The disciples were "sure" they had seen the Risen Lord, but when they ventured out of the locked room to spread the good news, they are disheartened to find out that the "sending forth" doesn't bear fruit immediately.... Thomas is unimpressed. In fact, he doubts their account so much that he declares, "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 it." Good old Thomas! He gets the "Missouri Medal of Doubt", 'cause, in essence he demands, "show me!", and then I'll believe". Thomas doubts. He questions the truth of the story the ten bring him. Blessed Thomas! It takes another week behind closed doors and another visit by our Lord, another offer to touch his scars and feel his wounds, another "peace be with you" and a final command to "stop doubting and believe" before Thomas is convinced.

Over the years, I've come to have a healthy respect for both Thomas and for doubting. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'd even go as far as saying that if there were another Beatitude it might be "Blessed are the doubters, for their questions help strengthen their faith". I state this knowing full well that Jesus calls us to stop doubting his resurrection. He doesn't want us to get "stuck" in the rut of never being able to affirm what we believe. But notice in this morning's reading that he doesn't insist on this until Thomas is through with his questions. Jesus allows Thomas to go through his doubting phase. He nurtures his doubting until it blossoms into believing. That's why I'm convinced that healthy doubting with sincere and genuine questioning, have their place in our faith journey. Out of the seeking, my faith is strengthened.

But I do doubt and question, and so do you. Want some examples?

I have deep questions about why some people have to suffer. I question why some bad people get along quite well in this world and some obviously good people don't. I have to be frank with you. I doubt that we're getting the whole truth about the Elian Gonzalez story from either side. The saga of the little boy lost on the raft last Thanksgiving has now been torn asunder by exploiters from both countries. I doubt the accuracy of what we're hearing from Miami and Washington and Havana. And I don't know who to believe anymore.

I doubt we've seen the end of the stock market's wild ride these past few weeks. I doubt the Pacers will win the NBA title (now don't stone me on that last point…) I sometimes doubt the wild stories of my teens, and I'm sure they question the sanity of their pastor father. Spiritually, this "holy" man goes through some dark valleys when the only voice I hear in prayer is my own. Deep down inside me and inside you are hidden doubts about all kinds of things. Do these questions mean we are hopelessly lost, spiritually abandoned? No, of course not!

Bass Mitchell does a better job than I can in explaining the "why?" of doubting:

"We have doubts because we are human. We are limited in what we know. If we knew everything about everything, we would not doubt anything! But who knows everything about anything? Doubt is an expression of our limitedness. It serves or can serve to drive us on, to challenge us to grow, to understand in deeper ways." (from the Internet)

I think it did to Jesus. Notice in our scripture lesson that when the disciples gather again the following week, he does not condemn Thomas for his earlier absence nor his questioning behavior. He greets the gathered eleven with the same words as the week before, "Peace be with you". Even doubters get his peace! Then he adds three commands, "put", "reach", and "stop". In the NIV it comes out, "Put your finger here; "reach out your hand", and "stop doubting and believe".

For those of us who doubt all kinds of things on this "ho hum" Sunday, may I suggest we use the same commands of Jesus to guide us in our seeking process in the journey of faith. Rather than pretend we have no doubts, let's see what we can do with them.

1. First, let's put them "out on the table"; that is, acknowledge them as honest questions for which we do not have easy answers. Thomas did this when he put his objections to the ten disciples who had seen the Lord. When I put my doubts out, I do an interior inventory of all that is bothering me (and this can take a while!) However, when I center in on the one or two doubts or questions facing me at the moment, I know immediately what they are and I identify them for what they are. I put them before myself, but more importantly, I put them before the Lord. No easy answers here, but no pretending either. We share them together.

I believe in the process my doubt is actually may faith seeking to grow. As Bass Mitchell says, "Faith can use doubt and questions to nourish itself. Our doubts and questions can stimulate us to really try to understand what it is we believe."

