Gospel Reading: John 20:19-31<\/strong><\/p>\n When it was evening on the day of Resurrection, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, \u201cPeace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.\u201d When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, \u201cReceive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, \u201cWe have seen the Lord.\u201d But he said to them, \u201cUnless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d Then he said to Thomas, \u201cPut your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.\u201d Thomas answered him, \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cHave you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n Is there any figure in the Bible who\u2019s easier to relate to than Doubting Thomas? It\u2019s no wonder the phrase has become part of the English language as a term for a skeptic.<\/p>\n Through the centuries, theologians have taken two general approaches to this story of Thomas demanding physical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. The first group\u2014who have tended to be Roman Catholic\u2014have emphasized the fact that while Jesus says it\u2019s best to believe on the basis of faith alone, he nevertheless was willing to show Thomas his wounds. Some Christians have taken this as a blessing for such practices as the veneration of relics and going on pilgrimages. The second group of theologians\u2014who have tended to be Protestant\u2014say not so fast, for the story\u2019s point is that we are to rely on faith alone.<\/p>\n And then we have the contemporary, secular interpretation, which is that belief is pretty much impossible, not matter what the circumstances. To illustrate this, let me tell you of the experience of Barbara Ehrenreich, social activist and author of books that include Nickel and Dimed<\/a> At some point in my pre-dawn walk \u2026 the world flamed into life. [There was a] blazing everywhere. Something poured into me and I poured out into it\u2026 It was a furious encounter with a living substance that was coming at me through all things at once. <\/em><\/p>\n Ehrenreich\u2019s mystical encounter is similar to those reported by many saints and holy people through the centuries. But her reaction is modulated through the lens of our rational, skeptical culture. These experiences are something of an embarrassment for an educated person, especially one who has always professed to be an atheist. When asked by an interviewer if she now believes in God, Ehrenreich dismisses the possibility by saying this:<\/p>\n I would not explore the monotheistic religions. The religions that impress me are those which involve ecstatic communion with a deity or spirit\u2014like voodoo. I like that much better than belief. I have respect for that. But\u2026I\u2019m not looking for anything, and I\u2019m not going to church.<\/em><\/p>\n Or, as she put it in another interview, \u201cDon\u2019task me to believe anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t ask me to believe anything. <\/em>That\u2019s the line I keep coming back to. For in our culture, religious belief is often seen as a sign of ignorance. And I have to wonder, what does it take for someone like Ehrenreich to believe in God? If seeing the world on fire and alive doesn\u2019t do it, what will? And what hope is there for the rest of us, who go through our days with no mystical visions or spiritual fireworks?<\/p>\n But the irony is, we may say we don\u2019t believe in anything beyond the rational and scientific, but we do. For you can\u2019t be human without operating on faith. Think of the beliefs that many of us have. If I do everything right as a parent, my child will be successful and happy. If I eat the right foods and exercise intensely, I will be in perfect health and live to an advanced age. If I could make another $20,000 or $50,000 or $100,000, then I would be totally happy and secure. Frankly, we have faith in a lot of things that make the virgin birth seem like not very much of a stretch.<\/p>\n Over the past few years, some of the most interesting adult forums at Trinity have been part of the \u201cThis I Believe\u201d series. Inspired by the NPR series of the same name, they have featured some wonderfully thought-provoking discussions. I remember listening to parishioners who believe in the scientific method, the importance of myth, and the value of poetry in times of war. Their stories have given deep insights into their lives and beliefs.<\/p>\n As Christians, of course, there are many religious beliefs that we are supposed to ascribe to. But on any given morning, you might be surprised by what your fellow parishioners are thinking. I wish that we were more honest with each other about our struggles to believe. I\u2019m amused by the number of Episcopalians, for example, who have told me that they have trouble saying the Nicene Creed. They\u2019ll say: \u201cI just keep silent on the parts I don\u2019t believe in\u201d or \u201cI quietly change some of the words.\u201d Someday I\u2019d like to make a T-shirt similar to Robin Williams\u2019 Top 10 Reasons to be an Episcopalian<\/em><\/a>. The T-shirt would have on it the text of the Nicene Creed, with all sorts of crossed out words and changes scratched in the margins. And the top of the shirt would read: \u201cYou Might Be an Episcopalian if You Think the Nicene Creed Needs an Editor.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of what we love about our church, of course, is the value we place on reason. But as with Thomas in the Gospel story today, sometimes our rational minds tie us into knots.<\/p>\n If I were asked to speak at adult forum as part of the This I Believe<\/em> series, I would focus on a line in our Sunday morning service that I think is the single most audacious and revolutionary thing we say. When Lay Eucharistic Ministers are commissioned to go out with their little boxes of blessed bread and wine, we say this: We who are many are one body<\/em>, because we all share in the cup of blessing and the one bread.<\/em><\/p>\n This is pretty strange, isn\u2019t it? For it\u2019s obvious that even on a symbolic level, we\u2019re not one body. But the statement claims that we are indeed one\u2014Democrats and Republicans, male and female, altar guild members and toddlers in the\u00a0Zookeepers young families group.\u00a0This claim goes far beyond the walls of this church, too, for it includes southern Pentecostals, Nigerian Baptists and Chinese Catholics. It includes cradle Episcopalians and those who are visiting a church for the first time. And this sort of radical inclusiveness was present from the very beginning of our faith, when Jesus broke the rules of his day by insisting that everyone was welcome at his table\u2014prostitutes and rich men, tax collectors and Pharisees.<\/p>\n Perhaps belief is best thought of as action<\/em> rather than as intellectual assent, which is actually far more in keeping with the Biblical witness. Your belief is expressed in showing up here on a Sunday morning even when you\u2019d rather be at home. It\u2019s revealed in your willingness to bring your squirming children and feed them Cheerios in the pew. Sometimes the most profound statement of faith we can make is simply showing up at the door of the church.<\/p>\n I like how the philosopher Stanley Hauerwas puts this: \u201cI am not interested in what I believe,\u201d he says. \u201cI am not even sure what I believe. I am much more interested in what the church believes.\u201d<\/p>\n Let me give you an example of what this looks like in action. Several years ago I was contacted by someone who had heard about our Healing Touch ministry. Their infant daughter was in intensive care at the UI Hospital because of complications after a heart operation, and the parents asked us to see her. So a small group of us did so nearly every day for six weeks. During that time we became close to the parents, who were far away from their family and friends.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=spiritrave0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0312626681\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=spiritrave0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00ECE9OT8\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=spiritrave0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0898690609\")
.\u00a0While I had no words to say, within its pages I found words that had been polished and worn smooth by being prayed so many times. I remember how grateful I felt that I didn\u2019t have to do this on my own. More importantly, the baby\u2019s parents didn\u2019t have to do it on their own. The words of the service for the dying became the boat that helped them cross over to that new, foreign country where they would no longer have their daughter.<\/p>\n