Beginnings and Endings

Psalm 150 ESV

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Revelation 1:4–8 ESV

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Beginnings and Endings

I wasn’t going to talk about Doubting Thomas today. You’ll see in the bulletin that is not in there.

The second Sunday of Easter is sometimes referred to by pastors as “Associate Pastor Sunday” because its when the heads of staff at larger churches let the associates preach. It’s also sometimes referred to as “Doubting Thomas Sunday” because every year. . . there he is again. Doubting Thomas.

And I wasn’t going to preach on him yet again, but I couldn’t get him to go away this week for some reason. I wanted to stick to the Revelation thread in the lectionary for the next few weeks. But Doubting Thomas wouldn’t go away. Everywhere I went, there was someone talking about silly old Thomas again. So. . . let me share with you another scripture passage.

John 20:19–31 ESV

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

How would you like to have history peg you with a nickname like “Doubting Thomas?” Of all the legacies to be granted, what a stinker! John gets to be “The Beloved Disciple” even though he and his brother James jockeyed for the prime position seated next to Jesus in heaven. We don’t call him “Brown-Nosing John.” Peter is “St. Peter the great apostle.” Some stories even make him the gatekeeper of heaven, he’s held in such high regard. The Roman Catholic church sees Peter as the very first Pope. The very same guy who sank in the water because he looked away from Jesus, who cut off a servant’s ear on the night of Jesus’ arrest, who denied knowing Jesus not once, but THREE TIMES when stuff got dangerous. But we don’t call him “Sinking Peter” or “Angry Peter” or “Face-Saving Peter.” Poor Thomas. In spite of all the foibles of the other disciples that surely overshadow a little bit of doubt, the only thing Thomas is known for is his doubt. 

Jesus has risen! All of these people in the room have seen it. The rest of the disciples have seen Jesus face to face and Thomas is all, “Nope. Not gonna believe it. I wasn’t there.”

It’s not until Thomas has been approached by Jesus and allowed to touch the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side that he is able to say, “Oh my goodness! This is for real! Jesus is risen!” And for the rest of time, he’s been known as “Doubting Thomas.” Not “Converted Thomas” or “Reasonable Thomas” or “Thomas who just needed a little nudge in the right direction.” 

Is this story really about Thomas “doubting” Jesus? The word doubt isn’t even anywhere in this story. He just wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to the other disciples. He simply hasn’t been in on the encounter yet. He didn’t see Jesus and say, “Nope.” He just didn’t see Jesus yet. 

As we can see all these centuries later, there are certainly those who haven’t seen Jesus in the flesh who have believed, but even now there are some who simply haven’t experienced a conversation with Jesus Christ yet. And we have no way of knowing which are which. Those of us who say we believe do so not because we were convinced by logical arguments or a really great preacher, it’s because something happened that is nothing other than God. It’s not that the others – the Thomases - are stubborn or less intelligent or aren’t good people. It’s not even that they are by nature “doubters.” They haven’t been in the locked room with the other disciples yet. 

And even for those of us who might be able to say we know what it feels like to be in the locked upper room having a conversation with Jesus, there are still times in which somehow we miss the full experience, even though all those around us seem to have gotten the point. 

This can be especially so this time of year. We have celebrated Easter! It was a good and joyful celebration of new life and the redemption of creation. Everything is different now! Right!? Right?! We spend all this time ramping up for the time when all the muck and desert and sin that we’re longing for freedom from in Lent will be crushed and destroyed at Easter. But then we turn around and go home and before the Easter ham has cooled, an argument breaks out at the dessert table, or we turn on the news to see another tragedy, or we suddenly realize how much work is waiting to greet us on Monday morning. Paul Tillich says in regards to Easter that “year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage” (1 Paul Tillich, “You Are Accepted,” in The Shaking of the Foundations (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948), 161–62. )

Sometimes it’s difficult to feel like we can really be “in on” the Easter story, even when we’ve heard it and celebrated it. And yet we give the “Doubting Thomases” in life a hard time for not believing, even though they just weren’t in the locked room.

This gospel reading doesn’t tell us exactly where Thomas was the first time Jesus came to the disciples in the locked room. But it also doesn’t make a judgment about his failure to be there. It’s not a moral statement about Thomas’ character that he wasn’t there the first time. It’s simply a statement of fact. He just wasn’t there. 

Maybe he had to work that day or had a family commitment. It’s possible he was so overwhelmed with grief he couldn’t face his friends yet that first night. The good news for our friend Reasonable Thomas is that even though he was out doing something else the night Jesus first showed up in a locked room to the rest of the disciples, Thomas was there the second time. And after one conversation with Jesus – one moment in which he was able to talk with Jesus in exactly the way he needed to assure him that the other disciples weren’t a bunch of kooks – he converted. 

