There has been a lot going on in the world this week and all the drama of the world is unfolding for us Christians against the backdrop of the Gospel and the drama that is unfolding there. 

The apostles have locked themselves in the upper room. It’s understandable really. It’s been a dramatic week and they are emotionally  exhausted. Not to mention the fear of the authorities who crucified Jesus. It is still the day of the resurrection. There has been a lot of running back and forth, a lot of excitement, but Mary is the only one who has actually seen the risen Lord. There they are in that same upper room where only days earlier, Jesus washed their feet and shared bread and wine with them. Thomas has gone out, probably to get supplies and to check out the current climate. And while he is away, Jesus appears to those who stayed behind. We can imagine how Thomas must have felt: excluded and unimportant, and he states that he will not believe unless he can see the risen Lord himself and put his hands in his wounds. And Jesus responds to this desire by appearing on another occasion to Thomas and letting him do exactly that. 

There are some important themes in this Gospel: first, Jesus says first to the gathered disciples and then in the second appearance to Thomas: “Peace be with you”.  

He also says “whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained”. 

It is clear too that the resurrected Jesus is different:  not immediately recognizable: somehow changed. What are we to make of this? 

Resurrection is not resuscitation, but transformation. Jesus’s resurrected body, while recognizable, is a transformed presence. We believe that we will see him one day, that we will again see our loved ones who have died: that they, and we too when our time comes, will be a transformed, though still recognizable presence.  

This is something for us to wrestle with, and it brings us to the main theme of this Gospel, namely faith and the importance of doubt. One of the three pillars of our Anglican faith is reason. As Anglicans we understand the importance of doubt, of having to live with the questions and not always getting clear answers. 

What does it mean “to walk by faith”? and is doubt the enemy of faith? Doubt causes us to question, to wrestle with what we can’t understand, and if we engage with it, it gives us the opportunity to grow in our faith. Because faith is not something static, it is something that grows with us as we grow and mature. If our understanding of God remains static over the years, then we are not growing in our faith. 

Faith (Pistis) is always a gift from God and never something that we can produce through our own efforts.  In short, pistis for the believer is God’s divine persuasion  and distinct from human belief yet involving it. The Lord continually births faith in the believer and our task is to practice our faith. Faith is like a muscle that has to be exercised to stay strong. 

Faith is a journey, sometimes joyful, and sometimes a difficult journey. We do have tools to help us as journey in faith: the community of faith, worship, the sacramental life of the church, and the rhythm of the liturgical year. We also have theologians, and spiritual leaders who can help us as we wrestle with life’s questions, but ultimately, we each have to walk the road and navigate the journey for ourselves. Our journey is a pilgrimage and faith and doubt walk hand in hand on this road we travel. And as we journey, we recognise people of faith who inspire us and help us to continue. People of faith around the world this week celebrated the life of a man of faith, Pope Francis, who served God humbly, not by accomplishing sweeping changes in his church, but by loving the poor, the marginalized and the rejected, and by living a personal life of prayer and simplicity. And yesterday, the world remembered him, not as the Roman Catholic pope but as an example of a Christ-like inspiration for people of all faith and no faith affiliation. 

One day, when we are in our transformed, resurrected bodies, there will be no need for faith, for then we will be pure love, united in the full presence of God, and with all eternity to grow in that love. Until then, we walk in faith and doubt, believing without seeing, and supporting each other on the journey. 

 

Ministries
Faith in Formation