John 20: 19-31
There have been a number of occasions in my life where I have had the opportunity to make a complete fool of myself, and sad to say, I have generally taken full advantage of each one of those opportunities as they came along. I suppose I could prove the point by entertaining you with dozens of related stories, but for the sake of preserving your time, my dignity, and the fact that I don't know you all very well, I will tell you just one where I am not the fool!
It was at another congregation somewhat like this one in that I was an interim pastor. The senior pastor of the congregation needed some help so, I was asked to lend a hand through the spring, summer until the fall when they anticipated a called pastor was to begin. And like today it was my first Sunday there. Rather than the second Sunday of Easter, it was Easter Sunday.
Well, I arrived early that Easter Sunday, had some time to prepare myself and greet people at the entrance. As the time for worship approached I got my robes on, and then joined in the procession line with the choir. Just minutes before the organ and brass choir were going to begin to play, one of the choir members asked, "Do you know where Pastor Terry is?"
To be honest, I had been wondering that to myself, but since this was my first Sunday, and I really didn't know what Pastor Terry was like or the customs of the community, all I was worried about was making sure I didn't look the fool. I responded honestly, "I haven't seen him." At which point the choir member quickly told the usher to communicate to the organist and delay the service. The choir member hurriedly walked to the church office and called the pastor's home phone. Pastor Terry's alarm had been accidentally turned off and he had overslept for this early Easter worship service.
Thankfully he arrived just as I finished reading the Gospel, the slowest reading of the Bible ever done! But, I still remember my fear at how foolish I would sound trying to preach unprepared. And I still remember the shy and foolish look Pastor Terry gave me when he rushed into worship.
Of course, I am not the only person ever to feel foolish, nor was Pastor Terry the only person ever to be late for something. On any given day people around the world are not only late for school but late for work. People are late for everything from doctors' appointments to graduation ceremonies, and occasionally they are even late for a funeral! I was once involved in a funeral where we had to sit around waiting for the hearse to arrive … which never did!
But perhaps the all-time, most significant example of being late and looking foolish is found in our gospel and belongs to a much-maligned disciple named Thomas. That's right --- the man usually called "Doubting Thomas" --- should more accurately be called "Tardy Thomas," because our lesson begins by telling us that Thomas was not with the other disciples when the Resurrected Jesus appeared that first Easter. "Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord!'"
We can only speculate as to where Thomas was when the other disciples were gathered behind locked doors. Maybe, after hearing about Jesus' trial and execution, Thomas had gone off somewhere seeking solitude in his grief with a long walk through the streets of Jerusalem or in the country. Or perhaps he felt safe away from the other disciples. Maybe Thomas had started on his way home. Or maybe Thomas had simply decided to reevaluate the direction of his life.
Yet, for whatever nameless reason Thomas may have had for not being present when Christ first appeared to the other disciples, the bottom line is that Thomas was late. Although he did not miss the beginning of the story on the shores of Galilee three or so years prior, Thomas did miss a critical part of a continuing story.
And because he was late for Easter, Thomas had his questions about what the others were saying, Jesus is alive! A Resurrection! Thankfully, the other disciples searched Thomas out and found him, telling him in excited tones that they had seen the Risen Savior. But as you can imagine, Thomas responded with disbelief. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Of course, we know the rest of story, Jesus appears, has Thomas touch his hands and his side where he had been stabbed and says to Thomas: "Stop doubting and believe." However, the word in Greek apistos is usually given the translation of "doubt" but it actually is "unbelieving." While that doesn't have the same ring to it as the usual nickname, it is certainly truer for tardy Thomas.
Because you see "unbelieving" is a verb and thus when Thomas was late for Easter, had his doubts about the Resurrection, Thomas was still the same disillusioned, terrified, and confused disciple he had been on Good Friday. The other disciples, once forlorn and confused themselves, were now filled with the breath of power and grace because they had experienced Easter Sunday.
Yet, another reason "unbelieving" is a better translation is because of the words of Thomas after being able to see for himself that Jesus was truly resurrected. "Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Notice the pronoun -- "my" Lord and "my" God, not "the" Lord and "the" God. This is a personal claim about a relationship. It is Thomas, not the other disciples, expressing his faith.
So, at this point we could say that truly, it is better late than never. Right? Well not exactly. What can you and I learn from the last chapter of the Gospel of John.
I do not know about you but sometimes circumstances arise and events intervene to oppress our spirits, or perhaps make us feel like fools, leaving us inwardly unprepared to believe the Risen Lord who stands before us. Sometimes, like Thomas, we may not get the good news of Easter on the day God chooses to give it.
Yet, it is important here to notice that no one criticizes or rebukes Thomas for being late, for feeling the fool, for his "unbelieving" or for his skepticism. The passage does not tell us that the disciples went out and ridiculed Thomas or put Thomas in his place, rather it tells us how the disciples made the effort to find Thomas and that Thomas was surprised! Nor does Jesus berate Thomas for not being there in the first place, for being late or for his unbelief. We do not read that Jesus' voice booms through the room, rebuking Thomas and imposing some penalty on him. Instead, we read how Christ appears with words of "peace."
We also see that Jesus is not afraid to call Thomas' bluff. Thomas declares that he will only believe when he can touch the wounds of Christ himself. Christ appears to Thomas and invites him to touch and believe. Not only is the bluff called, we learn that Jesus understands tardiness, human unbelieving and allows room to find belief. The resurrected Jesus meets us in our unbelieving and reveals himself to us in a way that bolsters our belief.
Finally, the words of Christ to Thomas help us to understand that our faith is indeed based on mysteries that may never have earthly resolutions. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." So, our tardy, unbelieving faith in Christ can be lauded because we believe without the opportunity of seeing or touching the resurrected Lord.
Furthermore, we celebrate Easter two thousand plus years later never having physically experienced the Risen Christ. We believe without having touched the scarred hand and pierced side.
Regardless of when you or I "see" the Risen Christ through the eyes of faith --- whether the reality of Easter takes hold of us early in the morning or very late in the day, whether as a youth or years later, whether our journey is one day yes, and one day no --- resurrection faith is as the writer of Hebrews testified when he wrote "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
This is the eighth day after the resurrection. It's a good day to be late to the resurrection, to celebrate our unbelief, and see it as a prelude to a deep, abiding and mature faith so that we can become the living hands and feet of Jesus and show that Jesus is alive, real, and touching others as Jesus seeks to touch us. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Amen.
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