Homily for Second Sunday in Sunday - April 11, 2010

There is something about our human nature that finds it difficult to believe in the good. We seem to find it fairly easy to believe in the bad. But the kind of faith that looks to the future with an expectation of good is rare indeed.
This tendency is reflected in our common speech and conventional wisdom. We describe some things as “too good to be true”. But how often have you heard something described as “too bad to be true”? That isn’t how we think. For us, the bad is readily believable, but the good is almost unbelievable.
This tendency is, of course, not a new thing. Thomas reflected the same attitude in today’s Gospel reading. He was not present that first Easter Sunday when the risen Christ appeared to the disciples. They told him about it. They tried to convince him of the reality of the resurrection. But he would not believe them. Perhaps he could not believe them because, in his scheme of things, such an event was simply too good to be true.
Among the apostles, Thomas is known as the doubter. And he was that, but not entirely. Thomas was a selective doubter. There were some things that he had no difficulty at all believing.
Flip back a few pages in John’s Gospel, and you will find Thomas, the believer. It was when Jesus was preparing to make that final, fateful journey to Jerusalem. He told His disciples what He was going to do, and everyone of them was against it. They reminded Him that the last time He was there an angry mob had threatened to stone Him to death. Surely, He was not going back; it was simply too dangerous.
They did their best to talk Him out of it. But when it became apparent that he was going anyways, Thomas said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go along to die with Him.”
There is clear proof that Thomas could believe in some things that he had never seen – bad things, tragic things. He could believe in these even before they happened. Thomas had no difficulty at all believing in tragedy. His range of doubt lay in the area of triumph. As he saw it, crucifixions were almost inevitable; but resurrections were virtually impossible.
Thomas lived and died a long time ago, but his attitude towards life is very much with us. Many people, perhaps most people, are inclined to look to the future with a spirit of despair. They expect the worst and have little or no faith in the best. As they see it, civilization is locked into a downward glide like an airplane falling from the sky. The power is gone. The pilot is helpless. The crash is sure to come. It is only a question of time. You can hear this mood reflected in our music. A few years ago, there was a popular song that said:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away;
Now it seems as though they’re here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

It is also reflected in our figures of speech. Many people, especially older people, dream and talk about “the good old days”. That phrase clearly indicated a belief that the best times are behind us, these are the bad times, and the worst times are yet to come.
This outlook on life is reflected even in some circles of religion. There is a school of Christian thought which holds that the world is headed towards disaster, and nothing can stop it or turn it around. Some of the most popular television evangelists can tell you all about it. They preach that things are going to get worse, and worse until civilization collapses in chaos. Then a world-wide dictator, whom they call “the Antichrist”, will seize control. He, in turn, will inflict untold suffering upon people. And this will continue until Christ returns to the earth, conquers all of His enemies in one great battle, and establishes His kingdom of peace and righteousness.
I have two difficulties with this outlook on the future. The first is that it debilitates our capacity to cope with life. If things are going to get worse and worse, and there is nothing that anyone can do about it, why should we bother to try? If war is inevitable, why work and pray for peace. If crime and poverty are here to stay and are sure to get worse, then why work and pray for a more just society? Any athletic team that has no hope of winning will soon cease to try. And so it is in the game of life. An attitude of despair debilitates us for the struggle.
My other difficulty with a cynical view of the future is this: I find it inconsistent with the Biblical message in general and the Christian faith in particular. The God of the Bible is a God of purpose, a God with a plan. He did not create this world and populate it with people just to see what would happen. He knew what would happen. He had a goal in mind. That goal has not changed, and He is still moving towards it.
There is a verse in the 138th Psalm that says, “The Lord will complete what He has done for me.” The ancient poet who wrote that line had a healthy outlook on life. He was aware that God had acted on his behalf. The Lord had done something specifically for him. He was also aware that God’s deed for him was incomplete. It was not yet finished. But he was firmly confident that God would bring to completion that which He had started.
That is the Biblical view of life from beginning to end. Perfection and fulfillment are always out in the future, never back in the past. The creation story in the book of Genesis is not a picture of perfection. It is a picture of a beginning, an incomplete beginning. There in the Garden of Eden, God started a great adventure that required the cooperation of people. That adventure is still going on, and the purpose of it all is still out there in the future.
God is taking His world where He wants it to go. And nothing can stop Him, not even the crucifixion of His Son. They nailed Him to a cross on Friday. But on Sunday morning, God raised Him from the dead and kept right on moving towards His goal.
My friends, this is a brutal world and living in it is a risky business. I am not denying that. But I am reminding me that this is God’s world, and He is active in it. If we keep that in mind, we will face the future, not with despair, but with hope, because in God’s world nothing is too good to be true.