Second Sunday of Easter, cycle C

JOHN 20:19-31
THERE WERE SOME BRILLIANT PHILOSOPHERS IN EUROPE DURING THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY. IT WAS A TIME WHEN THE WORLD WAS BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. THE REFORMATION HAD NOT HAPPENED THAT LONG AGO, AND THERE WERE STILL BITTER FEELINGS BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS; AND EVERY COUNTRY IN EUROPE BELONGED TO ONE CAMP OR ANOTHER. RELIGION, ONCE THE GREAT UNIFIER, WAS NOW A DIVIDER. MODERN SCIENCE HAD BEGUN TO EMERGE AS WELL, AND IT WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS THAT THE HISTORY THAT WAS REPORTED IN THE BIBLE COULD NOT BE PROVEN AND IN MANY CASES, HAD BEEN DIS PROVEN. AND PEOPLE HAD BEGUN TO STUDY THE BIBLE FROM THE STANDPOINT OF WHAT WAS CALLED THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHOD. BY LOOKING CAREFULLY AT THE TEXT, IT WAS CLEAR THAT MOSES COULDN'T HAVE WRITTEN THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; AND WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, THE THREE EPISTLES, AND THE BOOK OF REVELATION, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR HERE.
AND IN THE TIME WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, THERE WAS INCREASING CONTACT WITH OTHER SOCIETIES, AND OTHER RELIGIONS, AND OTHER SACRED SCRIPTURES. AND IT BECAME A PROJECT OF THESE PHILOSOPHERS TO FIND THE “NATURAL RELIGION” OF MANKIND, THE RELIGION THAT WAS BEHIND ALL THE RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD. IF YOU TOOK AWAY THE SCRIPTURES AND THE PROPHETS AND THE SPECIAL ROLE OF JESUS, YOU COULD FIND WHAT WAS THERE IN THE BEGINNING. AND HEGEL AND KANT AMONG OTHERS, USED THEIR TALENTS TO DEVELOP A REASONABLE APPROACH TO RELIGION, A RELIGION IN WHICH NO FAITH WAS NECESSARY. OF COURSE, ONCE YOU REMOVE FAITH FROM RELIGION, YOU SOON FIND YOU DON'T NEED RELIGION EITHER, AND IN THE NEXT GENERATION, KARL MARX, SIGMUND FREUD, AND FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE CARRIED THE LOGIC FURTHER AND DECIDED THAT RELIGION OF ANY SORT WAS NOT ONLY FOOLISH, BUT POSITIVELY HARMFUL.
WHEN I READ THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS, I'M ALWAYS PUZZLED AS TO WHY JESUS WAS SO HARD ON THOMAS. MARY MAGDALEN DIDN'T BELIEVE UNTIL SHE ACTUALLY MET HIM IN THE GARDEN; AND THE APOSTLES DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK UNTIL JESUS APPEARED TO THEM IN THE UPPER ROOM. BUT IT SEEMS THOMAS WAS SINGLED OUT FOR HIS LACK OF FAITH. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
I THINK THE DIFFERENCE IS IN WHAT THOMAS SAYS. THE OTHERS STARTED OUT NOT BELIEVING, BUT WHEN JESUS APPEARED TO THEM, THEY BELIEVED. AND THOMAS MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE THAT ALSO; HE MIGHT HAVE NOT BELIEVED, BUT WONDERED, AND AT SOME POINT, JESUS MAY HAVE APPEARED TO HIM, AND HIS REACTION MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE THOSE OF THE APOSTLES. BUT THOMAS, HEARING THE TESTIMONY OF HIS FRIENDS, FRIENDS HE HAD KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME, FRIENDS WHOM HE KNEW TO BE HONEST, REFUSED TO BELIEVE, IN FACT LAID DOWN THE CONDITIONS WHICH WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR HIM TO BE CONVINCED. AS IT TURNED OUT, HIS CONDITIONS WERE NOT MET BY JESUS, ALTHOUGH JESUS OFFERED; AND THOMAS BELIEVED WHEN JESUS APPEARED TO HIM, JUST AS HAD HAPPENED WITH THE OTHER APOSTLES.
