John 20:19-31

It can be difficult to relate to the ancient characters of scriptures. They walked this earth so long ago, that we sometimes wonder if we share anything in common.

However, most of us can easily relate to the disciples who were cowering behind locked doors on that first Easter evening. It’s been 2,000 years, but today, we can feel their anxiety, we know their grief.

Jesus had been rejected by the religious and political culture. People had chosen the way of a violent insurrectionist, and condemned the way of nonviolent, universal, unconditional love for all people.

Disappointment, disillusionment, and despair overwhelmed the disciples, as it seemed that love was defeated and hope was lost.

We can imagine their regret and guilt, as we wonder what we might have done differently. And we can sense their fear, as we wonder today if there is any path forward, if the world can be any better.

The disciples did the only thing that they knew to do. They gathered together.

You might say, they went to church, as the Greek word for church, ecclesia, literally means a gathering or an assembly.

That’s all it means— not an institution; not an establishment; not even an organization. Just a gathering, an assembly. It means community.

When all seemed to be falling apart around them, they gathered together in community.

And it was while they were together, in community, that something miraculous happened, that something that we call Easter. Somehow, someway, the Risen Christ showed up and a peace beyond all understanding came over them.

Together, in community, they received the good news that love cannot be defeated, that love never ends. When all seems to be lost, love remains. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love always wins.

And the anxiety and fear of the disciples were suddenly transformed into rejoicing, as a path forward began to emerge. They suddenly felt empowered and sent into the world to share hope with all who are despairing, speaking the truth to the powers of darkness, standing up for mercy, defending the defenseless, and to breaking down every wall that divides and every barrier that excludes.

The story of the way the disciples first encounter Easter this speaks volumes about the power of community— Community is where we experience love and grace. Community is how we experience hope and peace. Community is where fear is transformed into rejoicing. Community is when the Risen Christ shows up and Easter happens. Community is how love wins, death is defeated, and light overcomes the darkness.

This is the power of church. This is why church is needed today. This is why it is good to join a church, to be a church together.

However, in the middle the rejoicing, we get our first inkling that something is wrong. It is here we read that sometimes dreaded conjunction: “but.”

“But Thomas, who was one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.”  All of the disciples were gathered together in community, and all experienced the hope of Easter—all of them, except Thomas.

We can only guess where he was— Somewhere out on his own; someplace withdrawn; somewhere isolated; in some private sanctuary. We just know he was not where he should have been. He was not in church. Thomas was absent from community.

Later, when the disciples find Thomas and tell him that they had experienced the Risen Lord, Thomas responds with those infamous words that has given him the nickname, “Doubting Thomas.” “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in his side, I will not believe.”

We like to call him “Doubting Thomas,” because, all of us, if we are honest, have our doubts. And we like to be able to relate to these disciples, even if it is 2,000 years later. However, when you think about it, that is really an unfair designation, because Thomas is really no different from the other disciples. Thomas is not asking for anything more than the other disciples received on that first Easter.

The only thing that makes Thomas different from the others is that Thomas had skipped church. Thomas was not present in community. He’s not so much a “doubting Thomas” as he is an “absent Thomas.” All the other disciples had gathered together in community. The Risen Christ showed up. And absent Thomas missed it all!

No, we really don’t know why Thomas was absent on that Sunday. But those of us who have been a part of the church could certainly guess, couldn’t we?

For how many times have we been tempted to stay home on Sunday mornings. How often have we thought to ourselves: “You know, I don’t need those people down at the church! After all, there are people there who have hurt my feelings. There are some people there who get on my nerves. I am better off sitting my back porch, taking a walk in a park, or watching the sun rise all by myself..”

Maybe Thomas was just tired of people. As United Methodist Bishop William Willimon once said, “Being a pastor would be a great profession, if it weren’t for the people.”

Maybe he was tired of all the self-absorbed arguments about who was going to be seated where in the Kingdom of Heaven. Maybe he was simply sick of being around people who were constantly disappointing Jesus—people who could never follow through with their commitments, keep their promises, fulfill their obligations. Maybe he was tired of all of the passive aggressiveness, resentment, and jealousy.

Maybe he had just given up on the hope that the world could be a better place. Maybe he had acquiesced to the belief that love can never and will never win, that the moral arc of the universe actually does not bend towards justice.

So, when Sunday came around, Thomas stayed home. Thomas decided that he’d be better off on his back porch with a cup of coffee. And who could blame him?

But here’s the problem.

In staying home on Sunday, in avoiding community, in missing church, Thomas missed the miraculous transforming presence of the risen Christ.

And here’s the thing. We read in verse 26 that Thomas had to wait “a week later” to experience Easter.

Think about that. A whole week later. Thomas, the only disciple who missed seeing Jesus, the only one who missed the transforming power of Easter, the only one not to experience love winning, did not receive a personal, private visit from Jesus on Monday morning. He didn’t get a phone call on Tuesday, or a card in the mail from Jesus on Wednesday letting him know he was missed. There was no text message on Thursday, no email on Friday and no Facebook message or Instagram on Saturday.

Thomas had to wait an entire week—until when? When the disciples were again gathered together in community.

Listen again to verse 26. “A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.” I bet he was!

And just like the week before with the other disciples, Jesus gives Thomas what he needs to experience the fullness of his transforming presence. Jesus says 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.” And this time, not so much because Thomas had stopped questioning, stopped doubting, but because Thomas was present, because he was in community, the risen Lord gave Thomas what he needed to exclaim: “My Lord and my God.”

I believe one of the biggest problems with the church today is not doubt, but a belief that love can win, justice can come, Easter can happen, faith can be lived, without community, without ecclesia, without gathering.

Faith today has been reduced to a private, personal transaction between the individual and God. The love-wining, community-organizing, campaign-building, forward-marching, culture-challenging, justice-doing movement of Jesus that has the power transform the world and all its troubles…has been reduced to an individual’s personal ticket to leave this world and its troubles behind.

Our faith has become more about meditating to be in a personal relationship with Jesus and less about collaborating to be on a public mission led by Jesus. It has become more about worshiping Jesus in the heart and less about following the way of Jesus in the world.

It was Jesus who defined our faith by saying:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free…” (Luke 4:18).

As disciples, this is our mission. And there’s is just no we can accomplish this mission alone, by ourselves, watching the sunrise or walking our dog in the park. It is talks community, collaboration and cooperation.

Because the gospel of Jesus is not good news to the individual. It is good news to the poor.

The gospel of Jesus is not about the release of an individual’s soul. It is about speaking out to release all who are held captive—physically, systemically, and spiritually.

The gospel of Jesus is not about an individual closing their eyes in thoughts and prayers to the troubles of this world. It is about possessing eyes that are wide-open to the world’s problems and having the power to come together to do something about it.

The gospel of Jesus is not about individual freedom. It is about coming together, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, leaning on one another and on God, while working for the liberty and justice of all.

Our faith in the risen Christ is personal, but it is never private. It is only by coming together as a community that we become who we were created to be as human beings and called to be as disciples of Christ. It is through our coming together, that we experience the fullness of the presence of the risen Lord and are given the power transform the world.

The church is far from perfect. There can be accusations, denials, and desertion. There’s apathy, jealousy, resentment, and failure. There’s cowardice, compromise, manipulation, and selfishness. This is the way it has always been, even with the first group of disciples.

However, when we come together in the name of Christ, something miraculous happens that we call Easter. Despite all our imperfections, the risen Christ shows up. And we are given what we need to believe, to hope, to move forward, to be justice-doers, and peacemakers. In community, we are transformed in love, so we can transform the world with love. Amen.