1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,800 Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,433 and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 3 00:00:07,333 --> 00:00:07,666 Amen. 4 00:00:10,066 --> 00:00:14,466 All right, I'm here to speak on behalf of Thomas. 5 00:00:16,466 --> 00:00:20,133 Why does he have to bear this negative nickname 6 00:00:20,133 --> 00:00:21,733 all through history? 7 00:00:22,433 --> 00:00:23,833 It doesn't seem fair to me. 8 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,566 I mean, come on, the other apostles messed up too, right? 9 00:00:29,166 --> 00:00:34,166 But we don't have Peter the denier, we never say that. 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,766 Or we say, we don't say John the timid. 11 00:00:38,833 --> 00:00:41,533 And yet John runs to the tomb and he's too timid 12 00:00:41,533 --> 00:00:44,033 to even go in until Peter shows up. 13 00:00:44,366 --> 00:00:45,766 I'm just gonna sit here and tremble. 14 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:48,233 But we never say John the timid. 15 00:00:48,466 --> 00:00:50,466 We never say Peter the denier. 16 00:00:50,666 --> 00:00:51,966 But what do we say? 17 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:54,733 Doubting Thomas. 18 00:00:55,633 --> 00:00:56,966 Man, that's just not fair. 19 00:00:58,566 --> 00:01:02,633 Come on, Thomas was really a brave guy. 20 00:01:02,966 --> 00:01:04,266 He was a man of action. 21 00:01:04,866 --> 00:01:08,233 When Jesus announces that he's going to Judea 22 00:01:08,233 --> 00:01:10,666 to raise Lazarus from the dead, 23 00:01:12,066 --> 00:01:14,500 I mean, some of the other apostles are saying, 24 00:01:15,033 --> 00:01:17,700 hey, Jesus is kinda dangerous there. 25 00:01:18,733 --> 00:01:20,166 You might get stoned. 26 00:01:21,333 --> 00:01:22,633 What does Thomas say? 27 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,400 Let us also go that we may die with him. 28 00:01:28,566 --> 00:01:29,933 That's a brave guy. 29 00:01:32,333 --> 00:01:34,633 The church fathers also tell us that Thomas, 30 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,766 after the resurrection, he went to India. 31 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:41,833 And in fact, many of the Indian Christians 32 00:01:41,833 --> 00:01:47,433 still trace their heritage back to St. Thomas. 33 00:01:49,166 --> 00:01:51,966 He goes to India, outside of the Roman Empire, 34 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:53,633 outside of civilization. 35 00:01:54,900 --> 00:01:59,266 So what I hear, you know, Navy chaplain, 36 00:01:59,466 --> 00:02:01,266 served with Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 37 00:02:01,366 --> 00:02:05,133 what I hear is Thomas is a guy who runs 38 00:02:05,133 --> 00:02:06,466 to the sound of the guns, 39 00:02:07,766 --> 00:02:10,400 and Thomas is a guy that deploys overseas. 40 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:13,733 I would suggest, I'm just suggesting this, 41 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,666 we change the nickname to Thomas the Marine. 42 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:20,566 Is that, can we all agree on that? 43 00:02:20,666 --> 00:02:21,733 That'll work for everyone? 44 00:02:22,366 --> 00:02:23,633 This would be Thomas the Marine. 45 00:02:23,633 --> 00:02:25,100 Marine from now on. 46 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:27,666 I mean, come on. 47 00:02:29,100 --> 00:02:31,466 I can really resonate with Thomas, though. 48 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:33,266 I will be honest with you. 49 00:02:34,033 --> 00:02:38,733 Death is a difficult concept to grasp, right? 50 00:02:39,433 --> 00:02:41,033 We're not made for death. 