Sermon -- Sunday, April 19, 2020
/John 20:19-29
By: Rev. Gene Dyszlewski
So, in today’s Gospel story, its Easter evening and the Risen Christ appears to the disciples. But, even in those days, not quite everyone made it to church. Thomas was missing. Later, when the other disciples told him they had seen the Lord, he was unable to take it in. Well, a week later Thomas decides to show up and the Risen Christ appears again in their midst. This time directly addressing Thomas Jesus says, “Thomas, stop doubting and believe”. Hence, Thomas is forevermore dubbed, “Doubting Thomas.”
It seems that Thomas was taken aback, confused and unable to accept the new reality. To be fair, the crucifixion is shocking and the resurrection is unexpected and unpredictable. If it is doubt that Thomas is being accused of, then let’s be gentle with him in an understanding way and take a look at what that is going on.
First of all, doubt gets a bad rap in traditional Christian circles. If you view Christianity in terms of beliefs, thoughts about God, then doubt is a problem. Belief has many levels but is mostly an intellectual event; it’s about thinking. Jesus never asked his disciples to believe facts about him or about God. So, what if Christianity isn’t thoughts about God? In that case, doubt is not a sin. It does not separate you from God, Jesus or the church community.
Nevertheless, when doubt arises in my field of awareness, it arises for a reason. Usually when things change and are dramatically different than my usual experience or different than my typical expectations, doubt arises. Similarly, when there is a very loud noise, I have a startle response. It is a wake up call to look for possible danger. When ideas I hold do not fit the circumstance of the moment in which I am living, doubt arises. If the circumstances change, doubt will pass. If not, I could treat doubt as a messenger, I might reassess my viewpoint or expectations in the circumstances in which I find myself or I might choose to practice living with uncertainty, which is the path of wisdom.
Doubt, itself, isn’t the problem. It is something that naturally occurs. It is something that alerts me to a problem. My attitude and my response to the problem is up to me. It is my choice. If I insist on control then doubt grows into fear and fear seeks safety over truth or relationship. If I refuse to change… If I insist that life be controllable according to my needs and wants, then I end up grasping onto a false narrative. Life is unpredictable and sometimes painful.
It seems the situation in which Thomas finds himself is probably the most challenging. This isn’t just about the mechanics of everyday life. This is about the mystery of life. Death and resurrection are beyond the grasp of the thinking mind but not beyond the grasp of human understanding. Jesus the wisdom teacher was inviting Thomas to drop all his preconceptions and accept what the moment has to offer.
Jesus teaches that being in relationship is the key to spirituality…it is the key to understanding the mystery of life. Jesus saw humanity, much like he saw himself, incarnate beings, that is, spiritual beings having a physical existence. We need to think and judge in order to live in the world, but thinking isn’t everything. We, also, need to experience the immeasurable states like love and joy because we are spirits. We become fully alive when we do both.
So, what happens when we are in relationship? We can’t simply think our way into a relationship. It is an experience of head and heart. A relationship is not theoretical or intellectual; it is participatory. It cannot be known before hand. It is an experience in the moment…in the now.
So Jesus turns to Thomas reminding him of the relationship that they share together. He is inviting Thomas to let go of his thoughts and expectations and experience the moment. A real loving relationship defies evaluation. It defies place and time. This is true of any loving relationship we may have, spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, friend. As corporal beings we need to share moments together to create a relationship but if one of us leaves the room or for some reason is not physically present, does the relationship cease? No! Of course not.
Once it forms, once we experience the other person as precious, the relationship seems to have a life of its own. We may notice this in many ways. For example, when we experience joy when the loved one walks into the room. That spontaneous moment of joy is what occurs in our field of awareness because of the relationship.
So, Jesus was inviting his friend Thomas, to drop the confusion and the doubt and let in the joy. Yes Thomas, since the last time we saw each other, I have changed profoundly. Don’t hang on to who I used to be but meet me in the moment of who I am now. Real life is experienced moment by moment by moment. In real life relationships, people change moment by moment. Every encounter changes us in some way…whether we notice it or not. In fact, if our relationship is real we will leave the experience of this very moment moved…changed in some way.
Jesus seemed to see humans as essentially relational beings, not isolated individuals. Human flourishing occurs in relational moments. Relationship does not need constant physical presence; it transcends time and space. Judo-Christian tradition teaches that we are made in the image and likeness of God and God is unknowable intellectually but is present and accessible relationally, experientially. For Jesus, salvation was about having a trusting relationship with God. Loving the people in our lives, is how we first come to understand how that works. Remember: God is love and whoever abides in love; abides in God and God in them.
(Si conprehenderus non est deus.- Augustine)
