Really Thomas!

April 27, 2014                                                    

John 20:19-312

There’s a story of a boy asking questions of a Sunday School teacher who said it was wrong to ask questions and have doubts about God. So he asked yet another question: “Is God afraid of my questions and doubts?” He came to realize that God’s not afraid but his teacher sure was. 

Prayer

Many of us have been told in various ways that if we have doubts, or ask questions, or are skeptical of our faith or God that somehow we have sinned and have no faith… just like in the story I just shared. Somewhere along the way we’ve been discouraged or out-right told not to ask questions about God out of fear that we might be judged at not having faith.

Our gospel story today is a story is one of those places where we’ve gotten the idea that it is a bad thing to doubt. Doubting Thomas has been given a bad rap and perpetrated this notion that Doubt = No Faith. Just think about it for a moment… how could Thomas have doubted in Jesus? He was with Jesus for 3 years. He had a personal connection with Jesus as one of Jesus’ closest friends. Thomas… how could you? How could you not believe in Jesus!

You see John singles out Thomas… and I don’t know why. The other Gospels have the entire lot of Jesus disciples doubting and unbelieving. But for John…there seems to be a reason to single him out… for Thomas to doubt, and it makes it easy for us to say, “Really Thomas!” Of course… we should really be saying “Really” to all of Jesus’ friends… well… all but one… John! John was there till the end.

The truth of the matter is… most of us do doubt and most of us do have questions and many people have often felt belittled by some in the church by acknowledging those doubts, and asking questions. And… if I can be really honest… there are many times when I, as pastor, have questioned, doubted, and even encroaching non-belief at various times in my life. That’s right… me the pastor. Alright… I know… the pastor is suppose to have all the answers. After-all I went to seminary and studied all this stuff. Well… Yes I’ve studied… and yes I’ve still have questions… and doubts.

Even right now… I struggled all week with what God wants me to say to you about this story because I’m the pastor and you’re expecting me to have something to say that can shed light into your life. But, like Thomas it’s hard to believe without seeing. How can we know if Jesus is alive? Have you seen him? You have to admit… that Jesus being alive… it is really hard to believe! It seems like there are more questions than answers.

But as I looked at this story each day last week Two things came to mind in this story that seem important. At least as I looked at it.

1.     The Holy Spirit… Vs 21 Jesus says, “I am sending you just as the Father sent me.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

2.     Seeing… Vs. 29 Jesus says, “Do you have faith in me because you see me?”

There is something about this story when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. Jesus does quite often in John. In fact… in John 16:8 it takes up most of the chapter. The spirit will come and show you the truth… the Holy Spirit will help you and guide you… the Holy Spirit will help you see… Interesting connection… Holy Spirit and Seeing!

Martin Luther thought of the Holy Spirit as the one who enlightens understanding. For Luther… Faith in Christ through The Holy Spirit = Seeing the living Christ. Said another way… Faith seeking understanding.  

A good example of our collective doubt was at the spring congregational meeting… when the talk was about the call process… When that happened you could see the anxiety level rise. It seemed that your understanding was being skewed because of the past couple of times when you went through this. It seemed your anxiety came with how the synod would give you names of pastors. After-all according to your understanding the last two pastors were “Bad,” “Worse,” and “Worse Yet” and  you weren’t going to get screwed again. It seems some of you… maybe most of you doubted the process would be different. That’s when

Hal raised his hand and calmly stood up and said, “Do we trust God?”

Perhaps, this was a Holy Spirit moment. Though… I’m sure there is still some anxiety.

One thing to keep in mind… John is writing for a community of faith some 60 – 70 years after Jesus had died, and that, like Thomas, had never seen the resurrected Christ. Sure, they had the testimony of others like who is presumed to be the writer of this gospel, but they hadn’t seen him for themselves. And so perhaps here, right near the close of the Gospel, Jesus doesn’t so much rebuke Thomas as he does bless all those who read this story and come to faith through it. Nevertheless… it still leads to more questions and even more doubts about how we as community live out without seeing.

All of this leads me to question:

-       What is it that would prompt a similar confession of faith from us today?

o    How might we say, “My Lord and My God” as a response to experiencing Jesus?

-       Do we look for a loving and accepting community of believers who also question?

o    Can we live with one another when we question?

-       Can we live as a community despite the questions and doubt, maybe even unbelief?

-       Do we seek someone or something to hold on to us when we struggle in faith or life?

-       Or do we just need to hear John’s acknowledgment that faith is hard and receive Jesus’ invitation to faith and promise of blessing?

I don’t know… I don’t have the answers….

However… I hope we can live into the questions as faithfully as we can.