2 Easter, 2026-A: Room to doubt

Lectionary: Acts 2:14a,22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31 

En el nombre de Dios: creador, redentor, y santificador... In the name of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen. 

After a powerful Holy Week, followed by glorious Easter celebrations, the overwhelming joy continues for us today as we are blessed to Baptize Vera Blair Nash and welcome her into the part of the body of Christ at Emmanuel. The joyful innocence of a child always invigorates our hope, but more importantly, Vera’s presence among us gives us a holy purpose: to notice and nurture her unique gifts, then provide her ways to practice and use them as she grows in her faith.

As Vera’s family of faith, we will affirm our responsibility and our joyful duty to teach Vera to live in accordance with her faith. Vera will learn that from her experience of our words and our lives. She will discover that formation is a life-long process by witnessing us continually evolving and growing in our faith as Jesus continues to be revealed to us.

Like Thomas in our gospel, Vera also will be given room to doubt. In the Gospel story, the disciple Thomas missed Jesus’ first appearance in the locked room to which the disciples had fled in fear. He missed Jesus breathing his Spirit on them. He missed Jesus’ teaching about what that meant; and when the others told him about it he didn’t believe them. I won’t believe a thing you say, Thomas insisted, unless I see it for myself.

Like Thomas, so many of us just aren’t there at first. Doubt is a natural part of the path of faith and it is to be embraced, not denied, as Thomas witnessed for us. There are times each of us may wonder what our friends know and experience about God that we don’t, and it may leave us feeling different or alone, even in the midst of our faith community.

The Good News in this gospel story, however, is that Jesus will come to us, just as he did for Thomas. Jesus will meet us at the place of our doubt and invite us to touch the divine.

We don’t know if Thomas actually touched Jesus or if he was transformed simply by his encounter with the living Christ, but Thomas’ response gives voice to a universal sigh that echoes through the generations each time someone is penetrated by a true experience of unity with God in Jesus: My Lord and my God!

The gospel assures us that whenever we fall into doubt or gloom, Jesus will come to us. It may be that he comes to us through a friend who reaches out, or maybe in a quiet moment of prayer, or in a dream while we sleep. In whatever way it happens, we are assured that Jesus will meet us where we are, invite us to reconnect, and restore us to wholeness.

When Jesus breathed on the disciples, he repeated the act of the Creator God in Genesis who breathed life into the first humans. As he did this, Jesus said, "Peace be with you." This isn't just a word of comfort to the disciples. It's a gift of wholeness.

The word is shalom, and the new life being breathed on them was the very substance of Jesus' own Spirit which connected them. This was their moment of reconciliation to God in Christ and it's a synergistic moment. They are the exactly same as they were, only completely different. Their humanity has now been united to Christ's divinity and that changes everything. The next step is to learn how to live with one foot in both worlds, as my grandmother used to say: one on earth and one in heaven.

Then Jesus taught them how to do just that. What you do on earth happens in heaven. If you forgive what separates and divides on earth, it will be reconciled in heaven. If you don’t, it won’t. The onus is on the disciples to forgive as Jesus forgave. This is not ecclesial power given to some to wield over others, but rather a call for all to work for the reconciliation, the reconnection of all, by the forgiveness of sin.

The world had just crucified Jesus, yet from his cross he forgave them, reconciling even his executioners, and all those who supported them, back into the community of God’s love. We, those upon whom Jesus has breathed his own spirit, are now to do the same. We must love as Jesus loved, and forgive as Jesus forgave.

As we watch the news, we realize how big an ask that is... which, again, is why we do this together, as a community of faith. It takes all of us together to accomplish this.

The world is in a state of tumult at the moment, a monumental transition, as I called it on Easter Sunday. We will survive it. Of that I’m certain.

As we navigate our way through it, we do well to consider: what are we witnessing to our children? How are we preparing them to endure the hard moments they will face one day? In addition, what do those outside of our faith community learn about God’s love by looking at us? What is our true witness?

I am grateful to be serving with a congregation devoted to inclusion, hospitality, service, and justice. I believe we do reflect the life and teachings of Christ here – in all our imperfection. Into this family, we now bring Vera, God’s gift to us.

Given her name, I anticipate that Vera might be bringing us truth – truth we might need to know; truth that might change us. Who knows? God knows and gives us the grace to spend the time with her to find out.

8:00 am: Amen. 

9:30 am: I now invite Vera’s family and godparents to bring Vera to the font for Baptism.