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“The Light Within”
Gospel of Thomas 5, 13, 33, 77, 111
John 1:1-9
A sermon preached by the Rev. Douglas M. Donley
We
are at the end of our season where we are asking the question, “Whose Gospel is
it Anyway?”
Throughout the past three months, we have explored different scriptural
authors, unveiling their unique perspectives and theologies. We have asked of each of them, “What is most
important for you to impart to us about the story of Jesus and how does that
relate to our faith journeys?”
Through it all, I hope you have
taken time to consider what is most important to you.
That seems to be a worthwhile thing
to do as we assess our place in life around sumptuous thanksgiving feasts in
the coming week. Remember, the important
question is not “what do you believe?” but “What difference does your belief make in the world?”
Today, we
turn our attention to the Gospel of Thomas.
This noncanonical book was not included in the
scripture when the cannon was finally closed in the
mid fourth century of the common era.
The book is made up of 114 sayings of Jesus. Two thirds of them appear in other portions
of scripture. Scholars can’t agree on the date of its
authorship, but many believe that it was written around the same time as
Matthew, Mark and Luke, but before John.
I want to focus on some of the passages that didn’t make it into the
cannon, for it is those verses and that perspective that inform why this book
was deemed too dangerous for scripture.
The Gospel
of Thomas plays a bit part in the The DaVinci Code but is the subject of the religious
thriller, Stigmata that came out
about eight years ago. The premise of this rather odd film is that
the main character was miraculously channeling ancient writers and was writing
words in Aramaic on the walls of her apartment.
These words were from the Gospel of Thomas. The church leadership wanted to suppress word
of this miracle, for God would obviously not have one of her servants really
unveiling a supposedly heretical book.
What would that mean to notions of power and authority?
Eleaine Pagels believes that John
was written to rebuff Thomas. And if the
church had chosen Matthew, Mark, Luke and Thomas instead of John, then we would
have a different world and church, indeed.
Aside from lifting up the disciple, Thomas as a good guy instead of John’s doubting and disbelieving bad guy, the Gospel of
Thomas also lifts up the ability for each person to see within themselves the
light of God. The light of Jesus points
us to the light of God within ourselves, says Thomas’ Gospel.
This light
of God is within all of us. That’s the
belief of Thomas’ Gospel. His Gospel is
one among many books of Gnostic literature.
Gnostic is another way of saying knowledge or insight. The Gnostic writers believed that there was a
spark of light within each of us and that the pursuit of this light, this
illumination, this insight, this gnosis was the meaning of life.
I like the
way singer/songwriter turned Unitarian minister Fred Small put it:
“The Gospel of Thomas offers us a
Jesus strikingly different from the icon many of us were taught in Sunday School. This Jesus works no miracles, proclaims no
apocalypse, and dies to redeem no one’s sins.
This
Jesus insists that his own divinity is no different than yours or mine. Rather
than a Messiah or demigod, he is a teacher of wisdom, a guide to divine
understanding. His gift to us is not a catechism of belief but…"a method
of attaining oneness with God." (now that sounds
downright Buddhist)
The secret
revealed by the Gospel of Thomas is that we’ve been looking for God in the
wrong place. God’s kingdom, it proclaims, is not somewhere up in the sky, nor
some time in the future, but in the here and now and in every human heart. In
this gospel Jesus preaches, "If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the
kingdom is in heaven,’ then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say
to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom
is inside you and it is outside you." The
We
must seek God within ourselves, he insists: "When you know yourselves,
then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the
living father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty,
and you are poverty."
His God is a God
of light, and the divine light shines forth from each of us. Jesus teaches,
"If they say to you, ‘Where have you come from?’ say to them, ‘We have
come from the light, from the place where the light came into being . . . .’ If
they say to you, ‘Is it you?’ say ‘We are its
children, and we are the chosen of the living father.’" In another Nag Hammadi text, The Dialogue of the Savior, the
disciple Matthew demands to see "that place of life" which is
"pure light." Jesus answers, "Every one who has known himself
has seen it."
But if each of us has this divine light within us, why do we need a savior? According to the Gnostic Jesus, we don’t.
In the Gospel of
John in the New Testament, Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of
life." In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus employs the same image but
turns it on its head: "There is light within a person of light," he
says simply, "and it shines on the whole world." This Jesus is not a
savior, but a teacher.” (from
a sermon entitled “A Different Jesus”,
This whole
thought pattern seems harmless enough, doesn’t it? Well, it is, unless you are trying to form a
church based upon uniformity of belief.
John is a better candidate for this.
While Thomas affirms that we all have access to the light within, John
says there is only one way truth and life and that life is the external light
of all the nations.
