Thomas: Friend or Foe?
The Rev. Lynn Oldham Robinett
Assistant Rector, St. Paul’s Church
April 27, 2003While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
Luke 24:36b-48
Every year, the Sunday after Easter, we hear the story of Thomas, almost always mentioned with the word "doubting" in front of his name. Thomas has been, and always will be, remembered for the one act scene in which he was involved after the resurrection, actually for the scene he missed. Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them, and when he did arrive and the disciples told him what had happened, he wanted to see it with his own eyes and feel it with his own hands before he would believe that Jesus was alive. Thomas will forever be known for this one moment. It definitely puts him into a category of people whose anonymity would have remained had they not done one thing that put them into the spotlight. There are those one-hit wonders who had a number one hit on the charts then disappeared; authors who wrote one book that captivated America, then ten books that didn’t; actors whose first hit movie landed them an Oscar nomination, then were never seen in another good film. And those are the good guys. Let us not forget political assassins who fired one shot, yet their names are forever etched in our memory; national traitors and spies who betrayed the trust and respect of those around them. Thomas doesn’t seem to be in very good company when we look at his memory in terms of his claim to fame.
But how many of us would have just flat out believed that Jesus was alive after we’d seen him being crucified? It’s a pretty far-fetched thing to believe, even if you did know Jesus and believed that he was the Messiah. What would you have said? For myself, given the choice of believing what others were telling me, and seeing for myself, I would choose to see for myself. Thomas may have been a little demanding in the way he phrased it, but I don’t know that he is any different than us.
In some ways, I think I would have been a little bit nervous had Thomas not reacted the way he did. If people always believe what they hear from those around them, then our world would be in a far different place than it is now. The world we live in is as good as it is thanks to those people who didn’t simply take others’ word for it. If they had, we’d still believe that a flat earth was at the center of the universe. Instead, we know that the round earth we inhabit hangs about with other planets in a giant ocean of space. Thanks to people who thought like Thomas, we have penicillin and electricity, airplanes and automobiles. We can even watch 150 channels of TV if we want to.
But where then is faith in all of this if Thomas’ doubting was not the negative that we have often been led to believe? I mean, how many of us would be Christians if we had to see first to believe? The number of people who knew Jesus and became his followers is miniscule compared to the number of Christians in the world today, so somehow, those who did not see for themselves believed strongly enough that today, nearly 2000 years after the death of Christ, we are sitting here, praying and worshiping a man and a God whom we know only through the stories we have been told.
I doubt very much that we are here because we are weak-minded followers who believe whatever we’re told, and yet there is something to belief that calls us to give up control. In our world so often, we are taught to not lose control, but control is what we must surrender in order to have faith, particularly faith in someone.
When we believe in someone, we may get hurt, as Thomas did. Believing in people, loving them, trusting them, can lead to life’s greatest joys or its most bitter disappointments. We risk utter vulnerability. But when we believe in people, we also entertain faith. This is supremely true when the person we believe in is Jesus.
Richard Mouw, the president of Fuller Theological Seminary, was taking part in a radio interview about the continuing influence of Jesus on our culture. One of the other guests gave a long and elaborate answer about the staying power of the universal values in Jesus’ teachings. When Mouw was asked the question, "Why do you think Jesus continues to have such an influence on us?" Mouw replied, "Because he’s alive." Because he’s alive. How many of us, answering the same question, wouldn’t have given an answer more like the first one, trying to explain and rationalize why Jesus continues to influence our culture, rather than stating the truth at the heart of Christianity. Jesus is alive. That is why we are here today, celebrating the life of a man whom death could not destroy.
It seems impossible. Believing in Jesus is, humanly speaking, an impossible thing. One of the greatest lessons from the story of Thomas is that faith in Jesus is a miracle. Seeing is not believing, as John demonstrated throughout his Gospel. Long stretches of John are taken up with people – the Pharisees, mostly – arguing about what they’ve seen Jesus do, but failing to believe. Yet today, those who were never witnesses to Jesus’ acts believe that he was God’s son and that he lives on.
How can this be? Because believing in Jesus is the step that only God can enable. Believing in Jesus is God’s gift; it is not the work of our hands. It is the work of Jesus’ hands, and his feet, and his side. It is his labor of love: The minute Thomas saw, he knew. Did he still need to touch? From now on, Jesus implies, faith will not depend on that. The Risen Christ, never dependent on us, is now not constrained by time or space either.
The theologian Paul Tillich once wrote that "serious doubt is confirmation of faith." The renowned preacher Frederick Buechner once said, "Whether you believe there is a God or believe there isn’t, if you never doubt the certainty of your position, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith: they liven things up and keep us from falling asleep."
The interesting feature of the Thomas story is that Jesus did not turn away from Thomas because Thomas had doubts. Instead Jesus met Thomas at this point of need. God can handle our doubts. And if we have the courage to stick with our doubts long enough, God will provide us with what we need to move along on our faith journey.
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