“Thomas was not with them”

A Sermon by Pastor Victor E. Sawyer

Sunday 4/23/2006

What a day it had been. The many trips to the tomb; the many retellings of the story; the report of the encounter on the road to Damascus, the dark threats and rumors too, all make a bad day very bad.  By now it is Sunday evening.  Despite all the excitement, these disciples are afraid, and so in some private room, behind closed doors they sat together to try to sort it all out.

Suddenly Jesus appeared to the disciples (v. 19). He was in their midst though no one had opened the door. The adrenaline flowed, goose bumps appeared on goose bumps, and their hearts are racing. Jesus gave them the supreme greeting

“Shalom” – “Peace be with you”.

Jesus then showed them his hands and his side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord (v20b). Luke says they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement”. Can anyone describe that night? I think not. We reach the heights of mystery when we read in John 20:22-23:  And with that  he breathed on them and said : Receive…

What a day. Without a doubt it was the most dramatic day in the history of the world. But one disciple had missed it. “Now Thomas was not with them”. When the attendance was taken, Thomas was not there.  When the roll was called, Thomas was not present.     Look at what Thomas missed because he had dropped out. He missed the miracle. He missed the moment. He missed the Risen Christ – simply because he wasn’t there.

Now you know that we take attendance every Sunday. We ask you to take those attendance forms in the pews and write your name- first name, last name, address, and telephone no. and please write clearly so that  Ruth can record your attendance, and Delores Nichols can send you a post card.  In addition to that I take my own attendance.

I know where you sit, and I look at that seat and you are not there, and don’t try to change your seat.

Sesame Street has its Oscar the Grouch

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs have their Grumpy

Charlie Brown and the Peanuts kids have their Lucy

The early disciples have their Doubting Thomas

We all deal with our grief differently, and maybe Thomas' grief had driven him to go somewhere by himself; he wanted to be all alone.  I never forgot June 15, 1987, I received a phone call at 10 o clock in the morning telling me that my mother had died.

I wanted to be left alone. I locked myself in the room and cried the rest of the day.

But Thomas had left the group.Why do people drop out . Why do we have a hard time hanging in there? There are many reasons of course. We encounter a moral state of confusion and uncertainty; we lose our support system. One new book asks Why do young people leave the church: They just want to assert their independence; church is the place where Mom and Dad took us to when we did not have a choice, and now that I have a choice I am going to drop out.  I heard someone say I can build a relationship with God without going to church.  That is like graduating from school without reading a book,

Like learning to drive a car without getting into a car, like learning to cook without turning on the stove

Let me say something to you with all the feeling that I have in my heart:

Please don’t let what happen to Thomas happen to you; don’t drop out.

Don’t lose your church; don’t cut yourself off from the roots of faith. 

This is a classic case of when your ship comes in you are waiting at the airport.

If you are in church, please stay here! If you have somehow slipped away; if you have just gotten out of the habit, please come back. If you have never really gotten into the church, there is no better time than now to join.

We want you, and we welcome you with open arms. But more than that, God wants you and welcomes you with open arms.

 Hebrews 10:25 says Do not forget to assemble yourselves together. There is a song that says:

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more

And the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore

And the roll is called up yonder- I’ll be there.

Let us labor for the Lord from the dawn till setting sun, Let us talk of all  His wondrous love and care, Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done

And the roll is called up yonder; I’ll be there.

Not only did Thomas drop out, but when he returned and they gave him the report he did not believe.  He had missed Easter, and now he was angry with himself.

He was saying to himself I wish I had never left.

But I am so glad that God is the God of a second chance. Some persons missed service last Sunday, and you got the report that the service was simply beautiful, and you have come today to receive your Easter blessing.

Thomas doubted because he thought that death was the end of life.

Here we are April 23 2006. It was 11 years ago that we saw that horrendous bomb go off at the Alfred P. Murrah Building in OK City killing and maiming hundreds of innocent people, including children and babies.  The picture that captured the tragedy of the disaster was that of the firefighter carrying the little baby girl.  Baylee Almon was her name. The day before the bombing, this little baby had celebrated her first birthday.

A reporter interviewed her mother; she spoke through her tears telling reporters that the only way she could make it, the only thing that keeps her going is knowing that Baylee is in heaven with God, and God will take care of her.

For the Christian death is not the end of life.