripture to them and revealed himself, and they said, Weren't our hearts burning within us? John does give some great detail too. The empty tomb, the angels, Jesus' appearance. And now we have today's reading, which we could have actually covered how overjoyed the disciples were. Thomas still remains unsure, uncertain, unconvinced, and doubtful. Now, I would argue, and perhaps it's because I am the guest preacher, tasked with breathing life into this so-called deadly day of preaching, that this story does matter. In fact, it matters as much as the celebrated Easter stories that we could have read today. It matters for those who were certain last week and came back, for those who are still unsure this week, and for what Jesus reveals to both and all of us. First, it's it's true that there were some people in here who were so pumped up by all that was taking place in this marvelous sanctuary that they won't feel the need to come back into church until Christmas. Others were buoyed on the hope and joy of the risen Christ and left encouraged, hopeful, and certain that having heard the proclamation, He is risen, they fully expected everyone else to say, He is risen indeed. But what happens when that certainty meets the real world? We will encounter the 50% of Americans who didn't attend church last week. And of them, and maybe others, those who doubt the insane story that the resurrection is real. If you attempted to convince any of those fellow Americans, friends, neighbors of yours, what were you met with? Blank stares? Uncertainty? Doubt. Today's scripture is an important and poignant reminder that not everyone has seen and experienced what you have seen and experienced on that Easter Sunday. That there are many, thousands upon thousands, who do not know the peace that is found in the risen Christ. And they, like Thomas, your friend, your co-worker, our world, weren't in the room when it happened. Whereas we were privileged to hear and appreciate sensorily a divine meta-narrative, the overarching story of God's redemptive plan, they have been caught up in the paralyzing and deafening narrative of cynicism, of fear, of unrest, and of hopelessness. No wonder Toml Stout. No wonder many still do. So we read this story today. Not that the church would gather again to redo Easter or to keep the momentum going, but we are here today reading the story of Thomas to prepare ourselves for when the certainty of the resurrection that we claim as our own meets the reality of doubt that is so prevalent in our society. Because it will. And when it does, we are called to bear witness to the peace Christ offers. We have been sent into the world to share the peace of Christ. Secondly, the Thomas story is important because of those of you who did show up today. Some of you showed up because you missed last week and you're hoping to do kind of a catch-up. Some of you who were here last week, despite all the deliberate attempts to convince you of the resurrection, are still not quite sure yet what to believe. But without the trumpets and the fanfare, without a dramatic post-resurrection story that could give any preacher a sermon on a silver platter, how do those who didn't go to the tomb and therefore didn't find it empty? Those who weren't on the road to Emmaus when the risen Lord himself shared and broke bread with them, how do those who have not seen believe? Blessed are the doubters. I'm sorry, the Christian story as the elation. Not every experience in the Christian life is like Christmas and Easter. There are a lot of Sundays in between. In today's story featuring Thomas, Jesus seems to allude to the need for faith on the low Sundays and Mondays and Tuesdays and the rest of the week. Faith in the face of unsureness, of uncertainty and doubt. When Jesus appears in the midst of all of that, when Jesus appears in the everydayness of our life, when Jesus appears when the news is overwhelming us and the world is in a tailspin, he offers peace. Peace be with you. Not because everything is settled, but because everything is not. Remember how Jesus opened the scripture to them. Remember, I told you that the peace I leave you is not as the world gives. But in a world caught up in cynicism, fear, unrest, and hopelessness, you yourselves will find yourselves like Thomas, still not convinced. So the message Jesus shares with Thomas and with us is this the good news of the resurrection makes a difference in our real lives. Even in our doubt, Jesus offers peace. On that Easter day, and in the weeks that followed, Mary and the disciples and Thomas and even some lesser-known followers like Cleopas and the person with him on the road to Emmaus saw, experienced, and yes, touched the risen Christ. But Jesus looked at them and said, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. That includes us. By the grace of God, you who are here today, for whatever reason compelled you to come the next week. Whatever depth of faith you hold today, whether you are an enthusiastic believer or you are still full of questions, whether you are elated or overwhelmed, Jesus meets you here on this step in your journey. As you have heard the scriptures read, as you have heard of the peace that Christ gives, may our eyes be opened. That like Thomas, even out there, we can proclaim my Lord and my God. Amen.