At Face Value
Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’
But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’
Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ John 20: 24-28
On Sunday, like many of my colleagues, I was reflecting on Thomas and his story. I was admitting my annoyance at his inability to accept what the other disciples said at face value. Why couldn't he just believe them? After all they would have been so excited, convinced by seeing the scars and hearing Jesus speak. For sure, Jesus had a way with words! Mary recognised him simply by hearing him speak her name. Or the couple on the road to Emmaus who felt their hearts burn within them as Jesus opened up Scripture to them. As I noted on Sunday we recognise his voice - the sheep know their Shepherd's voice.
For so long the Church has ignored Thomas. Oh yes we tell his story and some years we feel for him, others we are annoyed by him. But what about the Thomas people in our communities? We have ignored them and we are paying the price now as we close churches and pretend it is all about mission.
What do I mean by that? Well we have hung out with the convinced and pushed the doubters to the fringes. Our Sunday services are full of the convinced or at least the content. We preach to those who have met Jesus. And despite the occasional missional success stories of Alpha or Messy Church we are not great at converting. We poach and attract and moan about the consumer mentality that the presbyterian system of ‘protecting God from the untrained’ and shutting down incubators of faith development and discipleship has enabled.
Thomas had serious issues. No matter how much his friends tried to convince him he needed tangible proof.
We have often lived our mission stuck in the room, assuming that everyone will take us at face value. If we preach it, the people will come. If we have all the hall lets, if we put nice prayers on social media, if we keep the old happy then we can continue (to pay the bills) then all will be well.
But let’s be real-Thomas had experienced much under Jesus' leadership and yet he still couldn't accept at face value that Jesus had risen from the dead. He needed more. No amount of talk would persuade him.
Perhaps our challenge for mission is to stop focussing the majority of the effort on those already convinced and look for the Thomas’ around us. And they are there. How do we share the Good News without relying on face value only? It can’t just be about the face we present to our parish. You see, Thomas didn’t want the happy, convinced, overwhelmingly excited Christians shouting Jesus is risen. He needed Jesus, his peace and his scars visible before him.
For those of us in the know the most concerning element is that we are presenting as a Church in turmoil, lost and conflicted. How do we, as an institution, leave the Good Friday filled tomb and join the resurrected Lord, wearing our scars and ready to step out in faith? What I am finding is that those who are in the know and feel bereft are those in the church. Those outwith the Church are not shocked about our turmoil or indeed seeing it as catastrophic as we are. Such change is happening everywhere. In fact they are not surprised about our pain and heartache because they are feeling it too. Maybe what they need is to see us joining them in their wait for Jesus to appear in his scarred body yet full of glory and bringing peace, instead of hiding behind some façade.
And in that is a mission field…maybe…
And yes, I do have a soft spot for Thomas and the longest week he waited, as did his friends, for the moment of convincing to happen.
With God in the driving seat, we pray for patience!
Blessings
Sarah
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