Sanjayah and Thomas
John 20:19-31
Raise your hand if you watch the TV series "American Idol". [hands go up] Well, for those who are not familiar with this show here's how it goes. First there's this gathering of contestants from around the nation. The contestants are individuals who are hoping for a chance at fame and fortune as a singer. From around the country the contestants come. They come and, at least in the first couple of rounds, the TV viewers get to watch three judges publicly humiliate them. There are a few who make it through the judge's wrath somewhat unharmed. They are the ones who are invited back to move onward in the contest. Then, once they make it through this gathering round. The final contestants are voted upon each week by the American public. At the end of each week the contestant with the fewest of America's votes must leave the contest. Its an exercise in the same contest we all must participate in with our daily lives. Its the survival of the fittest contest. Its the reward of the greatest and best, and to hell with the rest event that consumes most of our lives and leaves us drained by the end of the day. So, now we can come home from a hard day in this contest of real life and participate vicariously through the TV in a kind of ritualistic hazing experiment on other unworthy and weaker condidates who are just like us. And when the show is over we are secretly gitty at the way Simon (the judge we all love to hate) really stuck it to so and so.
We are a culture who loves to put down--no--trample, destroy, humiliate, pulverize--the ones who are the weakest among us. Oh, we would never come to church and admit that. But, the success of this show speaks otherwise. That is--until Sanjayah came.
Among this season's contestants is this 17 year old kid named Sanjayah. He is clearly and most evidently not of the same caliber of talent as the other contestants. Yet, at the same time, he is not as abhorrent to watch or listen as some either. Meanwhile, he has a kind of charm and charisma that demonstrates a character that is just thrilled to be competing. Sanjayah has captured the votes of those who want to reward the underdog, the weakest, the least. The American public has grown tired of voting for the best. There is now a compaign to vote for the worst, and Sanjayah is the recipient of these votes. Sanjayah's survival in this game represents a refreshing swing of the pendulum of American public opinion. A vote for Sanjayah is a vote for the underdog, the underpriviledged, the regular person who is just trying to do their best in a world that is never satisfied.
Now, church, this spirit among the American viewers to lift up the lowly, put down the mighty, defend the weakest, and overthrow the systems of injustice---does this sound familiar to you? It should. This is the same spirit that comes upon the virgin Mary and gives this lowly peasant girl a reason to sing. The same spirit that brings new life to Israel when it is held captive by Babylonia. The same spirit that inspired Peter and the apostles in that first day of Pentecost, and the same spirit that drove Jesus out into ministry after his baptism. The Holy Spirit is moving among the American people. But, you say, where is the church in all this? If the Holy Spirit is doing this work, then why isn't the church involved in organizing this effort. This is being done without any connection to the church. How can this be?
God gives to the church the Holy Spirit. But, if the church is not going to make use of the Holy Spirit's gifts of faith to follow God and do God's will then God will not be restrained by the church's lack of action. When the chuirch is slow to faithfully act on behalf of God's will--God will act without the church. Each week we come here together and we recite the Lord's Prayer. In it we pray that "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Well, the truth is that God is God. He's in charge. His will gets done with or without us. Therefore in the Lord's prayer we are not praying simply for God's will to be done. We are praying that God's will gets done through us, that we do not make choices that lead us away from being a part of what God is doing in the world. We are thannkful of thr faith that we have been given, but we all too often forget that God has given us this faith for a reason and a purpose.
This brings me to the point of this sermon and the theme I am preaching under through this season of Easter--Faith may indeed be a personal matter, but it is never a private matter.
We each may have our own personal experience with the Almighty; our own personal faith in God. However, contrary to public opinion in our world today, faith is not truly faith if it does not call us to act on behlaf of God's will for the world. Faith must move us to act in love for our neighbor or creation. Faith that sits and does nothing isn't faith at all. God's will is that the lowly, the underdog, the unjustly treated be given a fair vote in this world.
This brings me to Thomas, the doubter, because here in this story we find that even those who doubt are welcomed by Jesus, and given the opportunity to believe so that God's will be done.
Tossing out Judas as an anomaly, if I were to ask you which of the disciples was the worst one, who would you say it is? That's a rhetorical question of course, because anyone with even a small amount of biblical awareness would answer Thomas. Why? Because he is the one who doubted the resurrection. It's because of him that when ever someone doubts the obvious they are likely labeled a "doubting Thomas". But, let's take a closer look at this doubter's story.
