We have been told for several weeks now that the church’s worship gatherings are non-essential. That is how they have been categorized. The thought seems to be that the world can get on fine without us. Everything can just go on fine without us. The thought seems to be that without our public prayers, without the encouragement that comes from gospel proclamation, without the great benefits we receive from coming together, none of those things are essential. None of those things are really critical in any kind of way.
In truth, in reality, worship is the most essential thing we do. More than anything else, this is what God made us for. More than anything else, this is what God designed us to do—to worship Him. He gave us ears to hear His word. He gave us mouths to sing His praises. He gave us eyes to behold His glory. He gave us feet to take the good news to distant places. He gave us hands to serve Him in the world. Worship is the most essential activity of them all. Of all human activities, worship is the most essential.
Certainly there are times when we cannot attend worship, perhaps because we are sick or we had car trouble on the way. There may be times where because of inclement weather or, yes, because of widespread illness, it is prudent not to hold services at all. In God’s providence, in this fallen world we live in, all different kinds of things can get in the way of worship. But none of that changes this fundamental truth: Worship is central to our lives. The gathering of God’s people is absolutely central. It will always be essential to human life. The chief end of man—that is, your main purpose in life—is to enjoy God by bringing Him glory. If I can paraphrase the Shorter Catechism that way, this is your chief end: to glorify God — and we most centrally do that when we gather together in this kind of way, to sing God’s praises, to pray to Him, to hear His word proclaimed. And that means when we miss church, as we all have for several weeks now, we really do miss something. When we miss church, we really do miss out.
Look at the curious case of Thomas in John chapter 20. It is very interesting in God’s providence that this is the passage we come to in John as I have been working through John’s resurrection account. This is the passage we come to in our first week back together as a full congregation. Consider the case of Thomas, Doubting Thomas as he is known. On Easter Sunday morning, the disciples knew the tomb was empty. John and Peter saw the empty tomb with their own eyes. The others, if they did not see it, certainly heard about it. On Easter Sunday evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room, and He pronounced peace, and He breathed His Spirit on them, and He gave them a mission to go proclaim the forgiveness of sins in His name. But one disciple was missing from that gathering. This is the first post-resurrection gathering. It is really the first worship assembly of the new age, the resurrection age that Jesus has inaugurated, this new creation. But verse 24 tells us Thomas was not with them when they came together. That Easter evening service really was the first worship service with the risen Christ, but Thomas missed worship that day.
We are not told why Thomas was not there. It seems very unlikely that he was sick. Certainly he did not have car trouble on the way. Far more likely, he was controlled by his doubts. Perhaps he was despairing. Maybe he had completely given up and thrown in the towel. Maybe he had just completely given up on Jesus. Whatever the case, whatever the specifics, the bottom line is he was not there because he did not believe. He was not there because he did not believe Jesus would be there. And we can be sure of this. We can be sure that it is his unbelief that keeps him away because of what he says when he does gather with the other disciples on the second Sunday of Easter. You almost get the impression they have had to beg Thomas to come to this gathering. But he makes it clear he is not a believer at this point in any way, shape, or form. They confess what they have experienced. They say, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas pushes back as if he is certain there must be some mistake, some misunderstanding, as if the other ten must be crazy in some kind of way. And so he says—he really lays down the gauntlet—“Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, unless I put my finger in the print of the nails and put my hand in His side where the spear struck Him, I will not believe.”
