"Thomas ... 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.' Jesus appeared to the disciples a week later, and..."said to Thomas, 'put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.' And Thomas did, and believed."

Thomas is not one of the "star" disciples, like Paul, or Peter. He is not mentioned often in the Gospels, and his enduring presence in the resurrection narrative is partially due to his particularly human nature, his doubting and the testing of his faith through adversity. We see this humanity in Peter as well - on Palm Sunday, we heard Jesus tell Peter, "Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times," and we saw this come to pass. But it was not only Peter, for, as Matthew recounts in his Gospel, when Jesus was arrested, "all the disciples deserted Him and fled." And yet they returned, and after His death and resurrection, it was they who spread the Gospel throughout the world. They overcame fear and uncertainty and doubt, just as we must overcome fear and uncertainty and doubt, for we are continually being called upon to touch the wounds of the world. Indeed, these wounds often seem overwhelming, and we often feel the urge to flee.

This is one reason why Doubting Thomas is a gift to us from God - he is a symbol of every man and every woman. For we all doubt, some of us more often and more deeply than others. We doubt not only the existence of God, and, like Thomas, the divinity of Jesus, but whether God cares about us and loves us. We fear what comes after death. We wonder whether our existence has a purpose, or whether the world and our presence in it is a cosmic accident.

For the wounds of the world are all too apparent. People are living and dying in chaos, strife, war, natural disaster. Environmental degradation threatens our planet and inevitably and increasingly, our health. There is poverty, disease and starvation at home and abroad. There is intolerance and injustice on earth, in our lives, and within our religious institutions. So knowing that Thomas grew in faith through chaos and doubt in his lifetime should be a balm to our souls. And knowing that Thomas was not afraid to reach out and touch the wounds despite - or perhaps even because of - his doubts, sets an example for us. Perhaps Thomas was telling us that not only it is okay to touch the wounds, it is essential to touch the wounds, even if we are overwhelmed by them, for only then can we begin to heal these wounds in our world and in ourselves through faith and action.

It is perhaps quixotic that faith in God is not built in, not instinctive and automatic. But no, we have to work at it. God gave us the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, and the ability to reason and to feel. But we cannot see everything that exists, hear every noise that occurs, smell or taste every thing there is to smell and taste. We cannot physically touch God in the way that Thomas and the other disciples could. This morning we heard from John, "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us..."

But we were not there to see or to touch Jesus, and we cannot rely on our intellect or even our feelings to prove to ourselves that God exists, that Jesus rose from the dead, or that we will live on after physical death. One might even think that the nature and restrictions of our human bodies has stacked the deck against us. We were not there, but even so, God has endowed us with the ability to overcome doubt and be strengthened in faith. He has given us the capacity to rise above the physical world and to know and experience her grace with certainty. We have the capacity to be spiritual beings; we are of this world, yet strive to reach another so that we may bask in the brilliant light of God's love, and ultimately, to feel the light working in us and to reflect it back into this world, which sorely needs it.

But beyond our own human frailties, there are obstacles in our lives which can come between us and our faith. These things test our faith, as the disciples were tested. The death or illness of a loved one, natural disasters, the violence of war and civil strife, poverty, and generally the capriciousness of life can make us confused and doubtful. And for women and for lesbians and gay men, some religious institutions themselves can come between them and the expression of their faith.

One can only imagine how gay and lesbian Anglicans in Nigeria are experiencing their Christian faith today, given the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2006 and the Anglican Church of Nigeria's support of this bill. In February 2006, the Nigerian Church, supported by Archbishop Peter Akinola, issued a communiqué on behalf of the Standing Committee stating "The Church commends the law-makers for their prompt reaction to outlaw same-sex relationships in Nigeria and calls for the bill to be passed since the idea expressed in the bill is the moral position of Nigerians regarding human sexuality."

As well as criminalizing same-sex marriage, the bill in question also criminalizes other acts. What follows is taken directly from the draft bill:

"Registration of Gay Clubs, Societies and organizations by whatever name they are called in institutions from secondary to the tertiary level or other institutions in particular and, in Nigeria generally, by government agencies is hereby prohibited.

