27 April 2025, "Living as Easter People"

“Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and place my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Good morning everyone. As we gather this morning, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the week we’ve had.

Here at church, we experienced an unexpected accident. A car crashed into the back of the church, damaging some parts of our building and sound system. Thankfully, no one was injured, and for that… we give thanks.

We also remembered Anzac Day, a time to honour courage, sacrifice, and the deep longing for peace.

And globally, we mourned the passing of the Pope, a leader who was humble, stood with the weak, and worked tirelessly for peace.

It feels fitting that today is the first Sunday after Easter. Because Easter reminds us that in every loss, every moment of uncertainty, there is a deeper story unfolding — a story of life, of hope, and of new beginnings. So today, no matter what this past week has been like for us, let’s come together as Easter people, with hearts open to God’s presence and love in this place.

We proclaimed, "Christ is risen!" And just like Jesus greeted His disciples in today’s passage, “Peace be with you.” (Let’s take a moment to share the peace with one another.)

A few weeks ago, I happened to come across an advertisement for a ministry position, and it really caught my attention. It was from one of the Korean Presbyterian churches in Sydney, announcing that they were looking for a new minister. I found the notice through an email listing for Korean ministers in Australia. I belong to the Uniting Church, which I am currently journeying with, so it wasn’t directly relevant to me. However, I found it really interesting, especially the criteria they listed for the minister they were looking for.

It said: age between 40 and 55, more than seven years of ministry experience after ordination, and Australian or New Zealand citizenship. Pretty specific, right? And that wasn’t all. They also asked for a resume with a recent photo (taken within the last three months), a statement of ministry vision, and a recent sermon video or YouTube link. Wow. It made me smile. I wondered, if you had listened to one of my sermons before ever meeting me face to face, what would you have thought? Of course, this is one of the things I really appreciate about the Uniting Church.

Most of the requirements were understandable. But there was one part that really made my eyes widen. They also asked for the minister’s wife’s profile, including a personal statement and a record of study or job experience. Even if I’m being extremely generous, I still found it hard to understand why they needed the minister’s spouse’s profile.

Calling a minister should be a beautiful and exciting journey, a journey where the church and the minister both trust that God is leading, guiding, and shaping the future together in mysterious ways. It should be about love, about hope, about faith, about God’s gracious work among the people of God.

But reading that position advertisement, it didn’t feel like they were calling a minister. It felt more like they were hiring a person. And that made me think: What is a minister’s true profile?

At that moment, I was reminded of Eugene Peterson’s book The Pastor. In his book, he shares the journey of discerning his call to ministry alongside his wife, Jan. Although he never says it directly, there’s a saying:“A minister’s real resume is written on their spouse’s face.”What a powerful and humbling thought. I’m sure you can sense how true that is. (Please — no one look at Dana right now!)

In most cases, it’s the people closest to us, the ones who see our daily lives, who see our faith behind closed doors, who truly know who we are. A resume can be filled with impressive words. It can be polished, even made to sound better than it really is. But the real story is written in the lives, the eyes, and the everyday expressions of those who walk closest with us. They are the truest witnesses to who we really are.

With this perspective in mind, let’s step into today’s story, the story of Thomas in John chapter 20. It describes how, late that evening, the disciples were gathered together. Fearful of the Jewish leaders and the Roman authorities, they had locked all the doors of the house. And then suddenly, without a sound, without the doors opening, someone stood among them. The risen Jesus.“Peace be with you,” He said. First came shock, perhaps fear, and then... joy. They looked again — His hands, His side. Yes, it was the Lord. The risen Lord!

The story continues. Jesus repeated His greeting and said, “Just as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Then He took a deep breath and breathed on them.“Receive the Holy Spirit.”In a room once filled with despair, life had returned.But... Thomas wasn’t there. In that astonishing, mysterious moment, there were ten disciples present, but one was missing: Thomas. We don’t know why. The text doesn’t tell us.

Why were ten of them huddled together behind locked doors, and yet Thomas was somewhere else? Had he gone to find a safer place? Or was he braver, stepping outside while others stayed hidden?

