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The Rev. Linda McCloud
Thomas Doubted.
Alleluia! Jesus said to Thomas . . . “Do not doubt but believe.”—John 20:27 In this life there is a short list of things of which we can be sure. I can think of two right off the bat. That would be death and taxes. This is not my novel original idea. I just want pass on to you the wisdom of the ages. Death and taxes are stark reality. Unless you have filed with the IRS for an extension, chances are good that very soon you will encounter at least one of those two realities. I hope it will be the one about taxes. The Apostle Thomas had lived in Palestine long enough to feel the weight of Roman taxes. As a Jewish male, no doubt he had paid the Temple tax if he was over the age of twenty. Jesus had paid taxes, which gave rise to that famous line about rendering to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s. Thomas also had, as most of us have, lived long enough to know that death is a reality. When someone we love dies, we have to face the fact that some day we, too, will die. So Thomas had death and taxes down pat, but he needed some serious convincing about resurrection from the dead. Thomas is not alone. You might even be in company with Thomas on this issue. After all, belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is a sticking point. It’s the great divide between Christianity and all other systems of belief. The Gospels often paint the close disciples of Jesus as a little bit (if not a lot) shortsighted. Sometimes, they just can’t catch on to whatever point Jesus is trying to make. When Jesus talks about being raised from the dead, their eyes glaze over. We can read the Gospel accounts from a distance of two thousand years and feel really smug. How could the Apostles be so blind? Did they not know that Jesus is the Second person of the Holy and undivided Trinity? The answers to those questions could develop into another sermon or two. On the Second Sunday of Easter when we recount the events of Easter evening, Thomas often takes a raking over the coals. News has gotten out that Jesus has been raised from the dead. Thomas does not show up at the closed door meeting of Disciples. He is not there when Jesus appears to them and bestows on the Apostles the life-giving commission to forgive sins. This did not make Thomas any less of an Apostle. It just gave the others a head start on declaring God’s forgiveness to penitent sinners. Following the lead of the Apostles, the Church took seriously its responsibility to absolve sinners. In trying to determine exactly what constituted sin, church leaders had, by the sixth century, put sin into neat categories called the Seven Deadly Sins. These overarching categories explore our inner bent toward sin, the results of which can be deadly to our souls and to our bodies. The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, covetousness, lust, gluttony, envy, anger, and sloth. Sloth, one of the all-time favorite sins, could be defined as not tending to our relationship with God -- as compared with having joy in God. The concept of sloth comes from a Greek word meaning “negligence” or “indifference.” Ancient monks worried about being afflicted with this sin because they saw it as a state of limbo in which they could neither work nor pray. This was burdensome because they knew that if we are joyful in God, life is livelier. The focus of our scriptures today is not the sin of sloth, or the absence of it. I say all this simply to point out that doubt is not on the list of Seven Deadly Sins. Perhaps that’s because doubt is not considered to be a sin. In fact, good healthy doubt that explores faith can lead to healthier faith. Were it not for doubt, publishers of religious books would go out of business. This brings us back to Thomas the Apostle, whose story of doubt and faith the Gospel writer uses to encourage our faith. In The Hymnal 1982[1] we have one of those wonderful “Alleluia” hymns, a verse of which goes like this: “When Thomas
first the tidings heard, The man we encounter in today’s Gospel as “Doubting Thomas” had been extremely attentive in the earlier days of Jesus’ ministry. He seems to have been around all the time, sort of like paint on a wall. Thomas apparently had a critical eye and ear and heart. He was a practical sort of guy who, like Peter, sometimes blurted out what other people were thinking. But he had the good wisdom to follow Jesus and hang in there while his faith grew. This is one of the reasons I ask newcomers and seekers to come to church faithfully for a year to let the liturgy wash over them. It can take time to come to faith in Jesus, and that’s OK too. The Gospels do not say exactly when Thomas met Jesus. He is something of a mystery character until we get to the eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel. In that story, we find Thomas filled with zeal and devotion to Jesus. Jesus was on his way to raise Lazarus from the dead. There was a bounty on Jesus’ head, so he was steering clear of Jerusalem. Lazarus was in Bethany, only two miles away from Jerusalem. Did Jesus dare get that close? Yes, and Thomas (also called “the twin”) would courageously challenge his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” When Thomas first learned that the other disciples had seen the Lord, Thomas did not say he absolutely would not believe. He just said he needed proof. He had a healthy skepticism. His life was on the line, and he could not accept hearsay evidence. He had to know the truth for himself. Jesus gladly met Thomas on this journey of faith. When Thomas saw the risen Christ his doubts exploded into faith. This empowered Thomas to take his place as an Apostle and to declare God’s forgiveness to all those who repented. One early tradition says that Thomas took the Gospel to Parthia, which is now northeastern Iran. Another strong tradition claims that Thomas evangelized India, where he died a martyr’s death. All we know for sure is that when Thomas met the risen Christ, he was transformed. I say, “Hooray for Doubting Thomas!” We do not have to take someone else’s word that Jesus is alive. Through the power of the same Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed on his first disciples, we can experience the Risen Christ for ourselves. Every time we gather in His Name to worship, and especially when we come to the altar for communion, Jesus fulfills his promise to be in our midst. We can know, as Thomas knew, that we can’t go to heaven on someone else’s coattails. We have to come to faith in Jesus Christ on our own. This is why the church exacts of us Baptismal Vows, which we renew each time we attend a baptism. The questions that demand responses are very direct – “Do you believe . . .” – not “do you believe that someone else believes?” Thomas is not the last person to demand proof of the existence of God as revealed in Christ Jesus. But faith is not faith if we can see the object of our faith. For Thomas, seeing was believing. For us – well . . . don’t we wish we could have had Thomas’ experience of seeing Jesus with our own eyes. The good news is that Jesus is not offended by our doubts or skepticism. Jesus invites investigation. He will not flinch. Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” If you come to faith on your own, no one can snatch the rug out from under you. Like Thomas, you will be able to say to Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” Amen. [1] The Hymnal 1982, 206
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