Doubting Thomas, Whose Twin is He? Ours!

If we were to do a “Word Association” game, some words would we could probably guess without trying to hard. Others, perhaps not.

If we said Peter, what would you say?
Faith? Disciple, Deny?
If we said Judas, you might say: Betray
& If you said Thomas, most people would probably say: “Doubter”

It sort of unfortunate that he’s gotten that label, as that’s not the only thing about him.

Tradition has it that he spread the church to India. So, clearly he was faithful.

He is mentioned several other times in the Gospel of John before our passage today…

In fact, when Jesus says that he is going to Jerusalem to die, everyone tries to talk him out of it except Thomas. Thomas steps to the plate and says, “let us all go and die with him”.

Then in another place, He also is bold enough to ask Jesus: “How can we know the way?” When Jesus says: “You know the way where I am going” predicting his own death.

To which Jesus says those famous and words…. “I am the way the truth & the life, no one comes to the Father but by me”.

Beautiful, yet troubling to the modern mind because of the implication that only believers in Jesus can “Know the Father”.

For the modern person like us,

We might like the way the poet Tennyson put it:

"There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds."

In this, we would say….. Doubt is not the opposite of Faith, but a part of it.

These and other lines, make it clear, that Thomas, called the Twin, is our Twin.

You see, the text refers to Thomas as Dydemis, which means Twin.

But….Whose twin was he a twin of? Was he the Twin of Jesus? Or of another named or un-named disciple?

Very possibly. But for sure, He is our Twin.

We too are doubters so often. We too are the ones who want critical evidence. We too are the modern scholars who pick apart the text and wonder how it could all be.

Indeed…Thomas is our Twin. We look like him & Act like him. Just like twins look & act alike.

And, that wouldn’t be so bad…as long as….
We close the loop like him.
Thomas misses Jesus the first time and says…I won’t believe until I see the wounds in his hands and side. Until I touch, I won’t believe.

But then, a week later, Jesus again appears when Thomas is with them.

Now, Jesus invites Thomas to see & touch & believe.

Thomas’ response: “My Lord & My God!!”

That’s what I mean about closing the loop. I trust that we will be as the Gospel writer says that Jesus said: “you believe because you see, but blessed are they that believe, even if they don’t see.”

That is really closing the loop. Not seeing, but believing.

So my question to us today: Are we Thomas’ Twin? Perhaps in our doubts, but Hopefully in our Belief.

And in our actions.

Thomas went from there and eventually spread the Gospel message to a whole new continent.

Can we be Thomas’ Twin?

Wyvetta Bullock, in Must We See to Believe? Relays this story….

There is a story about a pre-civil rights African American community in Florida . The story says that during times of political elections, this community would rent a voting machine and go through the voting process. Now, they knew that their votes would not be counted, but they voted anyway. When asked by members of the white community why they did this every year, they replied, "Oh, just practicing. Just practicing."Believing in what is not yet seen means we practice or behave as if it is already exists. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said,

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
This is what leaders and visionaries do.
They believe in something bigger than themselves and they begin to act as if it is so.

Thomas was a visionary & leader. Are we his Twin? I end with this other story that I think says it all…..

As told by Leslie Flynn, it is of a
small boy being raised in a frontier city by his grandmother. One night the house catches on fire. The grandmother, trying to rescue the boy who was asleep in the bedroom upstairs, is overcome by the smoke and dies in the fire. This frontier city doesn't have much of a fire department. A crowd gathers around the house and they hear a small boy crying out for help. The lower floor is a wall of flames and no one seems to know what to do. Suddenly, a man pushes through the crowd and begins climbing an iron drainage pipe which runs to the roof. The pipe is hot from the fire, but he makes it to a second floor window. The man crawls through the window and locates the boy. With the crowd cheering encouragement, the man climbs back down the hot iron pipe with the boy on his back and his arms around his neck.

