Day Twenty-Four
John Thomas Sipf
Pastor
St. Mark's Lutheran and
St. Peter’s Lutheran Verdon and Falls City, Nebraska
2 Samuel 7.23-29
John 3.31-36
Lesser Festival of Thomas, Apostle
“Let me make just one more test” - Judges 6:39, Common English Bible
“Lord… how can we know…?” - John 14:5, Common English Bible
Saint Thomas… Doubting Thomas… Unsure Thomas… Insecure Thomas? These are all possible names for this wonderful leader of faith. And, most of those names are rather derogatory… Doubting… Unsure… Insecure… they are derogatory of Thomas… as well as derogatory about the verbs from which he is named. It is bad to doubt… it is bad to be unsure…
The flip side of this is the argument that absolute certainty is preferred… that it is good to be sure, it is good to have no hesitation in belief… “Let me make just one more test” and “Lord… how can we know…?” are written, there in black and white… plainly for the world to see in the writings we hold dear from Scripture. Not only are they in Scripture, they are in two very different parts of Scripture, one passage is from the some of the earliest history of the people of Israel (even before Israel was a kingdom, when it was still watched over by tribal leaders) and from the story of the life of Christ as written down by John the Evangelist.
It sounds to me like these men, “Doubting Thomas” and , well he doesn’t have a title yet, so let’s give him one, “Unsure Gideon” doubted and tested and were unsure and were insecure and did not have absolute certainty.
But, what does that have to do with Advent? I mean, the Church has also decided that a day in July could function just as well as the Lesser Festival of Thomas, Apostle, so why don’t we just leave it there?
What is Advent about other than “living into our sure and certain hope that Jesus will return to set the world right”? I mean, I have probably written… no I have definitely written and spoken that phrase on countless occasions during many sermons and devotionals and conversations during Advent… our “sure and certain hope”…
But, is there any room for uncertainty in the midst of that hope? Is there any room for the followers of this crucified, risen and ascended Lord to be unsure of anything in this time? Is there any room for doubt?
I for one, believe there is. There is room for doubt in the midst of our hope… Thomas, Doubting Thomas, said, “How can we know the way” as fervently as he refused to believe unless he could touch the scars of the living Christ… But Thomas, Impulsive Thomas also told the other disciples that they should be on their way to Jerusalem… I mean, if Jesus is going to die, we may as well die with him (John 11:16). He is also the disciple who immediately, without even flinching (after he saw Jesus) said, with great gusto (I always imagine), “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)
I think the stories of these two ancestors in the faith, as well as countless others, can inspire us to be daring in the midst of our doubting; and when our hope is no longer hope but certainty, to be as impulsive in our praise as we are in naming and claiming our doubt.
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Ever-living God, you strengthened your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in the resurrection of your Son. Grant that we too may confess our faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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