May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
Our gospel lesson today picks up where last week’s gospel left off. It is the day of Jesus’ resurrection. And according to John, the disciples were locked away in the house for fear of the Jews. For John it's very important that the doors be locked - it makes a statement - not even locked doors can keep Jesus out. Jesus comes and stands among them. He speaks to them - "Peace be with you." And he shows them his hands. And they believe.
Except for Thomas - where was Thomas that evening? We don’t have a clue where he was, but this meant that Thomas had to hear about this second hand. Rumors… Gossip… Idle chatter… Pipe dreams… Speculation… who could believe such a thing?
I worked with Father Jim Morgan in Huntsville for 6 years and he was always repeating something that someone had told him. One day something he said struck me as somewhat outlandish - and I turned to him and asked…"Do you believe everything you hear?" He stopped and pulled back and looked at me. Then he said, "I guess I do." A regular "mister gullible" there… And on the other extreme is my husband, Sam - "mister skepticism himself!" Questions everything you tell him. He and Thomas are like two peas in a pod.
The word "faith" is not used in this passage - but it certainly is implied. Faith is defined as a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. And I guess it depends on what you call proof when it comes to believing in God and in Jesus. Thomas wanted proof - the same kind of assurance that the other disciples had already received. He’s not asking for anything different.
By not being there that first night, Thomas missed out on so much - . He missed out on affirmation - seeing Jesus – now that’s not like missing out on seeing friend Joe when he stops by the office… “Oh yeah, you just missed Joe…,” “Oh that’s alright – I’ll see him tomorrow.” No, Jesus had died, his stopping by the office was a big deal – he wasn’t supposed to even be alive! And at that point, no one knew if he would ever show up again.
The second thing Thomas missed was peace, Jesus offered the disciples peace – peace of mind, peace in their heart, peace in their very soul. Peace may very well be the first ingredient in experiencing God. When you are anxious or afraid, or active, you are not in a receptive frame of mind. Jesus can be standing right there beside you and you might never know it. When that peace comes over you, you know that Jesus is near!
The third thing Thomas missed was the sending out – the authority to go out in the name of Jesus and to tell the world the story of Jesus. How he came and lived among the people – how he walked the dusty roads – how he touched the people to heal them and to drive out demons – how he died, and how he rose again. But Thomas missed it – how could he tell the story of resurrection when he had not witnessed it? Where was his authority?
And the fourth thing, Thomas missed out on the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus in our day to day lives. The Holy Spirit is that voice that might tell us, where to go… what to do… and it provides those moments of inspiration, of insight – those times when you hear something come out of your mouth and you know its true (or at least feel sure it’s true) and you don’t have a clue where it came from, because it had never been a conscious thought in your mind.
People have a tendency to berate Thomas for his questioning - his doubts. But there are valid reasons for examining our faith. Tell me, what kind of a faith do we have if we simply believe everything we are told? I fear that is when we end up with tragedies like the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide when more than 900 members of the People's Temple drank poison because their leader The Rev. Jim Jones told them to do so.
Or closer to home is the Waco standoff between the Branch Davidians and the FBI where David Koresh and 74 of his followers were engulfed in flames. Koresh apparently believed that he was the returning Jesus - the Second Coming. Reading our lesson from Revelation reminds me of my friend Leah's commenting, "My Jesus will return in a cloud of glory, not a blaze of gunfire." I think that Jim Jones and David Koresh's followers were examples of what happens to people who go on blind faith - who don't wrestle with what they believe.
Faith that has wrestled with the harder questions has a much better chance of standing the test of time and assaults. I really like Robin Williams "Top Ten reasons for being an Episcopalian," especially the one that says, "You don't have to check your mind at the door." We invite discussion, we invite questions, we even invite differences.
God knows it's hard to come to faith - remember the man that came to Jesus and exclaimed, "Lord, I do believe - help my unbelief." I invite you to grapple with your faith - to come to a firmer understanding of what it means to be a Christian. I invite you to examine your faith. Paul tells us in Philippians to "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And he continues with, "For it is God who works in you, to will and to act according to his purposes."
It's okay to ask for proof - just as Thomas did. But when you receive that proof - just as Thomas did - then accept it and embrace it with everything you have - just as Thomas did. "My Lord and my God." It is God's faithfulness to give us what we need - for us to come to faith in him. Faith itself is a free gift from God.
Jesus will always meet us where we are, and he invites us to live into what we do believe, and when we are ready, He will come and expand our experience of him and he will make himself known in our life, in our church and in the world around us.
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