51 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:44,600 And when a loved one dies, what do we say often? 52 00:02:45,633 --> 00:02:47,166 I can't believe it. 53 00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:49,533 I can't believe it. 54 00:02:50,166 --> 00:02:52,466 My dad passed away a few years ago, 55 00:02:52,466 --> 00:02:56,566 and I still find myself wanting to tell him something, 56 00:02:57,566 --> 00:02:58,933 and he's not there. 57 00:02:59,866 --> 00:03:02,766 And I say, I can't believe it. 58 00:03:04,366 --> 00:03:08,533 We are created for life, not for death. 59 00:03:08,966 --> 00:03:10,900 And that's why when the psalmist says, 60 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:13,433 Yea, though I walk through the valley 61 00:03:13,433 --> 00:03:15,633 of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 62 00:03:15,633 --> 00:03:17,500 Why? Because you are with me. 63 00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:19,433 If you weren't with me, 64 00:03:20,566 --> 00:03:22,566 this would be pretty scary territory, 65 00:03:24,133 --> 00:03:26,400 because I'm not made for death. 66 00:03:27,566 --> 00:03:29,266 I'm made for life. 67 00:03:31,633 --> 00:03:33,966 And if death is difficult to grasp, 68 00:03:35,466 --> 00:03:39,766 resurrection is even more difficult to grasp. 69 00:03:41,733 --> 00:03:46,133 I mean, Thomas saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, right? 70 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:47,600 He saw that. 71 00:03:49,366 --> 00:03:53,866 But, you know, Lazarus, he just got sick and died. 72 00:03:54,566 --> 00:03:56,066 And the only thing anybody ever says is, 73 00:03:56,166 --> 00:03:59,433 well, it'll kind of stink if you roll away the stone. 74 00:04:01,233 --> 00:04:02,833 But not with Jesus. 75 00:04:04,666 --> 00:04:06,966 Thomas saw the crucifixion. 76 00:04:07,466 --> 00:04:11,933 Thomas saw the nails pounded into his hands and his feet. 77 00:04:12,033 --> 00:04:13,433 He saw the torture. 78 00:04:13,433 --> 00:04:16,466 He saw the gasping for breath. 79 00:04:19,166 --> 00:04:20,833 And eventually dying. 80 00:04:22,466 --> 00:04:24,666 And to really put a sharp point on it, 81 00:04:24,766 --> 00:04:28,233 literally, a spear shoved into Jesus' side 82 00:04:28,933 --> 00:04:30,566 to make sure he's still dead. 83 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,166 And blood and water flows out. 84 00:04:34,666 --> 00:04:36,333 This is not getting sick and dying. 85 00:04:38,633 --> 00:04:43,000 This is a beating to a pulp. 86 00:04:44,066 --> 00:04:45,833 To flesh torn. 87 00:04:48,166 --> 00:04:49,466 You don't come back from that. 88 00:04:51,166 --> 00:04:52,533 I get it, Thomas. 89 00:04:53,433 --> 00:04:55,000 We didn't grasp death. 90 00:04:55,633 --> 00:04:57,700 And now you're telling me he's risen? 91 00:04:58,100 --> 00:05:00,333 How am I supposed to grasp that? 92 00:05:02,300 --> 00:05:07,500 But, you know, this isn't about grasping something. 93 00:05:09,533 --> 00:05:12,433 This is about being grasped. 94 00:05:14,933 --> 00:05:17,033 Jesus grasps us. 95 00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:20,200 Jesus comes for Thomas. 96 00:05:21,966 --> 00:05:25,866 I love the scene, you know. 97 00:05:26,933 --> 00:05:28,400 The apostles are all there. 98 00:05:29,033 --> 00:05:30,233 Jesus comes among them. 99 00:05:30,666 --> 00:05:31,800 And he says, hey, peace be with you. 100 00:05:31,900 --> 00:05:32,600 Good to see you again. 101 00:05:32,966 --> 00:05:37,666 And then gets, as we say in the military, 102 00:05:37,766 --> 00:05:39,933 he gets kneecap to kneecap with Thomas. 103 00:05:41,366 --> 00:05:43,066 Eyeball to eyeball. 104 00:05:43,566 --> 00:05:45,266 He comes right for Thomas. 105 00:05:47,466 --> 00:05:51,033 Echoes of his parable from Luke 15, right? 