Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, based on John 20:19-31
Elias Brothers has the Big Boy - Geico has the gecko,
And we Christians have Thomas, Doubting Thomas, the poster child, the icon, of the endeavor that brought you and me to church this morning: our job of following Jesus; our job of bringing compassion, forgiveness, and hope to the world; our job of bringing happiness, fulfillment, and purpose, to ourselves and to those around us.
And boy what a tough job it is.
And how often we disciples just don't get it right!
Thomas and his buddies remind us of that:
Think about Peter, who denied Christ.
John, who argued that ‘he’ should be ‘first in the Kingdom of God.'
Philip who asked, ‘Where are we going to get enough food to feed all these people?’
Thomas, in another instance, agreeing to follow Jesus to his arrest in Jerusalem and quips, ’Sure, let’s all go - and die with him!’
And today we find in our gospel story that - even after 3 years of following Jesus, seeing him raised from the dead just as he had told them he would do several times previously - these disciples still don't get it and are locked up behind closed doors, in teeth-clattering fear.
Of course, things would change - Jesus comes to them, they finally put 2 and 2 together and they go out and spread the Gospel - nearly every one of those 11 disciples eventually dying for the cause. So, they will get it, but it wasn't easy.
And what we see in this story - in the story of Doubting Thomas - is that he exemplifies our job!
Thomas shows us that:
Being a disciple is something that takes some time, it doesn't happen overnight.
Being a disciple is fraught with failure, how often we fall off the horse!
And that being a disciple is all about dusting ourselves off in humility and getting back on that horse!
Friends, look at how Jesus interacted with these disciples, the patience and loving care that he had for them!
He also has that for us; because if you’re like me, you made some mistakes this week.
But sure, we’re trying to trust, we are trying to have faith, we are trying to channel the love of God into the world, and it is so hard! We say things we regret, we do things we wish we didn't, and we are not the examples we want to be.
And what this sermon says, is that that's okay.
We’re still loved and called by God -
It’s not too late -
You and I are not perfect, but neither were the original 11 disciples!
And that the path that you and I are on, of being disciples, is the toughest challenge of our lives, it takes time, we fail:
But we can do it, after all, they did, and all along the way we discover that it's also the most rewarding challenge of our lives.
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There once was a farmer named Mac.
And Mac awoke every morning at 4:00 a-m. That's when he would walk into the kitchen and fill a pan with water. As he got dressed the water in that pan would come to a boil. He would then add a few spoonfuls of instant coffee, then pour himself a steaming hot mug to enjoy as he sat down at the kitchen table.
One morning, his grandson spent the night and awoke with his Grandpa Mac at 4 in the morning, and followed him into the kitchen. He watched Grandpa Mac's morning coffee routine, and stood there aghast at his grandfather as he poured that boiling coffee into the mug and then took a big swallow.
"Oh my gosh!" The boy said, "Aren't your lips burning? I can't believe you're not in terrible pain! How do you do that?"
Grandpa Mac said, "Well, I started drinking coffee a long time a long time ago. And at first, I would have to put ice cubes in it to make it tolerable. And then, gradually, over time, I put fewer and fewer ice cubes in, until I could drink it while it was hot, first one sip at a time and now, many years later I don't have a problem with it."
Friends, our formation as disciples is like that.
You and I live in a world that is so antithetical to the Christian ideal: of care for the vulnerable, respect for those for whom we disagree, and putting people and relationships ahead of money and possessions.
Our culture feeds us a steady diet of fear, anxiety, and not so blatant messages that we don't have enough, don't look good enough, and, at the end of the day, just don't matter.
And coming against those messages, combating the constant barrage of scarcity and fear, to see ourselves as God sees us, is a lifetime endeavor.
Van Morrison famously wrote a song with the lyrics, "When will I ever learn to live in God, when will I ever learn?" The road to discipleship is a long one. And over time, we can train ourselves, just as the disciples did, just as Grandpa Mac did, to do things in new ways.
When we prepare ourselves for a race it is helpful to know if it's a 100-yard dash or if it's a 26 mile marathon.
And following Jesus is the latter.
So, what are the habits and practices that can sustain us for the long run?
What are the influences we need to get around us, or keep from being around us, that can help us reach that goal?
We don’t become disciples overnight - but we can do so over time.
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The fact that you and I routinely fail at the most important endeavor of our lives, following Jesus, hardly needs pointing out.
How often our good intentions lead to miserable outcomes!
How often are we simply unaware of the unjust systems we support?
How infrequently we ask, “How am I complicit in creating conditions I say I don’t want?"
So when it comes to our failures, what we do need to remember is that we are in good company.
Abraham Lincoln suffered eight political defeats before being elected president.
Beethoven's music teacher thought he was hopeless when it came to composition.
Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times. Michael Jordan missed 9,000 shots and lost 300 games.
And, as we've mentioned, the disciples routinely failed Jesus and themselves at the most crucial points in their histories.
Failure is baked into the process.
And failure is baked into success.
Failure allows us to make adjustments, fine tune the final product, and provide direction, like nothing else.
That’s why failure has been called a priceless gift in an ugly wrapper.
Have you received the gift of failure recently?
Is it always a pain to be avoided, or can it be a teacher to seek after?
In what ways is our failure our friend?
What we also need to remember about failure, is how important it is to live with.
We have to find healthy ways of coping with our imperfections.
How do we speak to ourselves when we fail?
How do we penalize ourselves and those around us when we don't make the mark?
How do we need to be more realistic about our capabilities and expectations so that we don't walk around beating ourselves up and being mad at the world?
Jesus's disciples failed, seriously and frequently, yet they kept their composure, and developed a resilience, they did not let it get to them. They saw failure as a part of the process, and they lived with their imperfections. Can we?
And how can we, then, do what the disciples did: respond to our failures with humility - dust ourselves off, and get back on the horse?
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It’s been said that the three most difficult things for a human being are not physical feats of strength - like lifting a piano or running a 3-and-a-half-hour marathon.
Nor are they intellectual achievements - like winning a spelling bee or a debate contest.
No, the top-three most difficult things for us humans are these:
Returning love for hate.
Including the excluded, and:
Admitting that we are wrong. (Anthony DeMello)
When St. Thomas was knocked off his horse - refusing to believe that Jesus could do what he said he could do - and coming face-to-face with the reality of the Risen Christ, he hit his knees. In humility. He didn’t deny or deflect, he didn’t storm off or look for alternative facts to explain how he was actually right all along.
No, he did one of the hardest things you can I can do.
He admitted his error, and got back with the program.
Friends, in our ‘me-first’ ‘cancel-culture’ - we are tempted to simply ignore our missteps - not own up to our transgressions - and sugar-coat our sins.
Thomas shows us that this is not how to follow Christ.
And that part of following Jesus is to emulate his humility in our lives: the one who came down from heaven, became one of us, and died at our whim, exemplified a humility that is essential for our good health and well-being individually and communally.
In what ways are we being asked to be humble?
What’s going on in our lives that’s asking us to respond with a change of heart - and admit we’re wrong? How is God trying to make us more humble? And can we see that this is actually a good thing?
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Friends, in Thomas you and I find an icon:
He reminds us that we don’t become disciples overnight - but that it takes a while.
So let’s be patient with others - and ourselves.
Thomas shows us that we will fail, we will make mistakes, we will have regrets - so let’s not beat ourselves up about them!
But Thomas also shows us that we can respond in humility and get back on track.
God does not primarily act out of anger and condemnation - but God is a merciful forgiver!
My prayer for us today is that we would see in Thomas these three things - and go and do likewise.
Amen.