But there they are on the eighth day, the second Sunday of Easter. And they have gathered once again in a closed room. And perhaps those who experienced Jesus coming into their midst the previous Sunday are expecting that to happen again. But Thomas certainly does not seem to be expecting that. But what happens? Jesus appears in their midst once again. Jesus miraculously comes to stand in their presence. And just as He did the previous Sunday, He speaks a liturgical greeting to them. He uses a liturgical blessing. We know this is something of a worship service. He says, “Peace be to you.” And then Jesus invites Thomas to touch Him. Jesus knows what Thomas has been saying. And so He invites Thomas to touch Him, to reach his finger here where Jesus was wounded, and to look upon the nail-scarred hands, to see His spear-scarred side. Everything Thomas asked for, Jesus is providing. And what happens? The switch is flipped for Thomas. As soon as he sees Jesus, he is no longer Doubting Thomas. He becomes Confessing Thomas. And not only does he believe in Jesus’ resurrection, but something more than that—something the other disciples maybe have hinted at, but nobody has confessed this. None of the disciples have confessed this as openly and fully until this moment. It is as if he goes from being way behind to running out ahead of them in his understanding. He exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” He realizes all at once, this is not just a resurrected man. This is God in the flesh. Thomas sees Jesus is God. He sees God in Jesus. He sees that Jesus must be the embodiment of God. That to look at Jesus is to look at God. That in Jesus we do behold the very glory of God. And of course, in confessing that Jesus is God and Lord, he is also along with that confessing his faith in Jesus’ bodily resurrection. Which means Jesus has victory over the grave, victory over sin. Jesus has won. Jesus has won a victory that only God could win. Jesus has done what only God could do.
Now there are several things happening here all at once. I want to sort some of them out for you because I think this is important. First notice this. Notice how Jesus deals with doubts. Notice how Jesus deals with a doubter. You see here Jesus demonstrating compassion to a doubter. Jesus does not attack Thomas for asking a question or expressing doubts or being real, being honest about his struggles. No, Jesus’ grace meets Thomas’ doubts head on. And in this battle, what happens when grace meets doubt? In this battle between grace and doubt, grace triumphs. When Jesus in His grace does battle with Thomas and his doubts, Jesus and His grace are victorious. Thomas is brought to faith. He is brought to the deepest possible conviction of faith. I think here Jesus is embodying what the prophet Isaiah said about the Lord. Isaiah said, “A bruised reed He will not break, a smoldering wick He will not put out.” That is Jesus. You see his tender compassion. You see how Jesus caringly and tenderly meets Thomas right where he is. It is really a beautiful thing. We see here clearly Jesus will work with us even if our faith is weak, even if we are struggling in our faith in some way, the way Thomas was. Jesus will meet us where we are, not where we should have been. Because the reality is none of us are ever really where we should have been. But Jesus meets us where we are. Jesus is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love. That is Jesus. Jesus shows us who God is. We see the compassion of God embodied in Jesus.
But there is something else we see here. Jesus meets us when we gather for worship. Jesus here is really establishing a pattern that is really helpful for us to see. Jesus meets us when we gather for worship. If you want to know Jesus, what should you do? How do you get to know Jesus? Well, if you want to know Jesus, you need to go to where He is. Where is Jesus present? Jesus is present to you when you read Scripture, when you sing God’s praises, when you pray. And we learn from Scripture, Jesus is especially present in the gathering of the saints for worship. When the disciples of Jesus come together for worship, Jesus then is especially present, uniquely present in a powerful way in the midst of His people. Thomas was not there the previous Sunday. And so he missed out on meeting Jesus. And Jesus, note this, Jesus did not come to Thomas to give Thomas a kind of private viewing, a private showing of His resurrection body. Jesus did not come to Thomas privately on a Tuesday or Wednesday or a Thursday. No, He waited. He waited until the saints were gathered again on the following Sunday. And then He appeared to Thomas in the midst of the assembly. I think Jesus would say church is essential. I think He would say the gathering of the saints is essential. Indeed, this is why it is so tragic we have not been able to meet for several weeks. Now, I am not saying Jesus cannot bless us if we do not meet, if we are not able to be at the church’s gathering for some reason. I am certainly not saying the quarantine was unnecessary — that’s debatable. What I am saying is that it is tragic that we have not been able to meet the last several weeks. And I know many, maybe all of you, feel the weight of that tragedy.
The reality is we all have times when we miss church. That is obvious. Times when we cannot help but miss. But this is what we need to keep in mind. When we miss, we really do miss something important. Think about the words of the psalmist, those familiar words that we use regularly in our liturgy: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” Why is he glad? Because he is getting to gather with the Lord’s people. And why is he glad about gathering with the Lord’s people? Because when he gathers with the Lord’s people, the Lord is going to be there. The Lord will not be missing. The Lord will show up. And the Lord will do great things in the midst of His people. Great wonders will happen when the saints gather, when the saints of the Lord come together to worship Him.
