As we are still in the Easter Season, this is the sixth Sunday of Easter, as my Methodist worship book tells me, I have decided to revisit the wonderful encounter that happened between Jesus and Thomas.

I don’t know if any of you have read or seen a book that came out last year called “In God We Doubt, confessions of a failed atheist”
The book was written by John Humphrys…..the confident and unshakable presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme.
Humprhys is well known for his tough questioning of Politicians and Public figures….he has a great ability to get to the truth, he relentlessly presses his interviewee for the honest answer. This time it’s not a lowly Cabinet minister, or the Prime Minister, or even the President that he’s gone for, no, John Humprhys has gone for God,….. well gone looking for God.
He’s been looking all his lifetime, from childhood where he pondered life’s big questions, and failed to find any big answers; It was by chance that he became a journalist, in 1966 he was present at Aberfan, and reported on what he saw, it was this event that made him doubt God further, he thought how could any God let little children suffer and die like this. He then began a flirtation with Athesim, but that didn’t click with him either, today John Humphrys declares himself an Agnostic, he’s a searcher.
Where athesim expresses a certainity that “it isn’t true” agnostiscim is still searching for the certainity that “it is true”

I personally have a secret admiration for him, he tries so hard to believe, he wants to believe with such honesty, but can’t bring himself to do so, he can’t take that trusting leap, he’s searched high and low, but maybe that is the problem, maybe he’s been searching too hard.
How often have we searched for our door keys, you look everywhere, under cushions, handbag, pockets, you get frantic, in the end you have to use the spare one, then a little later you come back home and you suddenly come across the keys in the most unlikley place!!…

I know that analogy is rather simplistic, but maybe faith is all about simplicity.
Humphry’s wants proof, just like Thomas wanted proof, in the passage we’ve just read, but the difference here is that Thomas had already been a disciple of Jesus, had followed his teachings, but in his heart he wasn’t sure, he needed real evidence, there seemed a little bit of agnostic within him.

Are we still searching for proof?

Is there a little bit of an agnostic in all of us?

Maybe we can identify with Thomas more than we care to admit…….
It seems to me that our World today is pervaded by doubt and un-certainity.
Doubt is one of the Hallmarks of our present age, and it’s not surprising that it is…look at the society we live in, we know it’s easy to fall victim to other peoples’s certainties, we just have to look at advertising, and the media, even in Politics, it’s all spin!.. telling a few porkies here and there, trying to hook us in, we hate being duped by it, I’m sure the ladies in the congregation, maybe even the men, have been seduced by adverts selling them magical face creams that will make wrinkles disappear, how many times have we read, (the appearance of wrinkles is reduced in only 4 weeks!) to reveal revitalised younger looking skin!!!
You buy it…You get all excited… put in on your skin, four weeks down the line your’e waiting to look revitalised and stunning, unfortunately when you look in the mirror, it’s still you, with all your wrinkles!….advertising… it’s all spin.
In order to survive today’s society we have to be skeptical, we have to have a healthy bit of doubt, there are dangers lurking everywhere for the gullible.

So Thomas really is the 21st century man, we can see a bit of ourselves in him, he’s a realist, an honest skeptic. Thomas wants real reasons to believe, real touchable reasons to believe, physical proof. He lays down conditions to belive that Jesus is risen-the nail marks in his hands the wound in his side “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe”
Suprisingly Jesus complies with Thomas’ requests, standing in that room amidst the disciples he lets Thomas touch his nail marks and wound. With this physical proof Thomas is transformed from his unbelief , he sees the risen lord-“My Lord and My God”.
Jesus follows this with a very important and gentle rebuke----“Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”

We should be glad we have this encounter with Thomas in the Bible, I think it gives us a pragmatic version to the story that could have been seen as a collection of visions, people’s grief stricken delusions it’s also an encounter that highlights human frailty, but also encouragement as we think of Jesus’ response. It’s not only good to admit to having doubts, but also inevitable that we will always have doubts, because God can never be confined by our tiny minds, never put into our pockets, domesticated for our purposes.

If only we could see God, that wish, deep in the hearts of so many people down the ages, life would be very different, our uncertainities and doubts would disappear. Each step of life would be clear in it’s direction and firm in it’s tread, but it’s not like that, the road of faith is tough, we will always be “tossed about with many a conflict many a doubt”, it’s as if a cloud of unknowing hovers between us and God, then from time to time that cloud is SUDDENLY pierced by a shaft of light so bright, showing us something about God, a glimpse of God, it maybe a moment of happiness, an experience of true love, or a moment of despair and sadness when we feel his presence. We must rest in the thought and realise that God is present everywhere, God is the oxygen of our existence. As Christians we believe in the God who is made known and made available through Jesus Christ, Jesus stands up to scrutiny, we have all the evidence we need throughout the gospels, his miracles, his words and through his resurrection.
Why people find it hard to believe, is because they want to keep control, we all like to be in control, faith is about relinquishing that control and trusting whole-heartedly in God.
We have to let go of our negative thoughts, we have to let go of Fear, we have to let go of our doubts, let’s go out into the darkeness and put our hand into the hand of God.
He will be our light and our Guide forever
Amen

Loving God…Reassure us that You are with us when we feel alone. _Ease our doubting, as You did Thomas's. _
Guide our search for faith, so that we may not seek it where it is not to be found, _but we may seek it in You

Amen.