Davison's Doodle

My Friend Thomas

I was gifted the trust of the pulpit at Central Christian Church in Enid, OK last Sunday, April 11th. This is the written text of my words as I explored John 20:19-31, the traditional Lectionary reading for the first Sunday in Easter.

Disciples, may the peace of God be with you. 

Thank you for blessing your minister with time away. Like many of his colleagues, Tom added producer, director, sound engineer, lighting engineer, key grip, whatever that is, and editor to his call to ministry as well as preacher, teacher, pastor, and prophet.  Ministers are tired and most days during the pandemic it is not “good” tired. 

Thank you Tom, and the elders, for the trust of the pulpit.

Central, thank you for being an active participant in the covenant we call the Christian Church In Oklahoma.  Together, we are the Church grounded in prayer, guided by scripture, and called to serve.

My first visit to a congregation as a member of the (Oklahoma) Regional staff was here at Central in September 2010.  Today, you are my first in person visit to a congregation since the coronavirus began infecting our part of the world in March of last year.  Like the Disciples of long ago, most of us have been behind our doors living with disbelief, fear, disappointment, worries, and doubt wondering what it will be like when we go out.  Thinking about getting back to normal or back to before.  Those are appropriate, reasonable, emotions for times like these.

And still . . .
Life found a way.  
Religious and non-religious people of all kinds found a way. 
Disciples found a way.

Central, you have found ways to continue responding to the needs of your community and to one another.  You have adapted presence: digital sacred space, zooming bible study and meetings.  Welcome Table meals to go.  Curbside communion. Physical space, masks, and hand sanitizer oh my.

And, you are part of a larger community, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) that found a way. The Region helped clergy and congregations adapt to technology.  The Region and the Week of Compassion have responded to needs caused by the weather, the pandemic, and by human neglect. The work of making justice happen goes on and we all have been humbled, or found humility in our journey in faith.

It’s not been easy. Failure can be the best teacher if you pay attention.  The tough times are not over, and “before” might not be as good as we remember or necessary to revive.  Realize it or not.  Like it or not. You’ve changed.  I’ve changed.  We have changed.  Like Thomas we’ve shouted, “My Lord” or whispered “My God.”

And, like the disciples of long ago we have to consider, “what do we do now?”

Let us pray.  Open our ears and our hearts, O God, that our words, meditations, and living will reflect our faith in You, who creates, redeems, and sustains our lives.  Amen.

Buckle up church. Here we go.

There is a story about a minister who was speaking to a group of second graders about the resurrection of Jesus when one student asked, “What did Jesus say when he came out of the tomb?” The minister explained that the gospels have a lot of details, but really not much about what Jesus said when he came out of the tomb.  There was a short silence, and the hand of one little boy shot up.  “I know what he said. Ta Da!!!!”

In our calendar it has been a week since the events of Easter.  In John’s gospel we don’t know how much time has passed since Mary Magdalene and the other women shared the news.  Peter has run to the tomb and back.  Just like Mary said, it was empty.  What did that mean?  What does that mean today?  

The disciples have kept a low profile in their community.  The other gospels tell us that some have gone back to the lives they knew before meeting Jesus of Nazareth.  It is what some of us do when we are grieving — stay busy, try to go back to the familiar, or after the crowds and family leave, hide at home.  If it were not for Mary Magdalene and a few nameless others there would be no resurrection story.  Even though they spoke, few listened and believed them.  There were good reasons to doubt the stories about Jesus and what his followers had given their lives to, no matter how many cameo appearances Jesus made.

Our world is awash in doubt right now.  There is a general acceptance that as a verb doubt means something or someone is questionable, or distrusted, or feared. (Dictionary.com)

As a noun doubt means something like a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something or someone. (Dictionary.com)

I think it is the motivation of doubt that makes all the difference.

In our culture doubt and cynicism have become synonymous verbs that fuel a tribalism and political culture that impugns the character or principles of those with whom we disagree or distrust.  I think it is important to remember that a person’s pattern of behavior tells the real story no matter what they proclaim theologically or politically in any given moment.  That’s why the parables that Jesus told continue to teach all these centuries later.   

This cynical doubt creates its own facts, history, and counter narrative that cannot be questioned; cannot be doubted.  That cynical doubt has found its way into all kinds of public places and religious life.

Remember, when Mary Magdalene and the other women tell the disciples about seeing Jesus the gospels show us a mixed response.  In Luke we are told, “But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”  In Mark the women fled the tomb and told no one because they were afraid.  Matthew does not tell us about their encounter with the disciples, and in the gospel of John the disciples do not respond to Mary’s witness at all.  Then there is this story about my friend Thomas.  “Unless I touch the nail prints in his hands, I will not believe.”

