God Keeps Showing Up

4.12.2026

2nd Sunday of Easter

Readings and Psalm

Acts 2:14a, 22–32▪️Psalm 16▪️1 Peter 1:3–9▪️ John 20:19–31

Beloved Easter People of God,

Most of us know what it feels like to miss something important.

We missed it not because we didn’t care,

but because life was demanding our attention,

or fear was pressing in,

or grief was weighing heavy.

John 20 is a story for anyone who has ever felt late to the miracle.

The resurrection story in John 20 is one

that grounds me most deeply in my own faith journey

from growing up in a non‑Christian context

to being called into God’s service.

Every time I return to this story, it reminds me of something essential:

God in Jesus keeps showing up,

even when we didn’t get to notice, or hear, or experience it in person.

That’s our Good News.

God keeps showing up

no matter what.

In today’s story, God shows up right in the middle of helplessness.

The disciples were confused, afraid, feeling stuck.

They didn’t know what was next.

Maybe they were hoping and praying

that the risen Jesus would come back with clear instructions,

or simply stay with them forever.

And Jesus did show up…

but Thomas missed it.

He simply wasn’t there.

And because he lacked that one particular experience,

generations have labeled him “Doubting Thomas.”

But his story is so much more than doubt.

His season of helplessness lasted longer

than the others who were in that room.

And that very experience shaped him into a powerful evangelist

throughout Asia even to India

where his witness left a legacy that still bears fruit today.

His “delay” became part of God’s mission.

Thomas wasn’t behind.

He was simply on a different timeline of grace.

I want to share an example from a classroom experiment

that helps us see helplessness from another angle.

You may have heard it before.

A professor asked her students to solve three anagrams.

Everyone received the same instructions:

Once a word was solved, raise your hand and keep it raised

until the class moved to the second word, and then the third.

Students on the right side solved the first two anagrams quickly.

Students on the left struggled.

The professor reassured them:

“This isn’t meant to be difficult.”

By the third word, hands were going up on both sides.

Then the teacher revealed the truth:

the two sides of the room had been given different lists.

The right side received the easy set:

Bat. Lemon. Cinerama.

The word 'bat' is rearranged to form 'tab',

The word 'lemon' is rearranged to form 'melon',

The word 'Cinerama' is rearranged to form 'American.'

But the left side received the first two anagrams that couldn’t be solved:

Whirl. Slapstick.

No amount of effort could make them work.

Only the third word, Cinerama, was the same one the right side received and could be solved.

In just five minutes, the students on the left

had learned the emotional weight of helplessness.

When the professor asked how they felt

watching the right side raise their hands, they said:

Stupid.

Rushed.

Confused.

Frustrated.

And by the time they reached the third word?

One student said, “My confidence was shot.”

Most of us don’t need a classroom experiment to know those feelings.

They show up in our prayer life,

our relationships,

our health,

our work,

our grief.

They show up when we compare our faith to someone else’s.

In our faith journey, we each carry our own mix of experiences

These experiences shape how we hear stories like the resurrection

and how we recognize God showing up in our helplessness.

Some experiences help us notice God easily (like the disciples' in the room).

and some leave us feeling left out, confused, or unsure. (like Thomas')

Thomas’s story helped me see something important:

Helplessness often nudges us toward extremes we never meant to choose.

When we forget that God meets each of us differently,

our stuck feelings can swing into places

that are too harsh on ourselves

or into ways of lifting ourselves above others

the same kind of shift we saw in that classroom moment.

It can look like this…

Feeling stupid can swing toward pride.

Feeling rushed can swing toward rigidity.

Feeling confused can swing toward false certainty.

Feeling frustrated can swing toward control.

Feeling left out can swing toward domination.

The list could go on.

But you see the pattern.

None of these extremes disqualify us from God’s presence.

They simply reveal where we need God,

and where we need Jesus

to breathe peace into us again —

just as Jesus did for them in that room.

And then Jesus speaks a blessing

that reaches across every extreme:

“Blessed are those who have not seen

and yet have come to believe.”

So how do we respond to the Good News

that God keeps showing up

even when we didn’t notice,

or hear,

or experience it

the way Thomas eventually did?

Let us see how the rest of the scriptures assigned for today

speak into this same experience.

Acts reminds us that God’s promises were unfolding

long before anyone understood them.

The psalmist clings to God’s presence

even in uncertainty.

And 1 Peter encourages believers who feel scattered and shaken,

assuring them that God has already given them

a living hope through the resurrection.

Each reading shows us that God’s faithfulness

is not dependent on our clarity or confidence

Across all four readings today,

we see that helplessness is not a barrier to God.

It is the very place where God begins to work in us.

As John writes at the end of today’s Gospel:

Jesus did many other signs not written in this book.

But these are written

so that others may come to believe…

So our response to the Good News is simple:

Keep sharing our stories.

Our notice.

Our hearing.

Our experiences.

Many members of the body of Christ aren't worshiping in church today.

Many can’t participate in the ministries happening weekly or seasonally.

Many don’t get to witness the small, tender moments of faith

that happen in Bible study,

in service,

in prayer

all the time.

And yet

God still keeps showing up.

And through believing,

have life in Jesus' name.

If Thomas teaches us anything,

it’s that the Gospel grows through people

who share what they’ve seen, heard, and experienced

and also through people

who are still waiting to see, to hear, and to experience.

Those disciples in that room shared their stories.

And Thomas saw, heard, and experienced.

I’m somehow convinced that faith in the Triune God

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

is never meant to be an individual possession.

It is a shared life as the body of Christ.

a shared hope, a resurrection hope.

a shared story where God keeps showing up.

You, Easter People,

carry God’s story into the world.

And your stories

are part of the Gospel still being lived.

They may not be written in the Bible,

but they keep opening space for God’s kingdom to grow.

Let us pray.

God of life,

you keep showing up.

You meet us in our helpless places,

where faith is nurtured,

where resurrection arrives and takes root,

in moments of forgiveness, healing, courage, and love.

Let your grace find us again and again

even when we think we've missed it,

and lead us forward in hope.

Amen.