(John 20:19-31)

On the evening of that first day of the week (the day of Jesus’ resurrection), when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 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 it.” 26 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!” 27 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.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name

Today, in a typically quixotic way not untypical of this parish we are going to look at the story of St Thomas two weeks early. The feast of St Thomas is July 6th. We are having our barbeque today and so taking the chance to look at him together. His name is one half of our church name and so how is that we are St Thomas kind of people?

In this passage where was Thomas on the first Easter evening when the other disciples were hiding in the upper room? The fact that he wasn't cowering behind locked doors with the others says something about his character. Perhaps he was trying to find out the truth. Maybe he was the only disciple with enough sense to recognize that this hiding thing could take along time, and that he’d better go out and get milk and bread for the group? If so Thomas appears to be a practical, concrete sort of person who wants to get things done, understand what’s going on, and be able to face the situation at hand.

He was clear and precise in the questions that he asks of the other disciples. He wanted to see the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and put his finger where Jesus’ nails were, and put his hand into Jesus’ side. Thomas refuses to believe that the other disciples have seen Jesus rose from the dead (John 20:19-31). He had cut to the heart of an issue. It was too soon for Jesus’ body to have healed and so he wanted to see the nail marks to be sure that the person the other disciples had seen was the same man who had been crucified a few days earlier(1).

Thomas wasn't hard to convince; when Jesus appeared to him and showed him his wounds. The Bible never states whether Thomas actually touched Christ's wounds. Thomas didn't debate with Jesus, he said "My Master! My God!" Doubt is no threat to faith, but as a normal part of the spiritual process. Peter and the Beloved Disciple didn't believe the women when they returned from the empty tomb and said that they had seen the Lord, and none of the disciples believed until Jesus showed them his wounds.

Questioning and study are all part of loving God with all our minds. Thomas and the women and the others all believed because they saw the Resurrected Jesus. The believed because they saw and touched the nail marks. They believed because the Resurrected Jesus appeared in their midst and talked with them. Jesus said that we who believe without seeing are blessed, and Christians throughout the centuries and millennia have held on to the promise of that blessing, because we have no choice, really. We have believed without seeing. But I must admit, if I was given the choice of being blessed in that manner or actually seeing the risen Christ and touching the nail marks and putting my hand in his side, I would exchange places with Thomas in a heart beat!

Thomas is a patron saint for those of us who are trying to live a critical faith. He was not satisfied with other people's accounts: he wants to know by experience.

Perhaps we could use our new found critical St Thomas cutting edge to give thoughts to what has recently been in the press last week about the church in melt down. The Archbishop of Canterbury expressed "very great concern" last night about a recent "gay marriage" between two priests which threatens to destabilise the Anglican Church ahead of its 10-yearly conference. News of last month's ceremony – in which Peter Cowell and Dr David Lord exchanged rings and vows at St Bartholomew the Great Church in London – emerged at the weekend after what some Church figures believe was a deliberately timed leak by one side of an increasingly heated argument over homosexuality in advance of next month's Lambeth conference.

The Bishop of London wrote

18th June 2008
The Reverend Dr Martin Dudley,
St Bartholomew the Great Parish Office,
6 Kinghorn Street,
London,
EC1A 7HW.

Dear Martin,
You have sought to justify your actions to the BBC and in various
newspapers but have failed more than two weeks after the service
to communicate with me.
I read in the press that you had been planning this event since
November. I find it astonishing that you did not take the
opportunity to consult your Bishop.
You describe the result as “familiar words reordered and
reconfigured carrying new meanings.” I note that the order of
service, which I have now received, includes the phrase “With this
ring I thee bind, with my body I thee worship”.
At first sight this seems to break the House of Bishops Guidelines
which as I explained in my letter of December 6th 2005 apply the
traditional teaching of the Church of England to the new
circumstances created by the enactment of Civil Partnerships.
The point at issue is not Civil Partnerships themselves or the
relation of biblical teaching to homosexual practice. There is of
course a range of opinion on these matters in the Church and, as
you know, homophobia is not tolerated in the Diocese of London.
The real issue is whether you wilfully defied the discipline of the
Church and broke your oath of canonical obedience to your
Bishop.
Continued … … (2)
18th June 2008
The Archbishops have already issued a statement in which they
say that “those clergy who disagree with the Church’s teaching
are at liberty to seek to persuade others within the Church of the
reasons why they believe, in the light of Scripture, tradition and
reason that it should be changed. But they are not at liberty
simply to disregard it.”
St Bartholomew’s is not a personal fiefdom. You serve there as
an ordained minister of the Church of England, under the
authority of the Canons and as someone who enjoys my licence.
I have already asked the Archdeacon of London to commence the
investigation and I shall be referring the matter to the Chancellor
of the Diocese. Before I do this, I am giving you an opportunity
to make representations to me direct.

Yours faithfully.

The Rt Revd & Rt Hon Richard Chartres DD FSA

Appendix

Thomas appears twice previously in the Gospel of John.

1. In John 11:16, when Lazarus has just died, the disciples are resisting Jesus' decision to return to Judea, where the Jews had previously tried to stone Jesus. Jesus is determined. It was Thomas who was willing to follow Jesus to Judea when Jesus wanted to see his friend Lazarus. The others were worried that Jesus' enemies would try to kill him. Thomas said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Once he was given the fact and shown what it was he asked about his loyalty and dedication was unsurpassed by any. Once Thomas believed in something you could not persuade him differently. Thomas felt they would all die by following Jesus to Bethany but he insisted they all go to stand by the side of the one they loved and followed.


2. He also speaks at The Last Supper in John 14:5. Jesus assures his disciples that they know where he is going, but Thomas protests that they don't know at all. Jesus replies to this and to Philip's requests with a detailed exposition of his relationship to God the Father. It was Thomas who, in John's version of the Last Supper, interrupts Jesus for some clarification, to ask: "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" It isn't that Thomas didn't want to believe, he just wanted to believe for the right reasons,

Thomas went to India and started the Church there. There is a story in the Acts of Thomas in which the Raja of Malabar orders Thomas to build him the greatest and most beautiful palace in the world. Thomas tells the Raja that a building of such magnitude will be very expensive but the Raja really wants this building and gives Thomas lots of gold, which Thomas promptly takes and gives to the poor. When Thomas ran out of money, he asked the Raja for more, and the Raja gave him more, which he continued to distribute to the poor. When the Raja learned of what was going on, he called Thomas before him and demanded an accounting. Thomas told the Raja that he was building him a spectacular palace in heaven, and through mystic means of which we have no information, was able to show the Raja his palace in a vision. The Raja was so impressed that he converted to Christianity.

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