Show Me

Text: John 20:18-29

Guest Preacher Rev. Mike Clang

April 7, 2024

In our scripture reading that Wes read, Jesus meets the disciples twice in the

upper room, once with Thomas and once without . . . so I guess it’s fitting that you

all are getting to hear this passage twice . . . last Sunday as you finished your

sermon series on Imperfect People of the Bible and then today on “Doubting

Thomas” Sunday!

I call it that because every year, no matter what cycle of the lectionary you are in,

the appointed Gospel reading for the 2 nd Sunday of Easter is ALWAYS this story

about Thomas. In Seminary, my classmates and I would jokingly call it “Seminary

Intern Sunday” because after a busy Holy Week, many Pastors take off for a

chance to recharge their batteries and they let the Interns preach. Ha.

But I think instead of “Doubting Thomas” or “Seminary Intern”, I would like to call

it “Show Me Sunday”.

Now, one thing you all don’t know about me is that I enjoy looking at vintage

license plates. I don’t collect them, but I enjoy seeing them and I know exactly

where that passion came from . . . our good friends at General Mills. I’m not sure

that they can do this anymore, but when I was growing up, cereal companies used

to put toys and surprises in boxes of cereal. Do they still do that?

I’m not sure that a prize in a box of Fiber One would make me purchase more

now, but as a kid, we could not wait to get those boxes of Lucky Charms home so

we could stick our arm down the box and get out the prize. Did anyone else do

this?

Well, my favorite “prize” was the mini license plates. I mean, how cool was that.

Looked just like a real license plate with holes so you could attach it to your bike.

They were the same color as a real plate AND even had the state slogans.

Oklahoma, where I grew up, was kind of boring . . . Oklahoma is O.K. I loved New

Mexico . . . The Land of Enchantment. There was Utah, The Beehive State, and of

course Oklahoma’s neighboring state Missouri . . . The Show Me State.

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I always wondered about that one. While there are several stories as to where

that slogan originated, it always sounded like “prove it” . . . I don’t believe you, so

show me more.

Well, Johns whole Gospel could well be called the “show me” Gospel, because as

we read it we realize that that from start to finish, it’s not just Thomas who needs

to see more. The first example was in the very 1 st Chapter of John, when Philip

says to Nathaniel, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and the

prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth” (John 1:45). Nathaniel replies

with skepticism: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

In other words . . . show me. Phillip obliges and Nathaniel becomes a disciple.

Then there was the encounter Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well.

After their meeting, she leaves her water jar and runs back into town and tells her

neighbors, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!”.

John tells us that some believed right away but others said, “prove it. We need to

see for ourselves”. Show me. This woman obliges and according to the story,

many more believed.

Fast-forward to Easter morning. Mary tells the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”.

John does not tell us if they believed her testimony or not. He merely continues

the story with what we read today: “That they were behind locked doors, afraid

that the forces that had conspired to bring about the execution of Jesus might

come for them next”. Jesus comes into this secured room saying, “Peace be with

you.”

He shows his hands and his feet to them demonstrating that the Risen One will be

forever recognizable as the Crucified One. They rejoice and then tell Thomas

what Mary had told them; “we have seen the Lord.” Thomas replies with the post-

resurrection equivalent of, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, or Mary’s

“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take

him away”.

Bearing Nathaniel’s skepticism and Mary’s broken heart, Thomas needs more.

Prove it to me. Show me, so I can believe. Remember “to believe” for John is “to

trust” and John seems to understand that trusting and growing in faith is a

process and with that, a process that many times moves slowly.

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For all the educators here, I’m sure you are familiar with Lawrence Kohlberg and

his “Theory of Moral Development” which looks at the six stages we all go

through in the development of our morals from childhood to adulthood. Starting

with stage 1 and our desire to avoid punishment and our focus on what impacts

us alone we eventually arrive at stage 6 where our morals focus on a just society

for everyone, like the one we might read about in the early chapters of the book

of Acts. It’s a movement from “just me” to “everyone”.

Theologian James Fowler looked at something similar with our faith development.

He theorizes that there are seven (7) stages of faith development that we go

through starting with our early development of trust/distrust and eventually

moving to a place that is comfortable with paradox and shifting paradigms.

Now, as with anything that puts our development into stages, there is never any

judgement on a particular stage . . . no one “stage” is better than the other.

These are just ways to look at where we might be as we move and process our life

experiences. And they highlight that it is a process that can take a lifetime as we

move in and out of them all.

It’s “change” and as we all know change can be slow and hard. Some have labeled

these times in our lives as times of Order; Disorder; Reorder or even mini deaths

and resurrections. John knew this. As he was writing this Gospel to his struggling

new community, he knew that they, AND US, would need be reminded of this

over and over again, so he gives us space for questioning.

Jesus seems to get that too. He realized that grasping the experience of the

resurrection is a huge paradigm shift that would take time so he doesn’t scold or

chastise Thomas OR the disciples for that matter, who even after his appearance

to them a week ago are STILL sitting in that locked room. So what does he do?

He gives them peace; he gives them his breath; he gives them the Holy Spirt, the

comforter and advocate; he gives them grace and forgiveness. He is helping them

grow. He gives that to us too!

That is the miracle on this 2 nd Sunday of Easter, that Jesus comes again and again

and again to these scared and confused disciples and he keeps coming to us as

well; not just in times of joy but in our fear, in our confusion, in our disorder, in

all of our questions, in order to help us grow in our faith.

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Thank God because I don’t know about you, but sitting here 2,000 years after the

resurrection, I too sometimes struggle with what it means and I can find myself in

my own locked room. I can be like Thomas, who was not doubting but rather

trying to understand this unique and amazing event. I too can say, “show me . . .

help me wrap my mind around this”. Maybe that’s why Easter is not just a day

but rather a season, a season of 50 days; 50 days to digest it; to slowly let it

transform us and move us from our own locked places to a place of deeper and

deeper faith.

So, have we metaphorically locked ourselves in this morning? Are we sitting here

saying “show me”! Jesus comes to us and says, “OK. Here are my wounds; here is

my Spirit; here is my comforter; go and do. And in the course of life when various

circumstances make you feel “locked in” or confused or needing to ask more

questions; don’t worry; I will be there too; just breathe me in!”

In the end, Thomas is given exactly what he requested, a chance to see and touch

Jesus and he responded with a confession of faith, “my Lord and my God”. Show

me. Jesus says, ‘you bet!”

May it be so. Thanks be to God!

Let us pray: God, may we be doers of your word and not just hearers. Thank you

that you are present with us in all the places of our lives; including those times

when we, like Thomas, need you to show us more. Help us grow so that we too

might confess, “My Lord and my God”. Amen.

NOTES: Fowlers Stages:

Stage 0-Infancy and Undifferentiated Faith (develop trust or distrust)

Stage 1-Intuitive-Projective (Punishment/Reward)

Stage 2-Mythic-Literal (Reciprocity/Ethnocentric)

Stage 3-Synthetic-Conventional (Expectations of others/Groups I associate with)

Stage 4-Indivduative-Reflective (Societal perspective/those with my ideology)

Stage 5-Conjunctive (Prior to Society/Extends to outgroups and other traditions)

Stage 6-Universalizing (Loyal to life itself/identity with species)