READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 John 5:4-10
- St. John 20:19-31
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Savior. (Titus 1:4)
Who speaks to you today, saying:
“Thomas, ‘Put your
finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side.
Do not disbelieve, but believe.’”
Easy for Jesus to say to St. Thomas, while they were both
standing there, facing each other in the flesh. Jesus, the God-man, presenting
Himself to St. Thomas the man. Jesus having suffered all the violence of the
world and St. Thomas, in that same faith, preparing to face the violence of the
world with the knowledge of the Resurrection of the dead.
What makes a man? Really that question involves masculinity,
and if you ask what masculinity is, these days, you’ll immediately get
redirected to “toxic masculinity”. What is silly, and I say silly in a
depressing way, is that the elites’ description of “toxic masculinity” happens
to be the opposite of masculinity and their definition of acceptable
masculinity is feminism.
No winning that one. One term that has come out of this
absurd social pressure put on our young men today is “soy boy”. This comes from
the fact that soy contains high levels of estrogen and that most of our food
today has been saturated with soy and soy products, changing our men into women
or at least more feminine. Hence “soy boy”.
Why this is relevant today, is because we are once again
vindicating St. Thomas and Jesus from the charge of being feminist, or soy
boys. Not that feminine is bad, its just not for men. St. Thomas, false
teachers of the church would say, is whining about his apparent exclusion from
seeing the Lord Jesus, resurrected from the dead.
He then throws a fit and pouts saying, “I won’t believe
unless I see and touch. Never ever forever never!” And then his lower lip
protrudes and he stomps around the upper room, plopping himself into a far corner
with furrowed brow. Or maybe he took the “higher ground” and accepted things
saying, “you know, I haven’t seen Him, but Mary has. Why not let her take my
place as an Apostle?” St. Thomas, a progressive before his time…
This is what we have done to our young men in our day and we
wonder why they aren’t showing up. They aren’t showing up in families, they
aren’t showing up at work, and they aren’t showing up at church. We have cowed
them into thinking their masculinity is a disease, that they are always
mansplaining or always toxic, and that they must move aside for true
leadership. And that’s where they went. To the side.
Repent. None of this is one bit of what St. Thomas did. St.
Thomas stands up for what is right, here, and that is real masculinity. He has
God’s Word that Jesus Christ is not only his friend (Jn 15:15), but his brother
(Jn 20:17). His brother and fellow inheritor with Jesus, of the kingdom of
heaven (Rom 8:17).
On top of all that, is the glorious promise from St. Matthew
19:28, “when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have
followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.” St. Thomas is holding Jesus to His Word as He taught him to.
Thus, when it comes to “following Jesus” and taking the
Gospel to all lands, if St. Thomas is not a witness to the Resurrection of
Jesus, then what kind of Apostle is he to be? St. Thomas stands up for what is
right, stands up for God’s Word, and that God keep His promise and include St.
Thomas.
Jesus faces self-sacrifice, suffering, violence, and testing
in order to accomplish His great work for you. Jesus is masculinity par
excellence. In more of a feminist spirit, we would expect Jesus to concede, to
placate, to yield ground in an attempt make a better deal for both sides.
However, against sin and death, no quarter will be given.
In Jesus’s self-affirmation as a man, the God man, He denied
Himself, picked up His cross, and followed the Father’s will. Father!
In this, Jesus is at risk of being left out. In Jesus, God
opens Himself up to being expendable. That if He cannot even save His fallen
creation from their sin, what kind of loving, merciful, and all-powerful God is
He?
God takes the risk. He opens Himself completely, even to the
abusive hands of soy-boys who cannot think for themselves and cannot believe in
a self-donating God. There must be some other way, they believe, not just
through this Jesus. What about the way that makes me feel like a special boy?
What about the way that lets me cower and grovel and abase myself to curry
favor and climb the ladder?
God sends a man to do the work, where He will literally
stand up, in the end. Stand up is another word for rising again from the dead.
When Job says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will
stand upon the earth” (19:25), he’s talking about the Resurrection of the
Body. Jesus stands up to sin. Jesus stands up to death. Jesus stands up to the
power of the devil, willing to fight, inflict pain, and suffer and endure pain,
all of which is very adverse to the non-masculine spirit.
And all this not even for Himself. Here is another key,
masculine point. The man does not ask “what's in it for him”, but “will it help
others”. Will his shouldering of this suffering be of benefit to his family, to
his brother, to his neighbor?
Jesus’s work is done for everyone else EXCEPT Himself, in
order that all turn from their evil ways and live. St. Thomas stands up in that
Work, not for himself, but so that the Word may go out to all lands and that
the forgiveness of sins be preached to all the world. And, according to
tradition, what was in it for him was a fatal spear wound, on the hill of St.
Thomas, in India.
God sends the man Jesus, and He in turn, sends men to
continue His work in His Church, of self-denial for the benefit of others. So
we should expect men to show up. In Church and in the Office of Holy Ministry,
that of being a Pastor.
One thing we can do in our day and age is to offer this
alternative to our ostracized young men. To tell them you are welcome here. If
no one else wants what you have to offer, we do. We want to call you to the
highest purpose of your life. We want your time and energy and effort and your
will - and your goodwill.
The evidence is overwhelming that when fathers drop out of
the church, their children of both sexes overwhelmingly do as well.
Conversely, if fathers remain faithful, their children will do so also in
much higher percentages, compared to only their mother remaining
faithful.
Thus, the cosmos that the Lord gives us is orderly and it is
ordered under a Patriarchy, the Father being at the top. We then have our own
biological fathers. We also have spiritual fathers, who are men called and
ordained rightly to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments. This
masculinity is not a kingship, but a headship, where the head has every
incentive to sacrifice itself for the good of the body.
Not concession, but steadfastness. Not kingship, but
sacrifice. Not child’s play, but manly living in God’s Word, according to His
order, and according to His example. In this simple act of rebellion, against
the modern culture, daring to be masculine as father, in family, and coming to
Church, is high treason.
In Faith given by God, we hear these words of promise and
know they are for us. That is truly what “blessed are those who have not seen”
means. It does not mean blind, closed minds. It means courage, faithfulness,
and trustworthiness. All of which Jesus Christ shows towards us and gives to
us, that we would have His Promises ourselves.
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