The other disciples didn’t do anything special to get Thomas there. We don’t have record of them arguing with Thomas when he said, “I need hard evidence.” We don’t see them getting angry with him for not believing what they were telling him. They simply invite him to dinner again eight days later and this time, he comes. The other disciples, having been in the locked room the first night, trust that Jesus is good on his word and that he will show up. No tricks. No gimmicks. Just trust in Jesus. And Jesus shows up. Doubting Thomas becomes Converted Thomas. 

We also need to remember that Thomas isn’t the only disciple in this story, which means that he’s not the only sinner in the story. What were the other disciples doing when Jesus showed up? You would think they’d be out proclaiming the news of the Risen Lord Jesus to anyone who would lend an ear, but no. They were hiding in a safe, locked room. Hiding. How on earth is the world supposed to know that Jesus is risen if the disciples are locking themselves away? Thomas’ unbelief in the resurrected Jesus who he had not been personally confronted with yet is no worse than the unbelief of the disciples who did not trust God to protect them. It’s no worse than the disciples shutting themselves up rather than proclaiming the light to those living in darkness. 

Those of us who have seen Jesus – not as literally as the disciples in the locked room but have seen him nonetheless – have a duty. We have a duty to testify to what we have seen. But it’s not our duty to convince anyone of anything. It is our duty to bear witness, trusting that Jesus will show up and give those who weren’t in the locked room exactly the experience they need. 

This doesn’t mean we remain in our locked rooms and just wait for Thomas to get his act together. The disciples were meeting with the doors locked for fear of what would happen if they fully leapt into the Easter experience. The disciples who had seen, the disciples who had believed, they were locking out the rest of the world. The only reason Thomas had a chance to be in that room with them that second night was because he was familiar to them. 

1 John tells us that nobody is perfect. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” is a line we use often in our call to confession – that part in the service where the lay reader invites us to confess our sins together. That same passage talks about walking in the light and remembering not to shut ourselves out from the rest of the world. 

We’re certainly supposed to invite in the Thomases in our lives – the people in our comfort zone who haven’t had that up close encounter yet. And we’re supposed to give them some slack because, after all. . . we’re all a mess in some way and we were all a Thomas at some point – even if it was a long time ago. But we’re also not supposed to stay locked up in that “safe” room waiting for a few “safe” people to finish with their errands or their grief or whatever is preventing them from coming. We are to welcome them in and we are to unlock the doors while we’re at it so that the word can spread to those outside of our immediate circle as well! 

When we choose not to sit around in our safe places feeling slightly let down about Easter being over – we unlock that door. We live into the resurrection by proclaiming what we’ve seen to others, not so that we’re proven right, but so that in our testifying to others, Jesus can show up.

One of the hardest parts about Easter is wrapping our heads around the why. We know the Sunday school answer: “Because Jesus died for our sins so we could have forgiveness and he rose again to break the bonds of death and sin. . . etc.” But if all that happened, if he made everything right again by doing that. . . WHY ARE WE STILL HERE?!

One of the hardest parts about Easter for us today is wrapping our heads around the why. We know the Sunday school answer: “Because Jesus died for our sins so we could have forgiveness and he rose again to break the bonds of death and sin. . . etc.” But if all that happened, if he made everything right again by doing that. . . WHY ARE WE STILL HERE?! And that is a question that many of the Thomases in our lives are asking.

Why is history still marching on as if that didn’t happen?

That’s what John is doing in writing his Revelation - the vision that God gave him.

Why do all that 2000 years ago and then leave us to stew in sin and death for however long it’s actually going to be before the full redemption is realized?

This is where I think Revelation comes in handy. I know. The Revelation rarely makes things LESS confusing, but hang on with me for a moment.

We are called to witness to the resurrection, but. . .

And the only things we have to go by about what the end of this whole plan looks like are weird visions like we get in the book of John’s Revelation.

Revelation is probably the most misunderstood and misused book in the entire Bible. You get anything from total confusion and avoidance to taking it really super literally and trying to find signs of the end times in the world today.

Revelation is about where Heaven meets Earth. It’s a testimony to John’s encounter with God in a dream. The book of Revelation is not a future-telling prophecy about the end times. It is prophetic, but it is prophetic in the ways that the Hebrew prophets of Jewish scripture were prophetic. “Listen to God, or else” prophetic. It is a revelation of where heaven meets Earth.

You have to love commentaries on Revelation that say things like:

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Theological Perspective

the future revelation of the Son of God as past event present in the life of the church must also be seen as a future event in the outworking of human history.

As if that makes it all clearer all of the sudden.

NO wonder

We really have to pick apart a statement like this to get a feel for what it’s trying to say.

“The future revelation of the Son of God. . .”

Jesus is still being revealed to us today and will continue to be revealed to us more and more until the end of time. Jesus didn’t live, die, come back from the dead, and then float up to heaven saying, “Peace out, I’ll tell you the rest when I get back.” So we trust today that Jesus is still and will continue to be revealed as time goes on and one day we’ll get it all.

