Memphis is considered the holy land of the South and the primary reason is of course because it is the home of Elvis. Like many pilgrim families, we visited the shrine at Graceland. While waiting in a 4 hour line up, my scientist husband Bill, dared to ask the guide assigned to our group, “So, how long did Elvis live here?”. An audible gasp ran through the group of about 20 people. The guide, with a look of horror on her face, said, “We don’t use the past tense here” and pointed to her t-shirt which read, “Graceland, where Elvis LIVES.”
It didn’t matter that she had never actually seen Elvis, or that Elvis stopped walking the earth over 30 years ago. She didn’t care. She and other Elvis fans believe he lives!
The King lives!
The Story of Thomas is a familiar one, but maybe it is time to listen again and pull out some ideas we haven’t thought of before. Instead of thinking about Thomas the Doubter today, I’d like to speak about Thomas the disciple.
So the disciples are together in the upstairs room, but Thomas wasn’t among them. The windows were closed with shutters and the doors were barred. They are still caught in their own tomb behind the locked doors of the house, after long eight days. Without peace, they are as good as dead. Jesus visits them and twice says, “Peace be with you,” having to repeat it in case they didn’t hear it the first time. We don’t know where Thomas is. He has missed the opportunity to visit with Jesus and see the wounds on his hands and feet, when the other disciples had the chance. I’m guessing he was out getting on with his life, figuring out what is going to happen next and just getting on with things. Because first and foremost Thomas is a realist…but oh, it is hard to believe something as outrageous as a resurrection from death, when you didn’t witness it yourself. It’s hard to visualize the wonderful instance, or the steps to take to make a wonderful miracle happen. Thomas is not the only disciple to doubt the resurrection. When disciples when they first receive the news of the empty tomb is doubt. Peter and the other disciples doubted the women when they returned from the empty tomb. They had to go and see for themselves and even then all they saw was the empty tomb. The didn’t know what to make of that.
Being able to believe in something you haven’t seen takes a very special person.
Sixty years ago, a small 42 year old woman took a decided step, or rather seat, toward something she had yet to see, and still believed with her whole heart. Dog tired and on her way home from working all day as a seamstress at a department store, at about 6 PM, Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery, Alabama bus to go home. She paid her fare and sat down in the first row of seats that were reserved for blacks. When the front of the bus reserved for white people filled up, the driver removed the “colored” sign and told her and three other blacks to move to the back of the bus to accommodate the white passengers. Her 3 seat mates moved; Rosa Parks did not.
“When the white driver stepped back toward us”, she later recalled, “He waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats. Rosa felt the gift of God’s presence, which gave her the courage to fulfill the purpose she was given. Suddenly, Rosa was inspired and she said, “the only tired I felt, was tired of giving in, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter’s night”. When he saw me still sitting he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, “No, I am not” and he said, “Well, if you don’t, I’m going to have to call the police and have you arrested.” I said, “You may do that.”
“Peace be with you”, Jesus repeats it a third time, a week later but because of fear in their hearts, the disciples have no peace and remain locked up. Jesus is calling Thomas and the disciples to a new kind of discipleship, but because of their quarrelling or even just not being present- they miss what He is saying. Christians have from the very beginning been prone to be at odds with each other. Can you imagine the disagreements going on in that upper room. The disciples were still a hot topic and should they be identified on the street, they assumed they might be put to death like Jesus. Fear can do ugly things to people, but Jesus came to bring peace you say. But the peace that Jesus gives is not freedom from discord, verbal or physical. It is rather an inner calm in the midst of strife. Jesus did not call them out of their tomb because there would be no catastrophes in their lives. Jesus came to bring peace that surpasses understanding. Peace to live calmly when living on the edge, betwixt and between the ups and downs of life. Who can be at peace when the world is turned upside down? Certainly not Thomas, the other disciples or us! Believing when you haven’t seen – now that is a difficult one.
Thomas was a devoted disciple of Jesus and one whom Jesus enjoyed teaching. Three times including this time , Thomas is mentioned in the Gospels and each time for his wanting to learn to do more.
