Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for July 18, 2010
Now I Understand
What we want to learn and practice this week is: How do we move from being a "doubting Thomas" to being an understanding person? We can learn from the interactions between Thomas and Jesus. Thomas didn't mind asking questions, and he listened to Jesus' answers. He wanted to know and to understand. He was the most "scientific" of the disciples. So we're going to learn about the benefit of doubt. Seek greater understanding and you will find the spiritual understanding (the highest part of your understanding) that allows you to tap into the "all knowingness" (omniscience) of God.a
I WANT TO UNDERSTAND
Have you found yourself saying, "I want to understand." This need, this request, is shown often in the Bible by Thomas, Jesus' disciple. Thomas often questions. He seeks better understanding, and wants to know what's going on and how it takes place. Jesus respects Thomas and doesn't ignore his demands for physical evidence. Jesus doesn't condemn doubt and honest searching for greater understanding.
In the scripture that was read this morning from the book of John: Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper that he is going ahead and is preparing the way for them to follow. Jesus says they should know, by this time, what he is talking about. Thomas says, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
Thomas is sincerely trying to figure out all this revolutionary, transformational process. Jesus helps out his pragmatic thinking by referring Thomas back to the life demonstration he has been exhibiting to them. Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." That is, "I'm not asking you to believe in something you've never seen before. You have to take what you already know and are living and extend it further. The Christ in you knows the way to do this and will lead you to increased understanding. Trust me and trust the Christ Spirit in you."
Again and again Jesus had told his disciples where he was going, but somehow they had never understood. Sort of like us when someone we love tells us that they are about to die – we don't want to hear it. He had told them that he was going to the Father who had sent him, and with whom he was one, but they still did not understand what was going on. Even less did they understand the way by which Jesus was going. At this moment the disciples were bewildered men.
But there was one disciple who could never say that he understood what he did not understand, and that was Thomas. He was far too honest and far too much in earnest to be satisfied with any vague pious expressions. Thomas had to be sure. So he expressed his doubts and his failure to understand, and the wonderful thing is that it was the question of a doubting man which provoked one of the greatest things Jesus ever said.
No one needs to be ashamed of his doubts; for it is amazingly and blessedly true that he who seeks will in the end find.
Jesus said to Thomas: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."b That is a great saying to us, but it would be still greater to a Jew who heard it for the first time. In it Jesus took three of the great basic conceptions of Jewish religion, and made the tremendous claim that in him all three found their full realization. "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."
The Jews talked about the way in which men must walk and the ways of God. God said to Moses: "You ... shall not turn to the right or to the left. You must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God has commanded you, ..."c Moses said to the people: "For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, turning aside from the way that I have commanded you. ..."d Isaiah had said: "...Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."e
In the brave new world
"A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God's people;
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray."f
It was the Psalmist's prayer: "Teach me your way, O Lord."g The Jews knew much about the way of God in which a man must walk. And Jesus said: "I am the Way." What did he mean?
Suppose we are in a strange town and ask for directions. Suppose the person we ask says: "Take the first road to the right, and the second to the left. Cross the square, go past the church, take the third turn on the right and the road you want is the fourth on the left." The chances are that we will be lost before we get half-way. But suppose the person we ask says: "Come. I'll take you there." In that case the person to us is the way, and we cannot miss it. That is what Jesus does for us. He does not only give advice and directions. He takes us by the hand and leads us; he shows us by example how we should live. He does not tell us about the way; he is the Way.
Jesus said: "I am the Truth." The Psalmist said: "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth."h "For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you."i "I have chosen the way of truth."j
Many people have told us the truth, but no person ever embodied it. There is one all-important thing about moral truth. A person's character does not really affect his teaching of geometry or astronomy or Latin verbs. But if a person proposes to teach moral truth, his character makes all the difference in the world. An adulterer who teaches the necessity of purity, a grasping person who teaches the value of generosity, a domineering person who teaches the beauty of humility, an irascible creature who teaches the beauty of serenity, an embittered person who teaches the beauty of love, is bound to be ineffective. Moral truth cannot be conveyed solely in words; it must be conveyed in example.
No teacher has ever embodied the truth he taught--like Jesus. Many a man could say: "I have taught you the truth." Only Jesus could say: "I am the Truth." The tremendous thing about Jesus is not simply that the statement of moral perfection finds its peak in him; it is that the fact of moral perfection finds its realization in him.
