There are plenty of people ready to poke holes in Christian faith, whether by questioning the veracity of the Bible, denying the intelligibility of doctrines like the Incarnation or the Trinity, or pointing fingers at the bad behavior of Christians. We can spend quite a lot of effort trying to plug those holes through solid apologetic debate or by works of service wherein we demonstrate that our faith does produce good action. And that is time well spent.
It came to me, however, while I meditated on this week’s Gospel reading from John 20:19-31, that you could say our faith is founded upon holes! It was the holes in Jesus’ hands and side which were the basis of faith for Thomas. And “those wounds yet visible above,” which Godfrey Thring celebrates in third verse of “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” continue to be foundational to our understanding of what God has done for us in Christ.
Our faith is one which accepts the wounding, the holes punched by the world in us and what we believe, and, by the grace and strength which raised Jesus from the dead, triumphs over those holes, even glories in them.
On the sillier side of thoughts about all this is an old science fiction short story by Theodore Sturgeon, “It Was Nothing — Really!” Sturgeon imagines a brilliant discovery prompted by the observation that toilet paper almost never tears at the perforations. The only conclusion is that somehow the paper is stronger at that point where the holes are punched. This leads to the reasoning that if removal of material makes something stronger, then removing even more material will make it even stronger, until you reach the point where you have removed all material and are left with an indestructible “nothing.” Thus is invented a powerful force field.
The Sturgeon story is nothing but geeky silliness, but it carries a hint of the sober truth about the Gospel, about our faith and life in Christ. Paul says, “when I am weak, then I am strong,” because that is when the power of God shows up. Just like for Jesus, the holes in us, our wounds, are just the place where the real strength of God appears among us.
Christ is risen! Holes and all.