Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
Faith and Believing
is not something we do with our minds, but the state of our hearts and souls.
In fact, it is
when doubts assail us that faith and belief are often the strongest, for to
have faith, to believe, is to trust in another when nothing whatsoever is
certain.
Faith and belief
are concepts that have multiple layers of meaning, and because of that, we are
often left to struggle with what is meant in a particular situation.
Back in 2002, on
the occasion of Karla and my 25th wedding anniversary, I became
ill. After a wonderful dinner out with
friends and family, it was like a bomb went off in my gut, so severe that I
asked Karla to take me into the hospital.
They treated me
for a variety of symptoms, and after a few hours, had me settled down.
However, the Dr.
said one thing that would have significant consequences.
“Has anyone ever
told you that you have a heart murmur?”
Subsequent tests
in the coming weeks and months revealed that I had a mitral valve failure, and
needed open heart surgery.
For me that
experience became the best example of faith and belief.
There were three
things going on.
First, the doctor
explained that I had pulmonary hypertension, that is, an elevated blood
pressure in my lungs, which is an indication that the mitral valve was not
functioning, allowing blood to be pumped back into the lungs instead of just
forward into the body.
When the doctor
explained that to me, the first issue was did I understand what he was
saying?
This first level,
understanding, is one of the dimensions of faith and belief.
When we say “We
believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth” do you
understand what that means? This is a
question of intelligence and knowledge.
One of the things
that I had to deal with during my treatment is that, aside from that one night,
I was symptom free. There had been no
shortness of breath or uncomfortableness that would lead me to think that I had
a problem.
So when the
doctor told me about my mitral valve and what was wrong, I had to decide
whether I would accept what he was saying as being the truth.
This dimension of
faith, believing something is actually true, is a matter of conviction. Not intelligence.
Some very
intelligent people may not agree about what is true. For example, two people may understand quite
well what we mean when we say that God created the heavens and the earth, but
disagree on whether that is a true statement.
Back to my
surgery.
Following all the
tests and the determination that I needed surgery, I was introduced to Dr.
Sewick.
Now the question
was not about understanding, nor was it about truth, but rather it was about trust. Specifically, would I trust this man to
perform the surgery and fix my heart, knowing that he would stop and start the
heart to do it?
Trust in this
sense, is all about a relationship.
You can
understand something all by yourself.
You can be convinced
that something is true all by yourself.
But trust, in
this sense, is always trust in another.
So when we talk
about our Christian faith, we do so in three different ways.
We talk about our
understanding of the Christian beliefs, namely that God created us all, that he
has redeemed us, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit he leads us to
believe and transforms our life.
We also talk
about our Christian faith as a conviction that these things that have been
revealed to us through the scriptures and proclamation are in fact true.
But the most
important dimension of faith is whether we will trust in God with our whole
life and soul.
There’s one other
thing about these three dimensions of faith and belief that bears noting.
Only the third dimension
that of trusting in the other really matters in the end.
Understanding
what was wrong with my heart didn’t save me.
Believing I had a
problem did not save me.
It was trusting
in Dr. Sewick that saved me.
There’s a verse
that I found very meaningful regarding the experience of Easter.
It comes from
Luke 24: 41.
While in their joy they were disbelieving
and still wondering, . . .
What this says to
me is that when the disciples experienced the Risen Christ, present in their
midst, they didn’t understand what was happening, perhaps they couldn’t even
believe that it was true, but nevertheless they were overcome with joy at being
with Jesus once again.
Likewise in today’s
Gospel reading.
When Jesus
appeared among the disciples that Easter evening, they did not understand what
was happening, and perhaps were wondering how it could possibly be true, but
nevertheless they experienced Jesus, present and with them.
Thomas wasn’t
there.
When the
disciples shared with Thomas what had happened, Thomas responded “Unless 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.”
For Thomas, two
things were extremely important.
First, he wanted
to understand what happened.
And second, he
needed to see proof that this was true.
When Jesus subsequently
appeared also to Thomas Jesus offered to let him feel his wounds, but it was
not necessary.
“My Lord and My
God.”
My Lord.
My God.
What changed for
Thomas was the relationship was reestablished.
Thomas likely
still did not understand.
He probably
wondered how this could be true.
But there was his
Lord and Savior, Jesus.
And that was all
that mattered.
What matters to
us? Nearly two thousand years have
passed. What matters to us today?
We are at a
different place than those first disciples of Jesus.
For thousands of
years now we have confessed our faith.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We understand
these things that form the nucleus of the Christian teachings about Jesus.
They have become
very familiar to us.
And in our country,
even though many people are no longer active in the Church, most people will,
when asked, say that they believe these things to be true.
But the real
question is whether we will trust the Lord our God above all else.
Do we have a
personal relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior?
Jesus’ disciples
struggled to understand.
It was also difficult
to believe that this could possibly be true.
But what they
could not deny is the experience they had of the Risen Christ.
“My Lord and My
God!” Thomas declared.
My Lord and My
God!
That is about a
relationship. Not understanding or
truth. But a personal relationship with
Jesus.
This can be a
struggle.
And it’s easy to
get distracted.
As a pastor a
whole lot of my life has been devoted to the pursuit of Christian knowledge and
understanding, and the convictions that arise out of that about what is true.
In this regard,
we train our pastors well.
I have an
undergraduate degree in Religion and Philosophy, and four years of seminary to
get my Master of Divinity Degree.
Pastors
understand a lot.
And most of us
have strong convictions about what is true and what is not.
The real issue
though is whether we have encountered the risen Christ and experienced a saving
relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
For us, as for
many people, sometimes it is the challenges that we face in life, not our
education or convictions that truly test our faith and lead us into a
relationship with Jesus.
It is not what we
know or believe to be true that saves us.
It is Jesus.
Jesus only. Standing there in our midst, wounded for our
sake, and saying “Peace be with you.”
Amen