“. . .as a past event. . .”

BUT! The message of Easter is that sin and death have been conquered, even though we don’t fully see the whole picture yet. The revelation has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen. So it happened. It’s done. But we also don’t get it all yet.

We are called to follow John’s lead and give witness to where heaven meets Earth. Where have we encountered Jesus? How can we help to create space for others to encounter Jesus?

“. . . present in the life of the church. . .”

All this means that the revelation of Jesus to the world is something that is important and present in the life of the church today. It matters to us now. It’s not something that did happen and will happen, but has little to do with us now. It has EVERYTHING to do with us now!

“. . . a future event in the outworking of human history.”

The full revelation of Jesus is something that hasn’t happened yet from our perspective.

“The future revelation of the Son of God as a past event present in the life of the church must also be seen as a future event in the outworking of human history.”

Basically, Jesus was revealed yesterday, but continues to be revealed today and we will fully understand this revelation of Christ someday. We don’t see it fully today because of our perspective on history.

Revelation 1:8 ESV

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

This is where things get, as the Doctor would say, “Timey- wimey, wibbly wobbly.”

God made time and God is not in time the way that we - part of the creation that includes time - are in time. We have to live out time linearly. God is outside of time.

Here’s the nutshell: God made time and God is not in time the way that we - part of the creation that includes time - are in time. We have to live out time linearly. God is outside of time.

When we read that God Is and was and is to come, that’s what this means. All that God is, was, and will be; All that God has done, will do, and is doing; All that we have seen, are seeing, and will see of God; it all matters.

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In fact, the word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters of the alphabet. “Alpha, Beta. . .” Omega is the last letter.

Fortunately, we have people like N. T. Wright who can help us talk about all this timey wimey stuff in plain English.

In plain English, Revelation is about where Heaven meets Earth. And the place we see Heaven meeting Earth most clearly is in Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation is not a future-telling prophecy about the end times. It is prophetic, but it is prophetic in the ways that the Hebrew prophets of Jewish scripture were prophetic. “Listen to God, or else” prophetic. It is a revelation of where heaven meets Earth.

Revelation is not meant to is not meant to give us answers about the future in concrete ways, but it is meant to unlock the doors for us so we can be in where Jesus is. It’s there to help us see

It was written by someone who was a leader in the early church - possibly the disciple John, probably a different John. Either way, this John most likely lived in what is now Turkey, which was part of the Roman empire at the time. And the Christians of that time were living in fear and poverty while all around them, there were people living earthly, decadent lives. Why follow this Jesus guy if persecution is going to fall on them for it? Why not jump on board with the rich, Roman rulers and join in the earthly pleasure?

I know.

Let’s pull all this back together then:

I have not answered any questions. I have only made more. But that’s important when we’re studying scripture together - we should be studying deeply enough that it makes us ask more questions than we came in with. It would be pretty boring if we could just get the definitive answers with a quick read through and then move along our merry way.

Doubting Thomas - not a bad guy. He just wasn’t there to encounter the risen Jesus the first time.

There are plenty of people who, like Thomas, have not encountered the risen Lord Jesus in their every day lives.

So we have to stop locking our doors!

We’re off to a great start - I have lots of photos of things we’re doing to invite people into our church community lately and open up space for God to move in. Motorcycles sitting in front of the church on Hiland Ave. People working out in the fellowship hall at St. Andrew’s. Let’s keep looking for new ways to throw the doors wide open! Literally and figuratively.

We’re looking for help with our children’s church program - you can help open up space for kids to encounter Jesus. Bible study starts back up this week and we’re studying mission and outreach. Come and join us in talking about how we do this more effectively. We’re looking for ways to invite the community into our space - who do you know that needs a partner with a big ol’ building to fill up? We have gone out on some limbs and done some weird stuff like Motorcycle blessings and fitness classes. Who do you know that you can invite to some of those weird things we’re doing? What other weird and fun and interesting things can you think of that can connect us to the community on the other side of our doors? All of these things are opening up space in which we are given the opportunity to watch Heaven meet Earth. They don’t also look like “spiritual” stuff, and that’s ok. Neither do potlucks and other more traditional fellowship events.

Jesus is where heaven meets earth, so this should be a place that feels like heaven meeting earth.

Finally, here is your homework for this week: invite someone into the upper room. They might not come, and that’s ok. Invite them anyway. And don’t just invite the same people who have been turning down invitations forever now, for the record. And don’t just invite people who go to another church. Assume that people who are going to another church are encountering Jesus there. Ask someone to come to lunch with the pastor on Thursday and just hang out. Ask someone to come with you to fitness tomorrow morning. OR. . . invite someone in by suggesting more ways that we can open the doors. Help us create more opportunities to open up space to encounter the risen Lord.

Let’s let all around us know that the Alpha and Omega, the One who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty, Jesus Christ is Risen and is alive and active today!

He is Risen!