THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF CANTON
Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor
Sunday, April 8, 2018 ~ Easter II

Sermon: “Because I Said So”
Gospel Lessons: John 20:19-31

© 2018, Dr. Tamilio

My youngest son Thomas is aptly named, because he questions everything I say. I think all kids do that, which is why hair loss is so common. “Why” used to be my favorite word when I was a kid. My father would tell me to do something and I would ask why. He’d play the game for a while, but, eventually, he would pull out the ultimate STOP card: “BECAUSE I SAID SO!” I remember as a kid thinking that this was a stupid answer and vowed that I would never use it with my own children. Sure enough, when I reached the limit of my patience with their questioning, I found myself saying “BECAUSE I SAID SO!”

Do your homework.
Why?
Because you need to do well in school.
Why can’t I do it later?
Just do it now.
Why?
BECAUSE I SAID SO!

I think it is safe to say that every parent, at one time or another, has relied on the “BECAUSE I SAID SO!” answer to squash the rebellion.

Barry Elms opens the first chapter of his book entitled, Because I said So: A Guide to Negotiating with Children and Grown Ups, with this thought: “If you have children or were at one time a small child you are familiar with the classic parental power play because I said so. How wonderful it was when your children actually did what you asked simply because you said so. If only that could last forever and work every time on everyone.” I don’t know what planet Elms lives on, but my children certainly did not always do what I wanted them to because I said so. Just the same, I gave reverted to that age-old fallback many times: BECAUSE I SAID SO!

Do we get frustrated with our children because they just don’t listen, because they like to push our buttons, or do we have a problem with doubt — with those who challenge what we claim to be correct or true? Questioning is how we learn, after all. Socrates said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

The truth of the matter is that what Thomas the Apostle does is perfectly normal. The other ten disciples — remember, Judas hanged himself at this point over the guilt he felt for betraying Jesus — the other ten actually saw Jesus in the flesh. Thomas wasn’t even there! Furthermore, people do not rise from the dead every day. Think about it: if I were to tell you that I witnessed an absolute miracle, you would doubt the veracity of my claim. You would probably think that I was lying or that I was delusional. Thomas simply does what most of us would do: he wants to see it for himself. He needs empirical evidence. The great twentieth century Swiss theologian Karl Barth wrote, “The fact that [Thomas] wanted to touch Jesus before he came to believe shows only that he had no more doubts than the other disciples had according to the accounts.”

Have you ever seen that famous painting the Doubting of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio? Look no further: it’s on the cover of today’s bulletin. Notice: Thomas is depicted as placing his finger in the spear mark in Jesus’ side. Two other disciples look on. Thomas has a look of utter astonishment in his wide eyes. His face matches the words he says immediately afterwards according to John: “My Lord and my God!” Next to Peter claiming that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” when Jesus asks “Who do the people…” and “Who do you say that I am,” Thomas’ claim is one of the earliest (and probably the most exuberant) confessions of faith in the Gospels.

In fact, while working on my doctorate at Boston University, one of my advisors used to say that Thomas isn’t the doubter; he’s the believer! That’s true. He may doubt at first, but upon seeing it for himself, he not only believes what he was told, but utters one of the most profound statements of faith as well: “My Lord and my God!”

BECAUSE I SAID SO! As I asked earlier, do we have trouble with our children’s questioning because they seem defiant or because we have a problem with doubt? It may be the latter. There’s something about doubt that makes us anxious. In a world that is totally uncertain, we want one thing to be solid — something we do not have to question. If it isn’t going to be God, then what will it be?

Just because we sometimes doubt doesn’t mean that we lack faith in God. In fact, I would say that it is the opposite. An atheist is sure that there is no God. The atheist has no doubt. A theist — one who believes in God — has belief, but not irrefutable proof. But doubt is evidence of something real. T.S. Eliot once said that “doubt and uncertainty are merely a variety of belief.” In a sense, Eliot is saying that to search for God is to find God. As Jesus himself said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Still, there are others who struggle with the existence of God not because they cannot see him, but because they have seen too much — too much horror. Bishop Roger Herft, who is the former Anglican bishop of Newcastle, Australia, tells of a Croatian refugee he met in mid-2001. This man had fled his war-torn country and arrived in Australia some years before. Since then, his marriage had broken up and he lost custody of his children. To add to his agony, twenty-four members of his family, including his eighty-four-year-old grandfather and four-month old niece, had been killed during the most recent conflict in Croatia. He said to Bishop Herft, “Where is God when it really matters? I’ll tell you where. God has got fed up with us. He has put up a sign saying, ‘Gone Fishing’ and has left us to live in this bloody mess.”

The good news is that even in the midst of doubt (and our search for certainty) there is a blessing that comes from the Risen One. Immediately after Thomas sees Jesus and declares that he is the Lord, Jesus says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” To a large extent, Jesus is speaking about us. Unlike the disciples, we never saw the human Jesus: the one who healed multitudes, performed miracles, taught Jew and Gentile alike about the kingdom of God, was betrayed by a member of his inner circle, was tortured, crucified, died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven. We weren’t there. However, we are here because we have come to believe — and Jesus blesses us for such faith.

St. Anselm said that faith is fides quaerens intellectum: faith seeking understanding. It isn’t understanding seeking faith. Having all of our questions answered will not necessarily provide us with a robust faith. Part of faith is grappling with the questions, wrestling with doubt. That doesn’t make us terrible people. It makes us human! Even Jesus doubted. Remember his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: “My Father, if it is possible, may his cup be taken from me.” Knowing what he was just about to face, how could he not have struggled with it.

We may have a hard time believing sometimes, my friends, but God is ever-faithful to us. Christ is the ultimate solid rock on which we stand. Amen.