2. Second, I suggest we do something about our doubts when we reach out to God and to others. And I don't suggest we do this just to burn off excess nervous energy. By reaching out I mean praying and confessing my doubts to God and sharing my genuine faith questions with others. Reaching out is not an attempt to confuse but to confirm I am not alone, nor are any of us, in the struggles to make sense out of life. I believe that our doubt can be a sign of the depth of our concern, that we do, in fact, have faith and that we take it seriously (Mitchell). And this concern is not just for our own understanding, but for our connecting with our brothers and sisters who are also struggling in the faith journey.

I cannot answer the "why" questions of why bad things happen to us here at St.Matthew (any more than I can answer why bad things happen to believers anywhere.) We get cancer, have tragic accidents, lose our job, find our marriages in trouble, struggle with our growing teens, agonize over our aging parents, and are generally frustrated by all the taxes we have to pay - just like everybody else. But I can reach out to all of these people who are struggling, some physically and some prayerfully, and hold them close in body and spirit. I can reassure them that even though we don't know everything, we are known by the One who loves us most and knows us best. And so can you.

Reaching out takes many forms. We reach out when we go to Sunday School or Bible Study or Circle meeting or a Simple Supper or a special service here at church. We reach out when we take food to loved ones, listen to a little one, take the initiative to do good even when we're not feeling like it, or when nobody notices our doing it. Reaching out means sharing insights, being vulnerable to learning new things, stepping out of our "comfort zones", and showing concern for those for whom little concern has ever been shown. Reaching out involves community. Paul Tillich says that "serious doubt is confirmation of faith. It indicates the seriousness of the concern". Doubt is a sign that we take our faith seriously, that we want to understand, to grow. (Mitchell) And doubt can move us to belief as we reach out in faith.

3. Finally, we can stop complaining about doubting. I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time feeling guilty and consumed by my unanswered questions of faith in life and life in faith. I know a lot of you do too. Somewhere along the line somebody has given us a message that if we are not always happy in the faith, or successful in our undertakings, or fruitful in our evangelism, that we are not OK. And we've believed them! When I find myself with too many unanswered prayers, too many emotionally cloudy days, and a discipleship family that is struggling rather than multiplying, I am tempted to believe that doubt has consumed me, and I have lost my faith. Do you ever feel this way?

Jesus told Thomas, in the last analysis, to stop doubting and believe. I'm sure it wasn't easy for him. Remember, there is a relative comfort, but danger, in settling in to a lifestyle of doubting. But, after he put his fingers in the wounds and reached out his hand to Jesus' side, after he'd asked all the questions and struggled to put it all together, Thomas found himself a believer in word and deed. In fact, his deeds kept pace with his word. Of all the eleven disciples, tradition tells it is was Thomas, not Peter, who moved furthest into the unknown world spreading the Gospel. Today the Mar Toma, or Church of St. Thomas, in India, traces its roots to the Doubter. Only someone of faith could have gone that far with so little!

Most of us will never make it to India, but there are all kinds of wonderful plans God has for us who eventually stop making excuses for our questions, and decide to move on into belief. When we stop persecuting ourselves for honest questioning, genuine soul searching, when we reach out to others and put our hands and hearts into the hand of God, then we are on the road to belief.

Yes, Easter is over. The good, clean feeling of the holiday is gone. The lilies have all been marched off to bloom elsewhere. We're back into "ho hum land", but we are not alone. We are besieged by questions and concerns and doubts that cannot be adequately addressed at the moment, but we are never abandoned. It seems providential to me that on this Sunday after Easter Thomas should escort us on in the journey of faith. No Rock, no mighty fisherman or tax collector, no, none of these. Thomas is a man of doubt, and honestly expressed, finds himself changed into a man of belief. I would love to be known by such a title. How about you?

Before I pray and we sing, would you turn with me in the hymnbook to #881 (The Apostles' Creed, Traditional Version). As I read it aloud, would you follow along and ask yourself if you believe these ancient creed and statement of faith. If you're not sure, don't condemn yourself, but don't absolve yourself either. Rather, use it as a springboard or a ruler to struggle and measure, as Thomas did, with what belief is all about, about "what" it is that we believe. The faithful community is here to uphold and encourage and enable. But it's a journey and we're just beginning. Don't let this opportunity to grow pass you by. The road of faith that began at Easter winds onward and upward. You can be "sure" of it.