Date: 11^th April 2010 (Easter 1)

Preacher: Thea Oliver

Churches: Draycott & Rodney Stoke

Readings and psalm:

Acts 5, 27-32

Psalm 118,14-29

Revelation 1, 4-8

John 20, 19-31

Just as children in families are all too often pigeon-holed as “the clever one”, “the pretty one”, the “stubborn one,” so Christians have tended to categorise the historical characters of the Bible. And once those images are fixed, it is hard to dislodge them. Thomas the Twin has been dismissed as a doubter, one who calls into question the Resurrection and who refuses to accept it from hearing the accounts of his fellow disciples. He insists that he will only believe when he has proof. The little we know about Thomas suggests that he was deeply committed to Jesus’ cause. It is he who rallied the disciples when Jesus proposed to lead them to Lazarus’ tomb, straight into the hands of his enemies. Thomas said “Let us all go, that we may die with Him!” Clearly Thomas is a man of courage as well as commitment, honest enough to admit to difficulty in understanding some of Jesus’ teachings. There is no evidence that Jesus resented Thomas asking questions and wanting matters made clear. Jesus’ followers were a mixed bunch, with very different personalities. Jesus chose them, as He chooses us, for complementary gifts and talents, quirks and failings. Jesus definitely does not want those who love Him to suspend their God-given intelligence

I feel for Thomas. I mean, how would you like it if your name went down in history attached to "doubting"? How would it feel to know that every time someone uses your name it had a negative connotation?

Today I want to come to the defence of "doubting Thomas." I'd like to suggest a new adjective for this disciple, not "doubting Thomas," but "honest Thomas." I think it properly portrays the character of the one who was willing to be honest even when it made him at odds with the others.

Perhaps if we explore Thomas’ story, we'll find new freedom to be honest about our own faith, or as is often the case, lack of it. Believe it or not, I'm going to suggest today that you and I need to be more like Thomas, not necessarily by doubting more, but by being more honest with God and with each other. How often do we sing hymns that proclaim absolute assurance: ‘I know that my redeemer lives’, ‘Blessed assurance’, ‘No more we doubt thee’... etc, but can any of us really say that we never have a slight twinge of doubt?

Let’s mull over the story of Doubting Thomas. Where was he, that Sunday night? Hadn’t he heard the rumours about an empty tomb? Why wasn't he with his friends to share their grief in those first days after the crucifixion? Surely he was terrified. Where was he hiding? How did he bear the memory of those horrific events?

Let’s consider for a moment: what would we have done?

When he returned, he heard from his friends that they have seen the one truly unbelievable thing that would change everything. And Thomas, like any reasonable person who knows how the world works, has seen hundreds of Jews crucified by the Romans & knows that the dead stay in their graves needed proof. Thomas was one of the inner circle, the Twelve and he took this matter seriously. He had dedicated his life to establishing the Kingdom; He had given his heart to something — no, to someone, and that someone had been brutally executed. Thomas would understandably be devastated.

He was on the losing side of history. The mighty Roman Empire, through its vicious governor Pontius Pilate had executed another Jewish holy man, hoping that his followers would shut up, give up and retreat in despair.

And yet, the hope of these devastated people did not die. Somehow, the followers of Jesus did not fade away. Instead, they told stories of their resurrected teacher who had appeared to them in a new form, breathed the holy spirit on them given them important work to do.

To this day they continue to tell the stories of his life, sharing his teachings, living expectantly for the fulfilment of his vision. Jesus died, that we know; but in the lives of those he inspired, including all of us here, Christ is risen, and in the end, it is Jesus who outlives everything: not least the Roman Empire.

Why still tell the story of Thomas in 2010? Have you ever had a dream crushed? or worked hard for something that failed? or ever despaired in the midst of suffering? Have you ever doubted what you had taken to be true? lost a dear friend? The story may say "happy are they who never saw and yet have found faith," but I imagine everybody knows what it's like to be Thomas.

People first heard the Gospel According to John at least seventy years after Jesus died. Who in this account would most people have been able to identify with? Who represented their situation as people who are drawn to the truth and power of the Gospel, but who were not even born when the central events of the Christian story happened? Who represents them? Thomas the doubter, of course: Honest Thomas.

Thomas wasn't there either, he couldn’t believe a rumour. But then, a week later, when the doors were once again locked, Thomas — who was still with the others despite not knowing — Thomas found himself in the presence of his Lord, and was invited to touch, to feel, to see, and to know the great mystery of his faith. Why does the Gospel of John tell the story this way? Why a week later? Why in the community of believers? Because Thomas the doubter— Honest Thomas, who does not see with perfect faith — Thomas is the early Christians and indeed all of us, the people who met each week, who wanted to experience the fact of the resurrection in their lives, but only had other’s experiences to go on. It is comforting that Jesus did not condemn Thomas for wanting proof. I believe that means that we shouldn’t worry because we find that from time to time we doubt. Doubt is part of the human condition which Jesus recognised and accepted. Don’t we hear Jesus doubting when he was in Gethsemane?

I can relate to Thomas, and I wonder if you can too? Thomas is a patron saint for those of us who are trying to live a critical faith. He is not satisfied with rumours: he needs to experience. He wants his belief to be his own, to touch the truth for himself, and until then, maybe even in spite of himself, he says he will not believe. In this way Thomas approached religion critically. But Thomas was not an unbeliever. He didn’t decide that the others were deluded, that Pilate was right, that he had been wrong all along, that all this talk about the kingdom of God was just so much magical language for lesser minds. Thomas's critical instinct did not destroy his belief in the life that might be, but isn't yet, in the world. Thomas's faith is a critical faith.

As ever, we Christians find ourselves presented with two false options. On the one hand, there is faith without doubt, a kind of faith so impatient with Thomas that it would cast him out for asking impossible questions. On the other hand, there is criticism without faith — the charm of the world seducing us away from the sometimes testing love of God. Thomas presents a better way by demonstrating a critical faith. He knows what it is to lose, to suffer, to find his hopes devastated — but he also knows what he really wants. He doesn't deny his doubts, or his faith. Can we all understand this? This Easter story says that there is room for each of us, with our questions and with our proclamations. A critical faith has a fundamental place in Christianity. Thomas the doubter: Honest Thomas, — the follower who really couldn’t take things on blind faith — Thomas is the one who touches the resurrected Christ for all of us. This is a great encouragement to each one of us, because we can't see Jesus in the flesh. Someday we'll see him face to face. But that day is still a long way off for most of us. Until then, you and I are those who have to believe without seeing.

Jesus does not require perfect faith from the start. What he asks for is an open heart, one not closed to belief, but not closed by belief either. He asks for this open heart so he can lead us, and keep on leading us, so let us put our hands in his hand feel the wounds and let him lead us from honest doubt to honest faith.

Amen