Sermon for May 1, 2011  

 “We Live By Faith and Not By Sight”     

Rev. Sharon James Fazel

Every time we tell this story of Jesus’ appearance to the disciples after his resurrection – the defining event in the Christian calendar called Easter – we are tempted to fall into the time-worn condemnation of the disciple Thomas, indicting him for his lack of faith, and calling him “doubting Thomas.” It’s almost tradition to belittle Thomas for his questioning nature, and for insisting that such a report as that told him by his fellow disciples is worthy of his acceptance only after he has himself has confirmed it in his own experience.

And yet – that sort of thinking begs several questions. “If Thomas is worth belittling, how come the rest of the story has Jesus appearing once again to the other disciples only when Thomas is with them, instead of to just Thomas on his own? How come this story has Jesus playing right into the very express wish of Thomas, when Jesus invited Thomas to put his own hands into the sacred wounds?  How come there’s no reprimand in Jesus’ exchange with Thomas, no pressing him about why he didn’t believe, no threats about what his faith was calling him to do -- “or else”? In other words, if Thomas was such a “bad guy” because of his questioning nature, then why did Jesus bother to appear to him at all, much less to do it in the presence of the other supposedly “good guys” who had already processed their own experience of his resurrected self?

I’ve thought about this, and here’s my conclusion! Thomas – far from being a “bad guy” and far from being someone whose cautious nature is something we should eschew in ourselves (do you like that word “eschew” – I’ve been looking for an opportunity to use it! It means “to avoid habitually, especially on moral or practical grounds”).  Rather than being a prototype we are to swear never to become if we expect to be good Christians – for me, Thomas is a biblical example of a good scientific mind! Scientists question! Scientists know that one does not learn if not by questioning and testing experience. In other words, rather than being a “bad boy” disciple, Thomas is in fact a bit of a hero. After all, his experience, which is concrete and undeniably confirming for him, serves only to increase his faith, not diminish it.

And that’s where the rubber meets the road for me, as a Christian. I’ve had so many people say they want to tell me about their faith, and yet that’s all they really end up doing – telling me about their faith, rather than sharing with me their real experience. Telling someone about something, and sharing one’s own experience with someone, are two different things. Thomas doesn’t want to be told by the other disciples what to think or believe, he wants to know what he believes based on his own experience. The key word here – the place where religion and science stand on common ground, even if they stand back to back headed in different directions  – is “experience.”

Richard P. Feynman, “scientist, teacher, raconteur and musician” who died at the age of 70 in 1988-- only after he had “expanded the understanding of quantum electrodynamics, translated Mayan hieroglyphics, and cut to the heart of the Challenger disaster,” said this about the scientist’s process: “First you guess. Don't laugh, this is the most important step. Then you compute the consequences. Compare the consequences to experience. If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn't matter how beautiful your guess is or how smart you are or what your name is. If it disagrees with experience, it's wrong. That's all there is to it."                                                Richard Feynman

And so, the experience of Thomas in our story for today tells us that he is able to connect with the risen Christ in such a way that he, too, believes. Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that my comments about the intersection of science and faith here, at the point of experience, do not take lightly the account of Thomas’ experience. It stands, as Thomas’ experience, and testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit to work within that experience – as well as within our experiences, whatever they may be.

These past two weeks have wrought irrevocable evidence that the power of nature takes precedence over our best attempts to avert or control its disasters. Record-breaking storms and herculean winds have changed lives in an instant, and forevermore. Yet, the individual stories we hear of these historical moments have revealed not only the terror of the disaster, but also the grace of the rescues and outpourings of kindness, charitable assistance and sheer love flowing among neighbors. The destructive winds that have blown through Alabama and Mississippi have been followed by the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus’ breath on Thomas in our story this morning. People have described it, and as viewers we’ve shared it, as we have watched the stories of survival and the many who have aided in that survival. Concurrently, we’ve witnessed the fresh air of a new and future monarchy in the country that spawned our model of government. As one newscaster put it, our attention has variously been drawn “from tattered landscape, to sacred abbey.” And such contrasts also continue on a local basis, for our church community.

Even here in this congregation, our time has been spent in remembering loved ones now departed. We’ve brought full life to the stories of times past and times recent, and of times to come, as well, as we’ve pondered and shared the experience of saying goodbye to folks who have and will continue to have a lasting impact on countless lives, well into the future. And some of us have recalled anniversaries of such farewells to loved ones of our own, honoring their memory in vigils at gravesides, or in pilgrimages to sacred places, or in trips to visit surviving loved ones. And I’ll say it again – no one can convince me of the absence of the Holy Spirit in all of those experiences, both private and shared. Whether it’s a deep knowing that comes out of nowhere, a voice that echoes only in our own hearts, or the healing and loving touch of one with whom we have been estranged – the presence of the resurrected Christ is identifiable for many of us. I have no doubts about that. You see, that is the faith that Thomas had. He questioned a simple account by others, be he never doubted that his experience would teach him what he needed to know. So when we sing “We Live by Faith and Not by Sight,” we declare the paradox of faith itself – that what we simply recount to one another does not illuminate the pathway to Christ, but only that which we truly experience and share with each other that gives us powerful witness. Let us pray.

PRAYER: O God, we come together today, gathering in community, seeking to share our faith with each other by sharing the experience of your presence. We know we need not pass any test that will label us true or not true believers; we know we need not hide our doubts from you, either. For as a loving God who asked us in the man Jesus to love one another, as you have loved us, we know our task in this earth is simple, though hardly ever easy. Be with us now in our hearts and in our minds, as we recall those we love whom we may miss just now; as we send them love, and envision them bathed in the protective light of the Christ. We offer our prayers to you, for comfort and peace upon those who have departed this world, and our gracious thanksgiving for those we love who remain with us in this world. We offer prayers for healing and recovery for all of those in the tornado-torn parts of our country, for those who have lost loved ones, and those who count their blessings in grateful survivors; for those still fighting for the causes of freedom and self-determination in other lands, for all who work to support and protect them, whether in uniform or not. Hear our prayers just now, O God, as we share our hearts with only you, in the sacred silence of this quiet moment of prayer.

Lord’s prayer…

And now, having received new life through the generosity of God and the hope Christ brings, let us give thankfully and abundantly in our offering this morning, that we may be called God’s generous people.

Church Office is open to
receive telephone calls:
763-421-3375
Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

The office is closed Fridays and national holidays.

E-mail:1stcongo@pro-ns.net

Fax: 763-421-3093