April 11, 2010
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
In January 2006, eight of us traveled to Thailand to discover American Baptist missions with no other expectation but to learn about God’s mission in the world. After much preparation, we flew to Bangkok to visit the Chinese churches and see the wonderful sights. We then traveled to Chiang Mai, the largest city in Northern Thailand where American Baptists have many mission programs with the Hill Tribe People. This is how we first learned about the significance of selling Lanna Coffee can do to stop human trafficking.
By the time we arrived in Chiang Mai, one of our group members, Tommy Lim was not feeling well. He decided to remain in the hotel to get some needed rest knowing that we were still at the beginning of our long trip. On the day that Tommy was sick, we visited the House of Love where children affected with AIDS and HIV lived because they have been abandoned by their parents and leaders of their villages. We met these adorable children and their house parents. They sang songs and danced for us. We sang a few camp songs for them and passed out little ditty bags of gifts. This was one of the highlights of our trip.
Later that night when Tommy was feeling better, he was disappointed that he didn’t get the chance to meet the children for himself. He heard our stories and saw our pictures and videos. Tommy has told me from time to time that there are moments that he believed he was actually there—based on seeing and experiencing through the words and images of the rest of us. Do you know that Tommy Lim is the strongest advocate on our team for raising financial support for the House of Love and the New Life Center in Chiang Mai?
Tommy didn’t see but he believed.
Doubting Thomas
In our text for this morning, there’s another Tommy.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he first appeared to Mary at the tomb when she thought that Jesus was the gardener who may have taking the body away. When Jesus called out Mary’s name, she immediately recognized him and cried out, “Rabbouni!” which means “Teacher.” The second time Jesus appeared was on that same day. He came to the disciples through a locked door, blessed them with “Peace be with you” and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them.
For some reason, the other Tommy, Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the other disciples were so excited that they have seen the risen Lord, Thomas said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hands in his side, I will not believe.”
By now a whole week has passed. Last Sunday was Easter Sunday when the first two appearances happened. Now a week later, the disciples were still hiding behind a locked door and Jesus appears for a third time. But this time, Thomas was with them.
After Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” he told Thomas to “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” After this first-hand physical verification that Jesus was truly risen, Thomas uttered one of the strongest affirmations of faith, “My Lord and my God!”
Doubting
Last Sunday, our sanctuary was filled with worshipers in all three services. On the first Sunday after Easter, we frequently would read John 20 and identify with doubting Thomas. Perhaps those who believe decided that they didn’t have to come back this morning. Their faith has been renewed for another year. But those of you who are here today may have some doubts—so you’ve come back to hear some more.
I find myself deeply sympathetic to Thomas. Like Thomas, I want to see Jesus, I want to touch Jesus, I want, like Mary, to wrap my arms around him and cling to him. I find Thomas’ reaction entirely believable, and, for good or ill, I can imagine myself in Thomas’ place demanding the same thing. There is, I think, a little of Thomas in all of us—the nagging voice that whispers in our ear every now and then, “maybe it isn’t true,” “maybe you’re wrong,” “maybe this is all a waste of time.” When we hear that voice we doubt our faith, we doubt ourselves, and we desperately wish for proof—proof we can see, proof we can touch.
The truth is, however, that this “doubt” Thomas so vividly embodies is not something opposed to our faith, a sign that our faith is weak, or even something that years of church going and Bible reading can make disappear. Instead, doubt is something that goes hand-in-hand with faith, and is, in fact, an integral part of it. No one knew this better than the great 20th century theologian, Paul Tillich.
For Tillich, faith describes the experience of a finite being, an individual human being who is grasped by God, the Ultimate, the ground of all Being, the One who surpasses and exceeds every attempt at full comprehension and understanding. Even when we are in a relationship with God, there is the radical gap, the infinite chasm between God and humanity, a constant reminder of our human frailty and finitude. The very act of faith requires that we believe in someone we cannot fully know, someone who calls us to follow down a path whose ends we cannot see, and someone who demands of us an obedience and trust beyond anything we can conceive of in our daily lives.
Tillich believed that if you take all this seriously you would realize that it is impossible to accept it all without some questions, some concerns, and some hesitation. Tillich writes, “Faith is certain in so far as it is an experience of the holy.” In other words, faith is reliable not because of what we are or what we do, but because of who God is, and what God does. This element of uncertainty in faith cannot be removed, it must be accepted. The very act of faith is a risk and consequently, the very act of faith is inseparable from the doubt such a profound risk carries with it inherently.
The bottom line is that faith takes courage. It takes courage to affirm oneself as a person of faith when so many of our friends and family members have abandoned faith as an antiquated and irrelevant way of being in the world. It takes courage to trust God and the grace of God’s presence when life seems marked by death, despair and misfortune. It takes courage to believe in what we cannot see, to trust in what we cannot touch, to affirm what we cannot prove. This courage does not rest on our strength alone, but on the same God who continually calls us, loves us, and redeems us, walking with us every step of the way.
As this text reminds us, Jesus appeared to Thomas, even when Thomas’ faith had all but vanished in his doubt and despair at seeing his savior crucified on the cross. After Thomas believed by proclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Not Seen but Believed
Do we need to see before we can believe? Tommy Lim didn’t see but believed.
When Jesus met Mary in the garden tomb, seeing was not enough. She had looked at the presumed gardener right in the eyes and said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him.” Only when Jesus called her name did she recognize him and believe he was raised. Sometimes we can see and still not believe.
