Sunday, April 22, 2007

Scripture:                                John 20:19-31

 

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

 

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

 

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

 

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

I come with a hammer

You come with nails

He comes with a board.

She comes with plans

Together we build a house.

                      (Katherine Hawker)

 

          Have you ever done a home improvement project? Yes? What have you done? My father is an incredible handyman. Unfortunately for Gary, I didn’t inherit any of his talents. My Dad can build, repair or fix almost anything. (And I’m not just saying that because I’m Daddy’s little girl). This meant that there was pretty much always some kind of repair or renovation going on at our house ~ the smell of sawdust reminds me of home. But when you would approach my Dad about a potential project he would more likely than not respond, “That’s not humanly possible.” Can you put a window in this wall? “That’s just not humanly possible.” Can you install an outlet in this corner? “That’s not humanly possible.” But in a day or two construction would begin and the window would appear, the outlet would be installed, just where you wanted it. 

 

Well, during this series we are going to try to take the wisdom we can glean from home repair, both large and small, to help us reflect on our life in faith. And, despite what some may think, we are not crazy in comparing our spiritual life to house construction.  (Or if we are crazy, at least we have company.) John Wesley compared our spiritual journey to moving through different rooms in a house. The porch. The entryway. The living room. The kitchen. Jesus even spoke in his parables about the wisdom of one who built his house on the rock. And what was it he said to his disciples just before his crucifixion? “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” 

 

We all know that our homes (our houses and apartments) need updates every once in a while to keep things running smoothly. A leaky faucet, a drafty door frame. The same is true for our faith. Sometimes we might get rusty or our foundation may get a little shaky. That's why we need to always assess our faith life to see where we might need to make some improvements.  There is an Indian Belief that everyone is in a house of four rooms: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but, the saying goes, unless we go into every room, everyday, even if only to keep it aired, we are not complete. So, you might ask yourself, how much time have I spent in my spiritual room lately?

 

Well, the first thing we have to do when undertaking a construction project is decide what needs to go, right? You’ve seen those shows ~ Flip This House, Extreme Makeover, This Old House ~ and there’s usually a lot of tearing down before there is building up. Maybe that wall that had been useful until this point needs to come down. Maybe the stairs are just too rickety and need to be rebuilt. Those things that served us well at one point sometimes need to be replaced or removed. Demolition. This is where the wrecking ball comes in. 

 

And this is where we meet Thomas this morning in our Gospel lesson. Poor old doubting Thomas. He gets a pretty bad rap, doesn’t he? First, he isn’t there were he is supposed to be when the Risen Christ appears to the disciples. Then, when they tell him what happened, he doesn’t believe them. I can almost hear him saying, “Risen from the dead? That’s just not humanly possible.” 

 

And he is absolutely right, isn’t he? It’s just not humanly possible. People don’t just rise from the dead. They don’t all of a sudden get up and walk out of their tombs. Who can blame Thomas for his disbelief, for his doubt? He was basing his belief on what he thought was true. Beyond actual evidence, actual physical evidence, nothing would change his mind.

 

And then the wrecking ball comes, doesn’t it? What form does this wrecking ball take in Thomas’ life? Yes, a week later the Risen Christ himself appears to Thomas. He even says to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” He was giving Thomas the proof he needed….and suddenly everything Thomas thought he knew is demolished, begins to crumble away. He realizes, it may not be humanly possible, but it is possible with God.

 

We all have things in our spiritual houses that need to be cleared away. Things that get in the way of our belief, our life of faith. Things that we think we know for sure, ‘so called truths’ that we have trouble letting go of.  And, like Thomas we may find that those things we think we know don’t hold up in the light of faith. Sometimes we hold God’s blessings at arm’s length because it is too inconceivable, we just can’t quite bring ourselves to believe. There are three questions in your worship folders. Find someone to talk to and take a few minutes to discuss whichever of these questions speaks to you. Where do you need to do some demolition in your life?

 

There’s one thing we can say for Thomas…. When he gets it he really gets it. Everything he thought he knew is turned upside down. Christ is risen from the dead. In the end, Thomas is the only disciple in the Gospel of John to say with confidence, “My Lord and my God.”

 

And, as his conversation with Thomas draws to a close, Jesus shares a blessing, not just with Thomas, but with all of us as well. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” That’s you and me. Unlike Thomas, we don’t get the actually physical evidence. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” 

 

Thomas isn’t such a bad guy. In fact I kind of like him. He’s honest. He says it like it is. Doesn’t beat around the bush. It just isn’t humanly possible. He’s gutsy. The truth is I’m probably more like my Dad than I think ~ more like Thomas too, for that matter. I’ve been known to say, “It’s not humanly possible,” when confronted with a challenging situation, only to be reminded that, while that may be true, God makes the impossible possible.   

 

Thomas points to the demolition we all need to do from time to time. Putting in a door when there had previously been a wall. Opening new parts of ourselves to the mystery that is following Christ. I’m reminded of a Sunday School song from my childhood. We sang it to remind the adults that we are all works in progress. I won’t try to sing it for you, but the words are, “Kids under construction. Maybe the paint is still wet. Kids under construction. The Lord may not be finished yet.” Let us pray.