A few weeks later, a public meeting was held to determine in whose custody the boy would be placed. Each person wanting the child would be allowed to make a brief statement. The first man said, "I have a farm and would give the boy a good home. He would grow up on the farm and learn a trade."

The second person to speak was the local school teacher. She said, "I am a school teacher and I would see to it that he received a good education." Finally, the banker said, "Mrs. Morton and I would be able to give the boy a fine home and a fine education. We would like him to come and live with us." The presiding officer looked around and asked, "Is there anyone else who would like to say anything?" From the back row, a man rose and said, "These other people may be able to offer some things I can't. All I can offer is my love." Then, he slowly removed his hands from his coat pockets. A gasp went up from the crowd because his hands were scarred terribly from climbing up and down the hot pipe. The boy recognized the man as the one who had saved his life and ran into his waiting arms.

The farmer, teacher and the banker simply sat down. Everyone knew what the decision would be. The scarred hands proved that this man had given more than all the others.

The scarred hands of Jesus say it all to us. In his death, we have life. This day, don’t doubt, but Believe!!

Easter Sunday "The Empty Tomb"

Did you ever see or collect bugs when you were a kid?

Or maybe, u didn’t just get the bug, but also the shells that the bugs left behind.

The cicadas & the cocoons & the cracked & empty birds eggs.

These signs of nature are all beautiful and fascinating to us.

They tell us of mystery & new life. They tell us Of the return of spring & summer….of the power and miracle of transformation & renewal.

We see in the Gospel of John, the divine-human version of the cicada shell.

In John 20, Mary & Peter see only the burial cloth. They see a shroud all neatly piled up and sitting there.

Like the cicada & the snake and the empty cocoon, the grave stands empty.

“He is not here, he has Risen as he said!” proclaims the Angel sitting by the grave.

Except this isn’t just a normal Spring ritual of death & renewal…of transformation & new life. This is a once-in-creation miracle.
This is the very power of God at work in the world….Bringing Death from life.

I like the way author Lindy Black put it:

“As wilderness preceded the Promise land; foolishness precedes wisdom; emptiness precedes fulfillment & suffering precedes joy.

So death precedes resurrection & darkness the light.”

The tomb was just the cicada shell with the neat slit down its back.
The living being that had once been inside of it was gone.

The singing & the love was going on…
Going somewhere else,
Which may be why Peter and the other disciple did not stay very long.

Clearly, Jesus was not there.

He had risen, just like he said.
Somewhere or other I heard of a Sunday School teacher who had justfinished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified andplaced in a tomb with a great stone sealing off the only way in or out.Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, and thesurprise of Easter morning, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus'first words when he came bursting out of that tomb alive."A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. It belonged toa most excited little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted outexcitedly, "I know, I know, I know.""Good," said the teacher, "Tell us."Extending her arms high in the air she sang out: "TA - DA!"

You think that is what Jesus said to Mary?

No! He said: “Mary” He knew her name.
Then he said… “Be Not Afraid…..”

You see, He had outgrown his tomb & come back to emrace her as the Living Lord.

The risen one had people to see and things to do. His business was among the living, not the dead.

And….Every time he came to his friends …..they became stronger, wiser, kinder, more daring.

Every time he came to them, they became more like him.

That is what a spiritual encounter with the Risen Christ does to us.

Just like the disciples who went from scared & scattered exiles to bold & passionate proclaimers….

So, too, do we get transformed.

Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He Lives, all fear is gone…….

Our night becomes day. Our despair turns to hope. Our, blindness changes to site!

A guy named Fred R. Anderson says:

“Easter is the eighth day of creation.”

That means & is….
A new Day. A new Order. A new Realm.

The German theologian Jurgen Moltmann says:
"God weeps with us so that we may someday laugh with him."
That is the Good News!!

I end with this story….There was a cartoon showing a man about to be rescued after being ship-wrecked on a tiny deserted island.
The sailor in charge of the rescue team stepped onto the beach and handed the man a stack of newspapers.

