Today’s gospel reading is one of the best-known Eastertide gospels – that of ‘Doubting Thomas’. We almost never hear the name of this disciple without the label of ‘Doubting’. Most people, no matter how non-religious, have heard about ‘Doubting Thomas’.
You may be interested to know that in the first three gospels we are told absolutely nothing at all about Thomas. He is just a name in a list of the disciples (Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15), a faceless man among the twelve. It is in John’s Gospel that he emerges as a distinct personality, but even then there are only 155 words about him.
Bishop John Shelby Spong in his book, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, that the writer of John created Thomas as a metaphor with a unique personality of ‘doubting’. His story has entered the vocabulary of the world and is even used in common conversation. People who doubt or question the status quo are called ‘Doubting Thomas’.
Jesus admonished Thomas:
“Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27)
Jesus told Thomas to believe and accept His resurrection as true – to have ‘faith’.
What then is this ‘faith’ we are supposed to have? Faith is a complete trust or confidence in someone or something. It is, from a religious standpoint, a strong belief in God or certain doctrines based on spiritual apprehension, rather than proof. Jesus goes on to tell Thomas
“blessed are those who believe and have not seen”. (John 20:29)
In fact, not only Christians, but all human beings, really, live every day by faith.
• We go to sleep assuming by faith that we will wake up.
• We kiss our loved ones goodbye, having faith that we will see them again.
• We drive to the grocery store with the faith that we will return home safely with our groceries.
• We plant our gardens in the fall with faith that they will blossom in the spring.
And most crucially, we live every day knowing at some point that we will die, and that somehow it will be alright. But we cannot prove that, nor can we understand what really happens. These are all elements of ‘having faith’.
But does faith mean we do not doubt?
No, surely faith does not preclude doubt. Most people, if they are honest with themselves, will admit that they are troubled from time to time with doubts about what they they’ve been taught is true. Even the Saint Mother Teresa wrote of her doubts in her diaries, saying:
"[But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, - Listen and do not hear--the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak "
Even this holy woman had doubts, yet her faith was strong.
Doubt is defined as: ‘a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction; a hesitancy to believe; not being certain about something, especially about how good or true it is.’
The writer, Frederick Buechner, put it this way, “If you don't have doubts you're either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants-in-the-pants of faith; they keep faith alive and moving.” Doubt is one of God’s most effective tools for producing mighty men and women of faith.
I submit to you that being a ‘Doubting Thomas’ and questioning life, especially its major events or problems, is not a bad thing. We should do it. When we ask ourselves difficult questions, we get answers that can deepen our faith and provide us with the tools we need to move to a more purposeful life and a closer relationship with God.
Indeed, we can learn a valuable lesson from Thomas: We must doubt and then move beyond doubt to faith. It is all right to doubt, but we must move beyond doubt.
Jesus told Thomas that those
“who believe even if they have not seen are blessed. (John 29:29)
Certain Christian doctrines and biblical stories simply seem illogical and flawed. They confound all reason and go against much of what we now know for sure, through science and experience.
So, what if we find ourselves with serious doubts. What should we do?
• We can accept that doubt is normal and healthy for human beings. All Christians, sometime during our lives, have doubts, questions and skepticisms. That is the way that God made us: to ask questions, to inquire, to think, to sort things out.
• As I mentioned, doubts, questions and skepticism often lead to a greater faith. Centuries ago, Copernicus doubted that the earth was the center of the universe. Christians of his era were using and quoting the Bible to prove that the earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus doubted the validity of those peoples’ interpretation and his doubting of their interpretation of the Bible led him to a larger and deeper understanding of our place in the world and the wonders of God’s creation. Galileo took this further to his own excommunication from the church, but a strengthened faith in God. Doubt often leads to deeper faith.
So, when we doubt, we begin to examine our lives to determine what is true, what is right, what is good for us. That is the human process – it leads to a better understanding of ourselves, our world, and our relationship with eternity. And each one of us must travel that journey at their own pace and in their own time.
So, is there a real purpose for doubt in our Christian faith? ABSOLUTELY!
Doubt is what enables our faith to grow. Today’s gospel passage tells us this. In the beginning of the text Jesus has appeared to the disciples and they believed. They had to share it with others. Thomas was not in the room when Jesus first appeared to the disciples, and when he heard what happened, he did not believe what they were saying. Thomas had little faith in what the disciples were saying because it was, frankly, unbelievable, and he needed more proof. Jesus was dead – he had seen him brutally tortured and murdered, he saw his lifeless body buried in a tomb.
We don’t know why Thomas was not with the others when Jesus appeared. But surely, he was despairing – the one in whom he had put all his faith was dead. Yet, today we should be glad for his doubt, for we, like Thomas, did not see Jesus appear resurrected, and our doubt is much like his.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples a second time, however, Thomas was there and declared for all to hear,
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and place my finger where the nails where, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)
Did Jesus chastise Thomas for his unbelief? No! He understood the reason for his doubts and said:
"Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." (John 20:27)
And Thomas believed!
Doubting Thomas was very much like each of us, wanting to believe and still unsure that Jesus has actually risen. He wanted to see the scars and touch them to assure himself that it was really true – Jesus was alive and had overcome death. Just as Thomas doubted, we feel compelled in our doubts to see for ourselves. Just as Thomas wanted tangible proof, we, in our complex and cruel world, need to be reassured that what Jesus promised us is true – that life is eternal – that to live as He did, to follow His example of love, compassion, service, and forgiveness – this leads us to true life, here on earth and beyond - and that where He is eternally, there we will be also. Like Thomas, we all must seek, experience, meditate, and question until we come to understand, through confidence in the word of Jesus, that He is true, His promise is true, and we can believe in Him with all our hearts and minds.
I leave you with this poem, ‘Thomas, Undone’, by Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes:
The un-ease you feel is not doubt.
It is hunger to go deeper.
You are not done yet.
Learn from Thomas,
who, when Jesus planned to go to Bethany
where they had tried to stone him,
said, “Let us go die with him.”
You want to see the scar of your betrayal
and how love bears it.
You want to touch the wounds
and enter the heart of The One
Who Suffers for the World
and lives.
Now, more than before,
you are ready to come and die with him,
let love undo you and begin again.
Don't belittle your restlessness.
Let it lead you.
Reach out.
Even now he is saying your name.
Let us pray:
Almighty and ever living God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with sure and certain faith in your Son's resurrection: grant us the faith to truly and deeply believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found doubting. Empower us to be carriers of that faith to others. Give us the ability to share it so others can know the grace of your salvation, your gracious gift of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Delivered at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Worthington and Parts Adjacent, Worthington, OH; 23 April 2017