Thomas was not among the disciples when Jesus appears to them. Why? Where was he? Well, the truth is we don't know. But, what we do know is that the disciples were all hiding, afraid that what happened to Jesus would happen to them. They were all hiding---that is, except for Thomas, obviously, because he wasn't there. So, while the others are hiding, he isn't. Yet, we dont call him "Courageous Thomas", do we? OK, what else can we say about Thomas's story? Let's take a closer look at this whole doubting incident. Thomas says to the others that if he cannot touch the wounds of Jesus then he will not believe. A week later, Jesus appears to them as he did the previous week. He says to Thomas, "Put your fingers here. Put hand in my side. Do not doubt, but believe." Immediately, Thomas declares, "My Lord and my God!" There are two things we must lift up about this brief moment in time. First, notice that even though he said he would not believe without touching the wounds, Thomas never touched the wounds of Jesus. Jesus offered it to him, but he did not take him up on it. In the end Thomas believed without needing to physically touch the flesh and bone of Jesus. Secondly, and of most necessity, is Thomas's declaration of faith. Thomas declares something that no other disciple says. Thomas recognizes this Jesus to be his Lord, which meant master, teacher, or one with authority over him in some sort of way. This was a very common label given in those days to those with some measure of authority over your life, such as teachers, government leaders, caregivers etc. It is common in the scriptures for the disciples to refer to Jesus as Lord. But, no one called him God. Some suggested that he was the Son of God. But, in all the bible there is not one single statement that goes so far as to claim that Jesus is both Lord and God simultaneously. Its from Thomas that we begin to see Trinitarian thought surface in the church. Its from Thomas that the church makes its most profound statement of faith--that this man was at the same time human and divine--both God and man simultaneously. In the end where would the church be without Thomas' statement of faith. yet, we don't call him Thomas the faithful. We call him Thomas the doubter.
Like Sanjaya, Thomas is perceived as the weakest contestant. Yet, it is from Thomas that the deepest, and most profound statement of faith comes. Even more significant to us today; it is for Thomas' benefit that Jesus returns for that second resurrection sighting. While the church considers Thomas the doubter--the worst disciple--Jesus saw the depth of faith that was possible in him. Jesus didn't see the label we had given him, Jesus saw Thomas for who he was. And it was to Thomas that Jesus went on that first Sunday after Easter. Jesus welcomed Thomas--the worst of disciples--and he lifted him up, even though he doubted. And the result was the stuff that only God can orchestrate by his amazing grace.
Today, we the church have a similar call before us. There are millions out in our world who doubt the resurrection. Even we who sit here today must confess that there are times when we doubt--there are times when our faith is weak, times when we need someone else to be faithful for us. Into this world that is filled with fear and doubt there are many who, like Thomas, want to believe that there is hope, and the possibility of new life still remaining, but, also like Thomas, just can't get over their own doubt. Will we, the church see these people as folks just like us who have our doubts, or will we label them as doubters and not welcome them here?
Jesus calls us to welcome the doubter, as well as the doubt, because it is when our doubt is given the permission to be offered to Jesus with honesty and humility, that the depth of faith is plumbed for righteousness. It is when Jesus welcomed Thomas' doubt that Thomas was able to truly believe.
My friends, we all doubt. I doubt. Even the great Martin Luther doubted. One of his prayers was, "Lord I believe. Save me from my unbelief." We are doubters and yet we remain believers of God's vision for a new, resurrected humanity--a heaven here on earth; where the lowly and the weak are lifted up, where the broken are made whole again, where the unjustly treated are given freedom. We are saints with a vision like this and we are sinners in our doubt. It is the great paradox of our faith. The question before us is whether we will allow our doubt to have the final say in our lives. Will we allow doubt to be the label upon us and our neighors? Or, will we welcome the doubt and the doubter, offering the opportunity for doubt to be given to our God who transforms doubt into the faith that moves mountains?
One day we will enter Heaven will and be given our moment when Jesus offers to us the opportunity to bring our doubt to him and touch his wounds. In that moment all doubt will be gone from us. But, until then, while we live here with faith provided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have these moments remaining with our neighbors. As we welcome all people here to this place, and as we reach out to lift up the lowly and the weak, the underdog, the unjustly treated, we do so as if Jesus himself is in the flesh before us. And, in those moments when we risk to believe in God's vision and that faith moves us to respond likewise we encounter moments of grace that are as if our Lord Christ was standing before us here and now.
When Jesus welcomed the doubter, he welcomed the one we call "the worst". When the church follows the lead of our Lord and God, we particpate in God's will for the world. God's will gets done here on earth with or without us, Sanjayah knows this, but lets not miss out on witnessing God's goodness personally. When we pray "They Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven", let us mean to say that it will be through us that the kingdom comes.
Amen
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