Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:24-31
Christ is Risen!
In Greek, the Creed is referred to as “To Pistevo”, or “The ‘I Believe.’” The Creed is a statement of what “we believe” as Orthodox Christians, but stated in a personal way, “I believe.” There is actually a critical difference in saying this in the first person singular versus the first person plural. When “we” do something, or we say something, especially when we are a great number, a person can get lost in the crowd so to speak and not necessarily feel convicted about what the group is saying or doing. When a person says something individually, there is more conviction, because it is personal. There is also no hiding in the group. It’s like singing in a choir versus singing solo. In a choir of hundreds will anyone notice if one person isn’t singing, or singing poorly. That gets magnified when it is a solo. The Creed is like the “solo” part of the Divine Liturgy.
There is a difference between faith and knowledge, what we believe and what we know. Knowledge is based on extensive understanding and exposure to something. A person who has read hundreds of books on a subject could say they are filled with knowledge on that subject. Knowledge is based on scientific proof. There is no faith required for me to sit on my office chair. There is a label underneath the chair that says it will hold up to 400 pounds. I weigh much less than that. Knowledge is based on personal history. I turn on the computer every day, get to the applications I want to use. Again, no faith required here. And knowledge is based on the experience of others. Someone recommends a great doctor that they’ve had for years. Even if I don’t know the doctor, I will not go in with much doubt.
Faith is when someone believes something and there isn’t necessarily exhaustive knowledge. There are examples of faith outside of the spiritual realm. For instance, most people who are married dated a few people and then decided to get married. They didn’t date hundreds or thousands of people. They have made a really big choice based on faith in a person. Those who are going to college may look at a few schools, but they don’t look at hundreds of them. They look at a few and then decide on one. This is an act of faith. When people say that it is hard to have faith, I would disagree. Anytime we make a decision without exhaustive knowledge, there is an element of faith in it.
Having faith doesn’t mean that one has to have “blind faith,” meaning trust without any knowledge. We must have faith to believe in God, because we can’t exhaustively know God, as He is incomprehensible. That doesn’t mean we believe with no knowledge of God. We do have some knowledge, the experience of others and our own experience to lean on. Most people come to faith through the experience of others. If you were baptized as a baby, or brought to church as a young child, that was based on the faith of your parents. Your first experience of faith came as the result of the experience of someone else. This is why it is so important for parents to bring children to church. Their journey of faith will begin through the experience you provide in bringing them. There are some people who come to the faith later in life, and it might be because of their own experience. They feel an emptiness that gets filled because of something they read or hear or feel.
However, most people come to the faith through the experience of others. IN John 1:45-46, we read about how Philip called Nathanael to come and meet Christ: Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Eventually Nathanael decided for himself, based on his own experience, that Jesus was the Christ. However, Nathanael might not have ever had the opportunity to meet Jesus had it not been for the invitation of Nathanael. This is why it is so critical that we give others an invitation to faith based on our own experience.
The passage from John 20:24-31, is offered as our Scripture lead-off today because it highlights that doubt is part of faith. That’s not a bad thing. It’s actually a normal thing. If there was no doubt, there would be no need for faith. Everything would be based on knowledge. Again, I don’t doubt for a second that my desk chair will hold my weight. But anytime faith is involved, whether it is a marriage, a choice of college, a decision to move, or believe in God—anything that is done without exhaustive knowledge is going to have moments where doubt creeps in. That doesn’t mean that doubt has to be constant or debilitating, or make us question a decision to the point we lose confidence in it or in ourselves. Everyone has had doubts about things they don’t exhaustively know. Here is why we continue, even with doubt. When we make a decision, we want it to work out. No one ever makes a decision hoping that it won’t work. So when we make a decision to get married, or go to college, or start a new job or move to a new city, there might be some doubt there, but doubt is mitigated by presence, by showing up.
In the Gospel account of Thomas, yes he doubted the Resurrection of Christ, he even doubted his friends who saw Christ resurrected from the dead. But there was enough faith in Thomas that in the week between when the disciples saw Christ without him, and when they saw Him with them, Thomas didn’t leave town, or drop out of the group. He still showed up. And for that, I think it is appropriate to think of him as “faithful Thomas.” To have faith and to believe does not mean we never doubt. It means that we keep showing up, even with doubt.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Help me in my moments of doubt to keep showing up. Help strengthen my faith by speaking into my heart and soul, by providing me opportunities to experience You, and bringing others around me who are strong in their faith to encourage me in the moments when I don’t feel strong in my faith. Guide me to encourage others in their faith, and open my eyes and my heart so that I see those who need reassurance in their faith. Help me to be a good example of faith to others. Amen.
The choice to believe is personal, that is why our statement of faith, the Creed, is confessed as “I believe” and not “we believe.”
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