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The Community of the Wounded

Br. Bruce Neal, SSJE
Second Sunday of Easter, 2008

Text:  John 20:19-31

At some point in our lives, many of us discover that somewhere deep within our psyche or soul we are wounded.  Usually we realize this when our lives seem to be falling apart; when our dreams have been shattered; or when our hope has been lost.  And during these dark nights we may be tempted to withdraw from the world in fear.  Despair can shrink our hearts; sorrow can cause us to close up. The question of “what now?” can shut us down emotionally.

Perhaps you have experienced this for yourself.  Perhaps you have on occasion found yourself rendered incapable and incompetent by sadness; paralyzed and deadened by fear.  This is certainly what has happened to the disciples in our reading this morning from the Gospel of John.

It is the evening of the first day of the week.  Jesus has been crucified; he is presumed dead and buried.  The cause is lost; the movement has been for nothing.  The disciples are still together, but have withdrawn to a house in shame; they have locked the doors in fear; they have huddled together in disgrace.  All except for one…for the disciple called Thomas is not with them.  It seems that Thomas has withdrawn even further, abandoning his friends, fleeing their fellowship, and refusing to join them in facing into such great sorrow.  Perhaps for Thomas it is all too much to bear…the failure of Jesus; the victory of violence and injustice.  Perhaps for Thomas the question “what now?” looms too large, too all-consuming, too powerful.

So Thomas is not present when that question of “what now?”, born of despair, is answered in such a glorious and surprising manner.  Thomas is not there when the Risen Lord appears among them, when the victory is shown to belong to God and not to the world of violence and death.  Thomas is not with them when Jesus opens up their closed and broken hearts with his gift of peace; when he expands their shrunken spirits by breathing upon them the Holy Spirit.  Thomas has missed out.

So without this redeeming experience, it is no surprise that Thomas refuses to believe the other disciples when they tell him of the Risen Lord.  Thomas defiantly states, “…unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my fingers in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”  This comment has unfortunately earned him the enduring nickname “Doubting Thomas”, which is perhaps overly harsh.  For Thomas, like all of us, simply desires to experience the Risen Jesus in a personal and intimate way. 

And his desire is fulfilled, for a week later the Risen Lord appears among the disciples again.  He seems to have chosen this particular moment for his appearing because Thomas is present in the community, for after greeting everyone with words of peace, Jesus immediately turns and addresses Thomas personally.  He orders Thomas to touch his scars, to inspect his wounds, stating, “Do not doubt, but believe.” And in that moment, Doubting Thomas is converted.  His has seen with his eyes; he has touched with his hands.    Thomas now recognizes the Risen Jesus; his doubt is turned into joy, and he calls out to him “My Lord and my God.”  Thomas has rejoined the other disciples, this fledging community, as a witness to the incredible love of God that can defeat even the despair of death.  All’s well that ends well.

And yet, it does not end there…for something happens… something that actually concerns us…for Jesus then says “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”…and suddenly this story of “Doubting Thomas” has become intensely personal.  For we are now included …we, who are two thousand years removed from the resurrection event; we, who struggle with belief in a post-modern world……we…you and I… are called blesséd by Jesus.  This certainly puts a new spin on things, for now this story of a withdrawn, doubting, and defiant disciple has unexpectedly become an enduring vehicle for our own blessedness.

But how?  How can we claim this blessedness?  Where can we find this joy?  What can we learn today from “Doubting Thomas”? Two things immediately come to mind.  The first is the importance of community.  In our Gospel reading, Thomas, broken and in despair over the crucifixion, demands to touch his Risen Lord in the flesh before he can believe. 

And his demand is met, but only in the context of community.  Thomas is not granted a solitary visitation, a private appearance from the resurrected Jesus…no, Jesus appears to Thomas only after Thomas has rejoined the community.  The blessedness of the resurrection and the life-giving grace it bestows is a communal one.  

In our modern world of self-absorbed, feel-good, pop spirituality, parish or congregation shopping, and denominational hopping, we could all use a good dose of communal commitment.  To use the words of Jim Wallis, faith is “always personal but never private.”i  While personal prayer is absolutely necessary and times of silence and solitude are vital, our blessedness can only grow to its fullness in the muddy and messy soil of community. 

This is important to remember when life becomes difficult, when we are afflicted with fear or despair and are tempted to withdraw and close down.  It is also important to remember when our communities become difficult, and we are tempted to flee and shop around for a new one.  Community life is never easy, but for the sake of our souls we must remain active and committed to some type of community, whether it’s a parish, a student group, a 12-step program, a weekly contemplative prayer meeting, or a religious order.  By being active in community, we are drawn out of ourselves and our own despair and into service to others.  Through life in community, new and wonderful answers to that question “what now?” can present themselves in unexpected ways…ways that lead to joy being born from failure; to resurrection springing forth from what seemed like death.

The second way to lay hold of our blessedness is to claim our wounds; to demand to see the scars, just as Thomas did.  We Christians have never been a religiously elitist or spiritually snobby group; on the contrary…. authentic Christian communities are communities of the wounded.  Just as Christ carries his scars and wounds in his resurrected body, so we, as the Body of Christ, the church, carry our scars and find fellowship among the wounded.

Now this is counter-cultural; this is perhaps even un-American.  For we live in a society that seems to value only the competent, the successful, the accomplished….and yet Christianity exults in woundedness. 

As the author and scholar Belden Lane so wonderfully states:

“The irony of the gospel is that it becomes truly ‘good news’ only for those immersed in the bad news of their normal experience.  It has to come as shocking surprise, something so irregular that it may at first seem repulsive.”ii 

“God wills us to be broken for the sake of a strength to make whole.  Divine love is incessantly restless until it turns all woundedness into health, all deformity into beauty, all embarrassment into laughter.”iii

The Christian proclamation of life out of death, joy found in failure, honor found in humility, blessedness discovered in woundedness, is scandal and folly to the world.  And yet its truth is revealed to any with eyes to see and ears to hear.

So, if you are wounded or scarred in any way; if you have discovered your life is far from perfect; if you suffer from despair or addiction, from broken relationships, from shattered dreams or lost hope …do not withdraw from the world in fear.  Instead, rejoice!  For you have come to the right place; you are in good company; you are invited to the table.  And you are blessed, you are needed, you are loved, you are welcomed.  For we worship a wounded, scarred, yet Risen Lord who calls us into community, a fellowship of the wounded, where we find healing, and where we are granted new and abundant life.

 

  © 2008

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