The story is told about a mom who asked her six year old daughter to get a can of soup from the pantry. She replied, “But mom it’s scary and dark in the pantry.”  “You don’t have to be afraid.” came her mother’s calm reply.  She continued. “Remember at vacation bible school you learned that Jesus is always with you.  He will be with you even in the pantry.”  The girl thought for a moment.  Walked to the pantry, opened the door and called out, “Hey Jesus, if you’re in there could you hand me a can of soup.”

The disciples are hidden away, behind locked doors, and Jesus came and stood among them.  It had to have been an overwhelming, exciting, fear-filled, doubt-filled moment. You can imagine Peter looking at the others and say, “You seeing this?”  Jesus tells the disciples, in that room and this one, that they are to continue the ministry that he began.  The gospel writer picks up the symbolism of the breath of God and Jesus exhales the Holy Spirit on the disciples in that room and in this one.  Then Jesus gives the disciples a responsibility that I would rather leave to God’s wisdom, “If you forgive anyone their sin it is forgiven, and if you do not forgive them they are not forgiven.” 

I doubt Jesus ever said those words with the doctrinal intent that orthodox Christianity has applied them.  To me it sounds like Jesus is providing his ID, proving he is who he claimed to be by helping the disciples in that room and in this one, remember those teaching stories that create doubt about the way we are living.

• Forgive seventy times seven?
• Love God and your neighbor as yourself.
• Pray for my enemies and those that persecute me?
• The last will be first and the first last?

Where is Thomas while all of this is going on?  Why wasn’t he with the disciples?  Was he an essential worker?  We don’t know.  Thomas is generally thought of in a negative way, the great doubter of the risen Jesus. Christian tradition tends to forget that the rest of the disciples didn’t believe until they saw Jesus as well.  For some reason Thomas has gotten a bad rap throughout the centuries.  You know the phrase, “Don’t be a doubting Thomas.”  

I heard this phrase from my mother more than once when I was a child.  To hear her tell it I was the king of, “but why?”  For some reason Christian tradition equates doubt with having weak or little faith.  But why?  Our lives are immersed in skepticism, doubt, and we hold some of these to be very important.  Christianity teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves and respect all humanity. But, we teach children, “Don’t talk to strangers.”  We doubt a stranger could have our best interest in mind, and usually, we are suspicious if someone we don’t know wants to help us.  There is that little voice, you know the one that asks, “What is this person hoping to gain from helping me?”  Is this just a good . . . Samaritan?  Doubt can be a layer of protection.   Who gets the “benefit of the doubt” in your life?   Who has earned the benefit of the doubt, at least once, in your life?

Maybe Thomas, our Twin, has gotten a bad reputation because we want to believe that when you meet Jesus, life becomes more clear, more certain, less conflicted, and choices become easier.  For some, maybe it does, but what I’ve experienced and observed is that following Jesus makes living more complicated.  Jesus’ way creates reasonable doubt about what matters most in a world where everything matters.

Blogging about this text, Nancy Rockwell writes: 
“What Thomas is asking for is proof that Jesus is not just alive, but still loves. Because what would be the point, if Jesus had come back angry?”
(Nancy Rockwell, “A Bite at the Apple Blog.” Patheos.com.)

I embrace the skepticism of Thomas as a positive quality.

Don’t misunderstand.  I am not suggesting questions for questioning sake or to respond to every answer with a child’s cadence, “but why?”   

Siblings in faith, if you can’t have doubts and express them with those who are closest to you within the community of faith, then where can you have healthy doubt?  To do that requires trust in the relationships that matter.

In his book, Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner writes:
“Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”
(Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking. Harper and Row (New York) 1973.)

The first disciples asked questions about their religious traditions, about the symbols, the civic rules, and from those questions about what was important, the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected into the Christ of faith.  Healthy doubt has kept the Church alive and relevant for a long time.  

I am convinced that people don’t doubt their faith, they ask questions about their belief.  Faith, it seems to me, is the experience that draws a person to God.  It is a grounding experience, of hope or love or acceptance or awe or something else.  Faith is that DNA instinct to feel inspiration or connected to the source of being, to God, however one wishes to name God.  I don’t think that can be lost.  Thomas shows us that it can be misplaced or forgotten or ignored or hidden, but not lost. The image of God is in our genetic code.

In working out beliefs we give meaning and explanation to faith.  When we have doubts or ask questions, we are engaged in the growth process.  It is a necessary experience more than once in life.  One of the best and most frightening moments in life is when one’s experience and beliefs conflict.  It is then when one asks, “Do my beliefs make sense?  Not, “Do my beliefs make me feel better about myself or the way I live?”

