Untitled Sermon

Text: “28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”” (John 20:28-29, ESV)

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

As Pastor Todd Wilken, put it: “When Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” He isn't cursing Thomas; He is blessing us.”

He’s blessing you because “Faith,” as you know, “is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1). Indeed, faith is believing the exact opposite of what you see, for that is how God reveals Himself to us.

To quote a writer named Chad Bird, “God always wears a disguise. Jesus looks like a man, lives like a man, dies like a mere man. Yet faith says, ‘Jesus is God.’” And blessed are you who believe.

Blessed are you when “You do your daily work, you sweat, you put up with rude customers, you deal with unruly students, you do the ho-hum work of the daily grind. Yet faith says, “My labor is holy, divine work, for I am God’s tool that He uses to take care of others.” Yet you get sick, you lose weight, you hurt, you cry, you wonder how long you can last. Yet your faith says, ‘I am a blessed child of God, well-pleasing to Him, and I will live forever in Christ.’

“…To believe is to confess that God is where God seems not to be, to confess that God is good when God seems to be bad, to confess that what is really real is the God hiding behind the exact opposite of what you see. That is faith.”[1]

Reality is a powerful thing. “…[A] freshly dug grave at the cemetery; a bank account fizzled to near nothing; a child who just won’t listen; a spouse who doesn’t care; peers who mock; friends who betray….” And if it were only things that were outside of us, perhaps that might be tolerable. But it’s not. It’s not just the reality of those problems outside of you and me. It’s also the matter of what is within you: wrath, jealousy, pride, lust, greed. No matter how much you clean up your actions, they’re still there. The words of James play out in your heart: “14 [E]ach person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14–15).

“…[The] freshly dug grave at the cemetery; a bank account fizzled to near nothing; a child who just won’t listen; a spouse who doesn’t care; peers who mock; friends who betray…,” Those are the things we consider real, as real evidence that God is holding out on us, is mad at us, doesn’t love us as much for us as He does for others.” The wrath, envy, pride, lust, greed, they offer ample evidence that God’s not wrong.

These are the things that you and I see. Blessed are you who have not seen and yet believe.

“Thomas was as we are. Yet Christ doesn’t appear and slap him for his doubt; He holds out His scarred hand for Thomas to see. “Reach here your finger,” He says, “and see my hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into my side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas reads like braille the scarred message of love inscribed on the Savior’s skin. He believes. He sees with the eyes of faith who Jesus really is, ‘My Lord and my God.’”

“[Thomas may well have] seen the blood drip from Jesus’ dying body; he [may have] seen the steel penetrate that body; he [may have] seen the wood smeared crimson; he [may have] seen the stone rolled in front of the tomb.” He had seen Jesus, who looked like a man, lived like a man, died like a mere man. But there in the scars was the proof of who Jesus really was. So Thomas believed and confessed, “My Lord and my God.”

“That is the way of our Lord, the way of grace. He doesn’t abandon Thomas to drown in a sea of doubt. He stretches out His nail-scarred hands and pulls him in. And so He does for you.

“He takes your doubts and your fears and your shame and your bitterness and He makes them His own. And He takes His faith and His hope and His life and His joy and His glory and He makes them your own. He doesn’t remove your outward troubles; He gives you something better: inward peace. He may leave in place your dysfunctional family, your disease, your addiction, your pain, but He will not leave in place a heart empty of peace.”[2]

How? By pointing you to the scars that He bears. Those scars aren’t just evidence that He’s the Son of God. They’re the proof that He is your savior; that He’s taken God’s wrath for you; that He took your sins upon Himself.

He may allow you to continue to battle against wrath, envy, pride, lust, and greed, but He also sends pastors and fellow Christians to say to you: “In the stead and by the command of Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” And He gives you the ability to live in the promise of your baptism by drowning that sinful nature every morning by daily contrition and repentance and remembering that a new man arose from the water of baptism to live a new life.

One of the hymns that I am loving more and more through the years is God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It. Not only is it wonderfully upbeat, it’s defiantly upbeat. It is the song of faith, pure and simple. There are 5 stanzas. The first one simply lays out the reason for our confidence: “I am baptized into Christ. He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price.” And then the next three go on to stand defiantly against sin, Satan and death, itself.

“Sin, disturb my soul no longer: I am baptized into Christ! I have comfort even stronger: Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice. Should a guilty conscience seize me Since my Baptism did release me In a dear forgiving flood, Sprinkling me with Jesus blood?”

“Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ! Drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed. Now that to the font I’ve traveled, All your might has come unraveled, And against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!”

“Death, you cannot end my gladness: I am baptized into Christ! When I die, I leave all sadness To inherit paradise! Though I lie in dust and ashes Faith’s assurance brightly flashes: Baptism has the strength divine To make life immortal mine.”

That is the cry of faith: Standing confidently and declaring: What God has said, what God has done is more real than what I see and feel. “That’s what He’s all about: giving to you the peace that passes understanding, the kind of peace that knows that no matter how unfaithful you have been, God will never be unfaithful to you. The kind of peace that knows that no matter how great your sin, Christ’s love is always greater. The kind of peace that knows that no matter how bad this world may get at times, any suffering here is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. That’s the kind of peace Christ gives: peace of heart when surrounded by ten thousand enemies.

“Along with Thomas, we know these things to be really real: the mercy of the Father, who never denies His baptized children; the love of Christ given and shed for you in body and blood; and the grace of the Holy Spirit, who gives you the peace that passes all understanding.

That’s what this whole episode with Thomas is all about: God’s rich and undeserved, ever-present, real-and-tangible grace. We deal with real sin, real pain, real consequences. It’s very easy to get caught up and beaten down by what we see going on all around us in this fallen and sinful world. Here is Christ, not because I say so, but because He says so. Here is a peace and comfort and assurance the world cannot and does not know. Here is the victorious One, holding out to you the gift; the sure and certain hope that is Himself. Turn and flee to Him! Hold fast to Him!

When you’re feeling the crushing weight of your crosses; when you’re feeling like all you want to do is lock the doors, kill the lights, and throw the covers over your head and avoid the rest of the world, turn your ears and your eyes of faith here; turn around and turn back to Christ Jesus. Here He is, arms spread wide open, reaching out His pierced hands to you to take you up and place you on His mighty, cross-bearing shoulders, like a loving shepherd places His little lost lamb upon His shoulders. It is finished. He’s declared it. He’s proved it! The empty tomb, the wounds, the blood and the water that poured forth from His spear-riven side, His own Word…all these bear witness to the Truth of your peace. He said what He meant, and He meant what He said. It is finished, and by virtue of your baptism into Him and His victory, you are victorious. You belong to Jesus, and nothing and no one can ever snatch that from you. You have His eternal, unfailing, and unconditional peace.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! AMEN

[1] Bird, Chad. “Thank God for the Man Who Doubted Easter.” www.1517.org. March 29, 2016. [2] Ibid.