First Presbyterian Church of
100 North Hillcrest Boulevard
Telephone numbers: (310) 677-5133 Fax (310) 330-8342
Electronic mail: PRESBYTS@SBCGLOBAL.NET
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Rev. Suzanne M. Swartz
John 20:19-34
“Seeing is Believing”
The apostle
Thomas, known as “the twin,” is the main character in today’s passage from
John’s Gospel. In this story, Thomas
doubts the resurrection of Jesus and demands to feel Jesus’ wounds before being
convinced. From this resurrection
appearance story we get the name “Doubting Thomas,” a term that is used to
describe someone who refuses to believe something without direct, personal
evidence – a skeptic. In addition to
today being Multicultural Church Sunday in the Presbyterian Church, it is also
St. Thomas Sunday in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Imagine you are a disciple hiding
out. Your Lord
and Teacher has just been crucified and you know if you are not careful, you
will be next. You are paranoid, fearful,
anxious, and feel you have no alternative but to lock yourself up in a safe
place where you can evade the authorities – “lie low” for a while. Suddenly instead of a knock on the door,
Jesus appears in the middle of the room and greets you with “Peace be with you.” You
probably think you had a little too much wine to drink or are seeing a ghost
until He holds up his hands and turns sideways so you could see the crucifixion
marks for yourself. These marks prove to
you that the man in front of you is the same Jesus you saw dying on the cross
eight days before. Jesus, knowing
everything, is quite aware that if He does not show you this evidence you will
not believe what you are seeing. After
all, you could barely get your mind around the miracles He performed when He
was alive and living and traveling with you.
This would have been way too much for you to comprehend and take
in.
Naturally as a disciple you would be
overjoyed to discover your Lord and Savior was alive. But who could you tell? Who could you trust to tell? No one!
Well maybe Thomas, who, after all, was one of your brothers. Thomas was out perhaps fetching some
needed food for the group when Jesus first appeared. Surely he would believe you ... or
would he? Jesus knows Thomas needs
proof. Although Jesus was not physically
there when Thomas returned to the secret hiding place and was told about
the Lord’s visit, Jesus must have been there spiritually. Otherwise how would Jesus have known about
Thomas’ comment, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my
finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will
never believe.” Jesus is fully aware
Thomas thinks the story his brothers told him is rubbish. That is why in the second part of the
passage, when Jesus and Thomas finally do meet face to face, Jesus uses
Thomas’ exact language in challenging him to “see for himself” that Jesus is
alive again. The text leaves us not
knowing whether Thomas actually touches Jesus, but we do know that Thomas hears
Jesus’ words echoing his own. It must
have been a powerful, intense moment for Thomas. Indeed, seeing is
believing for this doubting Thomas.
And who, after all, can blame Thomas
for his doubts? How many things have you
seen in your lifetime that you could not believe? How many things have people told you about
that you would not believe? How many
times have the words, “I’ll believe it when I see it” come out of your
mouth? If you are like me, the answer is
many, many times. For
most of us, being human means having doubts. To be alive is to doubt. I’m not going to kid myself; I am as
skeptical as Thomas about a lot of things.
Take, for example, the obedience
training of my miniature schnauzer Benny.
When we started obedience training at “I Said Sit” dog training when
Benny was six months old, I never thought he’d be able to do the things
the trainer said he would be able to do in two months time. Benny was the most rambunctious, spastic, barkaholic canine at that time. The first day of training, the trainer said
all the dogs would learn to do a “down stay” for five minutes. None of the dogs could do it at the
beginning, and I couldn’t get Benny to sit still for 5 seconds much less 5
minutes at that time. So I said “I’ll
believe that when I see it!” Well
guess what? The day of the final exam who do you think was the only dog who did it?! You’re absolutely right: Benny!
I was also skeptical that I could
preach a Good Friday sermon with 12 hours notice, but I did it. I was highly skeptical I could pass Greek,
which is a requirement to be a Presbyterian minister, but I did it. I was extremely skeptical I could pass
Hebrew, but I did that too. Seeing is believing!
Now think about what you have
seen in your lifetime that you would not have believed had you not seen it with
your own eyes: how about man walking on the moon, or a baby born through
in vitro fertilization, or the collapse of the Berlin Wall or the Soviet
Union?