If one says
“I have access to the light within,” then what happens when another says they
have access to the light within and that light is revealing something
different? This does not make for
everything to be neat and in order. There
is great liberating freedom on the one hand and the possibility of anarchy on
the other. Oddly, Baptists are good
children of the light within. We believe that everyone has a competent soul,
has direct access to God without a preacher as an intermediary, and each person
can make their own decisions about the meaning of scripture, with the Holy
Spirit acting as the guide and the community of faith acting as the sounding board. When Baptists first started saying these
things in the 1500’s they were burned at the stake for being heretics and for
causing people to think for themselves which has always been a threat to state
control. In fact, some of the early
Anabaptist movements were called the new light movements, or children of the
light.
Bishop Iraneus in the second century and later Bishop Appolinarus in the fourth century tried to expunge the
church of all such thought. They called
Gnostic books such as Thomas, Mary, Pisits Spohia, and others heretical and ordered them
destroyed. Many were, except for those
that were smuggled into clay pots and buried here and there. That light within kept breaking forth. The Baptist witness is a case in point. You can’t keep a good light down. It can and it will itch to break free. Thank God.
“A century
ago Leo Tolstoy, in his monumental The
Kingdom of God is Within You, urged Christians to
give up coercion and violence in order to realize God’s kingdom here and now.
Thomas Merton, the twentieth century writer and Trappist
monk, agreed with Tolstoy but interpreted his kingdom mystically rather then
practically. We are confronted here with the Catholic church’s
insistence that humanity is sinful, base and unworthy by nature and that
salvation from the pangs of hell is only possible through faith in Jesus and,
by obvious extension, his church, and his representative on earth, the pope.
But the Gospel of Thomas leaves spiritual destiny up to each individual. There
Jesus treats us as equals, or at least as struggling siblings.” (From a review
of Elaine Pagels’ book “Beyond Belief” by Frank
Thomas Smith on southerncrossreview.org)
Hear
again these sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas and see if any of them
resonate with you.
Verse 5: Jesus said, “Recognize what is before your eyes, and the
mysteries will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be
revealed”
Verse 33: Jesus said, “What you will hear in your ear, in the other
ear proclaim from your rooftops. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a
basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on a lamp
stand so that all who come and go will see its light.”
Verse 50: Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where have you come
from?’ say to them, ‘We have come from the light, from the place where the
light came into being by itself, established itself, and appeared in their
image.’ If they say to you ‘Who are you?’ say, ‘We are its children, and we are
the chosen of the living Father.’ If they ask you,
‘What is the sign of the Father in
you?’ say to them, ‘It is movement and rest.’”
Verse 77: Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things. I am
all. From me all came forth, and to me all extends. Split a piece of wood, and
I am there. Lift up the stone and our will find me there.”
Verse 83: Jesus said, "Images are visible to people, but the
light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He will be
disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light."
Verse 111: Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will roll up in
your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death.”
Does not Jesus say,’ those who have found themselves, of them the world is not
worthy”?
Imagine
what would happen if we all recognized the divine spark within each of us. What would be revealed? What would be liberated to be told to all?
You know, I
have seen the light within reveal itself in many of you. Compassion, good works, standing up to powers
and principalities, all pf this is the manifestation of the light within.
I know that each of you holds a portion of the divine
spark.
The light
within speaks to what is our greatest good.
That’s the way God manifests God’s self these days. When we seek the greatest good for us and for
our neighbor, then we are responding to the light that is within each of
us. This light can and therefore is a
light to all of the nations and it beckons to be lifted up for all to see.
Sisters and
brothers, live in the light. Remember
that we each have a piece of the divine spark in us. Remember that our so-called enemies have a
piece of that divine spark as well. We
want the greatest good for all of us.
This is the journey to which God calls us.
Spend some
time this week reflecting upon the light that is within you. Spend some time as well recognizing the light
that is in another. Recognize and
celebrate the light within. It’s there,
even if it is hidden. It is that part of
you that is directly connected to God. It
is that part of you that seeks toward health.
It’s that part of you that recognized and celebrates beauty. It’s that part of you that motivates you to
not only make life better for yourself but for others as well. If it’s only about making life better for
you, then chances are it’s not God’s light.
Sisters and
brothers, there is beauty inside of each of you. There is light within. Let it shine. Be a lighthouse. Be a beacon of hope. Be a source of joy. Let that light within fill you and spill out
to a people in need. When you do that,
then you have some knowledge not only of yourself, not only of God, but also of
your unique Gospel. Whose Gospel is it anyway?
It belongs to the keeper of the light within. May your lights shine.