"Publicity, procession and public show of same-sex amorous relationship through the electronic or print media physically, directly, indirectly or otherwise are prohibited in Nigeria.

"Any person who is involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organizations, sustenance, procession or meetings, publicity and public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly in public and in private is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a term of 5 years imprisonment."

In my sermon last Pride Sunday, I said the following: "...I believe that continued discrimination in our religious institutions validates continued discrimination against us in the wider society. As Barbara Findlay says in her article entitled The Breastless Lesbian, which I quoted from on Pride Sunday, "Silence is one of the most pervasive and one of the most powerful forms of homophobia." Silence can also be permissive. And when we are silent, we are ignoring the wounds caused by injustice. By not speaking out against the Nigerian legislation and the Anglican Church of Nigeria's support of it, the Anglican Church of Canada is affirming the Nigerian Church's support of discriminatory legislation that will silence gays and lesbians in that country as well as anyone who supports them. The law will encourage intolerance of gay people: after all, if the government says it's okay to discriminate, and the Church says homosexuals are sinful - then it must be fine. Obey the Church: homosexuals are immoral, so you can hate them and hurt them.

I believe it is our responsibility to keep coming back to the wounds of injustice within our Church every chance we get. Jesus said, "...'for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me'. They also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I will tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'"

And,

When asked, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' On these two commandments, hang all the law of and the prophets."

These words of Jesus are not new to you; in fact they are likely very familiar. Both have to do with truly identifying with and caring for the other, whether they are your mirror image or very unlike you, whether neighbour or stranger, whether part of the tribe or social outcast. Jesus didn't say care for only people you know, or people you approve of, or people who are Anglican, or people who are heterosexual. He said, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Sometimes we may wish we had other, less obstreperous neighbours, neighbours more like ourselves, neighbours we are entirely comfortable with, neighbours who were not suffering wounds, but we don't. Sometimes loving is not easy, as we all know.

In our own country, the government says it will follow through on a campaign promise to hold a free vote in the House of Commons on same-sex marriage. While the issue was not mentioned in the recent Throne Speech, shortly after Justice Minister Vic Toews said the vote will be held "sooner rather than later." The Conservative campaign platform said that if MPs vote to overturn same-sex marriage, a bill will be introduced to restrict marriage to unions between men and women.

This is not Nigeria; we will not go to prison for being who we are. You personally will not go to prison for being gay, for belonging to PFLAG, volunteering at Pink Triangle Services or EGALE, for marching in gay pride parades, or for publicly supporting full human rights for gay people. But will the Anglican Church of Canada stand with us in the ongoing struggle for our human rights? Will it join its voice with other religious institutions or will it remain silent? Will it touch the wounds? Or will it turn away in fear and indecision and use its inability to make a quick decision or the need to walk in communion with the worldwide Church as an excuse?

I believe that this parish has had an enormous influence within this diocese and likely outside of it, especially in educating other Anglicans about issues related to the human rights of LGBT people within and outside of the Church. We have touched the wounds and broken silence to the point where Anglicans who would prefer to ignore it - and us - are no longer able to. We have not chosen to flee, some of us because things are moving too fast, some of us because things are moving too slow. We have chosen to speak out about the wounds and have grown stronger in our faith. The blessing of Bishop Peter was not only an incredibly moving experience for us all - it was also an indication of the listening and the respect and the love that has grown with the passage of time. As individuals, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to ensure that the listening, the respect and the love and the awareness of injustice continue to grow.

Thomas is not mentioned often in the Gospels. But I will conclude by referring to another iinteraction between Thomas and Christ, which took place during the Last Supper, before the arrest of Jesus. Jesus was sitting with his disciples and told them of His coming departure. He said, "'In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also...' Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'

Yes, we doubt. God gave us the capacity to reason, and doubt is a by-product of this ability. But we have been given the ability to transcend doubt, the same ability that was given to the disciples and especially to Thomas, and to grow stronger as we learn to find the way.