The Most Unsingable Hymn
Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” – John 20:27-29 (NRSV)
Dollars to donuts, there’s a hymn in the The New Century Hymnal you’ve never sung. It’s #254, “These Things Did Thomas Count.” A few other hymnals have it, too. I’m going to give you a flavor of the lyrics: “These things did Thomas count as real: the warmth of blood, the chill of steel, the grain of wood, the heft of stone, the last frail twitch of flesh and bone.”
That’s the opening verse!
Yes, it opens with a sentiment that can fairly be described as “metal,” but that’s not why it’s rarely sung. It’s rarely sung (I suspect) because the hymn goes on to roundly denounce Thomas’ doubt. It’s an uneasy text for those of us who generally embrace doubt as an element of faith.
There is much to be said in the defense of doubt. And preachers are usually tender-hearted folks, ready to rush to rescue a biblical figure like Thomas. Yet, Jesus doesn’t actually condemn Thomas’s doubt. Jesus says that those who have not seen, and yet believe, are blessed.
I’m going to go out on a limb here: I think Jesus is right.
We’re living in days when it is easy for me to doomscroll my way right to Sheol. Jesus’s words ring true: the blessed ones are those who still have faith in the Realm of God, despite evidence to the contrary. In these days, doubting the good news isn’t so much liberating as confining and choking. Believing in the good news, even when the broadcast news is dire—that’s a blessing I dearly desire.
Prayer
Lord, let me touch the wound of your people, and believe.
About the AuthorRev. John Edgerton is Senior Minister and CEO of Old South Church in Boston. He is the 21st Senior minister in the congregation’s over 350 year history.