Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16

1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

Mt. Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC

30 March 2008

2nd Sunday of Easter

 

Coming to Believe

 

          The story of "Doubting Thomas."  What a way to be remembered throughout the centuries.  Actually, Saint Thomas gets a "bum-rap" in this story.  We remember Saint Thomas for his unbelief and we forget the stories of his life after the Gospels.  We forget the stories of him taking the Good News of Christ to the eastern reaches of Asia.  We forget that when the Portuguese first set foot in the Indian Sub-continent, the first people they meet were Christians whose ancestors were first converted by Saint Thomas.  We forget that Thomas is known as a Saint of the Church; whose life is a testament to and points to God's grace through Christ.  Instead, everybody seems to remember him as an example of what not to be, when in reality his life should be remembered as a devout disciple, apostle, and Saint.  But where are these examples of Saint Thomas' devoutness?  We'll some of these examples are contained in the very Gospel story that many have used to declare Saint Thomas as doubting.

          In today’s reading from Saint John’s Gospel, we find the disciples hiding in a locked house on Easter Sunday.  Mary Magdalene had already reported to them that she had "seen the Lord" [John 20:18].  The disciples obviously didn't believe her.  If they had believed Mary, would they be hiding in fear?  Jesus then appears to them.  Of course, the main character of today's story, Thomas, is not with them.  Some time later, Thomas catches up with the other disciples.  The other disciples proclaim to Thomas, "We have seen the Lord" [John 20:25].  Thomas then makes the statement he is most remembered for, "Unless I see the mark of the nails and my hand in side, I will not believe" [John 20:25]. 

          Did you notice a striking similarity between Thomas and the rest of the disciples?  When the rest of the disciples heard the news of the Resurrection from Mary, they didn't believe, but remained afraid and hiding.  Their unbelief was corrected by Jesus appearing to them and showing them the marks of the nails and the wound in his side.  The disciples are no different from Thomas.  They didn't believe until they saw the very things that Thomas has asked to see.  How absurd!  Saint Thomas is remembered for the same human reaction that the rest of the Disciples had, yet we don't condemn the other disciples to the same scrutiny.  All of the disciples had the same unbelief that Thomas had; they just had their unbelief correct before Thomas' through no act of valor on their part and through no act of delinquency on Thomas' part!  This unbelief is not Thomas' alone.  Cut Thomas some slack!  Actually, Thomas makes the most powerful confession as to who Christ is in Saint John’s Gospel.  In verse twenty-eight, Thomas proclaims that Christ is, "My Lord and my God!"  Yes, earlier in Saint John's Gospel, we have the disciples confessing that Jesus is the Christ, but it's not until Saint Thomas' confession to we hear the disciples declaring Jesus' divinity; declaring that Jesus Christ is God!  We remember this story for Thomas' unbelief, but in reality, Thomas "gets it;" Saint Thomas proclaims the true reality of Christ's divinity.  Ironically yet fittingly, Saint Thomas is also known as "Thomas the Believer" because of this proclamation.

          So, how are we to refer to Saint Thomas?  We can't simply refer to him as doubting Thomas as it is clear that he is also Thomas the Believer.  One may certainly point out that Thomas was not always the believer, but at a time had unbelief.  However, Saint Thomas' unbelief couldn't have been absolute.  After all, he was a disciple who claimed Jesus was the Messiah.  How then should we approach the complexities of who Thomas is?  Our reading from Saint John's Gospel gives us a clue to this question.  Jesus stated after Thomas' proclamation "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" [John 20:29 - emphasis added].  Jesus didn't simply say, "those who believe," but "those who have come to believe."  Saint John even uses this phrase in his explanation as to why he wrote the book in verse thirty-one.  "But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."

          So, what does it mean to "come to believe?"  To come to believe describes a journey.  Think about your beliefs.  How did you come to believe such things?  Did you simply wake-up one morning and say, "I think I'll believe X, Y, and Z."  No, you didn't.  Because that's not how we humans work.  Our beliefs are developed over time.  Our beliefs change and change us.  Our beliefs should change by becoming deeper, by becoming more essential in our lives, by becoming more influential in how we live not just our lives, but in how we live our everyday lives.  I think of how I believed about God.  I believed in God, the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost since my early childhood.  But over the years, that belief changed.  You see, it's not good enough to simply believe that God exists.  That belief must grow, deepen, and mature.  That belief must move beyond a simple academic statement of existence to be a basis for the reason of life.  Yes, God is the reason for life; every aspect of it.  I did not hold this belief at five years of age, but I did believe that God existed.  As I grew, this belief grew and I came to believe as I do now.  I will continue to grow, my belief will continue to deepen and mature and I will come to believe in a more complete way as I am perfected in love and grace through Jesus Christ.  This is so not because I am clergy, but because I'm a baptized Christian.  This is so for all Christians regardless of ecclesial standing; regardless of job in the world; regardless of role in the Church.  Coming to believe is an essential and fundamental aspect of being Christian.  This is an ongoing process.  It'll never end because God never ends.  We will never stop deepening our belief because there will always be a deeper aspect of God to grow into.

          You know, there's another name for Saint Thomas.  The Gospels often refer to Thomas as the Twin.  But we never learn about his twin sibling.  I wonder who Thomas was a twin to.  In a sense, Thomas is our twin; he’s a twin to each of us.  He grew in faith, and probably continues to grow in faith as we do.  Thomas first understood Jesus as some guy, then as a good teacher, then as the Messiah, then as the Son of God, and finally in the Gospels, as God.  Thomas' belief grew and deepened.  And now as a Saint of the Church, as one of the saints in Heaven I'm certain that his belief in God is being deepened and further developed just as ours is.  Thomas had his moments of unbelief just as we do.  Thomas wouldn’t have come to believe without God's grace, just as we can't come to believe without God's grace.  I don't know exactly why Thomas was called the twin, but in many ways, he is our twin.  And if our twin can come to believe through God's grace; then we too through God's grace can come to believe.  The essential point to remember is that coming to believe is a journey and not a destination.  We’re to always be deepening and developing our faith, our belief.  It’s not a matter of once and for all arriving at deep faith, but instead to always be seeking ways to believe more, to believe deeper.

          Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, we believe.  Help our unbelief.  AMEN.

SDG