Thomas’ Day of Visibility

Being a disciple wasn’t easy in the days but it was even harder being Thomas because the other disciples saw Jesus — and he missed it. I imagine this hurt. Jesus saw Thomas’ hurt and offered what he needed to heal. 

The kingdom of God os a place where love sees our wound’s and gives us what we need to heal.

Transcript

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So if you if you wondered why during the first song I I moved the cross, this is why, because I was thinking about using the pulpit today. And last week, because every week I go back on the drive back and I watch and listen to the sermon because I figure if y'all should have to listen to it, I should too. I I noticed that the cross was like blocking half of me and it was blocking like the group of people that was right here. So that might have actually been preferable given what I look like. But you know, now you can see me and I can see you, so everything's better. That's that's sort of the way interestingly things worked this morning. Um I was I was on the way here and I looked down and I saw my car very pessimistically saying zero miles left. Because apparently I hadn't checked my gas gauge before I left and I drive a little ways. But I found a gas station. Never fear, I made it. You know, I I got here and we were working on the slides because it's always at the last minute that machines or computers or programs decide they're gonna misbehave. But never fear, we figured it out. I I think this is a really kind of interesting and appropriate image for the second Sunday of Easter, which every year, because most Sundays we rotate through three years of texts, and so we have a year where we focus on Matthew, a year where we focus on Luke, a year where we focus on John, and we sprinkle Mark all throughout because it's short and it's not always as flowery and pretty to read. And, you know, but this this Sunday, the second Sunday of Easter, every year we talk about Thomas. Thomas, who wasn't there when Jesus came back and breathed on the disciples and gave them the Holy Spirit, who said to them, When you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven. When you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained. And we think about that scene where Thomas was absent, where the disciples were locked away because they were still afraid of all the people who had killed Jesus, whether the actual Romans or the people who were also their neighbors and their friends, and the people who they had known, and the crowds who lived in Jerusalem had called for Jesus' death, they were afraid that they were about to come and get them too, and that's reasonable. And so they were sort of caught in this weird in-between state where they were in this really familiar space, the room that they gathered in and apparently lived in frequently enough that they were able to call it a place where they felt safe, but nothing about it might have seemed familiar in that moment. And I think we've all sort of had a moment where we've entered into a place where we've been our entire lives, but because the things around us seem to have changed so much, nothing feels familiar. Or even if it's we haven't been there our entire lives, are, you know, we have moments where all of a sudden we don't feel at home in our own body, or we don't feel at home with people who normally feel comfortable, or or something about the character of the world itself has changed, and we don't really know what to do with that. And it makes us feel frustrated, and it makes us feel afraid, and it makes us feel out of place, and it makes us feel awkward. You know, and and there are joyful ways that that can happen too. I remember after my first school dance, even though I was terribly awkward and remained that, you know, I came home and it was a lot of fun, and I remember laying on my bed thinking, this is the greatest thing ever. The entire world has changed. And, you know, those moments where everything just feels different, whether they're good or bad, are moments that I think are able to call us into an understanding of life and ourselves that we can't normally gain access to because so frequently we're caught up in what's going on around us. We're caught up in what the next thing we have to do is. But those moments where we feel out of place, as uncomfortable and frustrating as they can be, they're also moments of opportunity for us to really think about well, if I don't feel at home here, what does home look like? What does home feel like? What would make me feel like I belong? Um, and I think in a weird way, that's that's sort of how Thomas helps us to enter into this story. Because we too are people who weren't there when Jesus came back. We too are people who didn't see Jesus physically and yet rely on the testimony of others that Jesus is risen. We're people too who would love to be able to have the proof of putting our fingers in the holes in his hand or our hand in his side. No, although when you think about it, that is kind of grisly, and maybe we wouldn't, but like some evidence that doesn't require touching holes in people might, you know, that might work, right? And I think there's a sense in which part of why this story is so important that we use it every year, and part of why John, that 20th chapter ends, and I think that actually was the original ending