Easter 2 2007

John 20:19-31

The disciples told Thomas, we have seen the Lord. Thomas replied, “I don’t believe you.” The disciples insisted, Thomas, we are telling you the truth, we have seen the Lord.” Thomas still refused to believe them. It wasn’t just God’s word Thomas didn’t believe but the word and experience of his friends. How do they keep a harmonious peaceful relationship with a non-trusting friend? It would be nice if they had told us how they did that so that we could apply it in our congregation. Whatever they did, they did not kick Thomas out of the fellowship. Eventually, Thomas had his own experience with the risen Lord. In the meantime, the disciples remained in fellowship even with such a major difference in their experience and their beliefs.

Thomas is often called “doubting Thomas” and that is unfortunate. The Greek word used in the text is apistos. In Greek a before a word adds not or without to the stem word, pistos here which means faith, trust, reliable, faithful, trustworthy, sure…but it does not mean doubt. Thomas was without confidence, not sure, without faith. The term is used in other passages of John in relationship to trusting relationships, faithful relationships, and pertaining to one who is sure, confident of something. The better translation of v 27 is “Do not be unbelieving but be believing; or, Do not be unfaithful, but be faithful.

John Westerhoff in a book entitled, “Will Our Children Have Faith” posits four levels of faith.

Experienced faith is the child praying the Lord’s Prayer without understanding what all the words mean, but this is what we do. This is how we pray.
Affiliative Faith – belonging to a group and fitting in. We kneel to pray, sit to learn, and stand to sing. That is not how the early church did it, but it is how we learned to behave liturgically when we were children. When the rubrics tell us to stand during the Eucharistic Prayer, many of us are uncomfortable. I don’t know what we think will happen, but when given freedom to choose, most of us like to kneel.
Searching Faith is characteristic by questions, examining what I really believe and searching for a deeper understanding. It is instructive to remember that Thomas remained with the rest of the disciples while questioning their testimony. We need to allow, even encourage, questions. Here are a few questions I heard this week: Why is the church against stem cell research? Why can’t work on poverty and AIDS in the US count in the MDG? Why is it so hard to get people to do the antiracism work? When will we learn to chant the psalms? Why would anyone question whether global warming is real? Why does everyone refer to God as a he? Do you really believe in life after death? Why does your church baptize children before they are able to make a profession of faith?
Owned faith is the stage where we can say, “this is what I believe….” In response to questions. Thomas responded “My Lord and my God.” There is a political implication to Thomas’ confession because those are the same word Emperor Domitian used about himself, Lord and God. Thomas is saying, it is not Domitian who is Lord and God, it is the Lord, Jesus.

www.stpauls-poplarsprings.ang-md.org

E="Arial Narrow, sans-serif">Like any other development and growth process, the four stages of faith posited by Westerhoff are not separate entities. As we examine our lives, confront injustice in this world, read scripture, and seek to know and serve the living Lord, we confront unexamined assumptions, old ways of knowing left over from childhood, and begin to question again and reshape our faith. Thomas was the one disciple in the room that confessed his personal faith. So rather than calling him doubting Thomas, we should call him confessing Thomas.

When faith is firm enough for us to be able to describe and proclaim what it is we believe we will find that sharing our journey is part of living faithfully. Until we have answers to our deeper questions, even if those answers change over time, we have not owned our faith. We have received a message, we have taken at face value what has been given to us generation to generation. One of my former priests liked to say, “God does not have grandchildren.” Every person has to make that journey for herself.

Thomas wanted to see the evidence for himself. When Jesus appeared among the disciples he invited Thomas to touch the wounds, thrust his hand into his spear pierced side and believe. I am comforted by this image because it says to me that Jesus meets us wherever we are on our faith journey. When we have doubts, there is an opportunity to explore deeper meaning, new experience, and to discover new ways of knowing God. Jesus invited Thomas to touch and see and believe. What do we need to touch, or see, or hear, to believe?

Jesus showed them his hands and feet. They were scared with the marks of the cross but they were also clean from sin and every evil. These loving hands of Jesus did not deserve to be treated as a thief or robber with nails and punishment. Jesus was more than content to show them the evidence of being in deaths dark grip and now were stronger and provided evidence of hope and new life. He is alive. The text of John’s Gospel does not tell us whether or not Thomas actually touched Jesus to examine the wounds, but it does say that Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus dispelled the uncertainty, the faithlessness in Thomas by being present with Thomas in a dark moment. Jesus, as the risen Lord, comes to us too, in ways that also bear witness to his living presence, his forgiving nature, and empowers us by the gift of the Holy Spirit to be living hands and feet as living members of his body. Living our faith means we too can touch others, be present in the name of the living Christ for all.