This Week's Sermons

Sermons for the Month
"Believe it or Not"
DATE: April 19, 1998
SERVICE: Sunday: Easter II
TEXT: John 20:19-31

"To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

When I was a kid one of the favorite comic books or paperback books I used to enjoy reading was Ripley's Believe it or Not! [Hold up a copy, if possible, for all to see.] Robert L. Ripley was born on Christmas Day, 1893 in Santa Rosa, California. He began his newspaper career as a sports cartoonist at the age of 16.
As a reporter of the odd and unusual, Ripley traveled to the farthest corners of the globe, visiting over 200 countries, meeting with kings and queens, cannibal chieftains, tribesmen and natives along the way. His extensive travels earned him the title "The Modern Day Marco Polo." You think Ripley's Believe it or Not is passŽ today? In fact, his Believe It or Not series have been popular around the world for over 70 years, syndicated in as many as 300 newspapers. Today there are active museums around the world -- in three or four locations in California; Orlando, Florida; Branson, Missouri; Surfer's Paradise, Australia; Denmark, and Pattaya, Thailand.
It was not the sort of reading my parents encouraged. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but it bordered on the sensational and tawdry. They suggested I read Charles Dickens instead. But I loved Ripley's. What kid wouldn't? Here was a chance for my world to be expanded and challenged. I was forced in every picture to make a faith decision: do I believe this or not? Can I believe in the Fiji mermaid? Is it a tall tale or fish tale? I wondered. And what about the "Chinese Shrunken Head," the size of a lemon? Or "Wadlow the Giant" at 8'11" tall, the human high-rise?
I believed it all. I was no doubting Thomas. I hadn't learned to play the skeptic. If Maxwell Smart on the television show, Get Smart had asked me, "Would you believe a shrunken head the size of a lemon?" I would enthusiastically respond, "Yes, yes, I do!" Remember Maxwell Smart? Played by Don Adams, Smart was a spy at the height of the Cold War working for a CIA clone organization called Control to defeat the powers of evil as embodied in the sinister organization KAOS. He was a bumbling sort of an agent given to an odd grab bag of tricks to foil his enemies, be it the old secret-panel-in-the-bookcase trick, or the more popular old bulletproof-cummerbund-in-the-tuxedo trick. He was given to exaggeration, however. Many of his descriptions were unbelievable. He continually had to revise his reports until his statements were believable.
For example, "You better drop that gun because this yacht happens to be surrounded by the Seventh Fleet .... Would you believe the Sixth Fleet? ... How about a school of angry flounder?" Or, "As soon as you're gone, by the use of sheer brute strength I shall be able to rip these chains from the wall in one minute. Two minutes? How about a week from Tuesday?"
When the disciples came to Thomas with the fantastic news of a risen Savior, they asked him, "Would you believe ... that Jesus is risen? Would you believe ... that Jesus who was crucified between two thieves is alive? Would you believe ... that he has appeared to Mary and to all of us?" Thomas' response is an emphatic, "No, I would not believe such an idle tale."
In spite of such unbelieving rhetoric, the time has come to rehabilitate the reputation of Thomas. Poor Thomas has had to walk the corridors of history known as "Doubting Thomas." There is now a Doubting Thomas Anonymous for those who are not satisfied with blind faith. There is a rock band which travels internationally called Doubting Thomas. It does not matter that Thomas was no better and no worse than the average disciple who would not believe either. It does not matter that tradition has him carrying the gospel to India, where there still exists an order known as Christians of St. Thomas of India. Nor does it seem to matter that this same tradition has Thomas suffering martyrdom for the faith. No-o-o-o-o, he will always be "Doubting Thomas." The disciple who opened his mouth only to change feet. Thomas, the patron saint of all of those who are the last to know.
Thomas has gotten a bad rap. His reputation as a skeptic is not only undeserved, but is also the result of a too casual reading of the text. After all, today's gospel lesson is not the only place in Scripture where Thomas is seen in action. What do other scriptural passages tell us about him? And has the moniker worn by Thomas as a "doubter" colored the way we read the various accounts of Thomas? Can Thomas teach us anything about what it means to believe?
John begins to flesh out the personality of Thomas in an incident surrounding the death of Lazarus (John 11). Jesus tells the disciples that the time has come for them to go to Bethany that they might comfort the grieving family.
The disciples can hardly believe what they are hearing. Given the hostility of some in Jerusalem toward Jesus and the proximity of Bethany to Jerusalem, to go to Bethany at a time like this was nothing short of putting one's head into the mouth of an angry lion. Thomas then speaks up and, addressing himself to his fellow disciples, says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." To make such a statement, to take such a stand, requires no insignificant amount of courage and devotion. Here was one who was willing to lay down his own life in a spirit of solidarity with his Lord.