of the Gospel of John, but we can talk about that later, you know, ends with, now Jesus did a lot of other things, but I've included these things so that you might come to believe too that Jesus is the Messiah. You know, John wrote that ending for us. John wrote that ending for the people who weren't there, for the people who would believe, not because they too were able to see, but because they saw the impact of Jesus' resurrection. They heard the testimony of the people in their lives who have told us about Jesus for all of it. We're here because there is something about the Jesus story, even if it's something that belief might be a strong word for it. It certainly has an impact on us. Thomas is really us. And one of the reasons that I focused on the emotions I did with the kids is I think those are emotions that we are all, even as adults, familiar with. That feeling of being left out. That feeling of wondering where our place really is. That feeling of wondering, you know, well, if I'm am I really that important? I think Thomas and his lack of belief was less about his willingness to believe the other disciples that Jesus had done what he said he would do and died and then rose, even though that that too is a stretch if you're talking about a group of friends, and if if those guys were like any other group of guys or any other group of people, I imagine that they would pull pranks on each other from time to time. And the harder the moment is, the less appropriate our jokes are. I imagine that might be kind of hard to believe too. But I think more than wrestling with belief and whether Jesus was actually risen was, oh gosh, I've been following him around for three years too. I've been learning from him too. I was at the table with him too. Jesus washed my feet too. Jesus shared communion with me too. Jesus told me too that a little while you will not see me, and a little longer you will see me again. And so Jesus comes to these other friends of mine that I've been traveling with, that I've been learning with, that have done all the same things with me that I've done and they've done. And here Jesus comes and imparts this Holy Spirit that he's talked about but not really explained a lot because that's just kind of how Jesus is. He tells them that if they forgive sins and they're forgiven, or if he retains sins, they're retained. You know, this is not just Jesus dropping by for tea or wine or whatever the equivalent was. Jesus did something that was important because this is Jesus, in essence, according to John's interpretation, establishing the church. What is it that a pastor does? What is it that a person who follows Jesus does? Being the people of God doesn't just mean we believe things. Being the people of God means that the relationships that we have have real stakes. That the community that we build is something that has deep meaning and deep impact. And it's impactful enough that if we refuse to forgive the people around us, it feels like we haven't been forgiven. If we do forgive the people around us, it feels like we have been forgiven. And we bear the consequences of both choices. And so this is what Thomas walks into. And I I think, even though, you know, this has been frequently called doubting Thomas or whatever, and and certainly doubt was a part of it, but when we get right down to it, doubt's a pretty reasonable response to all of this. And so really, I think if I'm if I'm thinking about what it must have felt like to be Thomas, it was feeling left out Thomas. It was wondering how he fit in Thomas. It was wondering if I'm going to be invited to Thomas. Because when when somebody comes by and they see everyone but you, especially if you really want to see them, it feels bad. And whether or not it was an intentional slight or it was just a fact of how the calendar worked out, it sure does feel bad to feel left out. And so Jesus comes back the next week. And I find it interesting that Jesus chooses to do what he does. Because I think, you know, from the standpoint of a theologian and a pastor, you know, what Jesus does in the previous encounter is impart to the disciples what we call the office of the keys, the ability to forgive sins or hold sins. This is an important moment for a pastor. But Jesus doesn't do that for Thomas. You know, I think as a person who believes in Jesus, this talk about the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit does, and especially in John, where Jesus describes the Spirit as this really interesting, unfathomable yet present thing. You know, the wind blows and you know where it's going, but you don't know where it's been. You know, the spirit is like this. Those who worship God will worship in spirit and truth, neither in the temple nor on the mountain. The spirit is something that in all four Gospels is a sign of God's presence, a sign of God's promise, a sign of fulfillment. It's the Spirit in Acts, when the Spirit descends upon the people, is the moment that the church, as the larger entity, as the gathered people, is born. The Spirit is what allows the disciples to speak to people so that they hear in their own languages. That seems like it would be important enough to repeat, but that's not what Jesus does. In part because that's not the story John tells. The story John tells isn't about why Jesus' miracles are important. It's not about why these