"Compliments of the Captain," the sailor said. "

He would like you to glance at the headlines to see if you'd still like to be rescued!"

Sometimes the headlines do scare us. Sometimes we feel that evil is winning,

But then along comes Easter, to remind us that there is no grave deep enough,

no seal imposing enough, no stone heavy enough, no evil strong enough to keep Christ in the grave.

Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow!
Because He Lives, All Fear is gone…..

Brothers & Sisters, go forth from this place knowing that Christ is alive.....and with us!
Now & Always! Amen!

Palm Sunday "A Beautiful Mind"

This week we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.

We had seen earlier that he had “set his face” toward Jerusalem…meaning, his vision was set. His mind was made up. His action was sure and clear.

Now….he enters in. The time has come.

Matthew recounts the story of how it came to be. In his version of what happened. He tells us that Jesus sends some emissaries ahead to get things prepared.

So, they go and will find an ass and a colt…..or some kind of beast that Jesus will ride on…into town.

What is noted is the OT reference to how it is to happen to fulfill the scripture.

It is also very much showing a contrast to the King of the Day…the Emporer.

Everyone who lives at this time and would read his letter knows that the King comes in on a Stead….A mighty horse of stature & grace.
Jesus, however, comes in on a humble mule.
The contrast is clear. The comparison….and therefore the challenge to political reality…to status quo is also clear.

Choose ye this day whom you will serve….The Roman Emporer, the ruling King… or,

The King of Kings & Lord of Lords.

So they bring the animal to Jesus and he rides into town. They drape their garments.

Everyone comes out of their homes and lauds his entrance. They cut branches from trees & spread them along the way.

Again…a clear reference to how the Emporer would be welcomed. But this is a different kind of King. One this world would not understand.

Having set his mind toward Jerusalem….
Having made up his mind…..

He enters in. Acclimation Now.
But oh how the tide can turn. Oh, how fickle the people can be. Oh, how quickly their allegiance can change….especially if they too could suffer.
I was reading this week about another entrance into Jerusalem. Here it is…..

“Two thousand years after Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, another visitor came to the city, Germany's last kaiser, Wilhelm II. His entourage was so grand that he had to have the Jaffe Gate in the old city widened so that his over-sized carriage could pass through. After the parade had ended, someone climbed up and attached a large sign to the gate. The sign read, "A better man than Wilhelm came through this city's gate. He rode on a donkey."
……What made Jesus a better man, do you think? What was it about him that compelled the people to spread their cloaks and wave their branches in the air?
What is it about him that still inspires millions of people to give their lives to him and even for him?
Nowhere has the paradoxical beauty of the mind of Christ been more eloquently expressed than by Paul in his Letter to the Philippians:
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." What made him a better man? It was his beautiful mind, which was nothing less than the very mind of God.
*His beautiful mind put him on the back of that donkey. * His beautiful mind gave him the courage to speak the message of salvation no matter what it cost. * His beautiful mind opened his eyes so that he could see the people who were being put down or shut out by unjust practices and selfish ambitions on the part of others. * His beautiful mind led him to overturn the tables of the money changers in the temple, led him to cure the blind and the lame. * His beautiful mind brought him to his knees before the disciples so that he could wash their feet on the night of his betrayal. * His mind led him to the cross where he poured out his life. "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus," Paul admonished his friends in Philippi. If you want to belong to him, the first thing you will need to do is get your mind right. Can we live that way too? Paul thought we could. "Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus," he said.
Friends, this day, this week, this life….
I invite you to “Have that mind that is in Christ Jesus”.
I invite you to invite Jesus into your heart.
To…Carry Your Cross, To….Lay down your life,
To…Set your mind, your heart, your life on things that are above. And in so doing, you will be like Christ.
But I would also remind you of this promise….
To those who carry the cross, will one day receive a crown.
To those who die in Christ, we have the promise that they will be raised in Glory.
This day, we celebrate Jesus’ Beautiful Mind.
And may that word go out to us as well…
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Amen.