BELIEF
John 20:19-31
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."
Mikael Agricola Church in Helsinki, Finland, offers a worship service created in the late 90s called the Thomas Mass, named for the most famous doubter of all, Thomas, called the Twin, one of the Twelve Disciples.
The purpose of the Thomas Mass is to invite "doubters and seekers to celebrate, worship God, serve their neighbor, and grow together. Those who feel sinful and weak in faith are especially welcome."1
1 Hickman, Lisa. "John 20:19-31: Thomas > Doubt." HuffPost Religion, "The Blog", April 25, 2014.
2 Eschmann, Holger. "Worship for Doubters and Other Good Christians: Learning from the Thomas Mass." www.reformedworship.org. March 2003.
Creating a safe place to worship for those who doubt, "The Thomas Mass reaches those for whom it is named: doubters, those who in some way or another still eavesdrop at the church wall, who are in search of spirituality, deep community with God and humanity, healing, and meaning for their lives."2
A special part of the service is called the "Open Phase." This is a 20-minute slot embedded in the service for worshipers to express or address their particular needs for meeting the Holy through activities like
lighting candles;
praying in the pews or at the church prayer wall;
observing silence in the chapel;
singing Taize songs;
discussing the sermon;
meditative dancing;
sharing concerns with someone;
receiving a blessing and being anointed;
receiving information about pastoral care.
Sunday morning worship services are peppered with doubters, and history is filled with the legacies of those who doubted.
For example, Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, the Blessed Mother Therese, wrote deeply poignant words to describe her struggles with her faith, her doubts and her sense of abandonment by God.
Simultaneously with Mother Therese’s doubts and despair, "her new community of the Missionaries of Charity was growing in numbers and their work with the outcasts and the dying was expanding.
She wrote to her spiritual director, ‘My own soul remains in deep darkness and desolation.’ Still, Mother Teresa added, ‘I don’t complain—let Him do with me whatever He wants.’"3
3 St Anthony Messenger Editorial. "Mother Therese’s Doubts Were Her Strength." Expanded from Friar Jack’s E-spirations (www.americancatholic.org/e-news/Friar Jack/fj091307.asp).
4 Hickman, Lisa. "John 20:19-31: Thomas > Doubt." HuffPost Religion, "The Blog", April 25, 2014.
Doubts may cause us to say or do things that remind us of Thomas when he drew the line between belief and doubt: He 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."
I call attention to this line that Thomas drew, and I propose to you that when believers have such doubts, we are in an excellent position to receive Christ’s presence, his power and his peace.
It’s a conundrum, but "Where there is little faith, there is LESS potential for doubt."4 Perhaps then it is best to admit our doubts, so that our faith has a chance to grow. Christ can do his best healing with us when we are in such a vulnerable state.
The good news of John 20:19-31 today is that just as Christ did for Thomas and the other disciples, Christ will reveal himself to us, scars and all, especially when we are going through times of doubt and fear.
The truth is that God is big enough to handle our doubts, so we need not be afraid of them. We need not shut our eyes and ears and hearts because doubt has crept in.
Jesus can get through any locked door of doubt and breathe great words of comfort and hope over us. "Peace be with you," Christ says. His words assure us that he will come to us and reveal to us the truth that he is alive and present with us today, even as we go through seasons of doubt and fear.
John’s gospel says in v 20b, "Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord." Today I challenge all of us to think of Thomas and how he not only overcame his doubt but also made the ultimate confession of faith before Christ, "My Lord and my God."
We too find the same joy in Jesus Christ when we are willing to release our doubts and confess him as our Lord and our God.
Let’s keep that joy in mind eight days from now, when we gather together to look at the commentary from all our New Beginnings house meetings. I pray that you will plan to be there.
It has taken eight months for our leaders to get us to this point. Let’s honor their faithfulness by not letting fear and doubt draw a line between our faith and Christ’s claim upon our lives and our church. Perhaps you have asked some of these questions, shared some of these thoughts:
What is this New Beginning thing, anyway?
Why do we need a "new beginning"?
Will anything good come of it, or will it die on the vine as others things we’ve tried?
Why should I believe that our church can get unstuck, let alone do great things for Jesus right in this community and in this broken world of ours?
It is certainly permissible to have these thoughts, but it is definitely not helpful to draw a line and refuse to hear the answers that Christ died for.
"Lingering in doubt is all too easy; leaning into change relies on the grace of resurrection faith. Thomas was greater than his doubt because he received that commission and served beyond a doubt."5
5 Hickman, Lisa. "John 20:19-31: Thomas > Doubt." HuffPost Religion, "The Blog", April 25, 2014.
When the moment of encounter came, Thomas did not need to touch Jesus’ wounds; he simply fell to his knees and profoundly declared before him, "My Lord and My God."
We are called to stay open to the Lord, in the midst of our doubts. To give ourselves the best chance for a new beginning, let’s be aware of when we are showing our faith in Christ and when we believing in our doubts.
We can help each other to avoid drawing a "Thomas line" between us and the New Beginning to which Christ calls us. A Thomas line would sound something like this: "Unless the plan goes the way I think it should go… will not believe." Far better it will be if we can repeat Mother Therese’s resolution: ‘I don’t complain—let Him do with me whatever He wants.’"6
6 St Anthony Messenger Editorial. "Mother Therese’s Doubts Were Her Strength." Expanded from Friar Jack’s E-spirations (www.americancatholic.org/e-news/Friar Jack/fj091307.asp).
What Jesus wants and this broken world needs are believers who will go where Christ sends them. Remember what Jesus said in that locked room, "As the Father sends me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit."
New beginnings bring new life, new faith, new hope. Let’s strive together to erase any fear-and-doubt lines we have already drawn…ou know, the ones that furrow our brows with worry, that divide our loyalties between each other, which keep us locked in our fears and stagnant in our pews.
Let there be no doubt about it: Christ has so much more to show us these days. The living Christ’s peace will be with us as we serve him—wherever, however, and whenever—he calls us. Without a doubt, a faith open to Christ will be our boldest decision of all! Amen.
April 27, 2014
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
