Hey! I Want To Believe! John 20:24-31
According to the story the speaker who looked at Scripture skeptically told the young people gathered at a very conservative college, "You are naive. You cannot continue to take the Bible and apply literalism to it. For example," he said, "take the Old Testament. The Hebrew for `red' and `reed' is the same word. When it talks about Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in pursuit, it really means that it was a Reed Sea. That was no great miracle. There were only about two inches of water in that Reed Sea. It was more like a marsh. A wind came along, blew the water aside, and they were able to slip on through."
And as he told them that, a student in the back of the room jumped up and shouted, "Hallelujah! Another miracle!" The speaker lost his composure and asked, "What did you say?" The student said, "Hallelujah! Another miracle! Just imagine. God drowned all those Egyptian soldiers in just two inches of water!"
Some people have difficulty dealing with the miraculous. This morning we want to talk about a disciple who had a hard time accepting Christ's resurrection from the dead. We all know his name-doubting Thomas. He was not known as doubting Thomas by his friends. He was called Thomas the twin. And he was not the skeptic many have made him out to be. It was simply that he was not with the others when the risen Jesus appeared to them.
This might be a good place to begin our thinking this morning. THOMAS WAS MISSING FROM THE FELLOWSHIP OF FAITH AND THUS DOUBT CAME MORE EASILY.
That happens. People start missing church. Only a Sunday or two at first, then worship becomes the exception, not the rule and finally they are lost from the fellowship altogether. Like the proverbial ember remove from the fire, they cool, and are very difficult to rekindle.
That had not yet happened to Thomas. He was not yet lost. He was simply missing when a significant occasion happened in the life of the Christian community. After all, he was one of the twelve selected by Jesus to be his disciples. A good guess would be that Thomas' heavy heart was responsible for his absence. Some people in times of grief want to be alone. Maybe Thomas sought out his own family after the crucifixion. Maybe he felt he would find more comfort there than with the ten disciples who were left.
We could not blame him if this were a time of crisis. Thomas was missing when Jesus made his first dramatic resurrection appearance to his disciples. Thomas was still in his doubt and despair because he miss just a ordinary gathering of friends. It is a good warning to us.
Group support is powerful. Group support is what the church is all about. One pastor told of a member of his congregation whom he met on the street one day. She had been active once but in recent months drifted away. She told Niles that after suffering numerous personal and family problems God had become distant to her. She felt she had lost contact with him.
The Pastor answered her: "Not only now but even in the future, there will always be times when God seems distant; when it looks as if God has forgotten and does not care; when prayers go unanswered and life is difficult. And at such times you must learn to hold on to your fellow Christians. Your difficulty is that you tried to hold on to God alone, and man was never intended to hold on to God alone."
Maybe Thomas was trying to hold on to God alone. Whatever the reason, he was missing from the group when Jesus appeared to them. God uses even the most ordinary opportunities in church to touch the lives of people in very special ways.
There is a second thing to be said about Thomas. THOMAS WANTED VERY MUCH TO BELIEVE. There are some people who are quick to tell you that they pride themselves on identifying with Thomas. "I'm a skeptic," they say proudly. Actually, there are three approaches to doubt.
One is the skeptic who says he or she is a doubter and proud of it. That is a very convenient approach to life. In the name of skepticism, one can avoid making any kind of a commitment.
The second approach is that of a person afraid to doubt at all. A voice inside your head suggests you will fry in hell if you entertain even the slightest doubt that everything you have been taught is not true. This voice usually sounds very much like some parent's or some preacher's.
The third group is made up of people like Thomas and I suspect like you and me. This is the group of people who say with the man who encountered Jesus, "I believe. Help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24)
Thomas knew that his Lord had been crucified. He knew that he had been pronounced dead and laid in a borrowed tomb. It was too much to ask him to believe that this same Lord was now alive and appearing to his disciples and friends. It would take more than their wishful assurances to heal Thomas' broken heart. "Unless I see for myself the mark in his hand and place my fingers in his side, I will not believe." Who among us would condemn him?
In one way or another we have probably all asked the question, “Why does God not give us just a little more evidence of His existence? Why doesn't He answer just a few more of our prayers? Why does He keep Himself just a little beyond our reach?” Why doesn't God reveal Himself to us in such a way that never again would we have to live in doubt and despair? Perhaps He hides Himself on purpose. Perhaps in order to bring us to spiritual maturity, it is necessary for Him to make faith a challenge.
What if He answered every prayer we prayed? Would we not be dependent children? And would not God be reduced to our mere servant or at least our indulgent Father? We would develop an unhealthy reliance on Him rather than our own abilities, our own initiative. Like a child never allowed to fall, we would never learn to walk, to cope, to conquer. We would never reach full manhood and womanhood in Christ. Besides, faith that comes too easily is not faith for the long haul of life.
Even if we have our times of doubting during times of stress, that does not mean that we are not seeking faith. We were made for fellowship with Him and our hearts are never at rest until we find their rest in Him.
This brings us to the final thing to be said. IF WE SEEK HIM, WE WILL FIND HIM. That is the promise of the Scripture. He will not forever hide Himself from us. "If with all your heart you truly seek Me, you shall surely find Me." (Jeremiah 29:13) Thus says our God.
Thomas did. Eight days later he was in a room with the other disciples. The doors were shut and yet Christ appeared to them. "Peace be with you," he said. Then he turned to Thomas and said, "Put your fingers here and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God."
There may be times in our lives when we will go through seasons of doubt, despair, feelings of spiritual defeat. Anyone whose Christian faith is worth anything has or will. His promises are sure, though. In our hour of need, He will reveal Himself. It may be through a passage of scripture. It may be through the encouragement of a friend or the singing of a favorite hymn corporate worship. He will give solace, though. His mighty arm will never fail us.
It is no sin to doubt. Thomas is an example that it is within the will of God that we should struggle with our faith. That is how we mature. If we seek Him, though, we shall surely find Him. In the meantime, let's cling together in His fellowship, in worship settings together, trusting that when we really need Him, He will reveal Himself to us. He did for Thomas. He will for us as well. Don’t miss the ordinary or the mundane because He will show up when you least expect it, just ask Thomas!