106 00:05:52,233 --> 00:05:56,466 The woman who loses a coin and sweeps the whole house 107 00:05:56,466 --> 00:06:00,833 to find that coin and then rejoices so much 108 00:06:00,833 --> 00:06:03,100 she tells all her friends, I found the coin. 109 00:06:04,833 --> 00:06:05,866 That's Jesus. 110 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:08,500 And we're the coin. 111 00:06:09,933 --> 00:06:11,233 And Thomas is the coin. 112 00:06:12,233 --> 00:06:13,533 And he comes after us. 113 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:15,000 And he comes after Thomas. 114 00:06:16,166 --> 00:06:19,166 And Thomas before said, come on, I can't believe this. 115 00:06:19,166 --> 00:06:22,766 But Jesus comes to him and says, come on, Thomas. 116 00:06:24,133 --> 00:06:27,033 Touch Me and see. 117 00:06:28,266 --> 00:06:30,333 Put your hands into the wounds. 118 00:06:30,866 --> 00:06:32,766 Put your hands into My side. 119 00:06:35,033 --> 00:06:35,766 Feel it. 120 00:06:36,933 --> 00:06:37,633 Know it. 121 00:06:38,633 --> 00:06:42,733 The point is not about Jesus or not about Thomas's doubt, 122 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:48,933 but about Jesus' relentless love and commitment to us. 123 00:06:51,233 --> 00:06:57,266 His chasing after us, His overwhelming and personal love 124 00:06:57,266 --> 00:07:00,066 for each and every one of us. 125 00:07:01,233 --> 00:07:04,366 This is always about Jesus. 126 00:07:05,733 --> 00:07:09,066 At the cross, Jesus did all he needed to do 127 00:07:09,066 --> 00:07:11,133 to win for us salvation. 128 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,566 Win for us forgiveness and new life. 129 00:07:19,333 --> 00:07:22,733 And then He asks us, He asks the apostles, 130 00:07:23,333 --> 00:07:24,900 deliver this now. 131 00:07:25,066 --> 00:07:28,166 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. 132 00:07:28,466 --> 00:07:31,466 If you don't forgive the sins of any, they are not forgiven. 133 00:07:31,466 --> 00:07:33,300 In other words, this is your job. 134 00:07:34,333 --> 00:07:37,000 Deliver what I have won at the cross. 135 00:07:39,866 --> 00:07:42,766 This is the sacred charge of the church. 136 00:07:43,866 --> 00:07:48,166 Deliver the forgiveness Jesus won at the cross. 137 00:07:50,533 --> 00:07:54,233 And He does this by enlivening our faith 138 00:07:54,233 --> 00:07:57,533 through the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. 139 00:07:58,133 --> 00:08:01,333 There's a kind of a throwaway at the end of the reading. 140 00:08:01,566 --> 00:08:03,466 We don't always pay attention to it, 141 00:08:03,566 --> 00:08:05,800 which is these are written that you might believe 142 00:08:06,433 --> 00:08:09,233 that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, 143 00:08:09,233 --> 00:08:12,433 and that by believing you may have life in His name. 144 00:08:12,833 --> 00:08:14,366 Kind of like almost like a tagline, 145 00:08:14,566 --> 00:08:16,066 but there's so much there. 146 00:08:16,366 --> 00:08:22,500 This was written for you, that you might believe. 147 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:23,700 There's power here. 148 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,733 The Holy Spirit is working in the scriptures. 149 00:08:28,866 --> 00:08:31,700 I've heard many of us bemoan the fact 150 00:08:31,700 --> 00:08:34,833 that we did not maybe live at Jesus' time 151 00:08:34,833 --> 00:08:37,166 to see the miracles, to hear Jesus' words. 152 00:08:37,733 --> 00:08:42,033 But St. John Chrysostom reminds us of the promise, 153 00:08:42,566 --> 00:08:45,433 the promise that Jesus speaks to Thomas, 154 00:08:45,433 --> 00:08:48,433 that really is he speaking to us. 155 00:08:51,033 --> 00:08:55,333 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 156 00:08:57,866 --> 00:09:00,733 Anybody here ever watch the TV show, The Office? 