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The
Cathedral Church
of Saint John
Ten Concord Ave.
Wilmington
Delaware
19802

voice: (302) 654-6279
fax: (302) 777-5789

Wheelchair
Accessible

Parking lot
on Concord Avenue

  

Dean’s Sermon
2nd Sunday of Easter
19 April 2009

by the Very Reverend William B. Lane

Do not doubt but believe.

Thomas was away, when Jesus came to the disciples who were living in fear behind locked doors. So he missed the empowering experience of that moment, and was unwilling to accept the witness of his colleagues that it had taken place. He was unwilling to commit to that which he had not experienced. His position on this matter would have him labeled throughout history as Doubting Thomas.

It was not that Thomas was disloyal. He had been the one who called upon the other disciples to overcome their fear and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus even when there was every possibility of major trouble with the authorities in that city. Let us also go, that we may die with him, Thomas says. Well, they didn’t die, but he, Jesus, did, at the hands of the Romans, and Thomas was not prepared emotionally, let alone intellectually, to accept a story that this Jesus who had died lived.

Thomas does experience the living Jesus and confesses his belief. In the process, Jesus does not chastise him for doubting, for being unbelieving, for questioning. Jesus calls him to belief, and Thomas responds.

Doubt is not a stranger to humanities religious experience. Indeed, there is nothing sinful about it. It must not be mistaken for denying. Denying is a product of weakness, it is a betrayal of belief. It is what Peter did at the time of Jesus’ arrest and trial. Doubting is engaging, wrestling with that which calls for belief because it is of great importance. And doubting means one is engaged and therefore in relationship with that which is being questioned. Doubting is often an important stage in the belief process.

I still remember an address given by the great protestant theologian Paul Tillich at George Washington University in the early 1960s. In the course of his talk, Tillich addressed the issue of doubt and suggested that rather than fear doubt, one should embrace it and journey with it in the quest for truth. A trust, a belief, a faith that is entered into after a season of doubt is a faith that is not lightly taken on.

Now the New Testament witness is that the post resurrection Jesus Community did come through doubt to enter into a serious and committed relationship with the risen Lord and with one another. Luke describes this serious commitment in his Acts of the Apostles.

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

The seriousness of this commitment is emphasized by what happens to those who take it lightly. Luke tells us about Ananias and his wife Sapphira who did take it lightly, how when they were exposed for mocking, lying to the community and thus to God, they died. Whether this was an actual physical death or the death that comes from banishment and shunning, it was a powerful reminder of how serious that early community was about its life and work.

Certainly, if tradition is correct, Thomas would come through his doubt to a life of commitment to the risen Lord. Tradition has it that he witnessed to the Gospel of Christ as far away as India where he was martyred. This would make him the only apostle to venture outside the Roman Empire.

Did you notice what Thomas did when he refused to believe the testimony of the others in the Jesus Community about their experience of the risen Lord? He stayed, he did not separate himself from the community, he stayed within the community. And it was within that community that he too would know the Lord, it was within that community that he would move from unbelieving to believing, from doubt to trust and faith.

We humans are meant to be in community. It is clear that Jesus understood that, for he both developed and empowered community. The community of Jesus is that living organism in which we are nurtured in both our moments of faith and trust, and in our times of doubt and questioning. At times it is the corporate faith of the community that sustains the individual member; at times it is the witness of the individual that corrects and invigorates the community.

At its very best the community is an inviting one, it does not pride itself on finding ways to exclude; rather it exhibits the grace of God in its ministry of inclusion. The overriding commandment under which it lives is the new commandment given by Jesus at his last meal with the community before the crucifixion:

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

To believer and unbeliever alike, the Community of Jesus says, as its Lord says, come and be feed, be nourished, be nurtured. Come and share of yourself, come and bless the community with your humanity. And in the process both you and the community will be empowered by the grace and spirit of God to bear the presence of Jesus, the risen Lord from here to eternity.

Faithfully,
The Very Reverend William B. Lane

Dean’s Sermons:

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