This sermon was preached on the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle and is based on Ephesians 2. 19-22. We often think new is better don’t we. The new iPhone will be better than the last one. If we get a new car or a new house we want it to be better than the last. And we have this wider sense that progress always pushes forwards, we’re always getting better. Our generation should be better than the one that came before it, which should have been better than the one which came before that. Newer means better, doesn't it? I don’t know about you but when I go food shopping, if I see a new chocolate bar, or a new variation on a chocolate bar I always buy it, I need to find out what it’s like. And do you know what I’ve discovered? New isn’t always better. In fact sometimes new is a terrible mistake. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians reminds us that we are being built upon ancient foundations, we're not tasked with making something new, instead we are being built upon the foundation of the Apostle's and prophets. Now these Apostles and Prophets are two unique groups of people, contemporary in Paul’s day but 2000 years old in ours. The Apostles are those who have met the risen Jesus, those who have spoken with him, ate with him, sat at his feet and learned from him after his resurrection. And the prophets aren’t those Old Testament ones as we might expect, Isaiah, Daniel, Elijah etc, instead as we continue to read it becomes clear Paul is referring to those in his day who are receiving from the Spirit fresh revelation of what Christ has done, what this means for the household of faith. These two groups are unique in that we don’t get these in our day, there are no more apostles because it’s not possible to meet the risen Jesus in that physical way until we reach glory. There are no more of this type of prophet in our day because the revelation they brought was foundational to the church, foundational to her teaching, and we can’t build new foundations in every generation. There are still prophets in our day, but not of this sort. It is these two unique groups who Paul calls the foundation of the church. But, I hear you say, isn’t Jesus the foundation? We sing hymns about him being the foundation, surely the apostles and prophets are building on Christ? And to a certain extent you’re right, and Paul would agree as he goes on to refer to Jesus as the cornerstone, the stone which is laid first and the rest of the foundation is measured from and aligned with. The Apostles and Prophets are the foundation because they testify to Jesus. They are the ones who preach the message of Christ. They are the foundation only in as much as they point to Jesus, only in so far as they testify to him, only insofar as they are centred on and measured off Christ as living stones from the cornerstone. Thomas who we celebrate today is one of the former group, an Apostle, one who has met the risen Jesus and now testifies to him. And he does so spectacularly in our Gospel reading today, his words are virtually the climax of the whole Gospel. He see’s Jesus, and he doesn’t even need to place his hands in the wounds like he said he would. Instead he encounters Jesus and in that moment declares ‘my Lord and my God’. It’s the most profound declaration of faith found anywhere in the New Testament and probably all of Scripture. Thomas and the other Apostles, along with the prophets are the ones who receive this fresh revelation of God, through the Spirit who testifies to Jesus. And this is preserved for us in what we now refer to as the New Testament, the deposit of faith contained within the pages of Matthew to Revelation, is that foundation we have received from them. And the foundations that they build on, that Christ places himself upon are found in the Old Testament, for the Old Testament too is rooted and grounded in Jesus. But this fresh foundation, the one of Apostle’s and Prophets is the one we continue to build upon. But here’s the thing that gets me. These Apostles, these foundation stones, they seem like giants of the faith, all conquering heroes. And yet when we read about them they’re ordinary, messy, broken people just like you and I. Thomas isn’t some mythical perfect man. He’s flawed like the rest of us. We only hear about him three times in the Gospels, all in John’s account. Firstly he speaks when Jesus is set to return to Judea, as Lazarus is sick, and has now died, and his disciples warn him against it, reminding him that he was almost killed there and that’s why they left. Seeing that Jesus is resolved to go to Judea to see Lazarus (whom he will shortly raise from the dead) Thomas says ‘let us also go, that we may die with him’. Thomas is courageous, he’s devoted. The second time we meet him is later in John when Jesus is speaking of heaven; how his Father’s house has many rooms and how he is going to prepare a place for them and that they know the way. It’s Thomas who pipes up that actually, they don’t know where he’s going, so how can they know the way. He’s plucky, but also honest about his shortcomings, he doesn’t understand, please Jesus, explain better. And in doing so he draws Jesus to say one of his most profound sayings ‘I am the way, and the truth and the life’. And finally we encounter him after the resurrection when he arrives just after Jesus has appeared to the other disciples. Overcome with emotions; doubt, anger, frustration, he cries out that he doesn’t just want to see Jesus, but he wants to put his hands in the wounds of crucifixion. He doesn’t just want what the 10 had, he wants more. He’s an ordinary guy, flawed and messy, brilliant yet broken. And it is upon Thomas, and upon these other Apostles and prophets that Jesus chooses to build his church. It is upon their faith, their devotion, that the church is founded. Thomas isn’t perfect and yet Jesus saw fit to reveal himself to him, even in his doubts, saw fit to count him as an Apostle, despite his flaws. The Apostles aren’t superheroes, if they were they wouldn’t be fit to follow Jesus as they’d be too self sufficient, unable to lean on him. Instead they’re ordinary people through whom Christ worked miraculously. Run of the mill guys whom the Spirit empowered, whom the Spirit grew so that they became the foundation upon which the church was built. Shaped and formed so that we could be built on top. And if they’re the foundation, if that’s the bedrock on which we’re built, flawed people empowered by the Spirit. Broken, messy people, who, by the work of the Spirit become solid enough to build upon. We don’t need to be perfect either. We don’t need to be superheroes of the faith, and we don’t need to pretend to be either. Notice how when the Gospels are written (and two are written by Apostles and two by close associates of Apostles) the Apostles don’t edit it. They don’t redact the awkward moments, skip over the moments where they say or do stupid things. Thomas doesn’t ask his friend John to miss out this story, or to change it so he sounds great from it. Each wobble, each flaw is left intact. Because these men aren’t concerned with making themselves sound good, they’re concerned with testifying to Jesus. They’re not setting out to make themselves the heroes of the story, they want Jesus, and his goodness and his grace to them to be centre stage, and that can’t happen if they’re not honest about themselves. We need to be just as honest about ourselves, both with ourselves and with others. We need to be honest about our faults, honest about our failings. For only then can Christ shine forth, only then can he be at work in us by his Spirit. Only then can his power be made perfect in us, because it is made perfect in weakness, he cannot work in us if we’re too busy pretending we’re strong. We are being built up together on ancient foundations, each generation passing on the message, the wonderful news to the next. Each becoming solid enough for the next to be built on top. So in our day let us continue to rest firm on these ancient foundations. Let us not run after every new thing but instead stand firm upon what is ancient, continuing to profess afresh in our day what those Apostles and Prophets taught and passed down to us. And let us learn from them how to be honest about our flaws, our failings. The stories of the Apostles aren’t of great men, heroes without fault. Their stories remind us how human they are. How much like us they are. If they are who Jesus chooses as the foundation, and the church is still being built upon them, solid and without crack, so too he can use us. We too need to be honest about our faults and flaws, for only then can Christ be centre stage, only then can he work in us through his Spirit. As Christ builds us together on their ancient foundation, may we grow together, may we be faithful to their teaching, faithful in prayer (for it is Christ’s work and not our own), faithful in breaking bread together. And may he make us one in joy, in faith and in hope. Amen.
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AuthorAn Anglican Curate in my 20's I was raised in an Anglican Church, went to a Youth Club run by an Evangelical Church, attended a Baptist Church while at Uni and was a member of a New Monastic Community after graduating. As such my faith has been influenced by these experiences and traditions into what I hope is a more rounded viewpoint. Archives
September 2022
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