Why then does Thomas seem different this time? Maybe it is because Thomas and the other disciples are displaying an initial response of fear because of the Judeans. Letting the world, rather than the risen Jesus, control their actions and attitudes. Jesus however, breaks into their locked up, fearful lives and bids them peace as fulfillment of his promises.
Although Thomas had to see Jesus for himself, Jesus did not condemn him for that. However Jesus did say “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Doubt is an obstacle that when overcome can cause us to have a deeper, more meaningful faith. In that struggle for meaning, the wise person learns to doubt his doubts.
Thomas echoes our own fear. Fear of not being heard by Jesus or God. Thomas is wondering and trying to make sense out of all that he was taught these past 3 years but now in the shadow of the crucifixion. I believe he was not so much a doubter, as someone who just needed confirmation to back up his decisions. We are tied up in our need for an answers, for proof. Because it justifies our deepest desire for evidence of an empty tomb. Like Thomas’ struggle to believe. Faith, I believe, the kind of faith that will see you through dark nights of the soul each one of us must endure from time to time, rarely comes without questioning and doubt. In fact, it usually comes as a result of questioning and doubt. Doubt may be one of the most important tools that God uses to produce mighty men and women of faith.
Jesus calls us for discipleship - He recognizes our need for confirmation –He knows our need for validation today too. We seek to establish the terms by which we will respond with faith. If I have historical proof…If I have a sign…If near-death experiences can verify…If God would do…If Jesus would cure…Then I will believe in Christ…Then I will know that God exists…Then I will know that there is life after death…Then I will make a commitment of faith. Maybe if we can slow down the work, society and just listen to the silence we can hear the answer back. The proof is there, if we can but listen.
Let me use an analogy from the world of commercial fishing. Years ago Seafood companies had a perplexing problem with a shipment of codfish to consumers who lived in land. Shippers discovered that frozen codfish loses its flavour in the shipping process. Shipping live codfish was no better though. Inholding tanks they become soft and mushy and later tasteless.
So somebody came up with the idea of throwing in some catfish into each of the tanks of the live cod. Catfish and cod fish are natural enemies. In a quest for survival, the codfish are kept in constant motion as they seek to escape the catfish! Then these cod are kept in peak condition from the ocean to your dinner table. (1)
In a sense, doubt and frustration and other such obstacles are the catfish that God has placed in our tank to keep us swimming, to keep us at our best.
There is far more hope for the honest doubter than for the person who says ”of course, I believe” and never struggles with the meaning and the misery of life. Knowing the way all the time isn’t possible, even in the Acts of the Apostles
The wonderful writer Frederick Buechner put it this way, ”Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep us alive and moving.” Doubt is one of God’s most effective tools for producing mighty men and women of faith. However, in order to experience the true joy that God intends for each of us, His children, there comes a tie when we begin to doubt our doubts.
The driver did call the police, who arrested Rosa Parks for violating the Montgomery segregation laws. She was jailed and when she was bailed out she was immediately fired from her job. Rosa Parks’ quiet act of civil disobedience jump started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The non-violent protest lasted 381 days, until the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal. All of this because Rosa Parks believed in something she could not see. She believed in equality. She believed that if she fought for equality, that others would follow and a new order would come to pass. Her political activism and civil disobedience was rooted in her Christian faith. She remarked,” The Lords power was within me, to do what I have done.” Rosa Parks knew the King lives.
We know Jesus lives and helps us to believe. Gosh, it makes me want to put on a sequin jumpsuit and sing “How Great Thou Art”! The Gospel is a living vibrant force that makes us move towards each other in love and compassion.
Remember, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” for if we believe He lives we will change. We will search for him and we will proclaim his message.
Sometime this week, amid LRT debates and Stanley Cup playoffs, BBQ and Elvis music, ask yourself, “Do you believe”? and the answer back will be “I believe the King lives” Alleluia. AMEN
[1] King Duncan, Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons.
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