December 21, 2017 - St. Thomas, the Apostle

Readings:  Hebrews 10:35-11:1 and  John 20:24-29

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! – John 20:26-29

I am by no means a scientist or even someone who is scientifically inclined by nature. However, I can remember the joy and satisfaction of ruminating over a physics problem when I was in college. I can remember applying the appropriate formulae and working through the problem step by step until, after a page or two of calculations, an answer was found. There is something inherently satisfying about the completion of a task set before you and seeing how several seemingly disparate things fit together as a whole. As human beings we are hard wired to seek higher knowledge, to see how things fit together, and ultimately, to understand how we ourselves fit within the grand scheme of things.

Another illustrious St. Thomas, St. Thomas Aquinas taught that the knowledge of God is the end of all things.  That all of our needs, desires, and hopes will be fulfilled when we finally behold Christ in the fullness of his divinity and humanity - And that all of our fears will find their consolation, all of our pain will find their relief, all of our anxieties will find their calm, and all of our questions will find their answers when we finally behold the God who is the source of all that is good, beautiful, and true. And that within God, all things fit together and that, despite lots of evidence to the contrary, there is order and balance to his Creation.

Thomas reminds us that us that of our searching, questioning, and grasping for the truth will one-day end when we will behold him who is the author of Nature itself. Rather than epitomizing doubt, St. Thomas epitomizes a certain type of faith that seeks understanding and strives to makes sense of things that at face value make little sense.

Thomas asks for proof. He asks to see the mark of the nails on Jesus’ hands and side and touch them with his very hands. Like us, he longs for confirmation that the stories we have heard about Jesus are true. There is an entire industry of apologetic books from John Stott to Les Trobel that seeks to make sense of the Christian story for the skeptical Christian and the interested non-believer. Like Thomas, most us are hoping for an air tight reason to believe. We are hoping to find that right formula that explains it all, that connects God, ourselves, and the cosmos in one neat little package that can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. We are looking for something that, in so many words, does not exist this side of heaven.

But notice that Thomas when he beholds the risen Lord Jesus, does not say to him, ‘Eureka, it all makes sense now” or “Indubitably, Jesus, we’ve found our answer. You’ve indeed been raised.” He says, “My Lord and My God.” He recognizes the reality of the disciples’ claim that Jesus is risen, yes, but he goes beyond that claim and confesses him as God. Thomas is more than surprised; he is filled with awe. He is filled with awe because after his questioning, striving, doubting, and hoping, Thomas beholds the presence of God in the full weight of his glory. Likewise, we too, after our earthly striving is complete, will behold our God. That is the hope which is revealed to us in Jesus and which we remember during this season Advent.

As Christians, we are called to be as Thomas. We are called to strive for understanding, to continue on a path toward the knowledge of God, knowing that in the fullness time, we will be with St. Thomas and all the angels and saints who are now with God. And though, we may face doubts and fears along the way, we know that God is drawing us nearer to himself. And while, we may not now see our Lord face to face, we walk by faith, trusting that we one day will. As John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace” reminds us that

“Through many dangers, toils and snares,
(we have) already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home”

At St. Thomas Church we are people who are homeward bound. We are a people searching out and striving to know our Lord Jesus. We gather together each week to share in a sacred meal that anticipates what our lives will be like when we are in the presence of God - that place, we believe, where there will be singing and rejoicing and where the only taste on our tongues will the sweetness of God’s love. We will know God as he fully is and we will be fully as we should be. We will behold God and we will say to him, “My Lord and My God.”

-the Rev'd David R. Radzik