Doubting Thomas
by Anne Le Bas


[Ask some of the children what their names are and write on large (A4)

'labels' (cut out to look like luggage labels). Then ask them to tell me

something they like doing or are good at. Write a word describing them on

the label. "skateboarding Harry" "swimming Sarah" etc.]



Now we know something about you - your name and something you like doing. We

could all write labels like this for ourselves if we had time. We're all

different. We like different things. We're good at different things. We have

different personalities.



I have one brother. He's called David and he's a couple of years older than

me. When we were little, David was very forgetful. That's what he was famous

for - forgetting things. Once, when he was a teenager, David went to see our

grandparents. They lived about an hour away by train. It was just before

Christmas, so my Mum and Dad sent him off with a big bag containing Grandma

and Grandad's Christmas presents. He got on the train at Exeter where we

lived . He put the bag on the luggage rack and sat down. The train left.

David looked out of the window. It's a lovely train line along by the sea.

There was a lot to look at and think about. Eventually the train reached

Plymouth, where my grandparents lived. David got off the train. As it pulled

out of the station, he looked down at his hands. "I'm sure I was carrying

something when I got on." he thought. What was it.? Yes, that's right. He'd

left the bag with the presents on the train. Oops.



Well, Grandma and Grandad said "Don't worry, we'll get them back somehow".

And at the end of the afternoon when it was time for him to go home they

gave him all their presents to us to bring back with him in another big bag.

He got on the train. He put the bag on the luggage rack. He settled down to

enjoy the view. The train arrived in Exeter. He got off. The train pulled

away. Guess what.? That's right - he'd left all those presents on the train

as well.



We'd have put "forgetful David" on his label. (Write label)

Often I had to remember things for him. When we went to our piano lessons, I

always had to take the case with our music in it, even though I was younger;

otherwise it would never have got there.


So I always had to be "sensible Anne". (Label)



I'm glad to say now that David isn't at all like that. He does something

very complicated with computers, so we'd have to put "clever David" on the

label, and he's got two boys of his own- who he never forgets - so we'd have

to put "caring David " too. And I'm not nearly as sensible as I used to be,

which is a great relief - who wants to be sensible all the time?! Sometimes

I do things that are very silly - so perhaps we could put "silly Anne" on my

label. (Alter labels)


Labels don't tell us all there is to know about us - and we change as well -

so they can really get in the way. I'm going to read you the Gospel story

now. In it there is someone who is often given a label - one word that

people know him by because of this story. We'll find out what it is in a

minute - and whether it is fair or not.



READ GOSPEL



There was someone in that story called Thomas. (Write label). He was called

Thomas the twin in the story, but there's another label he's often given.

Anyone know what he was known as . Doubting - what does that mean? Not

believing.


What was it that Thomas didn't believe?



Thomas didn't believe that Jesus had risen from the dead and was alive

again. All Jesus' other friends had seen him, but Thomas hadn't been there.

He'd missed out and he said he wouldn't believe it until he'd seen it for

himself. The last time he'd seen Jesus he had been dead on the cross, so why

should he believe he was alive? None of the others would have believed it if

they hadn't seen it. Thomas asked to see for himself. And suddenly there

Jesus was - standing before him,talking to him,reaching out his hands to

Thomas, hands that still had the marks where he'd been nailed to the cross.



Thomas found out two things that day. First that Jesus really was alive, and

secondly that Jesus cared enough about him to come to him and prove it.

Thomas mattered to Jesus. What he thought and believed mattered to Jesus.

His questions mattered to Jesus. His doubts mattered to Jesus.



I expect Thomas had wondered when Jesus died whether the things he had said

during his life were really true. If God hadn't stopped Jesus dying, perhaps

Jesus had been wrong all along. He had said that God loved everyone - but

did he really? He had said that there was always hope - even when things

looked hopeless - but was that true? He had said that God's love was

stronger than anything - nothing and no one could destroy it - but was that

true either?



Thomas didn't know. He was miserable. He felt hopeless. And he felt left out.

But suddenly here was Jesus - just for him. Come to make sure that Thomas

knew for himself that what the others had told him was true. Come to answer

the real questions that Thomas was really, bravely, asking.



We don't know for sure what happened to Thomas after this, but there are old

stories which tell us that just like the rest of Jesus friend's Thomas

traveled out into the world to tell people about Jesus. Thomas traveled

eastwards, so they say, and came in the end to India. It's quite likely -

ships sailed from near where Thomas lived trading spices like cinnamon and

cloves and pepper that grew in far off lands. Thomas could have easily gone

on one of those ships. Anyway, the stories say that he went to India, where

no one had heard of Jesus, and where things must have seemed very strange to

him. I don't suppose he had ever been out of his own land before. He braved

all sorts of dangers. He met with fierce warriors and powerful kings. Some

of the stories are a bit far fetched - stories of people being healed

miraculously and storms being stilled. I don't know whether they are true,

but what really matters was that he told people that God loved them, and he

showed them that they mattered by his love for them. He passed on the

message that he had learnt for himself from Jesus. In the end he was killed,

so they say, because of what he said. But others had seen how real his faith

was - and it had become real for them too. They had found hope, and life

that they had never thought was possible. Centuries later travellers from

Europe found churches in India, where they never expected to, which called

themselves Mar Thoma churches - the churches of St Thomas. So these old

stories just might be true.



So, do you think we should call him "Doubting" Thomas? Thomas who didn't

believe? Do you think that's the right label to give him? In the end he was

really "Faithful Thomas" and "Brave Thomas". (Write on other side of label)



"Faithful" Thomas: "Doubting" Thomas. Thomas' doubts and Thomas' faith are

really just two sides of the same label. Perhaps, really they go together.

Thomas became faithful and brave because he doubted - he asked questions -

he wouldn't take other people's word for it. His faith had to be real. It

had to be here and now, making sense, and making a difference in his life.



What about us? We stand in church and say a lot of words each week. We talk

about God loving us - but do we really believe it - or do we think that he

only really loves the good bits of us. Do we hope that he doesn't look too

closely, because underneath it all we are really too much of a mess for him

to love, or too insignificant - we can't really matter to him?


We talk about him loving others - but do we then treat them as if they don't

matter as much as we do?



We talk about the meek being blessed, but do we then spend the rest of the

week trying to grab as much power as we can - we don't want anyone to look

down on us?


We talk about God rescuing us, redeeming us, giving us new life. But are

there things in our life that we think can never change, things that we

think are hopeless?



Perhaps it's never occurred to us to question the things we say and sing -

to wonder what they really mean - and what they really mean to us - and what

it might mean if we really took them seriously. Perhaps we don't like to

question them. What will people think of us if we start expressing doubts?

But God doesn't want us to pretend. He doesn't want us to put on someone

else's secondhand faith - it won't fit anyway. It won't answer the questions

we are asking, or meet the real needs of our real lives.



I'm glad Thomas became "Faithful Thomas" and "Brave Thomas" in the end, but

I'm glad too that he started out as "doubting". I'm glad he didn't just

accept what other people told him. I'm glad he didn't just nod and smile and

say the right words, but instead insisted that his faith had to make sense

and be real to him. That's what made his faith tough enough to take him

through the hard times, and it's what will take us through our hard times too.

Amen.


(Comments to Anne at annelebas@DSL.PIPEX.COM.)