“Faith or Facts?” – John 20:19-31 – Aril 15, 2007

Traditionally this has been called the story of “doubting Thomas.” But Thomas was not the lone doubter. The rest of the disciples had doubts too. Remember in Luke how the disciples responded to the women when they said, “he has risen.” They considered it an idle tale and did nothing. In Mark the women told the disciples, “but they did not believe.” In Matthew, Jesus appeared to the disciples in Galilee, “but some had doubts.”

So in those first few days and weeks there were eyewitnesses to the resurrection and appearances of Jesus to the disciples. But, there was predominantly unbelief. Not a whole lot has changed has it? We live in world where many don’t believe and many have doubts.

One of the great hymns that we sing during Lent is, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord.” Of course we all know the answer is, “No,” we were not there when Jesus was crucified. And, neither were we there when he arose from the dead. In fact, only a few were there. So, how do you explain that so many people believe?

This story in the gospel of John is written for all those who were not there. The story is about one of the disciples, Thomas, who wasn’t there when Jesus appeared. When the other disciples told him that they had “seen the Lord,” he did not believe them. He needed proof. A week later, Jesus appeared again, only this time Thomas was there. Since he was an eyewitness he believed.

Jesus asked Thomas if he believed because he saw him. Then Thomas responded to Jesus by saying, “My Lord and my God!” He made a statement of faith, based on the fact that Jesus was in his presence, and he showed him the scars from his crucifixion. Then Jesus made a most amazing statement. He said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Or, in other words, blessed are they who were not there but believe.

This message is for all who have come later. This message is for us, today, 2,000 years after the resurrection and the appearances of Jesus to his disciples. This message is for anyone who was in fact, not there. Just because we live in the year 2007 does not give us a disadvantage. We have the same opportunity to believe as the very first disciples.

One time someone I know very well and trust told me that a parishioner had died. I was shocked and I didn’t believe them because I had not been notified. There was no announcement in the newspaper that confirmed the man’s death. So I called a local funeral home to verify that the man had in fact, died. They told me that he had died and so then I believed what I had heard. Unfortunately I didn’t have faith in what my parishioner had told me.

What this story tells us is that believing in Jesus is not about having the facts. It is a matter of faith. What we have are four gospels that tell the story. In faith, we believe that John’s story is true. However, for Jesus, believing in him is not based on historical, factual evidence. Believing in Jesus is based on three things; (1) accepting the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, which means living in grace, (2) embracing and practicing forgiveness of sins, and (3) being blessed because we persevere in spite of the struggles of life.

When Jesus appeared to the disciples, he “breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the Holy Spirit.’” This was their commissioning ceremony. The disciples were empowered to continue Jesus’ ministry. He said, “Peace be with you,” because they would experience anxious moments and he wanted to assure them of God’s presence. This commissioning is also for us and we too are empowered the spirit of God. Jesus lives, not because he walked through a locked door and showed his wounds to Thomas and the others, Jesus lives through the lives of faithful disciples who come after him. God is real to us when we can life with faith instead of facts.

Arturo Toscanini was a great symphony conductor. One time he was playing Beethoven’s Lenore overture. The overture had two musical climaxes. Each was followed by a trumpet solo which Toscanini had arranged to be played offstage. When the first climax arrived, there was no sound from the trumpet offstage. The conductor was annoyed but continued to lead the orchestra. They reached the second climax but again, no trumpet. This time the conductor was furious and so he rushed offstage, demanding a full explanation from the trumpet player. There he found the trumpet player struggling with the theatre security guard. The guard was scornfully shouting at the trumpet player, saying, “You can’t play that trumpet back here, you’ll disturb the concert!” It is common to rush to judgment because of the facts we observe. But, in this case, the security guard didn’t have all the facts. Had he left well enough alone, the concert would have continued as planned and the trumpeter would have played on cue. We were there when we don’t rush to judgment and trust in the grace of God.

Although Thomas had doubts and needed factual evidence, Jesus did not shame him or condemn him. Instead, he gave him what he needed to enhance his faith. It troubles me that there are some preachers who lay guilt trips on people. This is not what Jesus was about. In fact, it was quite the opposite. After he had given the disciples the Holy Spirit he said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Forgiveness is the work of the faith community. John is not talking about immorality or bad behavior, John was speaking of the sin of being blind to the revelation of God in Jesus. Thomas was forgiven for his unbelief. Therefore, as the Church, we are to be about forgiving others for their unbelief instead of making judgments or condemning them for their spiritual blindness.

This makes sense when you consider the fact that the disciples were hiding behind closed doors, fearful of being exposed as believers. And the interactions with Thomas affirm the fact that Jesus’ primary concern was his ability to see. We were there because we are willing to forgive others for their spiritual blindness and because we too have been forgiven for our inability to “see.”

Finally, we are “blessed” because we don’t allow the struggles of life to weaken our faith. One time a student found a cocoon and brought it to his biology teacher. She put it in a glass box with a warning lamp. About a week later, the students saw a small opening appear on the cocoon. Then, the cocoon began to shake and suddenly, a tiny antenna emerged, followed by a head and tiny front feet. The students watched the progress of the emerging butterfly. By noon it had freed its listless wings. It wiggled and shook, but try as it might, it could not seem to force its body through the small opening. One student decided to snip off the end of the cocoon to help the insect. Out it plopped but part of the butterfly was large and swollen. The insect crawled about, dragging its listless wings and a short time later, it died. The next day the biology teacher explained that the butterfly’s struggle to get through the tiny opening was necessary in order to force fluids from its swollen body into its wings to make them strong. Without the struggle, the butterfly’s wings would not develop.

When Jesus blessed his disciples he knew their faith would grow because of the persecutions and struggles they would face in a hostile world. By persevering and remaining faithful they would experience the joy of relying on God and ultimately the promise of everlasting life.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio