Transcript
Have you believed because you have seen me? Please be seated.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God who came down from heaven and was made man, who suffered death and was buried on the third day, rose again? I suspect if you are here, and if you are a Christian, then yes, you do. In fact, these are the words we say every Sunday during the Nicene Creed. Words that Christians around the world have said for 1700 years. Yes, this year is the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. But do we know what those words mean in our hearts and our souls? Do we believe them? But perhaps even harder to answer… do we really believe them in our minds? And then the logical reasoning of modern critical thinking.
In today’s gospel reading, we get Thomas, nicknamed Doubting Thomas. He is a perfect example of critical thinking. I have to say, I kind of feel bad for the guy. I mean, he’s one of Jesus’s 12 apostles. He’s called the twin. He even has a gospel. Although not canonical, you can still get copies of it translated into English. And yet, the only thing we think of when we think of Thomas is this story. Doubting Thomas. Why? Because he doubts the other disciples when Jesus first appears to them after the resurrection.
Which makes me want to ask if you were a disciple and absent the first time Jesus appeared to the other disciples, if you weren’t there, would you believe blindly and without question? Or would you be like Thomas, unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails in my hand and his side? I will not believe. Thomas wants the empirical evidence of a resurrection. He wants the measurable data through his trusted senses that proves Jesus rose from the dead. The same Jesus who was nailed to the cross and crucified a week ago.
This gospel reading occurs every year, one week after Easter Sunday. It’s as if the lectionary authors, those who select what readings we read each week. It’s as if they knew we would be struggling with this concept of a risen Lord. And this is the answer they give us. Jesus returns, appears again. This time Thomas is there too, and he says, put your finger here and see my hand. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt, but believe. And Thomas suddenly believes.
And then Jesus takes it one more step. He says, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. I suspect 2000 years ago we would all be Thomas refusing to believe the other 11 disciples, refusing to let ourselves even imagine the amazing miracle and proof of Jesus Christ-ness that is a resurrection. But we’re not there, and so we fall into that other category, the category Jesus is talking about when he says, blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe.
Since the sermon has a few specific buzzwords, I lift them up. Merriam-Webster dictionary. It’s my favorite dictionary. And yes, I know having a favorite dictionary means I’m a nerd, and I’m totally okay with that. Doubt means to call into question the truth of to be uncertain. It also means to lack confidence in. Thomas doubts, because he questions the truth that the other disciples are saying. He lacks confidence. Not so much in Jesus, but moreso in those other disciples. To be uncertain of the resurrection is perhaps part of what Thomas is dealing with, but the doubt he has when he calls into question is more about the other disciples. Having seen the Lord.
In comparison, believe means to consider to be true or honest, to accept the word or evidence, to even accept something as true, genuine, or real. So Jesus tells Thomas, do not doubt. Do not call into question what the other disciples are telling you, but accept the words or evidence as true, genuine, or real. We are called to accept Jesus’s resurrection, as true, genuine or real. We are called to be sure of Jesus’s presence among the disciples. We are called to believe that Jesus rose on the third day, and yet we are not- we cannot be offered empirical data. We do not have the blessing of putting our fingers in the mark of the nails, or putting our hand and Jesus’s side. We do not get to have the subjective, empirical, unquestionable investigation of evidence that the disciples were given 2000 years ago. And yet we are still called to believe.
But how do we do that? Especially when we do not have the first hand empirical evidence of what is true, genuine, or real? We do it through faith. If belief is conviction of the truth of some statement, or the reality of some being or phenomenon, especially when based on examination of evidence, that’s another Merriam-Webster quote for you. The faith is firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Belief is based on evidence. Faith requires no proof. And so when Jesus follows up his question to Thomas by saying, blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have come to believe. He is perhaps talking less about belief and more about faith, less about having evidence, and more about having complete trust. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet still have faith.
I’ve worked quite a bit with teens in the church. I’ve often asked to help teach confirmation class. One of my favorite classes I taught was as a guest to discuss the unit on what we believe. For the lesson, I invited the teens to look at the Nicene Creed and break down all the pieces. I divided a big wall sized whiteboard into columns with God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, written at the top. I used different colors for each category. Of course, if you know me, that doesn’t surprise you. And then the teens would go through the Nicene Creed word for word, describing each God of the tritium. You know, Almighty maker, seen and unseen, eternal light, begotten Lord, giver of life. This might sound kind of boring, but surprisingly, the teens would really get into it. Of course, they would start out kind of quietly and politely. But as we got into some of the harder stuff, they’d start getting louder, start jumping out of their seats. They’d be asking more questions, wanting to know more, actively trying to figure out what all of it means. And how can it all be true.
I specifically remember one year one of the teens kept asking, but how do we know? You can probably imagine it. Jesus is the only Son of God, begotten, not made. But how do we know? He came down from heaven and was made man. But how do we know? Finally, at the pinnacle of it all. As everything was crescendoing into a cacophony of statements of faith and questions of belief, as frustrations were at the highest and the teens were really starting to get really angry. But how do we know? I reached for the black marker, and in big letters across the whole board, I wrote F A I T H faith. How do we know?
How do we know anything about Jesus, about God, about the crucifixion and resurrection of the only begotten Son of God? Faith. True, authentic faith. The kind of faith that has to emerge when every other logical response has been exhausted. When every single step of critical thinking and empirical evidence implies the exact opposite. When every force in the physical world argues against it, against what we say is true, right, good. When everything else seems to just not be enough, then the only answer we can have, the only answer that is actually the logical answer is faith.
One thing worth pointing out here is Jesus isn’t mad at Thomas for wanting to see and touch. Jesus might be a little bit frustrated, but he doesn’t punish, so to say, Thomas for having doubt, for questioning, for using logical reasoning and critical thinking and seeking empirical evidence. Paul Tillich is an early 20th century theologian. He says doubt is not the opposite of faith. Instead, doubt is an element of faith. To have faith, one must also have doubt, to have a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. One must also call into question the truth of that something.
And the best part about all this, the greatest thing about faith as Christians, is that we know our faith rests on more than just what the eyes can see. We know that our beliefs are so much more than just what we can see or feel or hear. Our faith, our beliefs, what we know to be true despite empirical evidence. It is all based on what we experience in our hearts and in our souls. It is all based on where we see Jesus in our lives, in the love we have for one another, and the love we have for an invisible God. Yes, it is hard to believe without ever seeing, but our faith tells us that Jesus is worthy of believing in. As our Lord and Savior. As the one who survived death and walked among the disciples with the wounds in his hands and his side, doubt, believing, faith, they all go hand in hand, no pun intended. You can’t have one without the other. You can’t believe in something you can’t have faith in something without first doubting it.
So please have doubt. Seek the empirical evidence of a living God in the world around us. Question the reality of what we are encouraged to believe. And when all of that runs out, when you cannot think of any other possible reason that would justify some other excuse when nothing else will suffice. Know the answer that is in your heart and your soul. It is in your very being and in the whole world around us. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He is worthy of our praise and worship, and he will come again to bring us into the heavenly kingdom, which will have no end. And for those of us who have not seen, and yet have come to believe, we will have a special spot waiting for us.
Jesus said, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Amen.