Is the courage of Thomas and his willingness to die diminished because of his later caution surrounding what he perceived as hysterical reports of Jesus' resurrection? If not, then why don't we remember him as "Courageous Thomas" rather than "Doubting Thomas"? Why should one event define the life of Thomas any more than another?
As followers of Jesus, we must decide if we want to be God's scorekeepers for wrongs done or grace-givers of God's forgiveness. This first glimpse of Thomas should remind us that there is more to a person than a convenient "sound bite" of an experience.
The next time we hear from Thomas is in John 14. Jesus is speaking somewhat cryptically about his departure to do some heavenly site preparation. Thomas admits that he, for one, doesn't have a clue about what Jesus is talking about. "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (v.5). This, in turn, leads Jesus to speak in unambiguous terms that even we can understand, providing one of the most memorable passages in the New Testament: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life"(v.6). It took remarkable, self-assured honesty for Thomas to acknowledge that, for him, Jesus was not making any sense. Why don't we call him "Honest Thomas" instead of "Doubting Thomas"? Because of his willingness to admit ignorance, we are all the wiser. Because of his honest confession, we are the recipients of hope-filled words that have sustained us across the years in our own moments of loss and separation.
The third scene in which Thomas plays a significant role is found in today's gospel text. Jesus appears among them fully aware of how incomprehensible his appearance is to the minds and experiences of these gathered ones. He takes the initiative and shows them in his hands and side the undeniable markings of the Crucifixion.
Lest you miss the significance of this, let me put it another way. The incredulity of this group demanded proof no less than the disbelief of Thomas and what is more, it demanded the same kind of proof. They doubted just as Thomas doubted and just as we would doubt if we were in their place.
All of which leads to a more interesting question, which is, "Why has the Christian community developed such a negative attitude toward doubt?" We have been reared in a religious environment in which doubt is posed as the antithesis of faith. And this story of Thomas is often used to reinforce that lesson. But isn't the "doubt vs. faith" dichotomy a false issue? Is not the real enemy of faith unbelief rather than doubt? I think so. And what is more, I think that doubt has a constructive and positive role to play in the exercise of faith.
So what am I to do? I don't want to be a "Doubting Thomas," but I am frequently beset with unresolved questions of faith. We, as the church, often dismiss or discount doubts and questions as the products of an immature faith. Sometimes we simply repeat the same religious platitudes that we found unsatisfying in our own struggles of faith. Sometimes in our conviction that we possess some of the answers, we act as though we have all of the answers. The three least used words in our religious vocabulary are, "I don't know." And in this feasting under the tree of knowledge, we rob faith of its humanness.
Could we not, however, respond more positively to these questionings and doubts by using them as teaching moments? Here the example of Thomas can help us. We can learn from Thomas that even though we don't know where our journey may lead, it is enough that our Lord makes the journey with us. And in those times when our faith needs the reinforcement of tangible reality, it is good to know that our Lord does not meet our doubts with chastisement, but with a manifestation of grace.
Our congregations are filled with persons who hold unresolved issues of faith and belief, but there is often no safety zone within our churches where these doubts can be raised and legitimized without the questioner being made to feel like a second-class Christian. Instead we hold before them the negative image of Thomas the Doubter.
But what if we rehabilitated the reputation of Thomas as one who had the courage to admit his lack of understanding? And what if we celebrated the willingness of Thomas to express his honest doubts? -- Would you believe ... that this could change the complexion of our congregations? -- Would you believe ... we could help persons to see that faith is a belief held in the presence of doubts rather than a belief that removes all doubt?
-- Would you believe ... that we might then discover persons empowered to openly discuss their doubts in their individual struggles of faith? -- Would you believe ... that we might be seen by unbelievers, not as folks who have all the answers, but as persons like themselves who hold a measure of faith despite our uncertainties?
-- Would you believe ... in other words, that we might give the church a more human face?
We need to embrace the truth learned from the example of Thomas that doubts may not always lead to answers, but they almost always lead to growth. Believe it or not!
AMEN