By Jerry Mathis
It’s evening of the first day of the week. Sunday. Not today, but two weeks ago. Easter.Resurrection Day. The disciples, some of them, have gathered in a dimly lit room behind locked doors to discuss and contemplate the events of the past few days and try to figure out what to do next. They’ve had Passover supper with Jesus, seen him arrested and then crucified and buried, and then today learned that his body is missing from the tomb and Mary Magdalene tells them she’s seen Jesus. That’s a lot to have to absorb! They need each other, especially now.
The atmosphere in the room is heavy, filled with grief, uncertainly and confusion, what we might even call gloomy. Some aren’t talking because they just don’t know what to say. But some miraculous things are about to happen:
Suddenly, the room goes completely quiet, and here is miracle number two –Jesus appears in the middle of the room. Oh, did I mention that miracle number one is the fact that the disciples have decided to stay together when with the loss of Jesus they could have given up and gone back to their previous occupations? They have to meet in secret out of fear of the Jewish leaders and Jesus isn’t there to protect and inspire them.
So now Jesus is in the room, and he says “Peace be with you” and shows them his hands and side. The disciples were ecstatic and rejoiced when they realized what was happening. Jesus again says “Peace be with you” and instructs them to go and spread the good news that he has taught them over the last three years. Then he breathes on them and gives them at least some of the powers of the Holy Spirit. Now they are filled with assurance they are doing the right thing and the confidence that they can carry Jesus’ message into the world and even perform physical healing at times.
The gospel tells us that someone was missing from that first meeting – Thomas, also known as Didymus or The Twin. We’ve come to know him as “Doubting Thomas” although I prefer to think of him as being more skeptical than actually doubting what the other disciples have told him about seeing Jesus. When you say you doubt something, you’re pretty sure it didn’t really happen. But if you’re skeptical, you’re saying that it’s possible that whatever happened did happen. You just need to see it for yourself. Thomas needed a miracle.
When I was young, I could relate somewhat to Thomas skepticism, especially to religious miracles. My mother and my brother and two sisters and I all attended a small Congregational church in our neighborhood in North Portland. My dad never attended there and stuck firmly to his deep fundamentalist evangelistic faith. He always listened to a woman preacher on the radio –some of you will remember what that was—named Katherine Kuhlman who was very famous and somewhat controversial. She always began and ended her program with the phrase “I believe in miracles.” To this day, I couldn’t tell you anything about any of her sermons, but that phrase has stuck with me forever. “I believe in miracles.”
Daddy also strongly believed in hellfire and brimstone preachers and faith healers. I remember he would take me to the Holiness Campground in Southeast Portland where there was some kind of tent revival going on. A very noisy experience for a boy to go through. One of his favorites was a large man with a very loud voice from Seattle named “Brother Ralph” who brought his preaching and faith healing program to Portland every so often. Here’s where my skepticism kicks in: we sat in the auditorium balcony and watched people with various ailments come down the aisle and up on the stage to Brother Ralph where he would put his hands on them pop them hard on the forehead and shout “HEAL!” and they would throw away their crutches or jump up out of their wheelchair and everybody shouted “HALLELUIA!” and “IT”S A MIRACLE!” I just could never be sure that what I saw was real. I’m still skeptical about some of today’s false prophets.
Thomas gets his proof the next Sunday evening when the disciples have gathered again and Thomas is with them and Jesus appears again and convinces Thomas he is real. “Peace be with you” Jesus says and tells Thomas to see his wounds and not to doubt but to believe. “My Lord and my God” Thomas exclaims. Jesus asks “Do you believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Jesus might have added “Believe in miracles.” John says Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book.
Maybe this is the time to stop and define what we mean when we call something a miracle: when something happens unexpectedly and there is no apparent scientific or natural reason for it, we attribute it to an Act of God. A miracle. Miracles happen only for the good! And they are real! Two years ago, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series! A genuine miracle! Miracles happen only for the good! And miracles don’t have to be just a single moment in time, they can be ongoing.
For me, the single most glorious and wonderful miracle of all is the Grace of God, the Love of Jesus Christ and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit which is free without condition and offered to all. This is the miracle that kept the disciples and other believers together after the resurrection and as we read in Acts earlier, helped them to grow stronger in forming what we’ve come to know as the Christian Church. It’s never been easy, and even today, Christians meet resistance and persecution for trying to spread the Good News. But, we persist and believe that love always wins.
It is that miracle which has kept us, First Congregational UCC of Vancouver together to not only survive the tragedy of the fire, but to grow in our love for each other and keep our programs alive, and in some cases, increase our community involvement and programs. And it is that miraculous Act of God which will continue to help us grow in our communal and individual faith. To help us to be of one mind and heart.
I’ll close with a story I’ve told before, but I think it bears repeating here:
Several years ago, my mother was in the hospital in a very bad way. Although her mind was bright and she was able to communicate normally, a lot of her body no longer functioned. The doctors had removed several offending and unnecessary parts and she had completely lost the use of her legs. She now had tubes coming out to take care of waste disposal. When I was visiting her one time her primary doctor came and talked to me in the hallway, explaining that they had done all they could do, and she probably didn’t have much time left. I was pretty upset, and as I was leaving the hospital I decided to stop in the chapel and sort of gather my thoughts. I hadn’t been to church in years, and I hadn’t planned to pray or anything, so I just sat quietly for a while. Then, in my mind, I began to talk to God, and I was quite firm, saying something like “You don’t need her yet, we do!Please don’t take her now, we’re not done loving her yet and she’s not done loving us.”
Not more than three days later, I got a call from the hospital asking me to come in as soon as possible. Of course, only bad thoughts were going through my head on the drive over. When I got to her room, her doctor and two nurses were waiting, and my mom was sitting up in bed just like nothing at all was wrong! The doctor said he didn’t understand it, but they were ready to release her and send her home. The two nurses just stood there with huge smiles on their faces. The doctor repeated that they didn’t understand what happened since there was no medical or scientific explanation for my mom’s recovery. Finally, he looked me straight in the eye and said “The only answer I have is that this is a miracle.”
They gave my mom a party and we took her home where she lived for several more years. I will never forget the look on the doctor’s face or the way he said “It’s a Miracle.”
My friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, all I can say is “I Believe in Miracles.” Thanks be to God. Amen.