CHRISTIANITY IS A REVEALED RELIGION. CHRISTIANITY DEPENDS ON BELIEF IN THINGS WE CAN'T PROVE, THINGS WE CAN'T SEE. ONCE REVELATION IS GONE, IT ISN'T CHRISTIANITY ANYMORE, AS THE PHILOSOPHERS KNEW. BUT TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO ACCEPT SOME THINGS AS TRUE THAT WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PROVE. LONG BEFORE OUR BRILLIANT PHILOSOPHERS, THOMAS AQUINAS AND OTHERS TRIED TO SHOW THAT THE TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY WERE REASONABLE. HEGEL AND KANT TRIED TO SHOW THAT RELIGION, AT LEAST BARE BONES RELIGION WAS REASONABLE. BUT I REMEMBER IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, SAINT PAUL ONCE TRIED TO BE REASONABLE WHEN PREACHING TO THE ATHENIANS. AND THEY MET HIS REASONABLENESS WITH NEITHER AGREEMENT NOR DISAGREEMENT; BECAUSE FAITH CAN'T BE BUILT ON REASON. AND SAINT PAUL RESOLVED AFTER THIS THAT HE WOULD ONLY PREACH CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.
I THINK MANY OF US WHO GO TO CHURCH FAITHFULLY, WHO CONSIDER OURSELVES GOOD CATHOLICS, AREN'T TOO DIFFERENT FROM THOMAS. WE HAVE A CERTAIN FAITH, A TENTATIVE FAITH, BUT IT'S NOT A BURNING FAITH, IT'S NOT THE FAITH OF THE APOSTLES, WHO EXCLAIM, “WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD!” AND CANNOT BE MADE TO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP. AND MAYBE WE FEEL THAT IF WE COULD ONLY WITNESS A MIRACLE, IF SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN THAT WAS CONVINCING BEYOND ALL DOUBT, THEN WE COULD REALLY COMMIT OURSELVES. SO WE HOLD BACK A BIT; WE BELIEVE IN GOD, WE BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, AND WE ARE NICE PEOPLE.
ONCE THERE WAS A MAN WHO ANSWERED JESUS' QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT HE BELIEVED, WITH THE WORDS, “I BELIEVE, LORD. HELP MY UNBELIEF!” AND THAT IS OUR ONLY RECOURSE. NO AMOUNT OF REASON CAN STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH. IF WE ARE ALLOWED TO SEE THE WOUNDS, WE WILL INSIST ON TOUCHING THEM; IF WE ARE ALLOWED TO PUT OUR FINGERS IN THE WOUNDS, WE WILL INSIST ON PUTTING OUR HAND IN JESUS' SIDE. BUT ONE THING CAN STRENGTHEN FAITH. THAT IS TO LIVE OUR FAITH, TO LIVE THE WAY WE IMAGINE A PERSON OF FAITH LIVES. AND IF WE LIVE THIS WAY, WE ARE PRAYING, “I BELIEVE, LORD. HELP MY UNBELIEF.” AND WITH TIME OUR FAITH GROWS RICHER AND DEEPER.
FOR A PERSON WHO BELIEVES, NO PROOF IS NECESSARY; FOR A PERSON WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE, NO PROOF IS SUFFICIENT.
WE ARE ALL LOCKED IN THE UPPER ROOM, FEARFUL OF WHAT LIES OUTSIDE. WE DISTRACT OURSELVES WITH THE HERE AND NOW, WITH BEING BUSY AND DOING THINGS, WITH FAMILY AND TELEVISION AND TRAVEL AND ANYTHING THAT KEEPS US FROM CONFRONTING THE LOCKED, EMPTY ROOM IN WHICH WE FIND OURSELVES. WE CAN SAY, “I WILL NOT BELIEVE, UNLESS JESUS CHRIST MEETS MY CONDITIONS. UNTIL THEN, I WILL BE CONTENT WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE, WITH THE WAY I LEAD MY LIFE. OR WE CAN SAY, “I WILL BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF” AND JESUS WILL COME INTO OUR LOCKED EMPTY ROOM AND STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH SO THAT WE CAN BE JESUS FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD, SO THAT WE CAN GIVE JESUS HANDS AND FEET AND EYES AND EARS, SO THAT WE CAN BREAK OUT OF THE EMPTY ROOM AND SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS THROUGH OUR WORDS AND OUR ACTIONS. BECAUSE WHEN WE SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS, WE BEGAN TO BE UNITED TO JESUS MORE COMPLETELY. SO LEAVE HERE TODAY BELIEVING IN THE RESURRECTION, BELIEVING THAT OUR FOUNDER DIED, REALLY DIED, AND WAS BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE, AND RESOLVE TO TELL SOMEONE ABOUT YOUR FAITH. IT GETS EASIER THE MORE YOU DO IT.