One commentator said that “doubt lacks confidence, skepticism lacks trust.” Doubt is an action; skepticism is an attitude. Doubt is a repetitive theme in the Bible. In Matthew 14 Jesus says “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.” In Romans 14, Paul writes “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.” In James 1, we read “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” And in Jude 22, it reads “And have mercy on some, who are doubting.” Obviously to be doubting is to be in a fragile state.
Skepticism, however, can be fatal if
not held in check. In my opinion, there
are far too many things in today’s world that need attention for us to take a
skeptical, well nothing can be done, attitude. We cannot remain skeptical that one day we
will live on a planet that is free from war... of any kind. We cannot remain skeptical that we can’t
solve the global warming problem. We
cannot remain skeptical that all religions can learn to peacefully coexist
together. We must work towards finding a
common ground through interfaith dialogues and working together in mission, so
that we can address those issues that affect one’s quality of life regardless
of their faith. We simply cannot remain
skeptical. We must have faith that we can
make a difference.
It is God who transforms disbelief
into faith; He has done that for all of us.
We all believe, but sometimes we struggle as our faith is mixed with
doubt. Questions and uncertainty flood
our minds. What are we to do with
doubt? The answer is pray! “Lord I believe, help
my unbelief!”
For Christians doubt is a spiritual
battle, but God does not leave you to fight this battle alone; the Holy Spirit
will strengthen your faith and empower you to deal with all your doubts. How does God respond to our doubt? In much the same way as Jesus responded to
Thomas - by meeting us in our times of doubt.
Jesus’ spiritual presence is always with us, but in our times of serious
doubt, God will not leave us to suffer alone; the Lord will come to us in a
different way. God will come alongside
you even in those times your heart is filled with doubt. Stop focusing on your doubts and fears and
look to the Lord. When you seek Him you
will find Him because He is right there with you! Just as Jesus spoke to Thomas, God will not
remain silent, but will confirm His Word.
Just as Jesus invited Thomas to touch His hands and feet to see that He
was indeed alive, God will meet us at our point of need to dispel our
doubts.
As the body of Christ we are His
hands and feet. We can follow Jesus’
example to come alongside those who doubt to help build up their faith. Doubt is not contagious nor is it one of the
seven deadly sins. We don’t need to
withdraw from those who are experiencing doubt.
Instead we need to be there to help them so they do not have to go
through a season of doubt alone. If we
accept them in their doubts and accept our own doubts maybe we can begin to
sense the presence of the Holy Spirit.
How should we respond to our doubt? The doubting Thomas gives us three keys:
First, be honest about your doubt. Don’t
try to deny or dismiss it. Embrace it. Second, stay in fellowship with other
believers. Join a Bible study or an
internet chat group. Keep reading
Scripture. Keep asking probing
questions. Third, as you sense Jesus
answering your doubts, inviting you to come closer to his precious wounded
side, holding you in his nail-torn hands, then, like Thomas, confess that Jesus
is Lord and affirm His Word.
It is a wonderful thing that Thomas
did not remain a permanent traveler on the road to skepticism. Thomas asked to see Jesus’ pierced hands and
place his hand into Jesus’ pierced side.
And after Jesus answered his prayer, Thomas exclaimed a great truth, “My
Lord and My God!” The most outrageous
doubter of the resurrection of Jesus utters the greatest confession of the Lord
who rose from the dead. Thomas did not
have any doubts from that point forward about Jesus being God!
Much has been made in the past year
or so about a Gnostic gospel that bears Thomas’ name. It is a very interesting document. This past fall, I was fortunate to
participate in a class taught by one of the foremost New Testament Scholars,
Dr. Scott Bartchy, Director of the
UCLA Center for the Study of Religion. During that class we read the Gospel
of Thomas as well as books by Elaine Pagels and
Marvin Meyer discussing why, in Dr. Bartchy’s words,
“it did not make the cut” and is not in our current Bible. The class was really thought provoking and taught
me a lot about Thomas and his views, particularly about women’s roles in the
church. I encourage you to do some
independent investigation and let me know what you think about Thomas’
gospel once you read it.
What happened to the Apostle Thomas
after this resurrection appearance story?
