Sermon Prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church
5th Sunday of Easter, Morning
Promise Service – 5/13/01
by Gregory S. Kaurin
Associate Pastor for Spiritual Care and Development
Text: John
20:24-29
Resurrection Appearances: Honest Thomas
Believing Is Seeing!
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Most of you probably know the nickname Thomas earned from this gospel lesson: “Doubting Thomas.” I like what others have decided to call him. They suggest that Thomas was being honest, “Honest Thomas.” [PowerPoint slide.] I think we can be thankful for Thomas in the scriptures. He sticks his doubt out there for us to see, and many people can relate to him because of it.
In answer to the empty tomb, visions and appearances, we have a huge variety of responses: from the “disciple who loved Jesus”—the Bible says that all he did was stick his head in the tomb, saw the grave cloths, and he “believed,”—to Thomas who heard about this, about visions of angels, and now a whole room of his friends had seen Jesus, and still he couldn’t bring himself to believe! He said, “I must see it to believe it!” We know the pessimistic sayings. [PowerPoint slide.] “I’ll believe that when I see it!” Or the slightly more positive, but still demanding, “Seeing is believing!”
There are some things that I believe about Thomas. I believe he deeply loved his Lord. I also think that he was no chicken; he had great courage, but he was a bit pessimistic. In John 11:16, after delaying a bit, Jesus announced to his disciples that they would start heading toward Jerusalem, to Bethany where Lazarus was dying. His disciples knew this was a dangerous place for Jesus to go. When he realized what Jesus had decided to do, Thomas said, “Let us go [to Bethany] also, so that we may die with him.”
I was mentioning this to my wife yesterday and her response was, “Well, if he ain’t Miss Merry Sunshine!” Notice, Thomas wasn’t afraid of it, wasn’t afraid of the danger. But still, when Jesus did die, Thomas was deeply hurt, so that he was afraid to entertain the possibility of the Good News that he was hearing from the others. There was no way he wanted to join in their fantasies only to become hurt like that again.
And so, he kept his broken heart. He must have been very alone with his grief for that week. It must have been especially awkward and frustrating to be around the rest of the disciples who were sure they’d seen and spoke with the Risen Lord. He didn’t want to give into their enthusiasm or hope—but notice that he didn’t leave! Something kept Thomas around.
Some commentators lift up the two great virtues of Thomas. The first is that Thomas “refused to pretend.” [PowerPoint slide.] He admitted his doubts and his pessimism, and he would not join in the words without a personal conviction. Thomas needed to believe it, before he’d say it.
Alfred Lord Tennyson, a 19th Century English poet once said [PowerPoint slide], “There lives more Faith in Honest Doubt, believe me, than in half the Creeds.” Personally, I’m most inspired by people that constantly seek Truth and Confirmation, than all of those people that just seem to spit up the words and religious formulas.
I was listening to some old sermon tapes last week and I thought Pastor Steve had a great definition for faith. Last October, Pastor Steve said, “Faith is knowing that you can’t turn back, but climbing aboard the rocket ship anyway, with your eyes fully open.”
I would add and stress that continuing in the faith means keeping your eyes fully open for the whole trip, always seeking to take in and learn more about this life of faith! What we learn along the way is probably less important than that we are keeping ourselves open to learning.
At one of our Men’s Prayer Breakfasts, about a month ago, we had a special visit from one of our college members: Michael Johnson. He said something that I think is very true, and that we Lutherans need to take to heart and mind. He was telling us about all the different religious groups on the university campus, and how they pull in students, how attractive their black-and-white theology and practices can be. (And here I want to be careful. I honestly believe that God works through all breeds of Christianity …okay most breeds of Christianity… to save and nourish souls, and to do the works of the church.)
However, I believe more in an open-eyed questioning and learning faith than in a blinded know-it-all-already faith. Mike talked about how many people don’t buy the black-and-white approach that is the growing stereotype of Christianity. They’re looking for a faith that’s willing to puzzle through the issues, rather than just swallowing doctrine.
What do Lutherans and many other mainline Christian groups have to offer college campuses and all our communities? Mike said this, “What we Lutherans can offer is a learning community.” [PowerPoint slide.] “We are a Learning Community!” I think it will be my mantra for the Sunday morning classes that we’ll be starting this fall. We’ll call the class: “Growing Deeper.”
“We are a Learning Community.” That’s the sence of humility with which I want to approach scripture and the Christian life, always open, always learning!
And here’s the downside of Thomas’s virtue. He may have been honest. He might not have been gullible. He never swallowed anything whole. But he allowed his pessimism to shut his faith down. He did not remain open. Notice, Thomas didn’t say, “Until I see it, I cannot believe.” What did he say? [“I will not believe!”]
It was a conscious decision. When presented with all the testimony of all these eye-witnesses, and even remembering how Christ himself had told Thomas and the others exactly how things would happen, and still Thomas exclaimed, “I will not believe!”
It was lucky for him that he had a second greatest virtue. [PowerPoint slide.] When he was sure, Thomas went all the way!
Jesus presented himself, and that was enough for Thomas. After Jesus showed his wounds, he invited Thomas to follow through, to touch these punctures and wounds. Did Thomas reach out and touch them? The scripture doesn’t say whether or not he did.
I’d like to think that Jesus appeared before him, showed these scars while Thomas stood there dumbfounded. And instead of reaching out to test Jesus’ invitation, Thomas hit the floor with his knees and cried out, “My Lord and my God!”
Do you see how Thomas went from his doubt and passed up all the other disciples in his faith? The others saw Jesus and said that Jesus had risen from the dead. But Thomas—who didn’t wait for some brilliant theologian to explain the relationship of the Father to the Son and Holy Spirit, or the Trinity—Thomas saw Jesus resurrected and called him, “MY GOD!” Thomas’s faith and belief was Complete Surrender.
Again, thank God for Thomas in scripture. When faced with the reality of the presence of God, Thomas was a model of complete surrender.
The challenge for us in our lives is to recognize the reality of that same presence in our own lives. At our council retreat someone mentioned how it can be a struggle, even with church and Bible study, to recognize and keep God and Jesus Christ as more than images or ideas, but a real and living presence in our lives.
I saw the newest film version of the musical Jesus Christ, Superstar last week. Toward the end, I think that was the criticism they were making of our modern world. They seemed to suggest that, even in our worship, we have a tendency to worship God and Christ as ideas or even like a warm blanket, but we forget the Living Presence. You know, it is possible to worship an idea. But that’s wrong. God is alive and real, right here, and throughout your week. “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus’ rebuke of Thomas wasn’t really a curse. He blessed Thomas by answering the demand. His rebuke was, in reality, a blessing for all of us following Thomas. We read about Thomas, we’ve heard the words of Mom, Dad, our grandparents, Sunday school teachers and we believe. We are blessed because our faith is based on proclamation.
This is a faith that sees Christ when we look at others, and the world. We see differently than others. We have a different kind of vision.
The pessimistic saying [PowerPoint slide], “Seeing is Believing” gets turned around for us. Our belief is not based on what we see, but what we see is changed by our belief. [PowerPoint slide: “is.”] When we look at our world, we see the Risen Christ; we see salvation; we see the Kingdom. [PowerPoint slide: “Believing is Seeing.”] Believing is seeing …anew!
Believing opens our eyes to new learning and possibilities. We can see the unlimited and eternal values and life even in the midst of the finite and limited people and world.
We are blessed. And more than ever, we see beyond what’s in front of us to see what’s real! We see Reality. We see the truth: “Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God!” Amen.
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Any questions, comments or thoughts, please email: mailto:[email protected] and type “Honest Thomas” in the subject line.