HELLO!

I don’t think there is a Bible reading and its interpretation that separates more clearly the difference between more conservative Christian churches and more progressive ones than the Gospel we hear this Sunday. It is the story commonly referred to as “Doubting Thomas”. My experience of more conservative believing Christians is that they like, prefer, certainty, an assurance what they see, hear, know, is “right”, and “right for all time, all places, all peoples”. They hear Thomas’ conversation with Jesus as a movement from doubt to conviction. More progressive Christians, like me, like the United Church of 2026, witness Thomas’ struggle of belief, as one where questions, uncertainty and testing, is part and parcel of faith. I recall a very popular faith study created by Marcus Borg titled, “Living the Questions”, used by almost every United Church in the early 2000s. The premise being, how do you get from here to there without asking open, honest questions.

Still, one thing I have learned from many conversations with conservative Christians is “what do you believe?” At some point, with caveats, uncertainty, we land somewhere, we need to move through our short, fragile life with a set of assumptions about truth, meaning and purpose. As Bob Dylan sang, “You Gotta Serve Somebody”. I don’t agree with shutting down questions, being so certain your understanding is right while the millions of people who came before you, in countless different contexts, are somehow wrong or deficient. That seems arrogant, lacking in humility. Why would God make you the only one who really knows?

Thomas does not wish to hear ghost stories from his friends. He refuses to be swayed by talk of signs and wonders! What he yearns for is to see the face and yes to touch the wounds of the One who only three days earlier, had been executed. Have you ever wondered why Christ appears to Thomas with scars intact? Why wouldn’t Christ be resurrected in perfection? Wouldn’t victory over the grave be even more miraculous if it removed all signs of death? Evidently Christ wanted to say, “I am wounded, but I am still whole and well.” Evidently God wanted to proclaim, “Those of you who are scarred and wounded – I know how you feel.” And doesn’t that include us all? We all have experienced wounds.

But ours is not a culture that values scars. In some cultures, scars are signs of maturity, of entering adulthood, of courage and valor. But most people in our culture don’t want scars. Are we open and expectant that God will show up in surprising ways as we gather, even in our scars? That God will somehow speak to us, nudge us, hug us, challenge us, move among us, and awaken us in ways that words can not adequately express? Because that is, I believe, what we all long for at the deepest level, but perhaps we are afraid to openly embrace that desire. I believe God shows up, is part of our weakness, flaws, imperfection, and molds us into a mutual, supportive community, reflecting the beloved community we were made for. We need to question everything, honour each other’s doubts, never be afraid to ask “why?” But life is too short to remain so reluctant to move, that we find complacency in our questions/doubts. We all serve “somebody” or “something” whether we are aware of it or not. And our actions reveal who we are, whose we are, and what we believe.

Peace, Kevin