Thomas & Friends (no, not the train)
Jesus said, "If your leaders tell you, 'Look, the kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they tell you, 'It's in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and outside of you.
"When you know yourselves, then you'll be known, and you'll realize that you're the children of the living Father. But if you don't know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
— Gospel of Thomas, chapter 3
We began our summer study of the Gospel of Thomas on Monday (more info and updated Zoom link below, if you’d like to join next week). This sayings Gospel, discovered in full in 1945, has been a popular read among wisdom seekers. Many of the sayings, including the one above, seem to be variations on familiar themes from the canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). But some are altogether different. Take saying 7:
Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion that's eaten by a human and then becomes human, but how awful for the human who's eaten by a lion, and the lion becomes human."
A bit of a brain bender.
The arc of Thomas bends toward oneness - unity within oneself, integration with God’s kingdom, and connection to the divine. But that doesn’t mean the journey is all peace, love, and happiness. In discussing the lion saying above, we identified the lion as those forces within us (outside of us?) that are bent on things that oppose God’s kingdom: greed, self-aggrandizement, self-pity, power at all costs, etc. When the human in us can overcome (eat) the lion, that’s a good thing. But if the lion overtakes the human, how awful.
Hungry lions, consuming blazes, not peace but a sword, these are among the metaphors that Jesus uses according to Thomas. And while that may come across as a bit harsh, it’s also very real. For, if we’re honest, we know the lions all too well—both the internal ones and the ones that release their roars on C-SPAN.
This Sunday—back in a parable of Luke’s Gospel (18:9-14)—we’re met with a less cryptic invitation to get real. Two people are praying in the synagogue: one, a well-to-do community member who draws great attention to his magnanimity; the other, a tax collector, whose prayer for help and forgiveness is as real as his maligned reputation. Jesus said, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humbled themselves will be exalted.”
In other words, get real. Know yourselves. For the kingdom is within and outside you. Beware of those (lions) who would tell you differently. God knows and loves and wants the real you. For there, the kingdom is found.
Pastor Jen
