"Faithful Doubt" John 20:19-36
You've heard of the Last Supper? This is the Last Sermon. If any of you have been putting off acting on what I've been preaching, this is the last gas station until the governing board invites me back for some distant anniversary. You know my messages have been pretty consistent. I've challenged you to think for yourselves. To take the Bible seriously but not literally. To dare to extend Jesus' extravagant hospitality. First to yourself and then to all God's children, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, social class or sexual orientation.
Looking back, I think I preached one of my best sermons at PCFL on this very text in 1994. It was entitled "Resurrection, Yes! Apotheosis, No!" I won't try to go back over the same ground today. If you'd like a copy, look for one on the table outside, after the service!
I'd like to take a few moments today to reflect with you on Thomas, the Faithful Doubter, and one I would nominate for Patron saint of PCFL.
According to the hagiographies, his duties are to care for those who want
to see things--the visionaries who work to make dreams become reality. So he is
listed as patron saint of Architects; The Blind; Builders; Masons;
Geometricians; People in Doubt; Surveyors; and
Thomas is a good candidate for PCFL's patron saint because he seems to
have been a boundary-crosser, initiating the first international ministry.
There is significant evidence for the third-century legends that Thomas
traveled to
In addition, Thomas' day in the saints' calendar is July 3. I don't think it's coincidence that this is quite close to the beginning date of PCFL's annual Heavenly Treasures garage sale!
For years I've told young people in the confirmation class that doubt is the growing edge of faith. When you go away from home and start to question the things you learned in Sunday School, it doesn't mean you're rejecting the Christian faith. It means that you're growing up and moving toward an adult understanding of faith. You'll never get there if you stay stuck in the views of your childhood. Faithful doubt is part of the process. Don't put yourself down for having doubts.
At first, Thomas is like all the other literal-minded, would-be followers in the gospel of John. He wants to put his fingers in the wounds, to stick his hand in the side. This is John's gospel once again playing with our minds. It's Nicodemus imagining climbing into his mother's womb. It's the disciples of John the Baptist gagging at the idea of eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood. As we laugh at such foolishness, we are supposed to wake up to the spiritual point of the gospel. Thomas helps us realize that what matters is the spiritual encounter with Christ, not contact with a walking corpse. That's why the Gospel tells us, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Relax, dear friends. What matters is living with trustful hearts.
The message for Faithful Doubters is that if you need to take this literally, Jesus will accommodate you. And if you prefer to understand it metaphorically, that's okay too. Too much of the pain and suffering in our world is caused by people who think their understanding is the only acceptable way. Too many people say, "If you're different from me, we can't both be right. And of course, that makes you wrong." Faithful Doubters, remember the words of Oliver Cromwell: "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken."
I know it's hard to believe, but there may be some people here today who want to turn me into a saint, who even consider that my ministry over these past 23 years was a model of perfection. I want to tell those people that if you continue in that delusion, you're going to make it very hard for the person who comes next. There may be others who can only see my faults. I want to tell those people that you're going to be disappointed when another human being comes along. Churches get torn up by people whose disillusionments get in the way of accepting one another, and by the people who can't accept their own humanity.
In this political season, we may hope to see rescuers and saviors among the candidates. We want to believe that if we elect this person, whoever it is, that the country will be so much better off. More useful, I think, would be faithful doubters.
So my parting
advice to my beloved friends at
