April 27, 2025 ~ Second Sunday of Easter
Rev. Beckie Sweet
Think back with me for a moment to that first Holy Week. What a week it had been for the disciples. Everything happened so fast! One moment the crowd welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna!” palm branches, and a hero’s welcome. And then suddenly, a couple of days later, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, shared a mysterious meal with them, and forewarned them again about the terrible things that would happen to him, and how the disciples would betray him, each in their own way. Then, Jesus was arrested, taken to the cross and crucified. The disciples must have been in shock! They had been taken to the heights of joy and expectancy, only to have their hopes and dreams crushed with Jesus’ death. They were pretty sure that they would be the next to be executed. If Jesus could be killed in such a cruel and unfair manner, what about them? So, it’s no wonder that they gathered behind locked doors. It’s no wonder they doubted the news of Jesus’ resurrection.
And what a day it had been on that first Easter! It began with Mary first. She had gone to the tomb early in the morning and found it empty. Peter and one of the other disciples went racing to the garden. They returned with mixed reports. Later Mary came and told them that she had spoken with Jesus! Imagine her excitement as she (a woman) tried to share the news with the disciples. Certainly, they had difficulty believing it ~ it is incredible news! The One who was dead is now alive! And he appeared first to a woman rather than to one of them!
That very evening the disciples gathered again, as today’s scripture text reminds us. They were behind locked doors, not knowing for sure what had happened that day, and how they would be treated by religious and political leaders. In the middle of their confusion, fear, and conversation, Jesus came and stood among them. His words to them are his words for us. He said to the disciples, “Peace be with you.” Just when things seem terrible, Jesus is there! Just when things seem hopeless, Jesus is present. Just when things seem impossible, Jesus can help.
For the disciples, things could not have been worse. By the end of that first Easter weekend, just about everything in their lives was in shambles. Three years before they had heard Jesus say to them, “Follow me,” and had cast their lots with him. Following Jesus was to have been their future, their calling, their opportunity for glory. And now, all that was gone. What would they do now? For Jesus was gone – no, worse than that – he had been crucified. And perhaps the same fate awaited them. Was there any future for them after what had just happened? Their faith was shaken. They had trusted Jesus. They had believed in him. Their whole understanding of God, everything they believed and lived for had died with Jesus.
For the disciples, just when everything seemed at it’s worst, Jesus was there for them. Jesus was standing in the midst of them. Alive! He was there to grant them strength and hope. And that would make all of the difference for the disciples. In fact, they would go to their graves confident that even when things get terrible, Jesus Christ would be there, and that was all that mattered for them.
That was what happened to those disciples that night behind locked doors. Jesus came to them and changed their lives ~ again! Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and they emerged as different people, confident and assured of God’s love for them, and Christ’s act of salvation.
But Thomas missed that! He hadn’t been there when Jesus arrived with peace. For him, the darkness of death still filled his heart. For him, life was still hopeless, for all of his hopes had died with Jesus. For Thomas, the future was still unsure. He had yet to meet the Risen Christ, and because of that, he had yet to be transformed.
“Unless I see for myself, I will not believe. Unless I can feel the marks of the nails with my own fingers and touch the wound in his side with my own hands, I will not believe.” Can you sense Thomas’ doubt and misery? Can you hear his loneliness, his separation and pain? Sadly, many of us have a sense of what that feels like. We have gone through something similar. We have trusted and been hurt. We have loved and lost. We have reached out in reconciliation to others, only to have them reject us and snap back in pain. We have been where Thomas was – hurt and afraid to trust again. We understand Thomas. He will be more cautious now! He will be slow to believe, and reluctant to trust and love. As for Thomas, he must see for himself!
You might remember the name Dave Dravecky. In the 1980’s he was a left-handed pitcher for the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants. He was named an All-Star in 1983 and played in the World Series in 1984. In September of 1988, Dravecky was diagnosed with a desmoid tumor in his left arm ~ yes, his pitching arm. He underwent surgery, and returned to pitch for the Giants in 1989, where he won his first major league game of the season. In his second start that year, Dravecky broke his arm throwing a pitch. He retired from baseball after that season, following a cancer recurrence, which necessitated the amputation of his left arm in 1991. It was a devastating experience for Dravecky. Cancer is bad enough, but having to deal with the amputation of his pitching arm, and lose one’s dream of pitching in the major leagues, left Dravecky with questions, doubts, and anger in life, until he allowed Jesus to transform him.
During his time of struggle, Dravecky began to receive letters from people all over the country, people who had learned of his illness. Most of those letters brought words of encouragement. Some people wrote to him looking for answers, too. They knew he had been through so much, and yet the experience had made his faith stronger. He often spoke of his growing and strong faith to others. But, one day he received the following letter:
Dear Mr. Dravecky, If there is a God who cares so much about you, why did God allow you to have the surgery in the first place? I have lived 41 years in this old world and have yet to see any piece of genuine evidence that there is anything real about any of those religious beliefs you talk about. God certainly does not love me and has never done a single thing to express love for me. I have had to fight for everything I ever got in life. Nobody cares about what happens to me, and I don’t care about anybody else either. Can’t you see the truth that religion is nothing more than a crutch used by a lot of weaklings who can’t face reality and that the church is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who care nothing for each other and whose faith extends not to their actions or daily lives but is only just a bunch of empty phrases spouted off to impress others?
I can’t help but wonder how we would have responded to such a letter! Dave Dravecky received the letter after his baseball career had been taken from him and he had lost his arm. Dravecky wrote back to the man. He told the letter writer that he knew how he felt because he had faced the same doubts. He, too, had wondered if God has abandoned him. He, too, had questioned if anyone cared. And he had wondered if his faith were not just empty words. But, when things seemed the worst, Jesus was there. “I am convinced,” Dravecky wrote, “that there is a God. ‘That no matter what happens to me, there is a blessing to be realized and that behind that blessing stands a loving, caring God.”
That is the same God that came to the disciples. The same Resurrected Jesus who stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” It was the PEACE that Dave Dravecky had experienced which enabled him to face his loss with grace and faith. And it was precisely the same peace that the man who wrote that letter had not yet found – he was seeking peace with God and peace with himself. For when doubt dominates our lives, that is precisely what we lose, Peace with God and Peace with ourselves. Thomas knew that. He knew what it was like to live without peace.
When Thomas refused to believe, it was not just the other disciples’ word that he doubted. It was LIFE itself that he rejected. It was a rejection of hope, a refusal to believe that life can have meaning, that life goes on even after death. We can hear that so very clearly in the letter Dravecky received. The story of Thomas shows us that there is NO hope without the resurrection of Jesus. There is no way to make sense of our earthly existence without God!
Mature faith, faith that serves us for a lifetime, is not a faith that has never experienced doubts. Rather, it is faith that constantly searches and seeks, faith always on the lookout for Jesus, faith that trusts that even when the worst has happened, there in the middle of it stands Jesus. Jesus knew that was the kind of faith we need. That’s why he said to Thomas and all who would hear it, “Peace be with you. Do not be doubting, but believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” That is the promise of the Risen Christ for us: blessed are you and I, for in believing we have life in Jesus’ name. Amen.