Believing-A Matter of Inner Vision
John 20:10-31
By Jim Westmoreland
An email I received provided an opportunity for me to look within and to look around about the world we live in. It read,
We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower view points;
we spend more, but have less;
we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less common sense;
more knowledge, but less judgment;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less wellness.
We spend too recklessly, laugh too little;
drive too fast, get too angry too quickly;
stay up too late, get up too tired;
read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life;
We've added years to life, not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We've done larger things, but not better things;
we've split the atom, but not our prejudice;
we've learned to rush, but not to wait;
we have higher incomes; but lower morals;
more acquaintances, but fewer friends;
We've conquered outer space, but not inner space.(1)
Isn't it hard, sometimes, to see things the right way, to keep things in the proper perspective. We long to believe, but sometimes, we feel so beaten down by life that it is a struggle to believe. When hope and love seems to die, we are very fragile and protective of ourselves. The disciples were, perhaps, a lot like us as they gathered in the upper room behind locked doors. On this Sunday after Easter we are still in the Easter season of the Christian calendar and will remain in it for another four weeks. The disciples were trying to sort things out and figure out what to believe. It is also a time for us to ask ourselves, how can we see in the darkness when the dark times come? How can we see the Lord in all of the clutter of daily living? And, how can we come to belief during the times when we doubt and struggle?
In our reading in John's gospel today, it was the first day of the week, the Sunday after Jesus was crucified. Mary and Mary Magdalene had already found the tomb empty, encountered the angels by the tomb and had seen Jesus who had risen from the grave. Next, Peter and John went to see that the tomb was empty, but they did not see Jesus, and they went home. Later that day, while it was evening and the disciples were behind the locked doors, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Shalom Aleichem" (Peace be with you), an ordinary greeting to this day in the Jewish world. When Jesus appears to his anxious and fearful disciples, the first thing he does, then and now, is to bring peace to our hearts. We need to know his peace, and we need to know his presence in our daily lives in the presence of every one of our worries. And we also need to know the confronting and challenging effect of his presence and offer of peace to us when we are blinded by our self-deluding self-sufficiency.
But Thomas misses out because he is not with the rest of the disciples. There is a metaphor here for us about our gathering together for worship. When we are present, we share in Christ's presence. When we are absent, we may miss out on some teaching, inspiration, encouragement and spiritual growth that God desires for us. Thomas missed out and the other disciples reported to him, "We have seen the Lord!"
Now, if the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) had a patron saint, it would have to be Thomas, because Thomas is not about to be caught up in an emotional bandwagon of manufactured or manipulated beliefs. No, Thomas says that he is going to have to have some rational, believable facts in front of him before he believes. He will have to touch the nail prints in his hands and the wound on Jesus' side before he believes.
Eight days later, the disciples are back together and Thomas is with them when Jesus appears again. Again, Jesus said, "Shalom Aleichem" (Peace be with you). Jesus then told Thomas to put his finger in the wounds on his hands and his side. There is no record that Thomas actually touched the wounds, but there is a record that Thomas answered with what has become part of the historic confessions of the church, saying, "My Lord and My God!" And, Jesus spoke his last beatitude to Thomas as He said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." It was a blessing for us, for you and me who were not there, yet we believe.
Some people only experience life in terms of empirical, observable facts. Their only motto and approach to life is "Seeing is Believing." But there are others who experience life in ways beyond what we can only see. How can we define relationships and love in objective words only? How can you describe spirituality and faith and relationship with God unless you also have experienced life so that "Believing is Seeing." It is seeing everything in life with an inner vision. Elizabeth Barrett Browning understood this when she wrote, "Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."(2)
Haven't we all experienced a problem where we couldn't see the solution only to have someone else immediately see the solution that had eluded us? A semi truck pulling a trailer didn't notice the low bridge ahead of him and got stuck under the bridge. He was wedged in and couldn't get out without possibly damaging the bridge. The highway patrol was called in to control the traffic snarl this had created, and a highway engineer was sent out to survey the damage and come up with a solution to jack the bridge up enough for the truck to get free. With all the experts standing and looking at the bridge, a boy on a bicycle pedals across the bridge and yells out, "Why don't you let the air out of the tires?" God help us to take a second look at our lives, and help us to not overlook the basics, when it comes to our faith.
Charles Henderson tells about the unfolding of a parable of resurrection-living. It revolves around a small boy of about seven who was stricken with a fatal, ferocious and fast growing cancer. He had been treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering with every sort of therapy known to science.
But nothing further could be done.
Perhaps they could administer one more dose of some experimental drug, but actually there was no real hope of recovery. And the side effects could only complicate the progression of the disease.
So the family and the doctors gathered in the little boy's room for a final conference concerning his treatment. They had tried almost everything, what could they possibly think of next? Finally the boy spoke up in a clear, crisp voice, "What I really want to do is to go home and learn how to ride my two wheeler."
The bicycle had been a Christmas present. It had those little trainer wheels attached. But before the boy had gained enough confidence to remove the trainer wheels the cancer caught up with him and he was sent to the hospital. Learning how to ride a two wheeler was the last thought the doctors or the parents would have contemplated. It just didn't seem possible. The boy was already physically weakened, why encourage him to do something that clearly would not be possible for very long even if he could succeed.
But the boy insisted and the resistance of the doctors and his parents melted away under the withering assurances of his clear brown eyes. And home they went.
Not thirty minutes after they had settled in, they were out in the yard, the boy insisting that his father take off the training wheels and let him have a go at it.
Obediently, but anxiously, his father took out his wrench and removed the training wheels to let him go. To their surprise, after only two false starts and one fall the boy was able to steer the bike, somewhat erratically to be sure. "And now," he said with mounting assurance in his voice, "Now I want to ride it by myself all the way around the block." Before anyone could stop him, he was off, up the street and around the corner out of sight. There were those few minutes of suspense as the parents, brother and little sister, waited for him to appear at the other end of the block, and after what seemed an eternity, there he was, headed for home, a gigantic expression of triumph and satisfaction written on his face.
When the excitement had settled down, the boy retired to his bedroom, and asked if he could be left alone with his little sister. He had his father bring the shiny blue bike into the bedroom. It sat there in the corner, a gleaming symbol of life. Then the boy turned to his little sister and said, "I won't be needing the bicycle anymore. I want you to have it for your birthday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."(3)
From under the shadow of death, and in the midst of life's deepest tragedies, there comes the resurrection of life. We need to see more of our lives with the inner, spiritual eyes given to us by God when we were created.
Our bulletin cover this morning illustrates the choices we make in life in terms of what we see. The picture appears to be a lake shoreline looking across the water to where some trees are growing. A couple stands together in the lower right of the picture. But, if you let the tree branches overhead define a shape, you can see the silhouette of an infant.
Believing is seeing the right things amidst the clutter of life.
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1. Unattributed email
2. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, Book Seven, lines 821-24.
3. From Charles Henderson, editor of Christianity department for About.com.