The Feast of St. Thomas-The Rt. Rev. Frank S. Logue

 

The Rt. Rev. Frank S. Logue

St. Thomas Episcopal Church

Isle of Hope, Savannah, Georgia

December 17, 2023

 

 

Evidence of things not seen

A sermon for the Centennial Celebration of St. Thomas Isle of Hope

Hebrews 10:35-11:1

 

How far can your faith take you?

 

What might you be able to accomplish with the Living God working in and through you?

 

For the patron saint of this church, the Apostle Thomas, his faith took him farther than he could have possibly imagined when he began to follow a revolutionary Rabbi in Galilee. Preachers tend to tell of Thomas doubts, as he wanted proof of Jesus resurrection before he would believe that the one he thought was the Messiah had risen from the dead. Thomas wanted proof. He needed the evidence of his own sight and touch.

 

In the process of focusing on his doubts, we gloss over the testimony of Thomas’ unwavering faith found in the millions of Christians in India who trace their trust in Jesus to this apostle. Historians rightly note the lack of convincing proof that this first follower of Jesus made it all the way to southern tip of India. Yet, it is beyond a doubt that ancient tradition, put into writing within a few hundred years after Jesus’ death and resurrection tell of Thomas arriving in southwest India on the Kerala coast in Muziris in the year 52. Thomas is remembered as baptizing many and founding seven Christian Churches in southern Indian in 20 years of ministry. He was, they tell us, martyred for his faith in his friend, Jesus, in Mylapore, near Madras in the year 72.

 

Our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, “Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” and goes on to add, “we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.”

 

The stories from India tell us that after he saw the resurrected Jesus, the Apostle Thomas never shrank back, but pressed forward in faith to urgently share the Good News of God’s love to one of the ends of the earth at the tip of the subcontinent. I am sure this reading from Hebrews is selected for the Feast of St. Thomas for its last verse, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

 

This is a verse I first memorized from the King James Version and so I have it inscribed on my heart as, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

 

I offer that though the evidence that Thomas evangelized southern India may not be seen in documents from the first century that survive to our own day, the assurance and conviction that this happened is written in the unwavering faith of the St. Thomas Christians. I can’t offer proof that will land in a history book without a footnote naming this is not conclusively proven. Yet, we do see the ample evidence of what their faith in Jesus has accomplished keeping a strong community together across the centuries in area where the population is predominately Hindu and Muslim.

 

I believe this story of your patron saint matters as we gather this weekend to celebrate how far faith in Jesus has taken the Episcopalians on the Isle of Hope. This enclave was founded as safe haven on an inland island a mere eight miles from heart of the city. Nestled on a horseshoe bend in the Skidaway River among stately live oaks and palms, this retreat offered a breeze that gave an escape from the heat and the mosquitos found in town. A summer retreat in the 1840’s and 50’s came to be much more after a railroad line connected Isle of Hope to the city after the American Civil War. A morning train into town with an afternoon return made it possible to go into town for business and be home for dinner here.

 

On December 21, 1922, my predecessor, Bishop Frederick Reese, met with twenty Episcopalians who all pledged to finance the construction of the lovely chapel still standing on these church grounds. That beautifully wood chapel is evidence of things we don’t see. The chapel offers proof of the faith of the first founders of St. Thomas. And we have the evidence of the abiding faith of the generations of generosity that not only kept the church open, but kept this congregation reaching out to touch the lives of people who will never make it inside the doors of this church.  

 

We can see the impact St. Thomas has made on lives well beyond the Isle of Hope in the Thrift Shop, Unseen Guest, and the generations people whose lives were changed by the power of the Holy Spirit in this place.

 

The steady stream of grants given by the Thrift Shop have fueled non-profits more than three-quarters of a million dollars in this area creating a lot of positive changes for the community even as people in need of items they can’t otherwise afford found them more inexpensively in the shop.

 

Just this week, Unseen Guest provided 204 meals for Union Mission adding to the more than 133,000 meals the ministry has provided. Our neighbors suffering with HIV-AIDS were provided not just with food as this ministry began, but as importantly you gave them the knowledge that they mattered to the people of this church who supported them out of the gratitude for the love of God we have found in Jesus.

 

Then there are the generations of people baptized and married here who have gone to other towns where the seeds of faith planted here bear fruit far beyond St. Thomas Church. All of these provide evidence of the faith of generations of followers of Jesus fed here in Word and Sacrament.

 

With all of this good done by this congregation before us, I need to return to the Letter from the Hebrews once more to acknowledge that I have not been using evidence the same way as in that passage and the difference offers a challenge to us on this Centennial. On this Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle we hear, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” because Thomas demanded to see Jesus with his own eyes and to touch his wounds with his own hands. Thomas wanted a clearly substantial body, not a figment of the imaginations of his fellow disciples. Thomas knew Jesus was dead and demanded convincing evidence to believe in the resurrection. This passage says, he should have been able to take it on faith. Thomas’ faith in Jesus should have been the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

 

We do see in the traditions of Christians in India, that having seen the resurrected Jesus in the flesh, Thomas worked tirelessly for the rest of his time on earth and gave his life as a martyr for that faith in Jesus.

 

It works the same for us. Having seen the evidence of what God has done in the past, gives us the strength of faith to trust that the Living God will show up again. Then we don’t need further proof to step out in faith as we are grounded in past experience of God’s faithfulness. That is all we need.

 

In doing this, we can move forward in the same faith that sustain Thomas, knowing that God will be with us every step of the way. I say this as this church is needed more than ever in a culture that remains spiritual yet many are convinced that Christian churches do not practice what we preach in sharing the grace, mercy, and love of God. The people on Isle of Hope, in Savannah, and beyond need, deeply need you to continue to be faithful to all that has been entrusted to you across the last century. Your wonderful legacy is a challenge to not shrunk back.

 

What might you, the people of St. Thomas, be able to accomplish with the Living God working in and through you?

 

I look forward to watching with you as we see how far can your faith will take you as you remain faithful in reaching out well beyond this beautiful church to those who would otherwise be lost and left out?

 

Amen.