|
|
Give Thomas A Break John 20: 19 – 31 |
|
|
|
||
|
Summary
Give Thomas A Break Don’t you just hate getting stuck with a bad nickname? Wouldn’t you hate to get treated the way the church has treated Thomas over the centuries? We do that to people all the time. Some football player makes a dumb error and the replays make every highlight show there is. Someone makes a mistake and that mistake haunts them for the rest of their life. Something unpleasant from our past can hang on to us, and even if it doesn’t define who you are, it can linger around making its presence felt. The church has done the same thing to Thomas. We’ve stuck him with the nickname “Doubting Thomas” for centuries. Who would want to carry that nickname around forever? Who of us wants everyone to remember where we started out, not where we ended up? We don’t treat the beloved disciple that way. He wouldn’t believe until he saw Jesus’ grave clothes in the empty tomb, but we don’t call him “the Disbelieving Disciple.” We don’t do that to Peter. He denied Jesus three times. We don’t call him “Denying Peter.” We cut him some slack. We remember what he did after the big denials. We haven’t been so kind to Thomas. We rarely mention Thomas without the nickname. But I think we miss the boat when we label him “Doubting Thomas.” He actually has a lot to teach us. It’s true that Thomas doubted the story when the other disciples told him they had seen Jesus. It’s true that he sayed, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” So he did have his doubts. We always forget that Thomas’ statement took place in a setting stuffed full with doubt. As the story opens, the disciples are sitting behind a locked door, frozen in place, scared to death of what might happen next. Mary Magdalene had just told them she had seen the Lord. We don’t know anything about their original reaction to this message. Did faith overwhelm them? Doesn’t sound like it to me. Just hearing about Jesus’ resurrection didn’t awaken faith in the other disciples, either. They locked themselves in a room until they saw the risen Christ with their own eyes. They were all so full of doubt. Would they be crucified next? Should they, could they continue the movement? If they try to continue the movement, who was going to lead them? What should they do next? So, Thomas’ doubt takes place in a context. It’s easy for us to place all of the guilt on Thomas. You see when we label Thomas; we get ourselves off the hook. Thomas doubted; not us. We tell ourselves that if we heard the disciple’s story, our faith would have been rock solid! If we read this story properly, we won’t be looking down our noses at Thomas. If we honestly read the story, we would understand how far out there the story really sounded. Thomas had witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion. He had seen Jesus’ beaten body. He saw how limb the body was when it was taken down from the cross. Now he hears this story that Jesus had stood among the disciples! Who in their right mind was going to believe that? Thomas’ response sounds more like healthy skepticism than true stubborn doubt. Thomas knew that believing the disciples’ story involved a massive suspension of reality. Thomas’ encounter with Christ Jesus Christ responded to Thomas’ doubt just like he had to the doubt of the other disciples earlier. They had locked themselves into the upper room in fear. Jesus exploded into that fear, standing in their presence. Jesus had crushed the power of death. The grave could not hold him. Jesus gave the disciples what he had promised them back at the foot-washing. Jesus offered them peace and breathed on them, signifying the Holy Spirit, the source of power. Jesus’ appearance quickened faith in the disciples and eventually in Thomas. How ironic that we have stuck this label on Thomas! Yes, he doubted, but he ended up in faith. He moved through his doubt into belief. Not only does he end in faith, but he teaches the church in his actions. He teaches the church about two vital ministries. What we learn from Thomas I think the first thing Thomas teaches us is about Christian Education. Christian education runs the risk of dying before our very eyes these days. We can’t seem to drag people to Sunday school. A smaller and smaller handful gather around the table, class begins, but the energy has vanished. If our discussions at Sunday School are halfhearted, we need to read this story. If we discuss the same issues every week, we need to read this story. Thomas can save Christian education if we only let him. In our Christian education, we should dig deep, below the surface. We should never stop at the easy answers. How many times has a Sunday School teacher asked a question only to hear pat answers? “Who is Jesus for you?” The answer comes back, “Jesus is the Messiah!” Well, that answer passes the Bible content test, but it desperately flunks the “for you” part of the question. In 21st -century America, we don’t care about the Messiah. The term “Messiah” doesn’t mean much for us. The Jewish community expected a Messiah to restore the Davidic throne. If we want to really know who Jesus is for us, we have to truly explore, reflect, and search. We can’t satisfy ourselves with second-hand answers. We need a spirit like that of Thomas. “I won’t quit until I find my answer. I will wrestle with scripture until I know what it says to me. I will pore over the doctrines of the church until I can explain what they mean to me.” Thomas’ doubt teaches us how to keep searching until we come to an understanding of Christ that feeds our minds and spirits. The second thing I think Thomas teaches us about is worship. In the church today, I feel like we often miss whole the point of worship. Yes, we sing our favorite hymns. Yes, we bring our needs to the service, so that God can give us the resources to keep us going. Yes, we build friendship in worship. Yes, we want to leave worship feeling better about ourselves. But those things are not the heart of worship. We should end worship where Thomas ends up. Thomas begins in doubt, but then experiences the presence of the risen Christ. We should come to worship with the expectation that we will experience the presence of God entering our lives. After Thomas experiences the risen Christ, his doubts fade away. After his doubt has been erased, he makes a simple, but elegant statement of worship: “My Lord and my God!” Worship should lead us to the profound recognition that the risen Christ is our Lord. As the one who died and rose again, Jesus has a claim on us. We owe the risen Christ our allegiance, our obedience, our devotion. More than Jesus as our friend and helper, Jesus is our sovereign and master. Worship is not just for our sakes, so that we get out of it what we want. Worship enables us to understand our true relationship to Christ. We do not devalue ourselves, but we submit ourselves to Jesus as Lord. Let’s not forget that when Thomas calls the risen Christ “Lord,” he takes a risk. The disciples had originally been in a locked room. On the other side of that locked door lurked danger. When Thomas calls Christ “Lord,” he commits himself to continuing the ministry. He offers Christ his loyalty. He charges into the danger, trusting in Christ who conquered death. When Thomas calls the risen Christ “my God,” he speaks rightly of Christ’s identity. From the beginning of his gospel, John has taught us that Christ was the Word made flesh. The Word was active in the very creation. In Jesus the Christ we come to know God. Thomas recognized that. We worship in the expectation that we will encounter God’s presence. Following in Thomas’ footsteps We have done a disservice to Thomas to pin the label “doubter” on him. He rallies at the end. More importantly, we miss what we have to learn from him. On this Sunday, Easter is over; the excitement of the big day has faded. We get back now to the business of being the church. Part of our work is to walk in Thomas’ sandals. Let us probe our questions about the faith until God reveals answers. Let us worship, expecting God’s presence. Let us offer ourselves in humility and obedience to God our Creator and our Lord, who calls us to service and ministry in a hurting and dangerous world. |
||