When Thomas came back, the disciples, still breathless with excitement, all spoke at once: “Hey Thomas, we have seen the Lord! Where were you?”But Thomas couldn’t believe them.“Come on, Thomas, we really saw Him — the risen Jesus!” they must have insisted.

Still, Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and place my hand into His side, I will not believe.”“I will not believe...” His words sound very firm.

I’ve been reflecting deeply on this. Why did Thomas so firmly say, “I will not believe”?Like many people, I initially thought it was simply a matter of his personality or character. I assumed Thomas was just stubborn, or a practical realist who needed to see before he could believe.But as I spent more time reflecting, I realised that his struggle went much deeper.

Thomas was not doubting the resurrection of Jesus itself.He was doubting the ten disciples who were in the room with him. He must have been thinking: They claimed to have met the risen Jesus with joy and amazement. But they were the same.If they had truly seen Him… if they had seen the nail marks in His hands and His side… if they had truly encountered the same Jesus they had eaten with, travelled with, and witnessed countless miracles with… then why were they still locking the doors and trembling in fear?

Look — when Thomas returned, the room was still locked. The disciples were still trapped in fear. They were still hiding, unable to step out into the world.Even after meeting the risen Lord, there was no immediate, visible change in them.And Thomas must have seen that clearly.He realised he could not see any trace of the resurrection on their resume.

“Really? You say you have seen the Lord — but why does everything still look the same?”

Maybe he desperately wanted to believe.But he could not find the evidence of resurrection life — the evidence of real transformation — in their lives.“I cannot believe because of you.”

If he had been there that night, perhaps he would never have been called “the doubting one.” He wasn’t playing games.He was being painfully honest about what he needed in order to truly believe.

Verse 26 tells us that Jesus came again:“A week later, His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”Surprisingly, it’s almost exactly the same scene as before.The doors are still locked. The disciples are still hiding.And once again, Jesus speaks the words they need most:“Peace be with you.”Only one thing is different, Thomas is there.

And here’s something that gives even more weight to Thomas’s doubt: a whole week had passed , eight days and still, nothing had changed.With each passing day, Thomas’s doubt must have only grown deeper.

Again, Thomas wasn’t doubting because he was hard-hearted. He was doubting because what he saw didn’t match what he heard.He longed to see resurrection life not just hear about it.

Finally, Thomas’s doubts and questions were answered.Standing before him was the risen Jesus.... real, alive, wounded, and victorious.Thomas saw the marks in His hands, the wound in His side, and in that moment… it was already enough.He didn’t need to touch anymore. He didn’t need any further proof.

Here is the greatest confession:“My Lord and my God!”Not just “the Lord,” not just “God,” but “my Lord, my God.”

Dear brothers and sisters, I believe this with all my heart. Jesus has already shown us His resume. What is it? What is written on His resume?The nail marks in His hands, the scars on His feet, the wound in His side, and the crown of thorns that pierced His head.There is no resume more powerful than this. It is love.

Then what about our resume?It must be this: to live the resurrection, to live as Easter people.

It means that in the small parts of our daily lives, in the moments of crisis, and in the strength that carries us forward, the power of the resurrection must be alive and at work within us. So that when people look at our lives, they might ask,“What happened to you?”

As we’ve seen, Thomas couldn’t see it, he struggled to believe.But here, grace meets him.Jesus came again, just for Thomas.Jesus did not rebuke him.He met him exactly where he was.He showed him His wounds.He offered him His very self.

What happened to Thomas afterwards?The Bible doesn’t tell us, but history does. Thomas went beyond where any of the other disciples had gone, travelling to the very edges of the known world to proclaim the good news.He became the disciple who gave his life for God, serving and witnessing to Christ in places far beyond his homeland.

His resume was completed in this way:A life that moved beyond wounds to resurrection,a life that became a living testimony to the risen Christ.

So maybe it’s our turn now. As Easter people who know the joy of the risen Christ,what if we spent our days writing a different kind of resume — one marked by grace, humility, and the power of resurrection?

Amen.