“That through believing you may have life”

Easter II; Confirmation; April 15, 2007

John 20:19-31

The Second Sunday of Easter is sometimes called “St. Thomas Sunday,” because this is always the Gospel reading. We read about the doubts of Thomas and his desire for living proof of the Resurrection of Jesus and how Jesus responds to that desire. The Apostle Thomas is generally remembered as “Doubting Thomas,” poor guy, when there are so many other things that could be said for him. On the other hand, we should give thanks that one of Jesus’ inner circle is remembered as a doubter; it reminds us that being a follower of Jesus is not dependent on the ability to “believe six impossible things before breakfast.”

Since it is St. Thomas Sunday and it is also Confirmation Sunday, I will talk to you today about belief. I said last Sunday that it is impossible to have proof – as our modern, scientific age understands “proof” – in favor of or in opposition to the Resurrection of Jesus. But that does not mean we simply close our eyes and will ourselves to believe something outrageous. The familiar quotation about six impossible things comes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland; Alice and the Queen are talking, and Alice declares that one cannot believe impossible things. The Queen answers, “I daresay you haven’t had much practice. When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” The Resurrection is not impossible, or we would not believe it, and although there cannot be proof, there is evidence.

The first thing to remember: to believe does not mean shutting off your intelligence. If you visit our church website (http://community.heartland.net/westch/), you will see a large banner that reads, “Don’t fit in at church? Try Westminster! (You might be surprised).” The words “You might be surprised” are a link; if you click them, then you will come to a wonderful statement that begins, in large letters, “At Westminster Church you don’t have to leave your mind at the door.” I don’t know whether Don Fisher, my predecessor, or Nancy Koch, our Webmaster, or someone else is responsible for the statement that follows, but I endorse it completely. Preaching, worship and study of the Bible are not a means of getting people to shut off their doubts and their skepticism, but a means of encouraging the engagement of doubt, skepticism and hope for an act of commitment. Thomas doubted, but it was clearly not because he didn’t want to believe, but because he needed more evidence than simply the words of others.

How much evidence do you and I need? That varies with the individual, but I will emphasize that we have in common two pieces of evidence that we must take seriously. It is also not an accident that John quotes Jesus telling Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” He is talking about you and me, gang, as the ones who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Although we have not touched Jesus’ hands or his spear-slit side, we do have evidence for belief. The first evidence is the witness of the Bible. Now, bear with me. I am not going to claim that the Bible was dropped, word-for-word, out of heaven and that you and I have to believe it just because we have to believe it; that’s circular. Rather, the witness of the Bible to the Resurrection of Jesus is a credible witness. The four Gospels each tell the story of the Resurrection; it is very interesting that no two accounts agree with each other on all the details. There are certain features they have in common: it was Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene was there, and the tomb was opened and Jesus was gone. Otherwise they disagree with each other. It seems to me that if Christians were trying to put over a lie, they would have got their story straight; they would have made sure to make the details align. But, since they agree with each other on the main theme but disagree with each other on the details, that makes the witness more believable.

A second reason to believe the witness of the Bible is the character of those who announced the Resurrection of Jesus. What did they gain? Political power? Most of them had to leave the country. Did they become wealthy? They were, for the most part, wanderers. Did they become celebrities? (Were any of them candidates to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby?) Most of them died as martyrs. They gained nothing that you and I might consider worthwhile from their witness to the Resurrection of Jesus. They continued to insist that Jesus was raised from the dead and was therefore the Messiah of God simply because they were convinced that it was true and they remained true to that conviction despite arrest, humiliation and death.

Another piece of evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus is simple Christian experience. We have a two-millennia track record of living in this world as believers in the Resurrection and we have found that, not to put too fine a point on it, it works. Unless you and I simply drift through life with no particular commitments, we make choices about what we will believe and how we will act. Five young people are being confirmed today because they have decided to follow Jesus. They may not believe everything I say about him and they probably don’t understand everything Margie and I have tried to teach them, but they are making a choice. If you trust other people who have made that choice and have lived for Jesus Christ, believing that he is Savior and Lord, then you may be willing to make that choice and give it a try.

Giving it a try requires follow-through. I am speaking not only to the Confirmation Class here, but to all of us. If you do not participate in worship, then you are not really giving it a try. If you do not study the Bible – on your own or with other people – then you are not really giving it a try. If you do not do the things Jesus teaches us to do, then you are not really giving it a try. Give it a try: attend worship for six months and then ask yourself about the experience. Give it a try: open your Bible for five minutes every day for six months and read something and think about it. Give it a try: practice forgiving others and helping others for six months and then think about how it feels in your life. If it doesn’t make sense, then you can say you made a wrong choice, but first you have to give it a try.

In the tradition of St. Thomas, you can give it a try before you make the commitment, but you simply do not have any evidence for belief or against belief if you do not give it a try. Not quite twenty years ago the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland started a new time of worship that has taken off and is spreading. On Sunday evenings they have what is called a “St. Thomas Mass.” It follows the usual format of a weekly communion service, but it is not planned entirely by the ministers, but by a group of ministers and laypeople working together. It includes opportunities for people to pray at different stations and in different styles. The music changes every week, depending on which group is leading the service. And it explicitly is intended for people who doubt, for people who are skeptical, for people who do not know for sure, but who want an opportunity to touch something that may be holy. In other words, you don’t have to have everything figured out before you come; you simply have to be willing to come and give it a try. The service usually lasts about two hours and usually has around a thousand people in attendance.

I tell you about this not because I think that we need to start doing that at Westminster, although there are lessons to be learned from it, but to point out that the legacy of St. Thomas is not the shame of doubt, but rather the wonder of bringing your doubts and giving Christian belief a try. Here is the kicker: to believe in Jesus as risen from the dead and the Messiah of God is a commitment of life. John writes that the stories of his Gospel are “written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (v.31)

Life in the name of Jesus is counter-cultural; you could call it an alternative lifestyle. When most people are focused on making and spending money, those who believe that Jesus is raised from the dead are focused on making life better for everybody. When most people spend their Sundays devoted to things that are considered useful, productive or entertaining, those who believe that Jesus is raised from the dead spend our Sundays with other believers in the presence of the living God. When most people read only things that help their work or their sex lives or that give them pleasure, those who believe that Jesus is raised from the dead read a strange old book in which we have found evidence that God loves us and is involved in our lives.

You know, some days it makes more sense to me than others. Some days it seems more trouble than it’s worth. And some days the thrill of life in Christ is so strong I think my heart will burst. I do not pretend to understand it all, but I have given myself a chance to experience it. “These [stories] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

Lord, we believe; help our unbelief. Bless our doubts and give us faith in Christ. Amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa