Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Second Sunday of Easter - 04/03/16 Sermon - “Thomas: the doubter"

Sunday 04/03/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Thomas: the doubter”

                            

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 150

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Revelation 1:4-8

Gospel Lesson: John 20:19-31

          My friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome once again on this the Second Sunday of Easter. On this day that we still declare, He is risen! He is risen indeed! This season of Easter that were are currently in, will continue for seven Sundays, until we reach Pentecost Sunday on May 15^th. Pentecost Sunday is the Sunday that we wear all red, and that we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming to the disciples and the early Christians in the city of Jerusalem, on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost.

          With that said though, this morning I want to talk about doubt. You know when we question things, when we get discouraged. When are aren’t sure about something. Some of us might have doubts about the future, some of us might have doubts about the strength of our country, and some of us might have doubts about our health. In addition to this, some of us might have doubts about our jobs, or maybe we have many other doubts that I haven’t listed here this morning.

Having doubts, while not good in many instances, is simply part of the reality of being human. How many of us have ever had doubts? How many of us have ever asked “God, why me?”

In my chaplaincy internship, I have had the honor to sit with many patients that are sick, that maybe have cancer, or that maybe are dying. More than once I have been asked the question, “Paul, why did God allow this to happen to me?”

          I think that whether we want to admit it or not, we all sometimes have doubts, pains, and struggles. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us in 6:34: “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Mt. 6:34, NRSV). Yet sometimes we still have worries, we still have doubts. How can this be though? I mean if Jesus tells us to not have worry, to not have doubts, and to cast all of our cares upon him, how can we have doubts? Shouldn’t we have nothing but peace, joy, and contentment?

          Has anyone here in the past week experienced any doubt, worry, or anxiety? How could this be though, if we are not to worry, not to have doubt, and not to have fear? The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7, NRSV).

          You see, while we are called to trust God, to trust Jesus, and to call upon the Holy Spirit, we are human, and we are weak. We shouldn’t have worry, doubt, or fear, yet sometimes we do. By the way, the same Apostle Paul that wrote the scripture that I just read from his letter to the Philippians also asked God to remove the thorn from his flesh. The Apostle Paul had his own sufferings, and had his own moments of pain, doubt, and fear.

          I find that so often when we look at people like the founding fathers and the founding mothers of our country, or the Apostles of Jesus Christ, we look at them like “mini-Gods”. Are we to believe that General George Washington never had any doubts that the Continental Army that he was leading could actually defeat the mighty British army in the Revolutionary War? What about the great President Abraham Lincoln. Can you imagine the worry, the doubt, and the fear that he must have had sometimes knowing that so many people were dying every day in the Civil War? I can imagine how President Lincoln felt as he was riding a train to Gettysburg, to give his famous Gettysburg address, just after over seventy-five thousand men had died in battle. Did he have any fears, worries, or doubts on that train ride?

          The Apostles of Christ at one point argued over who was the greatest among them. At one point in the gospels, the Apostles panicked during the storm on the Sea of Galilee, not trusting that Jesus could calm the storm.

          My point of saying all of these things my brothers and sisters, is that there is big difference between salvation and sanctification. Believing in God, asking his son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is how we obtain salvation. We come to Jesus Christ, we come to newness of life through repentance, through asking Jesus into our hearts, and in making him the Lord of our lives. Yet if this is true, why do we then still struggle sometimes after we have salvation? I thought that coming to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior was the recipe to being made into the image of God, or in the Latin the “Imago Dei”.

          My brothers and sisters, salvation, the gift of heaven, the gift of eternal life, is a free gift offered to us all through the cross of Jesus Christ, but sanctification, or being into the image of God, well that takes a lifetime. After we accept Christ, we are called to continue to follow God, as he will continue to mold us and shape us, so that we can become more like him. As a result, sometimes we will still fall down, sometimes we will still struggle, and yes, sometimes we will still doubt.      Being a Christian then, doesn’t mean that we are perfect, it simply means that we have asked for forgiveness of the one who was and is perfect. It doesn’t mean that we have all the answers, but it does mean that we serve a God that does. You see coming to Christ is only the beginning of our faith journey.

          Given this, how many years does it take to become made into the image of God, or the “Imago Dei”? Does it take 20-years, 40-years, 60-years? How many years does it take for us to become much more like God?