Jesus said: "I am the Life." The writer of the Proverbs said: "For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life."k "Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life."l
In the last analysis what man is always seeking for is life. His search is not for knowledge for its own sake: but what will make life worth living. A novelist makes one of his characters who has fallen in love say: "I never knew what life was until I saw it in your eyes." Love had brought life. And in Jesus we see what God is like.
UNDERSTANDING: A DYNAMIC POWER OF OUR MIND
Understanding is a dynamic power of our mind. We often struggle with all kinds of conflicting evidence of how things seem to be. We say, "I won't believe it until I see it." We become locked into certain thought forms and perceptions and decisions about "the way things are and always will be." Understanding, developed as a spiritual power, allows us to have crystal-clear insight into everything. We are able to see how things are interconnected and to perceive the deeper meaning of events in our lives. At this level of understanding we cannot be "misled by appearances" because we know the Truth that stands under everything.
Lastly, there is here one great truth about life. Some things we can do almost any time, but some things we will never do, unless we grasp the chance when it comes. We are seized with the desire to do something fine and generous and big-hearted. But we put it off--we will do it tomorrow; and the fine impulse goes, and the thing is never done. Life is an uncertain thing. We think to utter some word of thanks or praise or love but we put it off; and often the word is never spoken.
Here is one tragic instance of how a man realized too late the things he had never said and done. Thomas Carlyle loved Jane Welsh Carlyle, but he was a cross-grained, irritable creature and he never made life happy for her. Unexpectedly she died.
J. A. Froude tells us of Carlyle's feelings when he lost her. "He was looking through her papers, her notebooks and journals; and old scenes came back to him in mournful memories. In his long sleepless nights, he recognized too late what she had felt and suffered under his childish irritabilities. His faults rose up in remorseless judgment, and as he had thought too little of them before, so now he exaggerated them to himself in his helpless repentance ... 'Oh!' he cried again and again, 'if I could see her but once more, were it but for five minutes, to let her know that I always loved her through all that.'
She never did know it, never. There is a time for doing and for saying things; and, when it is past, they may never be said and never be done.
FROM DOUBTING THOMAS TO AWAKENED SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING
We can go from doubting Thomas to awakened spiritual understanding.
It says in the book of John: But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.'
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he 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.'m
So, Jesus came and appeared to the disciples after the resurrection. He talked to them and blessed them with peace and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Thomas wasn't there, and when he heard about it he said he wouldn't believe until he put his fingers into the nail holes. A few days later, Thomas had the opportunity to conduct his "scientific" test and did so. Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to Thomas, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
The awakening of our own faculty of understanding starts with questioning - questioning the old, inadequate ways of thinking that may have been taken for granted, wondering if there isn't a better way, and desiring to know above all else the Truth.
NOW I UNDERSTAND
The development of understanding is an ongoing responsibility we carry out. We will say many times: "Now I understand!" However, our understanding is never final. We are always growing. We are on a spiritual quest. The word quest comes from the Latin "quaerere" where we also get the word "question." It is important to ask the right questions and to continue the search for understanding. Kahlil Gibran wrote: "Say not, 'I have found the Truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'"n
UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES AS TRANSFORMATIVE BEINGS
It is important to understand ourselves as transformative beings. As we increase our understanding, we have to give up an old understanding and to replace it with better understanding. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect."o Transcending our form (what we seem to be and to be able to do) is called: TRANS-FORM-ATION. We do this in our life through spiritual understanding, along with our other powers.
I would like to close with a quote from Wayne Dyer who wrote in, You'll See It When You Believe It, "This is the place where you can not only live a miracle, but create miracles as well. How? By believing you are a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul. You will create for yourself a life that is literally without limitations. You will begin to see miracles occurring simply because you believe in them and expect them to materialize for you. In fact, you will become a miracle worker yourself."p
a Twelve Powers In You TV/video & book by David & Gay Lynn Williamson, & Robert Knapp, MD
b John 14:1-7
c Deuteronomy 5:32-33
d Deuteronomy 31:29
e Isaiah 30:21
f Isaiah 35:8
g Psalms 27:11
h Psalms 86:11
i Psalms 26:3
j Psalms 119:30
k Proverbs 6:23
l Proverbs 10:17
m John 20:24-29
n The Prophet Kahil Gibran
o Romans 12:2
p You 'II See It When You Believe It by Wayne Dyer
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