Easter 2B Acts 4:32-35, Psalm 133, I John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31 Doubt

Doubt is a part of faith but many evangelical denominations do not want to admit this. Yes, Jesus says blessed are those who do not see and yet believe, but how does he treat Thomas's doubt? He simply asks him to put his hand in the wounds.  There is no shaming, no asking if he remembered the prophecies, only love. 
When someone comes to be doubting their faith, or even doubting God I assure them that God can handle it. 
I find it interested that the Psalm and the Acts passage are about unity. How does this connect to Doubting Thomas? The disciples were gathered together when Jesus first appeared and Thomas was absent. We have never heard where he was. Was he hiding or did he have a legitimate excuse like a stomach virus? We will never know. Did his doubt bring more unity or less or did it affect it at all? 

'We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.' Thomas can say this now, but what about those of us who have not seen and heard and still doubt? Can we proclaim? Isn't that what the essence of faith is?  This song expresses Doubting Thomas better than I ever could: Doubting Thomas Nickle Creek Live/

Believing Thomas John 20:19-31 Easter 2A

So why isn't he called "Believing Thomas" rather than "Doubting Thomas?"
He believed in the end, right? Yet we remember the poor guy only for his doubts.

I am embarassed to say this: but for the first time I am preaching at an urban mission. I am not embarassed to be preaching there...only embarassed at the age of 35 after 15 years of ministry I have not done this yet.



Yes, I have this passage listed on this site already. I know I am to preach it to this crowd. Yes, it's not the lectionary passage for the week.

I read over what I have preached on this passage before...and now I am faced with listeners who absolutely are at their end of hope...and isn't that what the Gospel is for?

Talk about no hope: your best friend has been crucified and you think you are next and you are hiding in fear...and then Jesus appears and offers peace. I need to give this message. Help me, God. Help me to preach the hope of Christ.

Easter 2C John 20:19-31 Resurrection

Good ol' doubting Thomas. Wouldn't you hate to be remembered for your doubts? To doubt is to wonder if something is true. It does not mean you are convinced it is not true. We all doubt.

The other disciples huddled together in the upper room, but Thomas had crawled into a hole to lick his own winds after viewing the crucifixion. Off in his solitary confinement, he had missed the appearance of the resurrected Christ.

Yet when he finally sought the company of the community given faith by the resurrected Christ, his own wounds healed when he touched the wounds of Christ.

Jesus appeared in front of me a few weeks ago. Walking along an urban street on the way to a church conference, a homeless man approached me. He asked if I could spare some change so he could eat. As I pressed a few wadded bills into his hand, I felt a nail print.

As a young pastor, I entered 90-year-old Sadie's house as I heard her "Come in!" I finally found her in the bedroom, her shriveled body bent over thick, yellowed toenails. Arthritic hands could not fold around the clippers or apply enough pressure to get through the nails. My body in advanced pregnancy could not kneel, but I could sit. What a pair Sadie & I were, laughing at ourselves as I sawed on her toenails. As I clipped and sawed, I felt a hole that another type of nail had left.

As for his side, every time I hold a hurting person I feel that wound.

Like Thomas, I have had my doubts. Resurrection is a crazy, wild, unprecedented event that has never been repeated. I can't find evidence that it has happened when I try. When I forget about trying find proof and focus on the needs in my world that I have power through Christ to meet--then my belief resurfaces.

“The question is not to prepare but to live in a state of ongoing preparedness so that when someone who is drowning in the world comes to your world, you are ready to reach out and help." Henri Nouwen