          This morning in our Gospel reading we have a famous story that has spawned the phrase “A doubting Thomas”. Has anyone ever heard the phrase “A doubting Thomas”? I have heard this phrase in far more places that just the church. It is a phrase that has been used in many places, for centuries.

          I will be honest with you, I used to think badly of the Apostle Thomas, for being a doubter. Yet Peter denied or doubted Jesus three times, even after Jesus told him that he would do so.

          Now just to set the stage for this gospel reading, Jesus was crucified on Good Friday. All of the disciples, except the beloved disciple, had fled. They were in Jerusalem, but they had abandoned Jesus on his day of crucifixion, including Thomas. I wonder the emotional hurt that Thomas felt knowing that he had abandoned Lord Jesus? After being with Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords for three-years, Thomas and all the others, except for John, abandoned Jesus.

          Then Good Friday turned into Saturday, the day before Easter. I can only imagine how broken and hurt that Thomas and the other disciples must have felt that Saturday, the day before Easter. Maybe Thomas wept out of guilt, out of sadness, or out of hurt.

          Then we have the news of Sunday morning’s Easter Resurrection, where Mary Magdalene goes and tells the disciples that Jesus Christ had risen. This is where today’s gospel reading begins.

          The gospel reading for this morning says, “It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were still behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them” (Jn. 20:19, NRSV). The gospel then says, “He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you” (Jn. 20:20-21, NRSV).

          Jesus having promised that the “helper” or the Holy Spirit would come and fill them, gave them a little dose of this. In John 20:22 it says, “Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 20:22, NRSV).

          So how does “doubting Thomas” fit into this story? Well the gospel then says, “Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into the wounds left by the nails, and put hand into his side, I won’t believe” (Jn. 20:24-25, NRSV).

          So ten of the remaining eleven disciples saw the risen Christ, and then they told Thomas about it. Mary Magdalene and the other women present also told Thomas, but he didn’t believe them. He doubts them. I wonder though, was Thomas doubting because he was afraid? Was Thomas being selfish? Or could Thomas maybe have been in so much emotional pain that he didn’t want to falsely get his hopes up? While we are all supposed to believe in and trust in God, sometimes we struggle, sometimes we doubt, sometimes we worry. I wonder if any of us have ever felt like Thomas?

          I mean don’t get me wrong, the fact that Thomas doubted was not a good thing at all, but haven’t we all been Thomas at one point or another? Didn’t God then forgive our doubt, our worry, and our fears, as God always does, when we ask him? Didn’t Jesus forgive Peter for denying him three times?

          So to complete this gospel of John story, the gospel says, “After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them” (Jn. 20:26a, NRSV). So for another eight days, Thomas doubts and doesn’t believe that Jesus is alive, that he is resurrected. I can only imagine how bad Thomas must have felt during these eight additional days.

          The gospel then says, “Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:26b, NRSV). The greeting of peace or “Shalom” in Hebrew was a common greeting in ancient Jewish culture, and it still is very much practiced today. In many churches we still share the peace or the love of Christ every Sunday.

          The gospel then says, “Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” (Jn. 20:27, NRSV).

          Then the gospel says, “Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see me and yet believe” (Jn. 20:28-29, NRSV).

          This gospel reading then ends by saying, “Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, sings that aren’t recorded in this scroll. But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name” (Jn. 20:30-31, NRSV).

          So, should we have worries, fears, doubts, and anxiety? No, we shouldn’t, but we all have them from time to time. The apostles had them. The founding fathers and mothers had them. I’m pretty sure that President Abraham Lincoln had them.

          What I have learned then is this, when I am sitting at the bedside of someone who is dying, who is doubting, and they ask me, “Paul, why is this happening? Why did God allow this to happen?” I have learned that I don’t need to have all the answers. All I need to do is be present, so that God can work through me. For God is in control. All I need to do is trust him, and get out of my own way, so that he may use me to his glory.

          So perhaps we have all been a “doubting Thomas” at one point or another, yet for many of us, we can say that God’s brought us through. So on this day and always, let us love each other, let us encourage each other, and let us lift up each other, in the name of Jesus Christ. So that we might all declare what Jesus told Thomas on this day, “No more disbelief! Believe!” (Jn. 20:27b, NRSV). For God is good. Amen.