Easter 2C
April 24, 2022
Good Shepherd, Wells, MN
John 20.19-31
I learned at a young age that nicknames are not chosen. Rather, they are chosen for you and they are not always welcome. I didn’t mind my name, Scott, though I would become bothered when people would call me Scotty. It sounded childish and patronizing. So, when I was teenager, I decided that my bowling buddies would call me “Skip.” That didn’t work out very well and I was back to “Scott” quickly. But when I got to Gustavus as a freshman, there was a senior who lived on my floor with the same name. His nickname was “Big O.” Guess what my nickname became, especially when I joined the same frat? “Little O.” I hated it.
So, you can imagine why I’m a little sensitive when Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, is saddled with the nickname,“Doubting Thomas.” It’s the evening of the day they find the tomb empty, when in John’s version, earlier that day Jesus appears to Mary. None of the disciples believe Mary and now all of them, except Thomas (and Judas, of course) are cowering in fear behind locked doors. So my question is, where was Thomas? (We know about Judas.) Did Thomas draw the short straw and had to go buy groceries? If he wasn’t afraid of the religious authorities, then shouldn’t he be called “Fearless Thomas?”
We don’t know where Thomas was, but we do know something about him from earlier in John’s Gospel. In chapter 11, when Jesus finally decides to go see his good friend Lazarus who has taken ill and subsequently died, it is Thomas who puts himself out there and says rather prophetically, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Then in chapter 14, Jesus is giving his Farewell Address at the Last Supper, tells them he is going away and they know the way to where he is going. It is Thomas who again puts himself out there saying, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” In all three cases, Thomas is the fearless one who is not afraid to speak up.
The point is that Thomas believes in Jesus before Easter happened and he grows in faith along the way. We tend to think believing and doubting are opposites, that it is an all or nothing kind of thing. Yet, the opposite of faith is not doubt, it’s certainty. This is captured in Mark chapter 9 when a father asks Jesus to heal his son anguished by an evil spirit. Jesus replies, “All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately, the father cries out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Frederick Buechner puts it this way, “Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith.”
Tradition has it that Thomas ultimately travels to India and proclaims the gospel, starting the Christian church. In fact, he still is a beloved person greatly esteemed and held in high regard by Indian Christians there. The story of Thomas and his encounter with Jesus encourages us in two ways. First, if Jesus can use Thomas’ doubts to build faith then he can do the same with us. God can use what we bring. I think that’s why God called me to be a pastor: by preaching the risen Christ I’d come to believe and then after believing I’d preach all the more.
Second, though we might wish for the same experience as Thomas and those early Christians, we are not at a disadvantage when it comes to trusting in the presence of the risen Christ. The stories are preserved in what we call the Word, the Bible. That Word is active through the Holy Spirit who, as Martin Luther explains in the Small Catechism, “calls us through the gospel, enlightens us with his gifts, and sanctifies and preserves us in faith. Perhaps being a Doubting Thomas isn’t so bad after all, better than “Scotty” or “Little O.” However, I like the nickname God has given me best, “Beloved Child of God.” May the risen Christ strengthen you in your life of faith this Easter season and beyond. Amen.
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