Sermon by Dan Rice

Thomas: An Advent Homily

By

Dan Rice

John 20:24-29

I want to thank our Rector, Jamie, for placing me third in this series of

Advent homilies after Jean Sando and Amy Phillips. If you heard either of

their homilies, you know why I feel like the swine before whom the pearls

were spread! They are a tough act to follow!

I.

Each of us was able to select a person or topic to address

and mine is the Disciple Thomas.

I must say at the outset that as I was working on this homily

today, the debate over the Impeachment of the President was

unfolding in the Congress. I tried to listen to the debate but

just couldn’t. It was too frustrating, even maddening for me

to tolerate but I will say more about why that was the case

later in this homily. It is important to note as we gather here

tonight in Christian worship, this is a historic moment for

our nation.

Of the original 12 Disciples, only a few are well known by most believers.

Of course, there is Peter, the Rock, upon whom the Church was built.

Peter the rock! The Catholics claim he was the first pope, which would be

news to him.

And there is John, the beloved! John must have been a kind, sweet sort of

guy, someone everyone liked. Some think that John was Jesus’ favorite

Disciple.

And then there is Judas Iscariot, the traitor, the turncoat. The Apostle

everyone loves to hate. Judas, who betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Judas is

the villain, the disciple easily tempted by money and power, the one who

becomes disillusioned.

Everyone with a Sunday School education knows about these Disciples.

And then there is Thomas, “doubting Thomas,” the skeptic, the nay-sayer.

Thomas is commonly regarded as the Disciple most lacking in faith,

although in second place after Judas. Thomas is sometimes portrayed by

sermonizers as a blustering and arrogant contrarian.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

We need to take a closer look at this story that comes near the end of the

Gospel of John.

The New Testament scholar Raymond Brown has argued that the problem

being addressed by the Gospel of John, the Gospel that was written last, is

that those who witnessed the life of Jesus are all dying off or have already

died. The fledgling church is facing a crisis because it will no longer be

able to rely on the eye-witnesses who were alive and could attest to what

actually took place during the life of Jesus.

This story about Thomas is found only in the Gospel of John.

At this point in the Gospel narrative, the risen Jesus has appeared to Mary

Magdalene. She reported her experience to the disciples, but the Gospel

is silent about whether they believed her. Perhaps there was some male

chauvinism at work here!

Next, the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples who were gathered in a

room with the door locked. But for some reason, Thomas was not present.

When the disciples told Thomas about the visitation by the risen Jesus,

Thomas utters his demand that until he places his finger in the nail print of

Jesus’ hands and his hand in Jesus’s side, he will not believe.

Eight days later, Jesus appears again to the disciples and this time Thomas

is present. Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds but simply by seeing

Jesus, Thomas exclaims “My Lord and my God!”

We all know the response of Jesus, “Have you believed because you have

seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.”

In these words, all of us who come thereafter are given the assurance that

even though we have not seen the risen Lord, we will be blessed by our

belief.

Mary Magdalene had the benefit of seeing the risen Lord and she believed.

All the other disciples had the benefit of seeing the risen Lord and they

believed.

Once Thomas saw the risen Lord, without touching his wounds, he

believed.

So, Thomas was a believer! Upon seeing the risen Lord, just as the other

disciples, he believed.

I suggest we stop calling him Doubting Thomas. Thomas was simply the

last disciple to see and believe.

While working on this homily, I reviewed Elaine Pagels’ book, The

Gnostic Gospels, and learned there is a tradition within the Eastern

Church that holds Thomas in high regard as he was the Disciple who was

sent to take the Gospel message to India.

Thomas may just be the right Disciple for our time.

II.

Advent in 2019 is a time when our country faces a crisis of belief. The

crisis in belief is that many of our fellow citizens no longer believe in the

truth or care about the truth.

They doubt the truth of events that are factually provable.

On the other hand, they believe what they are told by a pathological liar.

I am alarmed by everyone who has taken on this cloak of denial but I am

especially disturbed by our fellow Christians who have chosen to deny the

truth.

I hold those in the community of faith to a higher standard.

In a time when the Christian Church in our country is on the decline, when

people are rejecting organized religion at alarming rates, a large segment

of those who identify as Christians have misplaced their faith in someone

who is faithless.

They believe in someone who is unbelievable.

They trust in someone who is untrustworthy.

And by so doing, they bring ridicule and scorn on the very faith they claim

to cherish, the Christian Faith.

For me, this is about more than Donald Trump. It is a crisis of truth within

the Christian community.

What are the limits of what one can believe and still call one’s self a

Christian?

As Christians, we have faced this question before in our collective history.

From the time of the founding of our country, we avoided dealing with the

issue of slavery. It caught up to us by the middle of the nineteenth

century.

The question hotly debated in the church was could one believe in the

institution of slavery and still be a Christian? Many Christians pointed

out that slavery is sanctioned in the Bible, as it certainly is. The Apostle

Paul either accepted or condoned slavery, at least as I understand his

writings. In the Gospel reading for tonight (not the text for this homily) a

slave is mentioned.

Our nation was torn apart by this question, families turned against one

another. More Americans were killed in our Civil War than in all our

other wars combined.

There were those who stood up and said, there are some things that are

incompatible with being a Christian, a follower of Jesus, and slavery is

one of them.

I am not suggesting we engage in another Civil War but I am saying that

there are times when people in the Christian community need to stand up

and say, “This is not acceptable for those who follow Jesus Christ!”

I am distressed by the harm that many of our fellow Christians are

permitting or condoning to so many people; to refugees, children, the

hungry, the poor, transgender people, people of color, women. People’s

careers and reputations are being ruined. People’s lives are being

threatened.

I am filled with fear and dread at the harm being done to our planet; our

home, our only home and the home of future generations, if there are to be

future generations. I fear for my grandchildren and great grandchildren.

What kind of world will we leave them?

Recently I saw a book titled, “There is no Planet B.” (A play on “plan B.”)

To be fair, there are some leaders in the Evangelical community who are

framing the Christian faith in terms of stewardship of the earth.

And I am heartened by the courageous statements by the Episcopal House

of Bishops on the issue of climate change and many other crucial issues of

our time. Thank God for them!

In Germany in 1934 the Confessing Church was formed to resist the

efforts by the Nazi party to centralize and control the churches in

Germany. Should we be thinking about forming a Confessing Church

Movement in the United States, especially if the country continues in the

direction favored by those I have been addressing. 2020 may be the year

when we find out how far segments of the church will be dragged away

from the truth of the Gospel.

III.

Which brings me back to Advent, if you are still with me. You have

probably been wondering how this all relates to Advent.

Advent is a time of waiting, of anticipation. The scripture lessons we read

and the hymns we sing during this liturgical season evoke these deep

longings.

Here in North Dakota even the weather conspires in creating the mood for

Advent.

Advent is a time of yearning.

This Advent in the year of Our Lord 2019 this is how I am feeling and, I

hope with your agreement, we can say that:

We yearn for One who will save us from corruption, greed, self-serving,

and the false.

We yearn for One who will save us from tawdry, crude, and debased

politicians who have betrayed the public trust.

We yearn for One who will save us from falsehood, shallowness, and

spiritual emptiness.

We yearn for One who embodies the truth, the way and the life.

We yearn for One who embraced pain, suffering and even death in an act

of self-sacrifice.

The truth is, we yearn for One who can save us from ourselves.

With apologies to Charles Wesley, I want to end with a stanza of one of

his hymns, by changing one word.

Come thou long expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us;

Let us find our TRUTH in thee!

Amen.