Beyond Expectations

As preached by Brother Luke, Holy Wisdom Church

Sermon 136: Col 1:13b-20; Ac2:22-36; Jn 20:19-31

Back in 1949, when I was born, Harry S. Truman was President. He was from Missouri and we all know Missouri is the “show me” state. Their motto is: “we have to see it to believe it.” Isn’t this the usual human response. We want tangible proof, preferably something we can touch, grab on to and know concretely that it is real. Doubting Thomas is a common expression even for those who have no idea about its origin. Today the church places before us the event that spawned the phrase “doubting Thomas.”

Isn’t it amazing that last week we celebrated the most important event in our Christian understanding of salvation history, the resurrection of Christ. And yet, just one week later the church introduces doubt. We aren’t allowed to get comfortable with any of these teachings. One week we have Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem and yet before the week is out he is nailed to a cross and dies. His followers flee the crucifixion and now some fear the resurrection while others doubt it. And yet, this sequence of events, far from being beyond our comprehension, in fact mirrors our very natural human experience.

We are in the middle of a presidential election season. In January a new president will take office and at that time he or she will be accorded the usual honeymoon, often lasting 100 days. It is during that period that the president begins to get the new administration’s staff in place, starts to articulate the administration’s goals, and craft the programs that are intended to achieve those goals. But it won’t be long before doubt arises. Personnel choices will be questioned; program initiatives will go to congress to go under sometimes hostile scrutiny. Public opinion polls may begin to reveal that voters now have second thoughts. In other words, the honeymoon will be over.

Of course the expression honeymoon originates with marriage. We might think of it as the special trip which immediately follows the wedding. It may be more than a trip; it may last much longer. But at some point the cute little things you overlooked aren’t so cute any more. Those small things you thought you could live with now seem unbearable. And some things you never knew about come to light. And looking at the sad statistics about divorce, it seems that seeing beyond the problems and keeping in mind the joy behind the original decision get crushed in the new reality.

This is why our gospel lesson today is so important. It intends to remind us of the larger issue. Note what Jesus said to Thomas. He is happy that Thomas, who has seen the risen Lord, now believes, but even more: Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe. And I believe happy is the important word here. How can we live, In the Spirit of Happiness, as we wrote about it many years ago? What is the happiness to which Jesus refers?

Christ says his kingdom is not of this world. What world is he referring to? The world that wants to deny the reality of the pain, sorrow and death that await us all. The world that closes its eyes to the poor and the marginalized. The world that wants only to see life as endless opportunities for pleasure and fulfillment. For Christ, his kingdom embraces all the joys and sorrows of this world and Christ accompanies us through it all for he has experienced it all. But he also calls us to a reality beyond our expectations.

So for all of us, who were not present when Thomas met the risen Lord, Christ is calling us to live beyond our expectations. To live in faith, confident that beyond all of this is the place prepared for us to which Jesus accompanies us. It is in living in that place, that kingdom of God, that place beyond expectations, that we experience true happiness. And that place includes the here and now.

Thomas expected Jesus to be dead and buried. The unexpected happened. Thomas’ life was changed forever and he worked to spread the Good News far into Asia and beyond. The church continues to present this story to us so that we too may know the happiness of faith in the unexpected. Faith that affirms: Christ is Risen!