When Christ first appeared alive with His Apostles after his resurrection, Thomas was absent. The Apostles said, “We have seen the Lord,” but Thomas needed to see for himself. Eight days later Thomas saw Christ with his own eyes and believe. Christ said, “You believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who believe but who have not seen.” The Church has spread through the centuries because the Church stands in the world as eyewitness to the Resurrection of Christ. With our faith and courage, and God’s grace many more will believe in the Resurrection of Christ because of our eyewitness to them. We believe because others share their eyewitness. The Church will continue only if we share our eyewitness. It is up to us.
My brothers and sisters, on this Sunday of Thomas, we hear a story of faith and courage. I always like to start with the courage because the Gospel begins that the Apostles were hiding upstairs, closed in their room because they were afraid of the Jews. You see, immediately, once Jesus Christ had been crucified and buried, immediately they began persecuting the Church. And so the Apostles were hiding in fear, but not Thomas. Thomas was not hiding in fear. He was out and about, and that requires courage. And when Christ appeared to the Apostles who were hidden and Thomas wasn’t there, he said, “Look at me. Show me. Heal my hands. Touch my feet. Hold me. I’m real.” And they even ate a meal together. And when Thomas comes, we’ve seen Christ with our own eyes and Thomas says, “Wait a minute. Until I see him with my eyes and touch him, I will not believe.” That’s why they called him the doubter.
But what the Gospel is giving us, my brothers and sisters, is exactly what we need to believe. You see, when we read the Scriptures, we’re not merely reading the history lesson of Christ. We are hearing the message to help us understand God. And God knows that some people need more proof than others. And so he presented himself to the disciples and the disciples became the witness of his resurrection, among also hundreds and hundreds of other people who saw him alive and to this very day have carried the message of the eyewitness of Christ’s resurrection. But the story of Thomas is also for us, because we weren’t there 2,000 years ago. We did not see Christ alive walking the earth. We depend upon the church’s witness. We depend upon the eyewitness accounts of those who were there.
And this is why Christ says in the Gospel, “Thomas, you believe because you’ve seen me. Blessed are those who believe and who have not seen.” And that’s you and me. We believe even if we have not seen the living, walking Christ. But my brothers and sisters, the story cannot end there. Immediately, the Apostles began to preach the Gospel of the risen Lord. And here again we have the great courage of Thomas. Thomas went all the way to India. Now, think about this for a moment. The Apostles who went in and around Jerusalem, even if they had not seen Christ resurrected, they had seen Christ walking. For 33 years, he was alive. So imagine now the courage required of Thomas and his faith to go all the way to India and to preach about God, the living God, the God who created the universe, the God who offered himself, became one of us, was crucified, buried, and resurrected for us.
That takes courage and it takes faith, and that’s the kind of courage and faith my brothers and sisters that we need to have. It’s no longer enough for us to quietly live our Orthodox faith. It is no longer enough for us to privately worship God. I mentioned in my article in the bulletin to you about our small group of annual protesters last week. They were here for the Anastasis service, for the resurrection service across the street. I received a picture of that protest from one of my friends four states away. So it was making its way around the internet as they say that there was this group of people protesting at midnight at St. Nicholas in Tarpon Springs. And you might remember if you were here and paying attention that I spoke to them that night, I invited those who were with us who did not believe to stay and to celebrate with us.
You see, my brothers and sisters, it takes courage and faith for us to be more than just private Orthodox Christians. It takes us living our faith publicly. Now, nothing is private. About a few thousand people shooting off a few fire crackers and ringing bells at midnight and shouting at the top of our lungs, “Christos Anesti!” There’s nothing private about that, but unfortunately, if I were sitting as one of the protests, that’s all I would have seen. Because by the time the Divine Liturgy started, we had about 300 people in the church. We start with 3,000 and we come and we cheer and we greet each other and we light our lambabas and we ring the bells and we shoot off a few firecrackers and then we go home as if there’s nothing else to do. How are we going to witness to our faith in Jesus Christ if we don’t live it ourselves?
St. John Chrysostom that night invited us whether we had fasted or not. Fasted, do you remember the very famous sermon? He says, “Come and celebrate the feast.” He’s talking about the Divine Liturgy, not the mageritsa (soup). And so my brothers and sisters, our challenge isn’t for us to be in church. We’re here. Our challenge is for our faith to be a witness to those who have not seen Christ or his church. That is the message in this morning’s Gospel. “Blessed are those who believe who have not seen,” Christ says. And that responsibility falls on you and me. Now, I’m not suggesting that we have to set up a pulpit on the street corner and preach and yell at everybody as they’re driving by and stopping at the red light. That’s not what I’m talking about.
What I’m talking about is, when people see you and me outside this church, they need to see faithful Orthodox Christians living the reality of the resurrected Christ, living in the joy that comes from knowing that Jesus Christ has defeated death, living with the peace of mind that no matter how difficult life gets, God has us in the palm of his hands and that we will spend all eternity in his comfort in heaven. If we are not living that message, if we are not going out and proclaiming the living God, then the church ends with you and me. And what a shame that would be, because we have the faith, because the Apostles took it out into the public. Because St. Thomas went as far as India.
We know that St. Andrew established what would eventually become the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Byzantium, which is today Turkey. St. Peter going all over the world, St. Paul, who witnessed God’s power going on the greatest missionary of all times, if those holy men and women as part of the story, if they didn’t have the faith and courage to go out in public and proclaim the risen Lord, we would not have this church today. It would be a shame if we’re the last generation of Orthodox Christians in Tarpon Springs. It depends upon us not just having more babies, we had two wonderful baptisms yesterday, it depends upon us to go and tell our friends we have seen the Lord with our own eyes. Because in a few moments, my brothers and sisters, when Father Theofanis and I bring out the chalice of Holy Communion, you are looking at the body and blood of Christ in that chalice, the real living Lord.
And so today, you’ll be able to go out these doors and tell your friends and your neighbors and your co-workers and total strangers you may bump into, “I have seen the Lord,” and then live as if we have seen the Lord, with faith and courage. And I promise you, I promise you, because of God’s power, not because of my words, I promise you that when others see our faith and courage, we will not be able to contain the number of people that want to know about Jesus Christ, who want to become part of our holy church. But the work begins with us, and it begins today.
