When I first looked at this week’s scripture readings, I struggled to understand exactly how they fit together.
At first glance, our Acts reading and our John reading don’t draw out one particular theme.
How does “Doubting Thomas” fit together with…starting a commune? Like most things, it turns out that these scriptures don’t benefit from oversimplification!
So I kept thinking…
It’s the Easter season, so it’s customary to continue in our story with the now resurrected Jesus visiting his disciples and friends.
And on this day, we hear the story of Thomas, who, apparently, lost his invitation to the dinner party. And thought he had missed his chance to see Jesus, in all his resurrected glory.
Ok, so, that story’s squared away for now.
But the tricky part of the way we read scriptures in the Episcopal Church is that, even though Thomas is always right here, waiting for us, on the Second Sunday in Easter, the other passages move around in a three-year cycle.
That means that this is the only time in three years that today’s Acts passage is paired with the story of Thomas. Though a bit complicated, the lectionary cycle gives us several ways to encounter the unfolding story of Christ and his church. And to make connections we may not have noticed before.
All that to say: when I dug deeper into today’s readings, the thing that stuck out to me was the fixation on bodies.
Not dead bodies, but living ones. And, not just any body, but the Body of Christ.
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With that in mind, let’s get back to Thomas…
Thomas is an important part of the resurrection narrative, because he’s just like us.
He says what everyone is thinking, even if they won’t admit it: “I’m not gonna believe that Jesus rose from the dead, until I see it for myself! Show me the evidence!”
And Jesus readily complies. A week later, Jesus returns and immediately tells Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
Thomas doesn’t need to touch Jesus after all.
In the presence of Jesus’ living, breathing, resurrected body, this body that still holds the battle wounds of death, in that moment, Thomas believes.
And Jesus is more than willing to help him believe.
Jesus goes on to say: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Because of that statement, Thomas has been forced to bear the nickname, Doubting Thomas, for the last 2,000 years.
But it seems clear that Jesus isn’t condemning him for wanting to see the body.
Rather, Jesus is graciously acknowledging that it is hard to believe in him without any evidence.
Jesus gets it.
If the Gospel of John were turned into a play, this would be the moment where Jesus breaks the fourth wall. It’s almost as if he’s looking out into the future and speaking directly to us.
We are the ones who “have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
But can’t there more than that? Like Thomas, I want evidence:
- I want proof that Jesus is who he says he is.
- I want examples of how God is acting in the world, now.
- I want Jesus to show up and start pointing to all the things he’s up to,
- So that I can believe that he really is paying attention.
And I wouldn’t say I want any of these things because I don’t have faith.
It’s just that the world is a tragic place.
It is full of horrific violence that never seems to end. Of illness, grief, fear, and so much anxiety. There are too many people struggling to survive. And too many people making their survival impossible.
Sometimes it seems like nothing will get better.
But, Thomas demanded to see the body of Christ and Jesus consented. In doing so, they both taught us that it is ok to make that demand.
Well then, I demand to see the body.
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Where is Christ’s body for us, today?
Our Collect, which paraphrases the Scriptures, says that we have “been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body.”
If we are part of Christ’s body, that means that we encounter Jesus, quite literally, in one another.
In other words, WE are the living, breathing, resurrected body of Christ, for one another. We bear the battle wounds of our own difficult lives, and we allow one another to witness those vulnerabilities.
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At first glance, this strange proposition doesn’t feel the same as Jesus showing up for Thomas.
But, when I think about it, I can honestly say that the reason I’m still a Christian is because people in the church kept showing up and loving me.
When I felt abandoned, they stepped forward and said, “here I am.”
And every time I have demanded to see evidence of God working in the world, I have only needed to turn to my right or to my left, and observe my siblings in Christ doing that work.
The church at its best makes believing in Jesus not only easier, but compelling. Because we actually do catch glimpses of Christ when we reach out our hands in care for one another.
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And that’s why the Acts passage has something to say about our Gospel.
In Acts, we see how the early church showed up as Christ’s body for one another. They participated in a radical experiment to give up their personal property and share “everything in common.” In doing so, they ensured that no one in their community struggled to survive.
As theologian Will Willimon puts it, this community showed the surrounding culture that: “The church takes care of its own, thus creating in its life together a kind of vignette, a paradigm of the sort of world God intends for all” (Interpretation Commentary on Acts, 53).
While the church has never managed to broadly sustain this kind of communal living situation, this passage reminds us that being Christ’s body in the world is a serious undertaking. Just as we have received love from others, we must make it our job to share that love with others.
It’s not always easy.
In fact, this job of caring for one another as Christ’s Body is both the heart of our faith, and the hardest thing to do. It requires us to see ourselves as one part of the bigger whole. It forces us to always imagine what is possible, instead of giving up when things feel too hard. It puts us in situations of risk and discomfort, because to be like Jesus in this world means showing up, even if the doors are locked.
Caring for one another as Christ cares for us means we can’t give up on each other. And we can’t give up on building a better world.
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The good news is, we’re not giving up.
Just this week, I have spent hours learning about the history and hopes of this place. And I have been energized by your faithful labor and persistent care for one another.
Limb by limb, the Body of Christ is being made visible. And the Holy Spirit is urging us to continue the work.
Of course, the church has never been perfect. The Body of Christ has, perhaps, never been as visible to us as it was to Thomas. Because of this, there will be struggles and disagreements and roadblocks. We will have our doubts.
But we can demand to see the Body. We can ask for Jesus to reveal himself, and expect to see him, quite literally, in one another.
So, look for Jesus and expect him to show up. He’s already here.
Amen.
Leah Wise 