In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     On Confirmation Sunday, one always wants to speak of profound things. Preachers want to rise to the occasion. Pastors want to point to great figures that confirmands will always remember, and see as life-long examples, teachers and guides. And yet, the preacher has to tailor his sermon to the particular confirmands being confirmed. Not all confirmands relate to oh, say, Martin Luther, Thomas Jefferson, Jonathon Edwards, Mother Teresa. Some confirmands connect more with, the likes of, perhaps, Eeyore. Now, Eeyore might seem like an unlikely figure to end up in a sermon on Confirmation Sunday. And yet, what kind of character is Eeyore? One of the things we find about him is that he tends to be negative, some might say gloomy-the glass is half-empty kind of figure, rather than the glass is half-full. In fact, Eeyore's home is described as being rather boggy and sad. And yes, we still find him loveable and likeable-but probably, because he is so down on himself, and everything else. When he thinks that he has lost his tail, or assumes that everyone has forgotten his birthday and says, "nobody minds, nobody cares"-it's that which endears him to us. Truly, when Eeyore lost his house during a snowstorm, and cheers himself up by saying, "well, we haven't had an earthquake lately", we can almost understand that kind of a mentality. Sometimes life is like that.sometimes we all feel somewhat down, disheartened, and just plain negative.

     Today, in our gospel lesson, we hear about a man who was not all that unlike Eeyore. Of course, there are differences. In some ways, we probably know more about Eeyore, than we know about the man referred to as "Doubting Thomas". We learn from John's gospel that Thomas loved Jesus, and that Jesus was fond of Thomas. But Thomas did have a negative, dark side. In spite of his friends, in spite of the fact that all the other disciples had seen Jesus risen from death-Thomas just wasn't going to buy it. Thomas said, "unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, I will not believe." And, because Jesus loved Thomas, Jesus comes to Thomas, Jesus allows Thomas to touch him, and feel the wounds, so that Thomas will believe. Jesus says to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in the wound in my side. Do not doubt, but belive!" And indeed, Thomas does, finally, believe. Thomas finally says, "My Lord and my God!" And I guess it is this that makes Thomas, to us, somewhat loveable, and memorable as well. We see in Thomas, as in Eeyore, something of ourselves. We want to believe, but we have doubts. We want to believe that Jesus is not dead, but alive, but we have questions: can a person rise from death? Can one who has been in the grave for three days, be alive again? Is Jesus alive, and with us, even now? There's a sense in which we want to embrace our Eeyore-ness, we want to accept and admit that we are more like Thomas than it might appear. In our world today, and in the church today, we affirm those who have doubts, we welcome them, and sometimes celebrate them. Many college campus chapels are named after St. Thomas the Apostle, because we know that young people, teenagers and college students, go through periods of negativity and doubt, with regard to Jesus and the Christian faith. So, we tell each other it's okay to question-we see doubts and uncertainty as part of our faith journey-as well they are. But in spite of the fact that Jesus humors Thomas, in spite of the fact that Jesus comes and appears again, for Thomas' sake-this encounter, this account of Jesus and Thomas, is not affirming doubts and questions. This exchange is not meant to tell us it's okay to hold out-it's fine to keep from believing in Jesus, until He gives us a sufficient sign-until He proves to us, that He's here, now, with us always, unto the end of the age. Rather, this account is about the certainty of faith; this account is about believing surely; this account is aimed at those of us who do not have the luxury of standing pat, arms crossed, stubbornly waiting until Jesus comes and proves himself to us. Jesus talks about us, in this passage from John's gospel, when he says, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." He's talking about us there, about you and me. He's talking to all of us Christians who would come along later, after Jesus had ascended to the Father in heaven, who would come to believe in Jesus, not because we have seen Him face to face, as you and I see each other now, but who have come to believe through the signs He has given us-the signs John mentions at the end of our passage, and his gospel: "now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples.but these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." And what are these signs?

     In the Gospel of John, there are several signs-miracles of Christ's presence among His people-the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana in Galilee; the feeding of the five thousand, the healing of the Gentile official's son who was near death. Those were miracles-signs, which Jesus intended to be manifestations of His presence, that would bring people to faith. Today, the miracles-the signs of His presence, are Word and Sacrament-God incarnate in the Word made flesh in the Scriptures and in preaching, and the Word made flesh in the Sacrament of the Altar, where the bread and wine become Jesus' real presence-where the earthly elements become, Jesus' very body and blood, broken and poured out for us. The truth is, we have not seen Jesus' wounds, as Thomas did-we have not stood in Jesus' bodily, risen presence as did those first disciples. We have come to believe, because we have seen the signs of Jesus' miraculous presence among us, in Word and Sacrament. And Jesus says of us-"blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

     Yes, we have questions. Yes, we doubt. Yes, we need signs. But blessed-blessed are we who have come to believe, in spite of our questions and doubts. Blessed are we who are able to lay aside our Eeyore-ness, our Thomish-ness-our negativity and uncertainty, and say, firmly, and faithfully, "My Lord and my God!" Confirmation is not about, having all our questions and doubts answered, so that having firm and final proof, we believe the facts of the case. Confirmation is about, receiving our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, in Word and Sacrament-having life, and eternal life, in His name, not just on our confirmation day, but throughout our lives-as we affirm Jesus Christ, and Him alone, as our Lord and our God!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.