“Have you believed because you have seen me?

Blessed are those who have not seen 

and yet have come to believe.”

–John 20:29 

Before my final year of seminary, I worked as an intern at a church in Prince George, Virginia. One of my roles was to plan and oversee the congregation’s youth ministry. In September of that year–just a few months into the role– I led a weekend trip for the senior highs to Virginia Beach. We had a wonderful time. That is, until late Saturday evening. 

The other advisors and I along with a few teens had been inside watching a movie. When it ended, I went outside to retrieve the others and stumbled over two of our group stretched out on the decking. As I stepped over them, I saw others rush toward the ocean and throw something into the water. Later I learned that some boys who were not part of our group had purchased beer for the girls from the church. Clearly, they were only being neighborly. Not! The effects of over-consumption were clear.

I herded the group back into the house and awoke those who had already gone to sleep.  It proved to be a futile attempt to get the full story. Soon, we sent everyone to bed while the advisors and I began to discuss how to respond.

Early the next morning I called the pastor to fill him in on events. I told the teens I would be writing a letter to their parents on Monday, explaining what had occurred. I suggested they tell them before the mail arrived. And then I had to face the music myself.

As providence would have it, the Session of that church was meeting the next night. The pastor had asked that I tell the whole story to the elders and let them decide what to do. I began to imagine all kinds of outcomes. Since the fall semester at Princeton Seminary had already begun, it was too late for me to enroll in classes and thus would have to find something else to do until the spring. I wondered how I would pay for the broken lease on my apartment, too, as I was sure I would be fired that night.  

The Apostle Thomas had to wait a full week before learning his fate. 

Late on the first Easter, ten disciples were hiding behind locked doors when the risen Christ appeared to the group. He spoke words of peace and showed the crucifixion wounds on his body. Perhaps he was trying to convince the stunned group of his identity. Jesus then gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any,” he said, “they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 

Thomas was somewhere else at the time.  When he returned, his colleagues immediately told him of what happened. He didn’t believe them. Perhaps he had been tricked before by the group.  Maybe, he was still trying to absorb the news from Mary Magdalene about her discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb. Or it could be that Thomas was the kind of person who demanded evidence before accepting any word. We aren’t told. Whatever the explanation, in response to the news of Christ’s visit he replied “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”    

A week later, the group was together again and Thomas with them. Jesus turns to that disciple. How terrified he must have been.  Knowing human nature, we can imagine the man anticipated a scolding. 

The deadly sin/heavenly attribute pairing before us this week is wrath/patience. If the desired trait was phrased “calmness” then we might think of moments when someone has an anger problem or occasions when the fury is justified.  We call those latter times righteous anger.  The most frequently-cited Biblical example of that sort of agitation is when Jesus drives the money changers out of the temple. Calm when others are upset can be a helpful demeanor that defuses tough situations. It’s known as a “non-anxious presence.”

Yet to strive for patience brings to mind occasions when the other has made an honest mistake and we must decide how to react. That’s the situation facing Thomas long ago.

Christ invites the man to touch the wounds and believe. Thomas instead blurts out words of recognition and joy: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replies “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” The words are direct, but they are tempered by patience; an understanding that the one who has fallen short is still growing.

At the 1985 Session meeting in Prince George, I made my report on what had happened on the beach trip. I apologized deeply for my lack of oversight and then waited. After what seemed like an interminable silence one elder spoke up. Don said “I make a motion that we go on record as offering a vote of confidence to John in his work with our teenagers.” 

As a lifelong baseball fan, I know that when a beleaguered manager gets a vote of confidence from ownership that he is about to be fired. The sentiment of that motion, though, was completely different. The officers unanimously approved the proposal and I enjoyed nine more months in the congregation. Despite having moderated 400 Session meetings in three congregations since, that motion remains my all-time favorite! For what those officers shared in those words and response was an act of grace; revealing a heart of patience.

May we do the same.

Heavenly One, your patience with me both blesses and inspires. Help me model the same gift with those in my life who are still growing and learning. Amen.