Or think about the words of Paul in Hebrews chapter 10. “Let us not forsake the assembling of the saints together.” And actually there in Hebrews 10, if you read the whole context, you find that there are some rather severe warnings for those who do abandon the church’s meetings altogether. But he says, let us not forsake the assembling of the saints together, the synagoging of the saints together, these gatherings of the saints. We must not forsake them. Oh sure, Jesus is gracious to us even when we are not able to meet. But there is something unique about gathering with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day.
The elders judged we should not be meeting the last several weeks. That was a wise decision, I think, on many grounds. And I think you could still say there are good reasons why many people may not be able to attend worship right now. It is a difficult and challenging time. I think we all understand that. But we also need to understand this. We must not forget this. The centrality, the essentialness of the church and of public worship. Thomas had his doubts cured and his faith reignited where? In the midst of the assembly. Where did Thomas find his doubts conquered? When he gathered with the saints of the Lord. And why were they conquered in that context? Because that is where he met Jesus. And why did he meet Jesus there? Because that is where Jesus has promised to be.
That is how Martin Luther put it. Luther, I think, captures this so well: “Not a pope or even an angel from heaven can give you more than God does in your local parish church.” God is going to give you all He has to give you in the gathering of the saints in your local congregation, your local fellowship. This is what he went on to say: “How do you find Christ? He who would find Christ must, first of all, find the church. How would one know where Christ is if one did not know where His believers are? And he who would know something of Christ must not trust himself or build his own bridges into heaven through his own reason. But he must go to the church, visit, and ask of the same. For outside of the church is no truth, no Christ, no salvation. The holy Christian church is the principal work of God for the sake of which all things were made. In the church, great wonders daily occur, such as the forgiveness of sins, triumph over death, the gift of righteousness, and eternal life.” We could say these great wonders occur at least weekly in the church. What happens when we come together? What great wonders does God do? God does wonders in our midst as great as any miracle Jesus performed in His earthly ministry. He does this great wonder of forgiving our sins, of giving us triumph over death, giving us victory over sin. These are glorious and joyous things.
And then finally, Jesus’ presence in the midst of the assembly reveals who He is. We see His grace and His glory here. We see His deity and His humanity on display. His humanity, obviously, because He is showing them His nail-scarred hands and spear-scarred side. And His deity, because that is what Thomas confesses. We see His power and His humility — power to appear in a locked room, yet humility to speak peace to those who had abandoned Him in His moment of greatest trial. We see His holiness and His compassion. And so it is today. When we gather together, Jesus continues to show us who He is, just as He did with Thomas. No, we do not get to poke our hands into the flesh wounds where the blood flowed out. But we do get to eat His flesh and drink His blood. And the Lord’s Table is a reminder that He was crucified for us, that those scars are the “prints of love,” proof of His love, proof that He is willing to go all the way to death for us. That Lord’s Table is a reminder that His body and His blood were separated. But it is also a reminder that He rose again for us because He meets us at the table, not as a dead would-be Messiah, but as a living Lord who is actively present to give Himself to us, to bless us as we partake of the bread and the wine.
And so I would tell you this: Jesus is just as present with us in this service and in this word and at this table as He was with Thomas in that room on that second Easter Sunday. He is just as present with us in this service as He was with Thomas in that service. No, we do not see Jesus exactly the way Thomas did. We do not see Jesus with our own eyes the way Thomas did. I grant you that. But look at what Jesus says here. Look how this passage ends. “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Well, who is He talking about? He is talking about us. We have a special blessing from Jesus. Jesus gives us a special blessing when we trust in Him, even though we cannot see Him with our own eyes. We trust that He is here and Jesus blesses us. Jesus is here with us. Jesus gives Himself to each of us as we come together. Jesus shows us His love for us. He assures us of His forgiveness. He assures us of victory. He gives us His peace. He proves Himself to be not just God and Lord, but our God and our Lord. He gives Himself to us. So He belongs to us, even as we belong to Him. Blessed is he who has not seen and believes. Believe and be blessed! Amen.
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