Overcoming Thomas

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know[d] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

—John 14:5-7

Embarking on a new adventure is always a little scary. I remember the look in my son’s eyes as we left him and his girlfriend at the San Francisco airport in August. It was the beginning of an adventure—walking the Camino de Santiago and then heading to Thailand for a year of teaching. As exciting as the whole thing was, we could see a little trepidation in their eyes. Everything was about to be new. Eventually, even the language would be completely alien. And my son, bless his heart, was given trigonometry as the subject to teach in the Thai school—trig!—my son has not had a math class since his first year of high school! This is going to be interesting! 

Yes, it will.

Some of you may have some similar feelings today. This little church of Burney, California is about to begin a big adventure, one leading to an entirely new experience of being church. It is a new day with a new leader with a tweaked congregation. Like my son, some may be looking at all this newness and feel overwhelmed. It has been a long time since we’ve tried something like this. Or it may run a little deeper—We have never done it this way before. 

That lands us squarely with one of my favorite apostles—Thomas. Most folks know Thomas from his great bout with skepticism following Easter morning—I won’t believe until I can feel the nail holes! How like a good many folks I know now. We want tangible evidence. We don’t trust anything less because we’ve been led astray too readily by folks making all kinds of promises and assurances that turn out to be as empty as the words spoken. We want to feel what is said. We want action to match words. Anyone can say most anything—doing reveals the truth.

That thinking leads to Thomas’ outburst in our text. Jesus is making an incredible promise—what we see in his resurrection will be our experience—we also will enter resurrected life—life where even dead things rise and walk. No missed opportunities; no failed promises, no last chances—all is always possible! Right, thinks Thomas, show me! How can anyone know what you know, Lord?

Jesus’ answer is a bit puzzling really, despite how often folks use it as a supposed declaration of absolute, fundamental certainty. Jesus tells Thomas to do no more than look to him. That’s it; that’s enough.

Now jump to us here right now. Is Jesus’ statement enough for us? Before you quickly leap to saying, YES!—recall another would-be follower from another Gospel story—Yes, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! That is one of the most honest declarations of faith in all of scripture. We so want to believe the promises of God, every one of them. We so desperately want to be absolutely sure of our trust in God. But…well…life gets in the way. People let us down. We fail our own declarations. The path veers suddenly off course. A friend recently posted a telling meme on Facebook—a van rolls out of a car wash, swings a bit too wide, goes over a curb, and rolls over down the unseen drop, and knocks a fire hydrant off, sending up a geyser over their utter humiliation. Yeah, I have days like that! I know you do, too. Those days mess up our confidence.

But that does nothing to diminish the actual presence and power of God with us.

That is what Jesus is actually telling Thomas. God is with you in your struggles—I AM with you in your struggles! John’s Jesus always proclaims the oneness between himself and God, repeatedly invoking the great I AM. 

We need to hear that declaration as a wondrous word of grace. Jesus is God with us, our Immanuel, as we will soon sing this Christmas. 

God with us.

Right here.

Right now.

This church is a sign of that presence in a particular and special way. It passed through a dark valley. But it rises again. It is a tangible example of resurrection. 

Trust that to be so.

Now—the further good news is that we are not left to our own devices and desires to empower that ability to trust. Instead, know God is with us all, empowering our faith through the Spirit. It is that Spirit gathering us together; it is that Spirit that led us to find one another; and it is that Spirit continuing to create new life here and now. 

This is the great hope of our faith. Belief unites us with God. Even as we plead, I believe, help my unbelief! or more directly echo Thomas, How can we know the way? God meets us, gathers us, holds us, and directs us. God wants us to succeed. God wants the kingdom to grow. God wants compassion to reign over all the earth, even a corner of the earth tucked away in a wilderness spot in Northern California. 

Trust that to be so.