Christian tradition and Church history are riddled with doubt.  The Jerusalem Council and Paul argued over what the Gentiles must do to be considered, “Christian.”  In 325 CE the Council at Nicea tried to end doubt through the establishment of official Christian belief in the form of the Nicene Creed.

Martin Luther nailed pages to a door refuting official Christian belief and practice in his time.  Abolitionists doubted the argument of their day that the bible supported slavery.  

Our denomination was birthed out of the doubt that creeds unite, and communion is meant only for those that agree with the creed or baptized in the specific congregation where one worships.  

When the Church has no more challenges for itself, or for the followers of Jesus, or for culture, it becomes a salt that has lost its taste.  It is co-opted by culture, or by government, set in its’ privilege in culture, and it does not provide a relevant witness of the good news of God to the world.

Thomas, like some Christians, is looking for empirical proof, an existential guarantee, or a theological certainty; and what Jesus offers, what the Christ of faith offers, is presence.

Presence with an abundance of grace.  
Presence that lives as if the kindom (empire) of God is here, right now, even as it is still not fully yet known.  
Presence that embraces, connects, and speaks truth to all kinds of power.  
Presence in the midst of doubt.  

When Jesus appeared, Thomas is transformed and his doubt is reconciled. 
Jesus responds, “Have you believed because you have seen?”

Each time we worship and serve together pentecost moments can happen that bring about reconciliation and transformation.   

Who has to walk through the door of the sanctuary, or the door at home, or the door to your heart to transform your doubt or faith?  

Maybe it’s safer to ask Jesus for a can of soup.

Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in the gospels. 
They are written on your heart.  
They are proclaimed in our patterns of behavior.  

Blessed are you . . . 

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And, here are my words from Sunday on video. The begin at 24:38 in the video from Central Christian Church.

Reasonable Oneness: Words for a Sunday

I will not be visiting congregations in-person this fall to ensure that I don’t bring Covid-19 from my part of Oklahoma to another part of the state. Digital worship has materialized as a primary form many of our congregations within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are keeping the sabbath together. Other cousins in Christian faith are doing the same. i don’t have the presentation skills to be a TV preacher, and I’m not trying to convince someone to make a decision about professing faith in Christ. I am trying to give the hearer or reader an idea to consider, an opportunity for self reflection, and encouragement for their journey in faith.

I’m always honored when I’m gifted the trust of the pulpit by a minister or elders of a congregation. This week I reworked some words I’ve shared in other settings. That may shock some readers, but it is not an uncommon practice for clergy to reuse their words. For me, sometimes I’m just adding a new coat of paint. Sometimes it is a complete renovation. I am a manuscript preacher. I need to polish my presentation skills, but I don’t foresee a time when I won’t have those words I’ve worked on, lived with, and have worked on me in front of me. Below is the text of my sermon. This text is missing my version of Jimmy Fallen’s “thank you notes” and other words of welcome from siblings in faith from Oklahoma.

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Reasonable Oneness
Scripture Text: Romans 12

The story goes something like this.  In the first century BCE, a gentile asks two rabbis a provoking question.  “Teach me the whole Torah while standing on one leg.”  One rabbi is angered and hits the gentile with his measuring rod.  The second rabbi responds, “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another: This is the whole Torah.  The rest is commentary and now go study.”

Let us pray.  Open our ears and our hearts, O God, that our meditations, our words, and living are a reflection of our faith in You, who creates, who redeems, and who sustains creation and our lives.  Amen.

This morning I have reminders and a letter about “who we are.” But, as the old joke goes when you put five disciples in a room there are 8 opinions and 11 ideas.  This is a weakness when we think it means we don’t have to be accountable to one another.  And, it’s a strength when we respect the boundaries of covenantal community and hold ourselves accountable to community in our congregations and where we live.

Who are we?

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) celebrates the spirituality that service and study embody when we paint a house, when we discuss how the way of Jesus is lived here in the 21st century, when we provide a meal for a grieving family or help a neighbor.

When the mountains quake or the ground shakes. When the wind blows home away. When rain floods, when fire scorches the land or human failings bring agony and pain, the spirituality of service and study show up locally through our hands, and through the work of Week of Compassion. We can love as God loves. We can and do respond. We can make justice happen.

Service and study strengthen faith and makes life meaningful.  As I’ve grown up in our little frontier movement it seems to me that service and study are a compass, a winnowing stick, and a Geiger counter. Sometimes it takes more than one of these tools to help us reorient, separate noise from truth, and measure our passion to remain grounded in the good news of God.

