St. Thomas the Apostle: The Saint Who Dared to Confirm Faith

Today's Scripture Readings

Habakkuk 2: 1-4 (NRSV)

I will stand at my watchpost,

and station myself on the rampart;

I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,

and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:

Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so that a runner may read it.

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm 126 (BCP, p. 782)


Hebrews 10:35-11:1 (NRSV)

Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

For yet "in a very little while,

the one who is coming will come and will not delay;

but my righteous one will live by faith.

My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back."

But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

John 20: 24-29 (NRSV)

Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with the other disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "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."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "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."

Blog Reflection

Mother Prioress Delores Hart, OSB once said: "If you can have hope, you just may find faith."  

St. Thomas was the Apostle who dared to confirm faith.  He was not satisfied with the words of others.  Thomas wanted faith on a realistic level, not a superficial level.  He wanted to know for certain that what he was to believe had the sustainability that the world around him did not have.  

It takes a great act of faith to not settle for the superficial and ask for confirmation.  In questioning, we open ourselves to God's answer.   Then faith is much more a matter of trust.   By faith, I not only mean what is written and proclaimed in the Creeds or the articles of religion.  When I write of the faith that I believe Thomas was seeking, I mean he really wanted a reason to let go of his certainty.  I think a better word for faith is the word trust.

As I was doing my Lectio Divina on this Gospel reading this morning, I used the recently approved Common English Bible.  When I got to Chapter 20: verse 27 the very last sentences in the NRSV reads: "Do not doubt but believe." I found myself disturbed a bit by the wording in the Common English Bible that reads: "No more disbelief. Believe!"

What might it mean for us to hear the words "No more disbelief.  Believe!"? 

I think we are all in a state of disbelief that one week ago today, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT with the intention to shoot and killed 26 individuals, 20 of them 6 or 7 year olds.   How could this have happened?   I think we are all in disbelief that there are still individuals who think that the solution to these things not happening again is more guns.  What is more to disbelieve than the fact that our public schools as early as the elementary grades are no longer completely safe from the most heinous of violence?

What happens when we find ourselves in a place where we disbelieve?

I think the word disbelieve is a word that disturbs us.  We want to believe in something. We want to have that trust that God really does have our best interests in God's heart.  We desire to believe that God really does love all of humankind with an inclusive love.  That God wants justice and equality for all people.   However, we, like Thomas have to be willing to step up and ask God to help us to confirm our faith and trust that what God wants is true and real.    Because, when we do that, God will answer: "I have sent you."

The Common English Bible's translation of Hebrews 11:1 is: "Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don't see."  Faith looks for God to continually reveal God's Self in new and awesome ways.  To help us to not surmise God, but to see that God is continuously evolving.

The evolutionary God is not the omnipotent God who is every where, to prevent every evil from happening.   In many ways, God has not ended all oppression, violence and cruelty.   God does not intervene where humans exercise their free will.   However, when humankind is willing to answer "Here I am, send me" with the Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 6:8, God will so work with us to do so much. 

When it comes to ending the discrimination and oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people in the Church and society, God has called us to be about the work of doing that.  

Who else, but us have the power to stop drone missiles from killing innocent civilians, women, men and children in Pakistan?  

We do have the opportunity to speak up about the injustice of putting Social Security on the table in negotiations over the fiscal cliff crisis. That putting the stability and sustainability of retired, disabled and poor people in the playing cards for asking the wealthiest to pay a bit more to help fund education, infrastructure and homeland security is an injustice.  Now is the time to be speaking up and acting with regards to this kind of evil in our Nation.

The time to demand that more be done in terms of helping those suffering from mental illness so that they have access to affordable health care, psychiatric medicine and an opportunity to be functioning individuals in our society, is now. 

We all have an opportunity today, to do some thing that helps reduce gun violence on our streets, in our schools, in our houses of worship and local communities. 

When we go before Jesus in prayer, and ask as Thomas did to show us his wounded hands and side, Jesus will tell us: "No more disbelief.  Believe!"   In other words, don't just sit staring at the television with all the horrible reports and do nothing.  Spend some time in prayer.  Write a letter.  Join a local organization and begin helping in efforts to make your local community a better place for all people.   See the wounds of Christ as those in all of our sisters and brothers, and believe that the Risen Christ can impact those who have not seen him, to believe through what God does through us.

No more disbelief.  Believe!

Amen.


Prayers

Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with
firm and certain faith in your Son's resurrection: Grant us so
perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our
Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting
in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Thomas, Book of Common Prayer, p. 237).

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know
you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend
us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that
we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of
any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (Collect for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p. 99).