Sermon
Thomas Sunday-an exegesis
In this
morning’s Gospel lesson, taken from John, Chapter 20, we are told that on the
evening of the first day of the week, the evening after the Resurrection had
occurred, that ten of the disciples were together in a room. Thomas was not with them, and Judas, who had
betrayed Christ, had hanged himself, thus leaving ten disciples. The doors were locked for fear of the Jews,
for fear that the Jews were searching for followers of Jesus to put them to death
as well. We are told that Jesus came and
stood in the midst of them, coming through the door as if he were a ghost, and
appearing suddenly before them. He
greets them with the phrase, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He shows them His hands
and His side, so that they believe that it is not a ghost, but the same Jesus
who was crucified, now risen from the dead, appearing in human form. And the disciples are glad that they now see
the Lord.
In the next
two verses, Jesus institutes two of our sacraments—ordination and
confession. In verse 21, He says “As the
Father has sent me, so I send you.” This
is the foundation of the sacrament of ordination, a passing down of Godly
authority, first from God the Father to God the Son, then from God the Son to
the Holy Apostles, and from the Holy Apostles to bishops and priests who are
continually commissioned and ordained to this day. In fact, in our Metropolis this morning, in
Part of any
sacrament involves receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit. Hence, in between “ordaining” the Apostles
and bestowing upon them the right to loose and bind sins, He breathes on them
and says “receive the Holy Spirit.” I
mentioned during Holy Week that Grace is that intangible, Godly quality that
completes what is lacking and heals what is infirm in people. Grace allows a man and a woman to be joined
in the sacrament of marriage. Grace
perfects oil and makes it oil of Holy Unction.
Grace allows bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Christ. And grace allows a man to become a priest—all
priests are sinners, no priest is perfect, yet God’s grace allows a man and his
imperfections to stand at the Holy Altar and preside over perfection itself,
the Body and Blood of Christ. This
sacrament is not made because the priest is perfect, but because God’s grace,
working through that priest, is perfect.
In the sacrament of Baptism, the priest “breathes” on the waters of
baptism. He anoints with Chrismation;
Holy Unction, Holy Communion, Marriage are done with blessing; and confession
and ordination through the laying on of hands.
Back to the
Gospel passage, the Lord bestows another gift upon His newly ordained Apostles,
the power to loose and to bind sins. He
tells them, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are
retained.” And here is instituted the
sacrament of confession. The sacrament
of confession is more appropriately called the sacrament of absolution or
reconciliation, because it is not a mere listing of sins one has
committed. Confession involves
repentance, a plan to change, and the ultimate step in the confession process
is absolution from sin—that the sin is loosed by the grace of God, through the
hand of the priest, so that the sin is not again to be thought of, or brought
up, not by the person confessing, most especially not by God at the Last
Judgment. And what a gift this is, what
an opportunity, to know that a sin one has committed will never be brought up
again, to know that a mistake from many years ago will not keep one out of
God’s kingdom, or away from God’s love if it has been dealt with in the
sacrament of confession. I know from my
own personal experience sinning, as well as listening to the confessions of
hundreds of people over the years that nearly everyone, at some time or at some
age, worries that something they have done will keep them out of God’s
kingdom. This verse from John Chapter
20, assures us that sins can be loosed in this life. But they cannot be loosed by an individual,
but by a priest, who is granted discernment by God, through the grace of
ordination, to evaluate whether sins should be loosed or retained.
Sins can
also be retained—if a person confesses a serious sin, or a habitual sin for
which they are unrepentant, the priest hearing the confession is not obligated
to loose that sin. If a person confesses
a sin and is not ready to forgive themselves, then the sin is retained, because
in accepting God’s forgiveness, one must first be able to forgive
themselves.
This
privilege that Christ bestows on His disciples, which is in turn bestowed on
bishops and priests, the ability to loose and retain sins, is also a heavy
burden which cannot be taken lightly.
What if a priest or bishop retains a sin for which one is very
repentant? What if he looses a sin for
which one is not repentant? There is
great opportunity for the confessor to make the wrong judgment. And any wrong judgment made by the confessor
is a sin on him, not on the person confessing.
This is why, believe it or not, confession is more stressful on the
confessor than the one going to confession.
