April 23, 2017
After our Easter service last Sunday, Pastor Tom...and I were discussing preaching. Tom was chaplain at various colleges and did some supply preaching as well. We agreed on his observation that supply preachers get called the most on the Sunday after Christmas and the Sunday after Easter. So I have preached on this passage from John on doubting Thomas many times. And you'd think after twenty-some years, I'd have said about all there is to say about it. But I haven't. So sit back and listen.
Tom also shared an anecdote with me. He says he had a friend who had given up on going to church. Tom asked him why and his friend said, “Well, the music is always the same, they just sing two hymns—Joy to the World and Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”
The Apostle Thomas is best known for his part in today’s reading and hence, his nickname Doubting Thomas. But you can be sure, he wasn't the only doubter on that first Easter.