Bible Text: John 20: 19-31 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
In 1924 following a visit to White River, Ontario where his son, Christopher, met a black bear named Winnipeg or Winnie for short, Alan Alexander Milne wrote some of the best children’s stories ever to be written. While the books are named for the main character Winnie the Pooh they are often stories about the gaggle of characters found in the Hundred Acre Wood. From Owl to Tigger, Piglet to Roo but my personal favourite is Eeyore. It is believed that Eeyore lives at the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood and outside of his dwelling there is a marker that says, “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad”, and most of his conversations reflect that same gloomy tone, yet he is also rather witty. I read that one reason why Eeyore is depressed is because he is stuffed with sawdust. But then there is also a hint of joy with Eeyore’s exterior because he has a little pink bow on his tail. As one author put it, “[The tail] reflects well on this animal when there is an occasional hint of joy that surfaces.” Perhaps we might think that Eeyore has a “poor me” attitude because he expects so little of his friends- but there’s something to be said for that too because when his friends do help him, they always exceed his expectations and he is full of gratitude.
I have to admit that this inspiration was not mine alone, but rather I read in Jamie Clarke-Soles commentary on John 20 that she compared Thomas to Eeyore, “committed, but in a resigned, underwhelmed, less-than-hopeful” kind of way. I had to laugh a little because the commentary then went on to say, “Maybe you have parishioners like that?” I’m not about to call anyone out, but I think that perhaps why Eeyore is one of my favourite characters is because we all have a little bit of that Eeyore in us. We are all committed, but sometimes we are resigned to our discipleship and less than hopeful about the future. An interesting fact about Eeyore is that, unlike most of the characters in Milne’s stories, we know his birthday is May 10th. And in 1963 the Department of English at the University of Texas in Austin held a spring party and picnic in celebration of Eeyore’s birthday. Due to the era this party was picked up by the hippie culture and since then there has been a huge festival in spring in Austin, in memory of this fictional characters birthday, that involves a lot of psychedelic images.
While Eeyore was gloomy he was also deeply compassionate. There is one story in which Eeyore is able to grow a plant that Rabbit, a respected gardener cannot, and it is all because Eeyore gives the plant some of his love. Thomas’ doubt and misguidance or perhaps better worded, Thomas’ scepticism and cynicism, is tempered with joy and love. I believe that’s what Dr. Clark-Soles was also getting at when she compared Eeyore and Thomas. She writes, “Thomas has a lot of conditions. He wants hard evidence, unquestionable eyewitness fact that Jesus is risen. I can’t blame him for two reasons. First, he’s asking to see at least what all the other disciples already saw. Second, who doesn’t love a solid sign in a moment of crisis and vulnerability?” And we know that all the disciples were feeling a little vulnerable.
The scene opens with the disciples in a locked room. What is strange about this scene is that even though it happens on the same day as the resurrection story, there is no reference to Mary’s proclamation that she has seen the Lord, nor is there any mention of the beloved disciple’s faith. We already know that Thomas is missing from this scene but the omission of the references from earlier in the story lead me to believe that other disciples, like Peter and the beloved disciple, are also missing.
Then Jesus appears to these unnamed disciples and offers them peace. It is a striking image to not only imagine Jesus appearing inside a locked room but also that the disciples are afraid, and then Jesus appears and offers them peace instead of fear, which is then repeated. In my mind, Jesus cannot remind us enough that he offers peace. We may experience deep disappointments or we may lament changes in our lives, but Jesus is consistent- offering peace in place of fear, offering peace in place of disappointments, offering peace in place of half-hearted commitment.
But pay attention, because Jesus does not offer peace without equipping, as he breathes upon the disciples he gives them the Holy Spirit. In Greek the word for breath and spirit are the same, Pneuma. Again, the symbolism is intense; here Jesus, the one who was dead, the one whose breath was taken away, breathes life and power into these frightened disciples. One must remember, however, that with great power comes great responsibility. This breathe is given to them with a purpose, the power to forgive. Which is why I think it is important to be forgiving in this story. Thomas often gets a bad rap. Thomas is famously known as “doubting Thomas” and yet the word doubt does not occur in this passage. Thomas does not say that he doubts the disciples saw what they saw but rather that he will not risk believing their story until he has experienced it himself. Thomas, does have a “poor me” attitude and right fully so because he missed out on receiving the breath of God! I would be pretty disappointed too and probably a little upset with my friends that they didn’t try to find me or suggest that they should wait until I returned.
A week after Thomas makes his statement that he will not believe, unless he sees the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands and puts his finger in the mark, Jesus shows up. But again, what is interesting is that it never states that Thomas touches Jesus’ wounds, and yet Thomas still has faith. I want to believe that this is in part because in the mere presence of Jesus, Thomas forgets that he put any kind of conditions on his faith. Dr. Clark-Soles puts it like this, “In other words, perhaps the presence of the risen Lord blotted out Thomas’ petty scepticism and puny proofs and arrogant arguments.”
This is the amazing pattern that is the Gospel. It is full of people who had their own “issues”, their own reasons for disbelief or fear or rejection or stipulations or disappointments or gloomy attitude, but then they encounter Jesus and all that disappears. It is not about whether they were physically blind or a Samaritan woman or dead or doubters, rather it becomes who Jesus makes them become in his presence. The only title they carry after encountering Christ is… disciple.
In fact, it would appear that no one really knows their full potential until they encounter Jesus. Now, few of us, if any have had a physical encounter with the risen Christ. However, within our doctrine and liturgy we often refer to the church as Christ’s body at work in the world. The church is now the risen Christ in action. We as a community of faith are called upon to tell others about this story, and through our actions as a church Christ’s love is not only known but experienced. This is where our analogy with Eeyore comes back in because we all have our fronts, we all have our barriers in which we maybe come off as resigned or underwhelmed. We all have our “poor me” moments. But then, there is a hint of joy and a little bit of love comes through and we can inspire faith to grow- so that others may encounter Christ and become disciples in this mysterious world of faith. Amen