Because in confession, the only one who can fall farther away from God’s
kingdom is the priest or the bishop.
Now that
Lent is over, many of us think the opportunity, or the season of confession is
over as well. There are many of you who
thought about confession this Lent and for whatever reason, did not do it. I encourage you to come while the thought is
still in your mind, and not to wait for next Lent.
The Gospel
passage continues by telling us that Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared
to the Disciples. When they told him
that they had seen the Lord, and all of them told him, his response wasn’t one
of joy, but one of doubt: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails and
put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand in His side, I will
not believe.” The disbelief of Thomas,
in light of the evidence and the disciples’ testimony, is difficult to
explain. It shows either perplexity
about the miracle or a certain stubbornness of character. (Orthodox study
Bible, p. 266)
Faith and
doubt are opposites, though people of faith do have moments of doubt. Before continuing, let me ask a question, as
an aside: How many people in church do
not know what kind of car I drive?
Anybody who is new to the community or who just doesn’t know which car
is mine? Okay, can someone say what kind
of car I drive? Do you believe that
person? Why? Because they have no reason to lie. If I tell you that I drive a silver Toyota
Camry with FSU license plates on it, would you believe me? Why?
Because I have no reason to lie to you either. Faith is bolstered in part by the faith
experiences of others. Doubt is
lessened, in part, by the faith experiences of others. This is why the church community is essential
in the life of a Christian, so that in moments of doubt, there is support and
encouragement of others who are doing well in their faith journeys. Faith is not a blind faith, but a faith based
on knowledge and experience—knowledge the comes to us from people of faith-the
authors of the Bible, the writings of the Holy Fathers, the Divine Services, as
well as what we’ve learned and continue to learn to this day from faithful.
Without the
Resurrection, the death of Christ is rather meaningless. Without our belief in the resurrection, what
good is moral living or forgiveness, if only to result in our death and
ending? As Saint Paul writes in I
Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and
your faith is also empty.” Indeed, if
there is no Resurrection, then Holy Week was a dramatic play, not a
life-transforming act. If the
Resurrection is not real, then the church is just a club, those promoting the
resurrection are frauds, and those who continue to file into the churches need
their heads examined.
So, if we
have faith, and if we believe in the Resurrection, if it is real, then the
reality of the Resurrection demands a response from the faithful—sure there
will be moments of doubt, there will be days that we will go fishing instead of
going to church, but these days should be exceptions, not rules. Doubts are part of life, many times in life
we doubt ourselves, so it is natural that we have moments of doubt in our
faith. But doubts about ourselves do not
lead us to stay in bed and hide. We work
through our doubts and then get out and live, laugh, and use our talents. And doubts about God shouldn’t keep us away
or sadden us either. There are times
when I don’t feel particularly close to God, but then I hear testimony from a
parishioner how much God means in their life and my faith is strengthened, my
enthusiasm rekindled. This is why it is
important and necessary to belong to a church community. Because the experience of others helps to
strengthen us in times of uncertainty.
And encouragement of others helps to motivate us in times when we
aren’t.
The Resurrection
of Christ was the single most transformative event in the history of the
world. It transformed a world that was
selfish into a world based on servitude.
It took a world where the end of life meant emptiness and filled it with
hope. It took a life that was based
solely on the here and now and made it into a life where one eye could always
look with joy to the future. The hymn we
sing—“Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down upon death and to
those in the tombs bestowing life”—is the greatest statement we hear in the
church. Certainly this is a joyful hymn,
but it is a teaching hymn—it teaches us the whole point of why the Resurrection
is necessary and how when a person dies, it is not an ending, but rather a new
beginning. And that as we go through
life, as we eat in restaurants, watch our children play little league games, as
we take family vacations, build careers and put money away for retirement, that
there is an overarching theme, and overreaching goal, which puts life in a proper
context. And that is, enjoy the world,
enjoy life, use your talents but not just for your own gain and glory, but to
the betterment of the world and those around you in the world, and while
putting treasure in your children and your bank account, put treasure in
heaven, so that when your life ends on earth, you exit from life will be
“Christian, without shame and suffering (and with) a good defense before the
awesome judgment seat of Christ” (Divine Liturgy) and that you will enter God’s
kingdom with a joy that will last forever.