Doubt and Belief (John 20:19-30)
Sermon for Milledgeville & Whitestown UMC...
Doubt
and Belief
(John 20:19-30)
On
the first Easter Sunday in the evening, Jesus appeared to His frightened
disciples behind locked doors. The disciples were afraid that they would be
arrested and put to death, just like their master, Jesus. So they hid behind
doors shutting themselves in and the world out.
Suddenly
Jesus appears to them. He met their fear with peace and purpose. The disciple’s
fear turned to overwhelming joy.
Imagine
being in the room. The Jewish leaders are determined to put an end to the Jesus
movement. You are hiding, afraid for your very life. Suddenly, Jesus appears to
you and says, “Hi! How are you?” That’s a contemporary greeting. The Hebrew
customary greeting is Shalom Alaikum, which means “Peace be upon you.” This
greeting is still in use today. Jesus offered peace in his greeting. He gave
peace with His presence. He breathed upon the disciples, filling them with the
Holy Spirit.
This
moment is sometimes called John’s Pentecost. It’s a poor title since it’s
Easter Sunday and Pentecost doesn’t happen for another 49 days. The frightened
disciples are given peace by the breath of God. This moment reminds us of God
breathing life into a lump of clay who became Adam, the first man. It is an act
of new creation. It also reminds us of God breathing the Spirit upon a valley
of dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision. The vision promises the restoration of Israel
from exile in Babylon. Christ is restoring His disciples from an exile of fear.
Their fear turns to joy, peace, and purpose.
They
were locked away from the world out of fear. But now, with divine authority,
Jesus sends His Spirit-empowered Church back out into the world as His
witnesses.
“As
the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
He
gives His disciples authority to forgive sins, or not. A parallel event occurs
in Matthew when Peter first acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the
living God.
Jesus
tells Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)
When
Jesus pronounced forgiveness to those he healed, His opponents criticized, “Who
can forgive sins, but God alone?” “This man is a blasphemer!” Jesus revealed
His divine authority by healing a paralyzed man. If Jesus has the authority to
heal, He certainly has the authority to forgive sins and restore people to God.
Now, Jesus is sharing His divine authority with the Church to carry on His ministry.
Jesus is trusting us to proclaim forgiveness and salvation through His death
and resurrection.
Later,
Thomas arrives. The others tell him, “We have seen the Lord!” but Thomas
refuses to believe. Doubting Thomas required personal experience. “Unless I
see, unless I touch… I will not believe.”
According
to Barna Research, over half of Americans ages 13 and up report that they’ve
experienced doubts about their religious beliefs. Doubt is a natural part of
the faith journey.
The
top driver of doubt is the “hypocrisy of religious people.” 27% say that
they’ve put a pause on religion or church attendance because of difficulties
with religious organizations. The top three drivers of doubt have to do with
negative experiences with church people and the poor reputation of the Church
in society.
Human
suffering is also a top driver of doubt. “If God is so loving and powerful, why
does God allow people to suffer?” “I prayed for healing, but God didn’t heal
me.” “Why does God seem to be absent?”
Suffering
drives questions that cause us to doubt God’s existence, God’s goodness, and
God’s power.
The
scientific age inspired doubt. Empiricism requires observation, measurement and
repetition to establish facts. Thomas is seeking some sort of factual evidence.
Doubt was in Jesus’ time, too. Thomas doubted Jesus was truly raised. The
Sadducees were a religious sect of Jews who did not believe in resurrection.
They did not believe in angels, demons, or an afterlife. They believed in Torah,
and one’s own wits.
Yes,
resurrection was hard for some in Jesus’ day to believe. But when we believe in
our heart that Jesus was in fact raised from the dead, God does something in
our hearts. He makes us new. Through faith we share in the resurrection of
Jesus. As Paul wrote, “All who are in Christ are new creations. The old has
gone, the new is here!” (2Co 5:17)
Doubt
is not the enemy of faith. Instead, doubt can prod us to a deeper, richer, more
mature faith. Just as a child must learn how to think and behave as an adult,
the same is true for our faith journey. We begin our journey as children in the
faith. As faith grows, we become more fully formed in Christ.