In this same chapter, there is one person for whom “not seeing” is “believing.” Remember that “other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.” When he entered the tomb where Jesus had been buried he did not see Jesus’ body—either dead or resurrected—and in this “not seeing” he believed (v. 8). In a way, he was the first person to receive the blessing about which Jesus spoke to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
For all of us who have come to believe through the reading of this gospel, the opportunity to see is nonexistent. All we have are the stories written in this book.
For some of you who have been attending our church for some time would probably have drawn a picture of what Jesus looks like in your minds from the stained glass window of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We know that there are many other versions of what Jesus may have looked like. Since no one drew a picture of Jesus when he was living on earth, we don’t know whether he was tall or short, handsome or homely, with dark hair or light hair. Without seeing a photograph of Jesus, we have come to believe.
If we are unable to see Jesus, how have we come to believe in Jesus without seeing him? For us who have come to believe 2000 years later, we see the wounds on Jesus and know that we can trust our wounds with him. Have you ever wondered why God didn’t fix Jesus up—even after 8 days have passed? God could have, and at times it seems as if God did.
The main thing is that we won’t see Jesus unless we see his wounds. Thomas saw and felt Jesus’ wounds. The resurrected Christ is forever the wounded Christ. He is not bound by death but is scarred for all eternity. Those who are deaf have for Jesus in sign language—the wounded hands of Christ. Unless the wounded Christ touches us where we are wounded, we won’t know Christ. The scarred Jesus meets us before we are all fixed up.
There’s a story about a pastor visiting a church member who was under hospice care. Even though he was a lifelong faithful member of the church, it became clear that in his suffering this man had started questioning the existence or even the possibility of an afterlife. He had reached the belief that once you die—life is over—you enter into oblivion.
For many visits, the pastor wanted him to trust in the resurrection. They read scripture. They prayed—nothing seemed to work. One morning, the pastor found himself sitting at his bedside, and it was clear to him that it was just a couple of weeks before the man would die. For several minutes, they just sat there in silence. The pastor didn’t really have much to say.
All of a sudden, the pastor felt a sense of urgency and need to bring some sort of hope into his situation. He looked at him and said, “When you die, I think that you are going to be very surprised.” The man looked at him, just a little taken back. “What do you mean?” he inquired sharply.
The pastor said, “Well, I know that you aren’t sure what is going to happen to you when you die, but what you believe or don’t believe doesn’t change the reality of what is. Whether you believe it or not, Jesus was raised from the dead. I truly believe that you are going to be surprised by this. God is going to surprise you. As you are approaching the end, perhaps even while you are dying, you will be surprised to find that Jesus is waiting for you, waiting with open arms to accept you.”
The man just looked at the pastor and smiled, “that would be really nice.” All of a sudden the pastor saw a light of hope enter the man’s eyes. God cracked his belief of oblivion—to the point where he was able to begin to doubt it. Shortly after that conversation, the man went into a coma. He became unresponsive and unable to communicate. But while he was in this state, as he approached his last day, his spouse witnessed him reaching up and reaching out to something very tangible and real. She witnessed, the pastor believed, him reaching out to Jesus who came to surprised him in his last moments.
Surprised Beyond a Doubt
Despite our inability to convince ourselves that the resurrection really happened. Have you, like Thomas, ever been doubtful about what you believe? When we can share our wounds with Jesus who first received the wounds on the cross, we have reason to hope, a reason to go on. The resurrection tells us that despite the suffering there is in the world, this is not the final say. Tragedy, death does not have the last word. We can live beyond our disbelief.
Jesus ends our passage today by saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” It is not that Jesus is saying that you need to believe without seeing to be a good Christian, but rather it is an invitation to set aside our unbelief and rest in the assurances of God. The more we are able to do that the more we are able to experience the blessing that it is to trust God.
It is a blessing to live as Easter people rather than as Good Friday people. All of us have yet to encounter the Risen Lord as Thomas and the disciples did, but we are still invited to live as Easter people knowing that one day we will be surprised.
We no longer need to live with the unbelief that Thomas had before Jesus came to him. God invites us to live filled with joy, peace and faith. God invites us to live with the hindsight of everlasting life. The reality is that no matter how strong or weak our faith is, when we finally encounter Jesus, we are sure to be surprised.
Living as an Easter person is Tommy Lim, our “Thomas” who has been blessed. He has not seen the children at the House of Love and yet has come to believe is one of the most faithful advocates of our Lanna Coffee project.
The other Thomas, called the Twin who was able to put his finger on Jesus’ hands and his hand on Jesus’ side came to believe beyond a doubt. Traditionally, Thomas is the only apostle who went outside the Roman Empire proclaiming the gospel. It is believed that Thomas may have reached western China since the Nestorian Christians there traced their spiritual lineage to him and to India where Indian Christians of Kerala also trace their faith to the witness of Thomas who is said to have sailed there.
Just when we may doubt, Jesus will surprise us with just how real this story is. Jesus will surprise each and every one of us; Jesus will surprise us all beyond a doubt.
Let us pray.
Thank you, Lord for revealing to us your wounds so that we may believe in your resurrection and the promise of our resurrection when that day comes. Bless us with faithfulness even in the midst of our doubt and uncertainties that in your time, we may come to know you more fully. Enable us to live our lives with the courage of a leap of faith as we witness to the good news that Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed. Amen.