Disciples understand that Christian unity does not mean sharing the lowest common denominator of belief.  Christian unity means holding all who profess Christian faith to the highest standards of service in the world.  Unity, not uniformity, is the commentary that embraces a curiosity about our differences of belief.  You may remember the old saying that Disciples embraced as a compass: “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity.”  I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but the only kind of unity our culture, and some cousins in Christian faith, can muster right now is transactional. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  But, is that unity?  No.  It is a poor excuse for not doing the work of justice and equality.  

Unity is practiced and pragmatic. It happens when people of good will speak out for, and act on behalf of, the common good: for a local community, a Nation or a congregation.  That kind of unity could be described as reasonable oneness.  I wonder what is it about we humans, even those of us who follow Jesus, that we can only muster that kind of character, that kind of unity in crisis or tragedy or by having an enemy?

Who are we?

We are people who worship on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday, or whenever we engage our community of faith seeking to hear and experience the gospel, the good news: 

that the Lord’s mercies never cease; 
that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning;
and that the Lord’s faithfulness extends beyond our ability to see in a mirror dimly and recognize the image of God in others as well as in our own face.

This morning, I have a portion of a letter from Paul, the Apostle, not Paul the Beetle.  The universal Church and many individual Christians throughout the centuries have thought of the Apostle’s words as “gospel truth” rather than commentary.  Maybe we should hear his words as a voice of wisdom or truth in his time that can inform our own experience anytime, and especially in pandemic time. 

A portion of a letter from Paul, the Apostle, to Christians everywhere: Romans 12 (NRSV)

The New Testament scholar Marcus Borg calls this portion of Romans the so what section as Paul moves from theology about God and Christ to what that theology means when put into practice in our living.  It is counsel about relationships, community, discipleship and being Christian that begins with be a living sacrifice, and “don’t be conformed by this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” 

Is there any doubt that we could use a little renewing of our minds right now?

This is what “renewing your mind” sounded like when I was growing up.

Parent [looking frustrated]: “Why did you do that? 
Me [looking for any reason to not be standing there] “I don’t know?”
Parent:  “Did you stop and think about it first? 
Me: “Umm, no.” 
Parent: “Look, God gave you a mind and the ability to think so use it before you do something like that again.  You’ve been taught better than that.  Go to your room and think about what you did and how you will behave differently next time.” 

That is one of the conversations I carry in adulthood.  Which ones do you carry?  How are you renewing your mind to be reasonable in a culture that, presently, profits from being unreasonable?  How are you renewing your mind in a culture that rewards the unreasonable and the unethical among us?

The greek phrase translated, “spiritual worship,” can also be translated, “reasonable service.” Being a living sacrifice is “reasonable service.” That’s compelling because it challenges the current version of our extra-ordinary, most valuable player, me and my tribe, scarcity driven, red and blue, unreasonable culture.  It seems only tragedy or crisis prevails on our sense of right and wrong: “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another” or maybe, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” resonates better for you. Maybe this is what, “be a living sacrifice” means because somedays, most days, it can feel like carrying a cross.

Hard as it is to imagine, it is reasonable that firefighters and first responders show up when accident, crisis, or tragedy finds its way into life. Because that is what firefighters and first responders do on behalf of strangers they have never met.  You have witnessed it time after time with your own eyes.   Do you ever wonder if you are capable of doing extra-ordinary things?  If called upon, am I capable of following through on that CPR training I received?  Do you ever consider the reasonable things?  Could I let someone with 3 items in their arms go ahead of me in the check-out line when I have a basket full.  Reasonable things in pandemic time: masks and distance, take one mega pack of toilet paper instead of six, share instead of horde. One day we may hear the parable of hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

Reasonable service:

• Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good  
• Outdo one another in showing honour. 
• Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
• Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
• Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
• Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
• Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Reasonable service.  Yes, it requires some risk.  What do you suppose your neighbors find hard to imagine about your reasonable service?  What do you think non-believers say Christians do?

Paul, like the Christ he proclaims, says, change yourself.  Transform yourself and be Christ-like.  Show Jesus the Christ in your living as you interact with people everyday, and you won’t have to wait for the world to change in your 3 feet of influence.  Great!  But, what about the systems that organize our society? What about the systems.

What Paul and Jesus both leave out is, “It’s not easy.”  And in the context of these United States, right now, some days it seems impossible.  But, it is not impossible. Living as a follower of Jesus is a balancing act.  Paul calls it being a living sacrifice.  It was a balancing act for those who began this congregation and for the Christians in Rome to not conform, but to be transformed, to be counter-cultural in our living and not just our worship. 

Paul the Apostle and Paul the Beatle both agree that reasonable service has something to do with love. Be a living sacrifice. That is reasonable oneness, and I think that leads to hearing, maybe even seeing in a mirror dimly, what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

The rest is just commentary.  Go and serve.  Go and study.