are signs of the kingdom. Because those are sort of markers of why it's important that this is happening. I think it's why in John 6, after Jesus had fed the 5,000 people plus women and children, and then gone away, I presume to rest because that seems like it would wear me out too. You know, the next day when the people came back, Jesus was frustrated with them, not because they came back, but because of why they came back. They were looking for more bread and more fish. They weren't looking for what Jesus really wanted to offer them, which was a sign of what it means to be part of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a place where we are fed a food that fills more than our bodies. Fills our hearts, it fills our souls. The kingdom of God is a place where we feel seen and known and remembered. The kingdom of God isn't a place necessarily where miracles happen. Like I doubt during communion that if I run out of wafers, they're going to magically reappear. It could happen. Lots of things could happen. But but the miracle is that we're we're gathered here together to remember something important about each other, about community, about God's love. That the promise of God isn't necessarily that loaves and fish will multiply, but that through the love and connection and grace we share with each other, then the blessing of community will multiply among us, and we'll be able to take that out and share it with the world. So Jesus, when he sees Thomas, shows Thomas the things that he needs to know that it matters that he's there. He wanted to see my hands, here they are. You can see them too. You want to see my side where I was pierced with a spear? Here it is. You can see it too. Don't doubt. And maybe the subtext is just because you weren't there to see it that time, don't feel left out because you weren't there to see it that time. But believe. Believe that you too have worth. Believe that you two matter. Believe that you too are invited. Believe that you too have meaning. Believe that you too are someone who has enough value that it matters to me to be here for you. And when you get to that point of seeing what Jesus offers Thomas uniquely among the disciples, in the same way he offered to Martha in the road when Lazarus was dead, a reminder that the resurrection is a possibility and a hope and that everything is going to be okay. And to Mary in the road, when her brother Lazarus had died, Jesus asked her to show him where her beloved person was. And when she invited him, he wept with her because that's what each of them needed. We see something of the kingdom of God, that the promise of the kingdom of God isn't just some generic set of theological facts. It's not some set of doctrinal ideas that help us all to worship together and know which way to go. But it's the living, breathing invitation from the one who is creating us, reminding us that we have a place too. And not because of the things that we can do for God or the things that we can, you know, perform, or the value that we have because of our productivity or efficiency. But because God sees us and loves us. And out of everything that the church can do, this is the thing the church can offer the world that almost nothing else can offer it. This reminder that because you exist, you have value. I think uh, you know, a couple about a week, week and a half ago was Trans Day of Visibility. And I I remember the first day I I came across that. It it was it seemed weird to me because I didn't understand, oh, what's important about visibility. You know, it's like the first time I hear a lot of things, I don't understand them, and sometimes it takes more than two times. But what I what I came to understand over the years as I heard people tell stories and I looked for stories that trans persons would tell, it's that the visibility is important because so frequently people just like to imagine that people who are different don't exist. They like to imagine that everyone really is the same, and that the ones who aren't the same are are people who don't matter as much because they're not people we see all the time. The visibility is important because trans people, like gay people, like rich people, like poor people, like kind people, like mean people, like good people, like evil people, like all kinds of people have always been here among us. It's just do we choose to see, do we choose to value, do we choose to give them worth? Do we choose to see them as human? Jesus saw Thomas. He saw his humanity. Saw what he needed. He saw who he was and spoke to that. When we got from this place, it's easy to think about all the different things we do in the transactional sense of, and I do this too. Why is this drive-thru taking so long? I am ready to have my food. Or we could think about the people in the cars ahead of us or the or the restaurants that are chronically understaffed by design so they can maximize profits and recognize that it's probably not the people's fault in the restaurant. What happens when we take our everyday lives outside of the way that we're we're so often encouraged to see them as transactions of time and instead focus on the people behind it? It's here that the kingdom of God begins. And it's in recognizing the people's humanity and presence and reality and value around us that we make the kingdom of God a little more real around us. Amen.