Gospel: John 20: 19-31
19When 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, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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."
26A 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." 27Then 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." 28Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But 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.
When I was in junior high and high school, I loved to go hunting. Every winter, my family and I would head out to my grandparent’s ranch in South Texas, and we’d hunt. I remember many a cold and many a hot afternoon sitting in a deer blind waiting for a buck to present itself so that I could take a shot at it. I’d enjoy listening to tales about deer taken and missed, and, of course, all of us who hunted dreamed of getting the big one.
When I got married, we moved a few too many miles away for me to go hunting at our ranch. I’m still a little too far away, and I’d love to do some hunting, but I don’t really have a place nearby to go. But that’s beside the point. I’ll get to the point rather quickly. I remember one December day sitting in our apartment at my computer talking to my mom and dad. They would call once a week so we could catch up on things. I remember how my dad started the conversation.
He said, "Now, Kevin, take your hands and put them about two feet apart."
"O.K." I said.
"Got that picture?"
"Yep."
"Now, take and make a circle with your thumb and pointer finger. Don’t let them close. Keep them about an inch from touching."
"Did it," I said.
Dad answered, "That’s how big he was."
What I said at that point, I cannot repeat to you now. However, I will say this. I didn’t believe my dad. I didn’t believe he had shot a deer with a two foot spread and horns which were that thick. I thought he was telling a good yarn.
And even though my mom was there acknowledging and confirming my dad’s story, I still wouldn’t bite. I figured I was getting my leg pulled royally. Eventually, seminary let out for Christmas break, and Dawna and I went down to see my folks. Well, my dad wasn’t lying. The darn thing was that big. There was no exaggeration. At all. But I still find it amazing that I wouldn’t believe what my parents said–even though they are very trustworthy people.
Have you found yourself in a similar situation? Have you found yourself not believing what someone is telling you for one reason or another? Or, have you stood on the other end and tried to convince someone of something only to be rebuffed time and again because of that other person’s unbelief? It can be extremely frustrating for both parties involved.
And it’s one thing to get into such a discussion as my dad and I had which was eventually settled by him bringing out that rack of horns, but it’s another thing to get involved in such a discussion where there is not visible, tangible proof of existence. When you get into those kind of arguments, Katy, bar the door. You can spend hours upon hours debating such issues without coming to any sort of resolution what-so-ever. In fact, at the end of such conversations, also known as arguments, you leave feeling more frustrated than ever.
I have no doubt that’s how most of those disciples felt when they were trying to convince Thomas they had seen Jesus. I have no doubt they had raised and elevated their voices to no avail trying to convince Thomas they had indeed seen Jesus alive and in their midst. But to Thomas, the story was unbelievable. There was no way people were raised from the dead–at least by God.
Sure, Thomas had seen Lazarus raised from the dead. He had seen the woman’s son raised on the road to Nain. The dead could come back to life. He’d seen Jesus perform such a thing, but that was God working through Jesus. Jesus was gone. No one else had that power. No one else could bring Jesus back. John the Baptist was dead too, and no one else was going around claiming to be God’s spokesperson. No. Jesus was dead. The story was just too fantastic. I’m sure Thomas wanted to believe, but every rational bone in his body was saying it couldn’t be.
And I’m sure that drove the rest of those gathered in that room absolutely nuts. They probably said more than once, "Thomas, are you calling us liars?" "Thomas, why don’t you believe us, haven’t we gone through enough with you? Don’t you trust us?" "Thomas, why are you so stubborn and pig-headed? Can’t you see that we are no longer grieving? Can’t you see the change in our lives and in our demeanor? What else could have caused this? Do you think we just flipped a switch and have gotten over Jesus’ death that fast?"
Yet despite these powerful arguments, Thomas held fast. He wouldn’t; he couldn’t believe. "Unless I place my fingers in the marks of His hands..." Thomas said.
Is there a lesson to be learned here? Is there an important item to be grasped by you and by me as we get to this part of the text?
Perhaps there is, and perhaps it is a lesson for us in Evangelism. Oh, yes, that dreaded "e" word for Lutherans. You can give most Lutherans the choice between doing evangelism and series of painful vaccinations, and 90% will respond, "How many shots?" Most Lutherans just don’t like evangelism, and the reasons are many. First, many feel ill equipped to articulate their faith. They feel like they don’t have enough knowledge or understanding. Second, most don’t want to get into an argument. " What if I get asked a really tough question and have to defend myself?" is a question many ask, and they just don’t want to go there. Third, many don’t want to feel the sting of rejection. "What if I tell someone about my faith or invite them to church, and they blow me off?" No one wants to experience that. Put all of those things together, and you find a tremendous reluctance to even broach the topic of faith with many who sit in the pews.
However, let’s take a moment to look at this text and the evangelistic efforts of those disciples who tried to convince Thomas. How did they fare? How successful were they in convincing Jesus was raised from the dead?
I’m waiting.
How did they do?
Did they have enough knowledge?
Did they have enough understanding?
Did they have enough chutzpah to bring Thomas around to their point of view?
Nope. In fact, if we were to measure their ability to be evangelists by the results, we see that room was full of a bunch of abject failures. They were not able to convince one of their very own that Jesus was raised from the dead.
But...
But they did manage to plant some seeds, didn’t they?
They did manage to get Thomas thinking about Jesus being raised from the dead.
And we know what happened next. Jesus appeared in the room once more. This time, Thomas was there. And Jesus went up to Thomas and took Thomas by the hand. Jesus had Thomas feel the nail holes. Thomas, then, had no choice. When Jesus appeared to him, he believed.
Which brings me to the most important lesson in evangelism–we don’t need to get into any sort of debate. We don’t need to worry about convincing others they need to believe just like we do. We don’t need to strong arm them into coming to church. We simply need to plant seeds. By our words and by our deeds we can announce our faith to others, and we can invite them to join in what we have.
And if they refuse? Well, we just have to wait for Jesus to do His work. You see what Jesus did to Thomas. He’ll do the same for those we share the good news with. Just plant the seeds, and then stand back and watch. Amen.
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