157 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:02,566 Okay, a few. 158 00:09:03,333 --> 00:09:06,300 But one of the devices in the show is they do the drama, 159 00:09:06,300 --> 00:09:09,066 but then all of a sudden they turn and talk to the camera. 160 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:16,966 Well, in our reading, Jesus is turning and talking to us. 161 00:09:18,300 --> 00:09:21,466 He's interacting with his apostles, but when He says, 162 00:09:22,266 --> 00:09:25,933 blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed, 163 00:09:25,933 --> 00:09:27,400 He's talking to us. 164 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:33,333 He's saying, I am blessing you with the power to believe 165 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,166 and to trust and to receive what I have won for you 166 00:09:37,166 --> 00:09:37,866 at the cross. 167 00:09:39,566 --> 00:09:42,933 When He says blessed, this is not some Southern, 168 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:44,633 oh, bless your heart sort of thing. 169 00:09:45,566 --> 00:09:47,866 Okay, we all know what that means. 170 00:09:48,933 --> 00:09:53,933 But when Jesus is blessing, that means He's doing the work. 171 00:09:54,566 --> 00:09:57,966 He's doing something in our lives. 172 00:09:58,966 --> 00:10:01,400 Blessed are you. 173 00:10:02,300 --> 00:10:04,233 Jesus is working in your life. 174 00:10:06,133 --> 00:10:09,133 He is building what Hebrews 11 tells us. 175 00:10:09,466 --> 00:10:12,633 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, 176 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,566 the convictions of things not seen. 177 00:10:17,866 --> 00:10:19,566 Jesus is doing the work. 178 00:10:20,233 --> 00:10:23,866 He has sent the other paraclete that He promised. 179 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:27,366 He breathed on them the Holy Spirit 180 00:10:27,366 --> 00:10:29,100 or breathed on them and said to them, 181 00:10:29,100 --> 00:10:30,333 receive the Holy Spirit. 182 00:10:31,833 --> 00:10:33,033 So too for us. 183 00:10:34,533 --> 00:10:37,600 This assurance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 184 00:10:37,966 --> 00:10:39,833 We teach this in our catechism, right? 185 00:10:41,300 --> 00:10:43,133 Those of you who've returned from vicarage, 186 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:44,533 you probably had to teach this 187 00:10:45,266 --> 00:10:46,800 in your catechism instruction. 188 00:10:47,433 --> 00:10:50,500 I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength, 189 00:10:51,233 --> 00:10:53,433 I should get you to repeat it for me, right? 190 00:10:54,333 --> 00:10:56,833 Believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, 191 00:10:56,833 --> 00:10:59,966 but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, 192 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:01,500 enlightened me with his gifts, 193 00:11:01,866 --> 00:11:04,666 sanctified and kept me in the one true faith. 194 00:11:06,033 --> 00:11:07,166 Jesus is working. 195 00:11:08,466 --> 00:11:10,300 The Holy Spirit is working. 196 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,233 Sailors back in sailing days used to have, 197 00:11:16,233 --> 00:11:19,333 well, tattoos, you may have heard of them, 198 00:11:20,366 --> 00:11:24,133 but they would have tattooed on their fingers, 199 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:29,033 their knuckles, hold fast, hold fast. 200 00:11:29,766 --> 00:11:31,233 And it was there to remind them, 201 00:11:31,333 --> 00:11:33,533 hold fast to the line, hold fast to the ship 202 00:11:34,333 --> 00:11:35,533 in the midst of storms. 