He put his faith to work, just as we are to put ours to work. Thomas proclaimed “seeing is believing” and he went out to share what he had seen with
the world. The apostles Peter and Paul
are said to have brought Christianity to Greece and Rome. The apostle Mark brought it to Egypt. John brought it to Syria and Asia Minor. Thomas is said to have taken Christianity
eastwards as far as India, and he is best known as the missionary to
India.
A long tradition honoring Thomas as
the Apostle of India resulted in several surviving hymns that were copied in
codices of the 8th and 9th centuries.
References in the hymns preserve the tradition that Thomas' bones were
brought from India to Edessa and the relics worked miracles there. There is also a legend that Thomas met the
Biblical Magi on his way to India. I
find that hard to believe personally since I imagine the Magi at Jesus’ birth
were at least in their 30s, so for Thomas to have met them on his way to India
they must have been very ancient indeed.
Thomas is said to have been martyred in the year 72 AD on a small hill
called St. Thomas Mount.
Perhaps the most interesting legend
about Thomas concerns Mary, the Mother of Jesus. According to The Passing of Mary, a
text attributed to Joseph of Arimathaea, the man who
donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus, Thomas was the only witness of the
Ascension of Mary into heaven. The other apostles were not there when Thomas
witnessed this. After Mary’s burial he
was transported to her tomb, where he witnessed her bodily ascension into
heaven. In an inversion of the story of
Thomas's doubts, the other apostles are skeptical of Thomas's story
until they see the empty tomb.
In early post-Colombian times some
identified Thomas as the apostle who brought The Word to the Mesoamerican
civilizations. A Portuguese missionary
report of Thomas's martyrdom says that Thomas’ footprint was embedded in the
rock on which he stood when struck down.
Adam's Peak, the highest point in Sri Lanka, also boasts what Christians
hold to be a footprint of Thomas.
Thomas is thought to have brought
Christianity to China and Japan in AD 64 and 70 respectively. He is revered as a saint in both the Roman
Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and is remembered each year
on Saint Thomas Sunday, which is always one week after Easter.
Listen to that list again. Think of how many countries are
represented... China... Japan... Sri Lanka...
Portugal...India... What a list of places our apostle Thomas traveled
following “seeing” Jesus resurrected!
Today on Multicultural Church Sunday it seems fitting that we are
celebrating the apostle Thomas who himself was a multicultural apostle.
In 1890, this church was
founded. Because it was the first
Presbyterian church in this city, it was named First
Presbyterian Church of Inglewood. But it
could have just as easily been named St. Thomas Presbyterian Church, because
117 years later we are truly a multicultural congregation. We have members here from all over the
world. I am very proud to be interning
in this multicultural environment. I no
longer have any doubts about this being the perfect church for me, right
now, at this stage of my seminary education.
To quote our Pastor, Dr. Harold Kidd, “In a world of racial and
cultural intolerance, Inglewood is a church that bears witness to God's design
for humanity. When many
churches are comfortable in their ethno-centrism, being Anglo-only, or
Hispanic-only, or African American-only, or African-only, we represent a
congregation intentional in welcoming people from all walks of life and
cultural backgrounds. In our diversity we give witness to God's beloved
community. Praise God for what God is
doing in this place!
Seeing is indeed
believing, and I hope that you all look around and see our differences
as something that strengthens us and seals our bond together as Christian
worshipers. In such a place, surrounded
by so many different kinds of believers, it’s much easier to set aside our
doubts and say with joy to our risen Lord, “My Lord and My God!”
We are about to sing a hymn that is
in our Presbyterian Hymnal. We have been
practicing it the last two weeks. It’s
Number 399. As I close our message
today, listen to the words of this beautiful poetic song written by Henry
Alford in 1844.
1. We walk by faith and not by sight;
No gracious words we hear
From Christ, who spoke as none e'er spoke;
But we believe Him near.
2. We may not touch His hands and side,
Nor follow where He trod;
But in His promise we rejoice,
And cry, "My Lord and God!"
3. Help then, O Lord, our unbelief;
And may our faith abound
To call on You
when You are near
And seek where You
are found:
4. That, when our life of faith is done,
In realms of clearer light
We may behold You
as You are,
With full and endless
sight.
Amen! And may the peace bestowed on the Apostle
Thomas by the Risen Christ be With You!