The
adolescent years are marked by questioning. To develop a healthy self-identity,
adolescents must separate themselves from all that has been passed on to them
from their parents, teachers, and society. It’s a time of testing. Standing on
their own, they adopt some values they share with their forebears and reject
others. They chart new pathways, making new discoveries for themselves and for
the rest of us. New and fresh perspectives come from these doubting wanderers.
Eventually,
doubt gives way to a strong set of beliefs, ideals and values. In doubt, they
are making a faith of their own.
A
New Testament definition for faith comes from Hebrews 11:1
Faith
is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.
This
is just the opposite of what Thomas required to believe. He refused to believe
unless he could see for himself the evidence of Christ’s resurrection. He
wasn’t going to accept the witness of others. But the Church grew on the
witness of others. We are beneficiaries of countless Christians who witnessed
to their faith.
Peter
wrote in his first letter to the Church,
You have
not seen Jesus, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe
in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because
you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls. (1Pt
1:8-9)
And
Paul wrote to the Church in Rome,
“…if
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9)
Doubt
prods us toward a deeper, richer and more mature faith, but we can also get
derailed by doubt. Some have experienced terrible losses and suffering. Doubt
can separate you from God. It’s not that God stops being present to a doubter.
It’s that the pain associated with grief and trauma is louder than the still
small voice of God.
Remember
the prophet Elijah. The wickedness of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel led Israel
into the idolatrous worship of the Canaanite god, Baal. Elijah orchestrated a
competition between the priests of Baal and himself as a prophet of Yahweh. The
priests of Baal set up and altar and sacrificed many bulls to their god. They
chanted and prayed and danced around the altar, even cutting themselves,
beseeching Baal to show a sign of His acceptance of their offering. Nothing
happened.
Elijah
mocked, “Is Baal sleeping? Maybe he’s gone to the restroom?” The people
laughed.
Then
Elijah presented his offering. He instructed the people to pour water over the altar.
Buckets and buckets of water were poured over the sacrifice until a ring of
water stood on the ground encircling the altar. Then Elijah prayed and fire
from the sky suddenly consumed the sacrifice. The people were awestruck. They
bowed to the ground and chanted, “Yahweh is God! The Lord is God!” They turned
on the false religion of their king and queen and slaughtered the priests of
Baal.
Jezebel
was outraged and ordered the death of Elijah. Elijah ran for his life into the
desert toward the mountain of God. In desperation, he asked God to take
his life: “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m
no better than my ancestors.” (1Kg 19:4)
Exhausted,
he fell asleep. An angel provided him bread and water. Replenished by
miraculous food and drink, Elijah continued his journey. On the mountain of
God, he took shelter in a cave. The Lord asked him, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
Elijah
answered, “I have been absolutely loyal to the Lord God of Hosts, even
though the Israelites have abandoned the covenant they made with you, torn
down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and
now they want to take my life.” (1Kg 19:10)
Do
you hear how alone Elijah feels in his fear? Pain can isolate us in our
feelings and blind us to the truth. God told Elijah that there were still 7000
in Israel who had not bent the knee to Baal. The Lord sent the prophet to
anoint a new king over Israel.
The
Lord restored Elijah’s strength, his hope, and his purpose. With a renewed
sense of mission, Elijah emerged from the cave, a man reborn.
In
your life, you will face doubt. Rather than let doubt drive a wedge between you
and God, use doubt to drive you deeper into His arms. There you will find
renewal and purpose. Doubt, used properly, leads to a fuller and richer faith,
one that has stood the test.
Jesus
appeared to Thomas. He gave Thomas the proof he required. ”See my hands. Place your
finger in the nail piercing. Place your hand into the wound where the spear
plunged into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas believed and fell to
his knees crying, “My Lord and My God!”
Jesus
replied, “Now you believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet believe.” John wrote his gospel precisely for those who have not
seen. He wrote of Jesus and His mission on earth so that we may believe and gain
life, abundant and everlasting. And by believing, you will be filled with the
breath of God, the Holy Spirit, to go into the world and witness to what you
believe. For faith without works is dead. Act upon what you believe. And where
you doubt, persevere to a vital faith of your own.
Work
toward hope in what we have yet to see.
I
can only imagine.
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