The Gospel of John shows
us that there is not one type of faith.
Faith comes in different ways and with a variety of intensities to a
diverse people. Faith is an individual
journey. There is not only one-way
through this journey. In fact, there are
many ways. The journey is not always
easy, but that is what makes it a journey.
Prior to the text for today, the beloved disciple believes upon seeing
the empty tomb and Mary believes when the Lord calls her name. Then we hear that the disciples, minus
Thomas, believe by seeing the risen Lord.
Finally, Thomas says he will not believe until he touches Jesus’ wounds.
Eight days later, Jesus stands among his disciples. Thomas was with them. Jesus offers to fulfill Thomas’
conditions. But wait, Jesus was not
present in bodily form when Thomas told the other disciples the conditions that
were necessary for his faith. So Jesus
offers “put your finger here and see my hands; and put out your hand and place
it in my side; do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Can you believe it, the text does not even
say if Thomas actually touched Jesus.
Somehow Thomas’ conditions, that he would physically touch Jesus, are
thrown out the window: “My Lord and my God.”
Jesus replies to Thomas’ confession of faith, “You have believed because
you saw me. Blessed are those who have
not seen and yet believe.”
This text is frequently referred to as “Doubting
Thomas.” That is even what I called it
until a few years ago. In my Witness of
the Gospels class we looked at this text and I learned something. That happens a lot at seminary! The something that I learned is that the
Greek text does not say anything about Thomas doubting. The Greek word used here means faithful or
believing. The word that some
translations render as doubt actually means without faith or without
belief. So, actually Jesus says to
Thomas, “Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Thomas didn’t doubt. Thomas
lacked belief. He was in a state of
unbelief.
Really
when it comes down to it doubt and unbelief are really similar words. Yet, I think we often have a stronger
reaction to the word doubt. We think
that with faith we should not have doubt.
Rob Bell in his new book “What we talk about when we talk about God,”
puts it this way: “For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is
doubt. The goal then, within this
understanding, is to eliminate doubt.
But faith and doubt aren’t opposites.
Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it’s alive and well
and exploring and searching. Faith and
doubt aren’t opposites, they are , it turns out excellent dance partners.”
Sometimes our journey is like Thomas’ and that is
perfectly okay. We may have our own
moments of unbelief, even though they are sometimes hard to admit. Thomas was honest in his unbelieving. He did not just follow the other disciples. He needed proof. Sometimes we need proof, too. Often our need for proof comes across as
conditions. If I see the wounds and put
my hand in Jesus’ side then I will believe.
That is Thomas’ if/then condition.
How often do we create if/then conditions for God? If you answer my prayer then I will
believe. If you send me a billboard or a
burning bush then I will believe. We
always want more proof. However,
sometimes we are so concerned with the proof that we don’t even see that God is
setting off fireworks for something else in our lives. The work of the Holy Spirit is active, but
sometimes our minds are preoccupied with something else and we miss her
work. How is the Holy Spirit actively
transforming your life?
For me college was a time of my life when I was
transformed. I was exposed to many new
ideas and I learned a lot. Sometimes the
things I learned were difficult, especially when I tried to tie them into my faith. For example, I remember my first day of
college like it was yesterday. We
started class on a Thursday and my first class was Religion 100. My professor started the class by saying, “If
you believe Mary was really a virgin or Jonah was really caught in the belly of
a wale…you better think again.” I think
I cried that night. All I had ever grown
up learning in Sunday school was that Mary was a virgin and Jonah was caught in
the belly of a wale. There was a tension
between academic knowledge and my faith, which caused doubt. I doubted.
Have you ever doubted?
Doubt.
Unbelief. Little faith. So the question for me is not so much, did
Thomas doubt or was he unbelieving. My
question is how did Jesus respond to Thomas.
In fact, the center of this story is Jesus, not Thomas. At the heart of this story is Jesus’ generous
offer of himself to Thomas. Thomas had
established the conditions for his faith: He must be allowed to touch Jesus’
wounds. He is only prepared to lay aside
his unbelief if the risen Jesus meets his criteria. He insists that the risen body of Jesus
fulfill his requirements. According to
John’s account, Jesus makes this possible: “see and believe.”
The
good news is that God doesn’t seem to mind Thomas’ unbelieving. Jesus responds with grace. Thomas wasn’t struck down, cast into the
outer darkness, revoked of his disciple title, or not accepted for his
unbelief. Thomas’ need for proof was not
wrong, but honest. Thomas was
transformed. The story of Thomas is one
of hope and promise, not judgment and reprimand. This is a story that calls us to live the
questions along our journey.
However,
knowledge and relationships with Jesus are not limited to his first
disciples. The physical Jesus is absent
for us. We have not seen Jesus. However, we have seen God at work in the
world and in our own lives. We have not
seen, yet we believe. And our belief may
have moments of doubt or unbelief, like Thomas.
Those moments give our faith a pulse.
These moments of searching and seeking give us even more reason to
believe.
The truth is that God wants our hearts, but God also
wants our minds. God wants us to be
transformed. God wants us to let the
Holy Spirit work actively in our lives.
God wants us to question. This
might mean we have to wrestle with our doubts and even go through periods of
unbelieving. However, amidst the
wrestling, God is always there with the generous gift of grace and the comfort
of peace. “Blessed are those who have
not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Blessed are you, people of God.
Amen.
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