Readings for Easter 2C:
John 20:19-31
April 15, 2007
The Rev. Karen Faye Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino, CA
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 hand in his side, I will not believe.” [John 20] Today I would like to talk about faith and doubt in the life of a Christian. I will use the gospel reading as my text.
Most introductory physics courses have a section on electrical circuits. The student learns about electrostatic principles, manipulates equations, and engages in simple circuit design. For me, understanding electrical circuits was the most difficult part of physics. I became so concerned about understanding the entire power grid that it distracted me from focusing on the circuit itself. I wanted to know what all the electrons in the power grid were doing and where they were all going. I was even worried about the nuclear reactions or coal combustion processes that powered the generators as well as the capacitors and transformers that dotted the transmission lines. I came to believe that if I couldn’t understand or keep track of everything that was going on in the power grid, then I certainly couldn’t figure out what was going on in the circuit before me. To cope with this mental block, I memorized the equations and the various designs in order to eek out a decent grade. In the end, I lost out! Today, most circuit designs continue to escape me.
When it comes to issues of faith and belief, many folks have a similar mental block. They have come to believe that if they cannot understand or accept the entire body of the Christian doctrine, then they can’t move forward in a life of faith. Like me with circuit design, they lose out in the end because the riches of the faith continue to escape them. Sometimes, people are stumped by the miracle stories, the virginal conception, the atonement theory, the resurrected body, or aspects of the creed. Sometimes, they have not had a personal experience of God’s presence and therefore doubt God’s existence in spite of the fact that others have witnessed to this experience. These are often the empirically-minded people like engineers and linear thinkers who want to understand everything based on a scientific framework. These folks are in good company and hail Thomas as their favorite saint: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands ... I will not believe.” There is something honest about the demand to see and touch and know truth for sure. After all, the disciples got to experience Jesus’ miracles and presence first hand. So why are we expected to believe such events based on evidence from a 2000 year old biblical text?
The fact is, we will never see the body of the risen Christ. We will not be invited to poke at his wounds. We cannot pressure him to appear with dazzling signs and wonders to appease our rationality. So like Thomas, doubt will always be part and parcel of our faith walk. But having doubt does not mean that we cannot move forward in our faith journey. We do not hav e to understand everything in the power grid in order to design a circuit. Likewise, we do not have to understand everything in the Christian tradition in order to receive grace upon grace. For most of us, Christ comes as an Easter rumor by word of mouth-in sermons, songs, Scripture, and liturgy. We are asked to believe the good news on the basis of the word we hear and the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth.
Jesus said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” What exactly is it that we are being asked to believe? We are to believe that with God, all things are possible; even triumph over death. This is a matter of trust, not scientific proof. Faith is trust in the power and presence of God to make all things new. Today’s gospel reading ends with these words: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these 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.” [John 20:31] Believing leads to new life and abundant life is what the faith journey is all about.
In the gospel of John, we read about how people come to faith in many different ways. There is faith based on signs and faith that needs none; faith that is weak and faith that is strong; faith that is shallow and faith that is deep; faith that is growing and faith that is faltering. Let’s take a closer look.
First there are those who come to faith because it is given to them as a gift. We all know people who seem to have this gift of faith and readily trust in the power and presence of God even when the brute facts of existence say otherwise. For those of you who have this gift, I encourage you to share it with others who do not. They need to hear your confidence in God and be encouraged in the face of doubt and difficulty.
Next there are those who come to faith because they hear the word of God through the Scriptures. For these folks, the authority and truth of Scripture is not made secure by debates about verbal inerrancy and critically verified facts. The truth in Scripture lies in its power to make the presence of God tangible in their lives and in the lives of successive generations. This is why it is so important for Christians to engage in regular Bible study. There are some of you here today whose lives have been transformed through the reading of the Scriptures. I encourage you to commend this spiritual discipline to others so that they may have life in Christ’s name.
Then there are those who come to faith because of a personal experience of God. For some, it is a healing, for others a feeling, and still others a full conversion experience. These are the folks who believe Christ is risen because they experience his presence in their daily lives. They are blessed with the consolation: a religious experience in which the believer is touched by a felt presence of the love and power of God. A felt experience can be nurtured by various spiritual disciplines (which I encourage all of you to engage in.) However, the consolation can come and go anytime during a believer’s lifetime. In an interview with Mother Theresa, she was asked if Jesus was real to her in her prayers, if she felt close to him, felt her heart burn within. “Not for many years,” she responded sadly. “Not since I was a very young nun, in my twenties. Not since then have I felt the Lord’s presence.” At the time of the interview, Mother Theresa was an old woman.” [FDBD April 12, 2007]
Finally, there are those who come to faith by embracing a religious tradition. These are those who inch toward the kingdom as they pray together, participate in a community of faith, practice acts of kindness and generosity to those in need, and remain faithful to their baptismal covenant. Sometimes, they are convicted by their faith and other times they don’t believe in any of it.
So how do we move forward in our journey towards God if we have not been given the gift of faith, or have not been convicted through the reading of Scripture, or have not had a personal experience of God? How do we move forward when we are plagued by doubt and seem to be inching backwards rather than forward? I think in times of doubt we need to keep praying. We need to depend on the faith of others. We need to follow in the footsteps of Mother Theresa. This means to “act as if” even if we don’t feel convicted inside. It means we act faithfully, remaining committed to our baptismal promises to seek and serve Christ in all persons even if we don’t feel the presence of the risen Christ. Even though Mother Theresa did not feel the Lord’s presence for decades, she continued to serve the poorest of poor, lead a world-wide order of nuns, and say her prayers for at least one hour per day. Did she have doubts? I am sure. Did it stop her from moving forward? No. She acted faithfully as a committed Christian even when there was no consolation.
Unfortunately for us, there are no scientific proofs, no wounds to scratch, no sudden appearance of the resurrected body drifting through locked doors. Jesus lives, not because he can walk through locked doors or show his wounds to frightened disciples. Jesus lives because he breathes new life into his disciples through the gift of the Holy Spirit. I have personally experienced this new life and today I am witnessing this good news to you. Alleluia, Christ is risen!
| Updated 04/18/07 |
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