EASTER 2 - B

Being Sure

Don’t you wish you could be sure? Sure of something, sure of anything?

What would it take for you to be sure?

Most of us live with a fair amount of doubts which range from the most trivial of things, doubting whether or not it’s going to be sunny tomorrow, right up to those huge nagging doubts, whether or not he loves you, whether or not your job is safe, whether or not global warming will wipe us all out.

So what would it take for you to be sure?

Just to give you a context for my question, the character we usually call “Doubting Thomas” is never referred to in that way in the original Greek of the Bible. What it says is that Thomas is “a pistos” which means, not sure... Thomas was not sure this could be Jesus.

Okay, we can relate to that much better, can’t we? If I consider myself “Doubting Brett” it seems rather negative to me – but if I say I am not sure of something – well, I am not sure about a lot of things, so that is okay.

And I can totally see not being sure that someone has come back from the dead just because my friends tell me it is true. That is not something I think I would just trust them about.

I guess I am trying to say I have never understood why we give Thomas such a hard time. Jesus didn’t, he never chastised Thomas because he was not sure. In fact, Jesus helped Thomas to find a way to live with his uncertainty.

I received an emailed story this week that illustrates this:

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the Problem Science has with God. He asked one of his New Christian Students to stand and asked him: “Are you a Christian, son?” and the exchange went like this:

Yes, sir.

So, you believe in God? Absolutely, sir.

“Is God Good?” Sure. “Is God all powerful?” Yes.

Then the professor said, “My Brother died of Cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then?”

The Student was silent so the professor went on, “You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, Is God Good?” Yes. “Is Satan good?” No. “Where does Satan come from?” From . . . God. . . “That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?” Yes. “Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?” Yes. “So who created evil?” (Student did not answer) “Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?” Yes, sir. “So, who created them?” (Student had no answer)

“Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son . . . Have you ever seen God?” No, sir. “Tell us if you have ever heard your God?” No, sir. “Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God , smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?” No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't. “Yet you still believe in Him?” Yes.

“According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?” Nothing. I only have my faith. “Yes, faith. And that is the problem science has.”

So, then the student thought for a moment and asked his own question: “Professor, is there such a thing as heat?” Yes. “And is there such a thing as cold?” Yes. To which the student replied, “No, sir. There isn't...”

(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events)

“Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega Heat, white Heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”

(There was pin-drop silence in the Lecture Theatre)

“What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?” Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it is called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it is, were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?”

Now the professor asked: “So what is the point you are making, Young Man?”

“Sir, my point is your Philosophical premise is flawed.” Flawed? Can you explain how?

“Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a Good God and a Bad God You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”

“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.”

“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?” The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going. “Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?”

(The class was in uproar)

“Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?”

(The class broke out into laughter)

“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? . . .

“No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?”

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable)

“I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.”

The point was taken and the professor conceded.

That student was Albert Einstein.

You see, that experience of knowing – really knowing – for sure... is not a part of our faith. In fact, it is not really a part of our experience. There is so much we have to take on faith; there is so much we have to hope is true.

The Gospel of Mark ends with no one actually witnessing the resurrection; and yet we know that somehow they came to believe.

Perhaps this is what Jesus was getting at when he said “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet can still find a way to believe.”

It is less about being sure than it is about living as if.

It is not that Thomas needs to prove this is the physical body of Jesus – it is simply that Thomas needs to believe that his hopes and dreams have not been lost. He needs his faith restored.

There are times when we all do.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Faith is being sure, deep down in your heart, that God is real, that God loves us, and that there is some way in which this whole world makes sense. How can you be sure? How can you encounter the Risen Christ in your life? How do you know for sure that God really matters? For each of us the answer to that question might be different. But it is available to us nonetheless – If we are open to it, we will encounter God as a very real presence in our own lives. We will be able to unlock the door on our own fear and wade out into that world with a new purpose and vision – we will be able to declare, like Thomas, “My Lord and My God!”

Jesus died passing the torch.

It is when we become sure that we really do enter into faith and become what we are called to be: Disciples. It is when we can finally see this world as being filled with love despite the appearances to the contrary that we are going to be able to ‘be’ the hands and feet.

So no – there are some things we will never know for sure. But there are also things that are so true that they change everything. Let this be one of those things: God’s love for you is absolute, believe it, and see what happens.