Reach Out and Touch Faith

April 27^th, 2014       “Reach Out and Touch Faith”        Rev. Heather Jepsen

John 20:19-31 with Psalm 104

          As many of you know, I commonly follow the lectionary cycle, or the prescribed readings for the church year, for my Sunday sermons.  Many others pastors do the same, which is how you might find yourself talking to a friend who goes to another church and find out that you heard sermons on the same reading that Sunday.  Usually the lectionary provides a good variety of readings; but not on the Sunday after Easter.  For some reason on the Sunday after Easter our gospel reading is always John 20:19-31.  Always this same story, doubting Thomas.

          Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that we always find ourselves here after Easter.  Like the disciples, we have a tendency to revert to old patterns after our high holy day of hope.  Just last Sunday we were all smiles and sunshine, promises of new life and a celebration with family on our minds.  This week that is like a distant memory as we are back to the grind, back to the ordinary life, coming to church for one more boring Sunday.

          The disciples are back to their old places too, and theirs is a place of fear.  Unlike us, they have not skipped ahead a week.  No, for them it is still the very same day of Easter.  It is evening on the first day of the week.  Mary, Peter, and the beloved disciple have all been to the empty tomb.  Mary has proclaimed the message that Jesus has risen.  And yet, here the disciples are, locked away in a room for fear of the Jews.  Although the world has profoundly changed, it feels to them that very little is different.

          Jesus appears among them bringing words of peace.  He seeks to comfort and reassure them.  Yes, he has risen from the dead.  See the marks of his wounds, still deep and red.  He breathes on the disciples the Holy Spirit and in that breath we are reminded of the spirit breath of creation.  This is the same wind that we find elsewhere in the scriptures.  It is the ruah that hovers over the waters of chaos, the breath that brings forth life in the mud creature Adam, and the four winds that bring life to zombies in the story of Ezekiel.  Jesus breathes on the disciples a new creation, and sends them out into the world to share it.

          But Thomas was not there.  Thomas was not with the others that night in the locked room.  So where was he?  Was he out looking for Jesus?  Was he out keeping watch for the threatening Jews?  Was he scoping out the empty tomb?  Or was he simply on a pizza run?  Hard to say.  But wherever he was, he wasn’t there, and he didn’t see what the others saw.  He didn’t see Jesus.

          Everyone loves to call him “Doubting Thomas” and even though the word doubt does not appear anywhere in this scripture reading, that is how he will go down in history.  For centuries he will be the odd man out, the one who wasn’t there, the one who doubted.  It’s a bad rap really, for all those guys locked up on Easter eve sure look like doubters to me.

          Regardless, Thomas asks only to have what others before him have had.  He wants to see the risen Lord.  He wants to see and touch the wounds.  He wants to know for sure that the one he knew and loved, the man he saw hanging on a cross, is the one who has risen from the dead.  Is that so much to ask?

          Apparently not, for one week later he gets his wish.  The Lord once again appears to the band of disciples who are once again shut up behind closed doors.  This time Jesus speaks specifically to Thomas.  “Go ahead,” he seems to say, “Touch me and see that I am real, touch me and find out what it is to be fully man and fully God.  Yes I have suffered and I have risen.  Witness that resurrection.”  The text never says if Thomas really touches the wounds but I like to imagine that he did.  Thomas’ response to the generosity and love of Jesus is the greatest declaration of faith in the gospel of John, “My Lord and my God!”

          Even though we read this text every year, and it can be hard to come up with a new sermon each time, I really do love this story.  I love that the disciples didn’t believe what was happening because so often we don’t believe the stories of our faith.  And I love that Thomas wanted to see and touch Jesus for himself.  He wanted to know the power of God.  He wanted to see the reality of the resurrection.  His is a great story because I think that in the end, we only want what he wanted.  We all want to see the power and glory of God in our world.  We all want to reach out and touch faith.

          As many of you know, in the field of educationally theory, folks have discovered that we all have different learning styles.  Now I am not going to go into any great detail here, because there are friends in our ranks who know a lot more about this than me.  But basically people learn by sight, by sound, or by touch.  Some people learn visually; charts, graphs, pictures, all of this helps them process information.  Some people learn aurally; lectures, songs, stories help them learn.  But some people just need to touch.  They learn through hands on methods like stacking blocks or enacting role play.  I think Thomas was a hands-on learner.  He wanted to touch the Lord.  Don’t just tell me about it, and don’t just show me, let me touch it to know if it is true. 

          And you know what is great?  Jesus doesn’t judge him.  Sure for years the church has looked down on him because he doesn’t fit the mold, but Jesus doesn’t.  Jesus allows Thomas the learning process that he needs.  Jesus gives Thomas the opportunity to touch, and in that opportunity Thomas’ faith grows leaps and bounds beyond that of the other disciples.  Ironically it is in touching the Lord that Thomas is able to finally see who Jesus is “My Lord and My God!”

          Now folks have asked me if we could celebrate Earth Day today, which is new to my church experience.  This week I was wondering how I could jump from Thomas to Earth Day.  Doubting Thomas might be a good opportunity to talk about global warming but I didn’t feel like going there this week.  Instead, I decided to abandon the lectionary.  That is how we get to Psalm 104; Psalm 104 is an awesome text for Earth Day. 

          Psalm 104 is all about the beauty and wonder of creation.  The Psalmist describes all the marvels of creation, from the sun and the clouds to the mountains of the earth.  The Psalmist tells of the creatures of land, of air, and of sea.  The Psalmist sings of the love and care of God for all of the creatures, who look to God for food and life.  Praise God for all the good things that God has created.

          Just like the story of Thomas, the Psalmist calls us to reach out and touch faith.  The Psalmist praises God not only for the good things that we see and hear in creation, but also for the wonders that we touch and taste.  He writes “You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for the people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.”  I love that line, and not just because wine and bread are the ingredients my favorite dinner!

          God has made a beautiful world and God has filled it with things we can touch.  Just as Jesus welcomes Thomas to touch him and know the truth, the Lord’s creation invites us to touch and taste, to know the goodness of the Lord.  What a beautiful image.

          Whatever learning style we may have, God is calling out to us this day.  If we are visual learners, we can see the love and care of God in the red buds and hyacinths.  If we are aural learners, we can hear the love and care of God in the songs of the cardinal and the mourning dove.  And if we are touchers like Thomas, God invites us to reach out and touch the world.  From the soft grass to the rose petal to the dandelion puff, our Lord invites us to reach out and touch faith.

          So on this celebratory Sunday after Easter, we praise God for many miracles.  We praise God for the open tomb and the story of resurrection.  We praise God for the faith of Mary and of the disciples, behind closed doors.  We praise God for the courage of Thomas, to ask for what he needed, and to touch the Lord.  We praise God for this earth which shows and tells us so much about the love and care of our Lord.  And we praise God for the daily opportunities we have to reach out and touch faith.  What a blessed day and what a blessed world.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.