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There was once a minister who got chewed out after a service by a person who immediately admitted to being agnostic and only attending because it was the family’s church.
Another minister had a Bible Study who tried to argue that Jesus was not unique in all religions, even though He is the only one to both die and be raised from the dead for the sins of the whole world.
Finally, there was a man who told his minister he didn’t care about Jesus’ command to love our neighbor, the minister couldn’t just take anyone out to lunch on his dime because that dime came from his paycheck from the church.
These stories are a mix of what I’ve heard from my friends in ministry, stories I’ve been told by my immediate supervisors in Christ Jesus, and experiences I myself have had. I tell them all to point out there are varying levels when it comes to belief in the church.
We’re so used to making sure we reach out and evangelize to those without belief as well as building up the believers in the church to do God’s work in the world. We often forget there is a third group out there.
One of the few, if only, times I’ve heard this group mentioned was in a sermon Bishop Guitiérrez preached at a recent ordination. There he reminded the new priest, as well as the rest of us there, that we are called to minister to three groups within the church: believers, unbelievers, and half-believers.
When we look at the Gospel today, we often forget to look at half-believers too. Often this reading is preached about in terms of how those Jesus talks about, those who “have not seen, yet have come to believe”, are much better than Thomas. Other times, we focus in this text on how doubting can sometimes be a good thing, which is true, only if it leads us to strengthening our Faith.
That strengthening of our Faith is really the point here. Thomas is brought from doubt to belief by physically and personally witnessing Jesus. As Jesus points out, we don’t all have that luxury. Not all of us belong, yet, to the category of believers. Some are still in that category of unbelievers, while others are still in that half-believing state. Some of us are like Thomas may be ready to believe, but are not quite fully there yet.
As with so much of Scripture, this reading is meant to grab our attention. It is meant to invoke a reaction with in us. The hope Jesus clearly has is that we will come to believe. The hope Jesus has is that unbelievers and half-believers alike will turn and become full believers.
I ask that you examine yourself right now. Where are you in your Faith? Are you a believer, or are you still in that half-believing state? Do you find yourself grasping to even believe? The good news for you all, as Bishop Guitiérrez told us, is that whatever state you are in, we as the church are here to minister to you. We are all called in the Baptism service to hold each other up in our Faith.
If you are worried about how to believe without seeing like Thomas, that is what the word “Faith” itself means. It means “Trust”. We believe not because we see, but because we find God trustworthy.
Wherever you are in your faith journey, even if you find yourself struggling, let us help you. We all have moments, like Thomas, where we doubt, but if we remain open to God’s speaking to us, instead of closing ourselves off, then we will receive that moment that Thomas received as well, where our doubting, or even half-believing, turns to whole belief.