203 00:11:37,733 --> 00:11:39,266 But let's not fool ourselves. 204 00:11:40,533 --> 00:11:42,666 No amount of human strength, 205 00:11:43,666 --> 00:11:48,666 no amount of rank or privilege or intellect 206 00:11:50,066 --> 00:11:53,566 will allow us to hold fast in the storms of life. 207 00:11:54,666 --> 00:11:58,300 We need to be held fast, 208 00:11:59,033 --> 00:12:04,233 grasped by Jesus and held close to Him. 209 00:12:04,966 --> 00:12:07,133 And that's the promise He gives us, 210 00:12:07,466 --> 00:12:10,733 that He is holding fast to us. 211 00:12:11,900 --> 00:12:18,100 Just like Thomas, where Jesus says, come on, touch, feel. 212 00:12:19,166 --> 00:12:24,966 So too today, He says, come on, touch my body, 213 00:12:26,633 --> 00:12:30,633 touch my blood and receive the assurance 214 00:12:31,700 --> 00:12:36,000 that I am with you, that I am holding you fast, 215 00:12:36,766 --> 00:12:40,566 that I am empowering you with the gospel. 216 00:12:42,166 --> 00:12:45,966 So where will that empowerment take you? 217 00:12:47,666 --> 00:12:49,666 Where will it propel you? 218 00:12:51,233 --> 00:12:53,466 For Thomas, it propelled him to India. 219 00:12:54,433 --> 00:12:56,566 For Paul, it propelled him to Spain. 220 00:12:56,966 --> 00:12:58,333 Will you go to India? 221 00:12:58,466 --> 00:12:59,833 Will you go to Spain? 222 00:13:01,866 --> 00:13:05,000 Or maybe you'll go to the Red Sea. 223 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,733 On deck of a destroyer praying with sailors 224 00:13:08,733 --> 00:13:10,966 as they shoot down missiles. 225 00:13:12,833 --> 00:13:17,833 Or maybe you'll go to Africa and support soldiers 226 00:13:18,466 --> 00:13:24,566 or National Guard members as they teach our allies 227 00:13:25,933 --> 00:13:27,033 the skills they'll need. 228 00:13:28,233 --> 00:13:33,000 Or maybe you'll go with Marines to Australia 229 00:13:33,666 --> 00:13:38,666 and pray with them as they work with our allies 230 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:45,333 and try to keep maybe our adversaries thinking again 231 00:13:45,333 --> 00:13:46,966 about doing anything crazy. 232 00:13:48,966 --> 00:13:57,066 Where will the empowered life God has given you take you 233 00:13:58,033 --> 00:14:01,833 to bring what Jesus has delivered to us to bring? 234 00:14:02,833 --> 00:14:04,366 The gospel of forgiveness. 235 00:14:06,166 --> 00:14:15,033 Well, I rush to defend Thomas and Peter and John 236 00:14:15,033 --> 00:14:18,333 and all the other apostles and all of us 237 00:14:18,333 --> 00:14:23,333 who all of us fall short often 238 00:14:23,333 --> 00:14:25,366 of what God has called us to do. 239 00:14:26,233 --> 00:14:31,233 I am doubting, I am denying, I am timid. 240 00:14:32,533 --> 00:14:35,433 Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. 241 00:14:37,833 --> 00:14:38,466 And He does. 242 00:14:40,166 --> 00:14:43,666 Like Thomas, Jesus comes after us 243 00:14:44,466 --> 00:14:47,200 and He gets kneecap and kneecap with us 244 00:14:48,300 --> 00:14:53,333 and declares to us we are forgiven and we are empowered 245 00:14:54,566 --> 00:14:55,900 and He is with us. 246 00:14:56,533 --> 00:15:02,933 We don't grasp Him, He grasps us through word and sacrament 247 00:15:03,833 --> 00:15:07,133 and Jesus sends us out. 248 00:15:09,433 --> 00:15:16,633 So Jesus promised, spoken to Thomas but really meant for us. 249 00:15:17,900 --> 00:15:25,433 Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have believed. 250 00:15:27,233 --> 00:15:27,833 Amen. 251 00:15:29,666 --> 00:15:31,333 And now may the peace of God 252 00:15:31,333 --> 00:15:33,200 which passes all human understanding 253 00:15:33,733 --> 00:15:36,900 keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. 254 00:15:37,900 --> 00:15:38,233 Amen.