Title: What about Us Non-See-ers?
Text: John 20:19-31
Thesis: “Blessed are those who believe without seeing...” John 20:29
Introduction
I’ve never been the brightest bulb in the room or the sharpest knife in the drawer. In grade school I did fine but excelled in recess and lunch. When I was in high school I excelled in having fun and athletics. There were some classes that I liked and did well in… I like courses where I could think and explore ideas and write essays. But I rather disliked things like memorizing the Periodic Table. Consequently my guidance counselor thought maybe I should pursue a meaningful career serving my country. I am well aware that had I followed his advice I would be retired and enjoying my government pension and perhaps be a double dipper working for the United States Postal Service.
But that was not what I did. I had had an encounter with Jesus and believing changed everything.
In Luke 6 we read of how Jesus spent a night praying. The next morning he called all of this followers and from among them he chose twelve to be his disciples. Among them was a man named Thomas.
St. Thomas was born in 1st Century Galilee. As I said before, he was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. When he first heard of Jesus’ resurrection, he questioned it, earning him the nickname “Doubting Thomas.” However, the Gospel of John tells us that when he saw the risen Christ, face to face, he proclaimed Jesus as “My Lord and my God!”
His encounter with the risen Christ was transforming in his life as it was in the lives of all the disciples. Thomas traveled beyond the borders of the Roman Empire to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead on the third day, who ascended into heaven, sent his Holy Spirit and has promised to come again . Historically we know that traveled to Syria and Persia – present day Iran, and he spent time on both the southwest and southeast coasts of India where many churches were established. He died there and was buried in India. His bones were later moved to the Church of St. Thomas in Rome.
It seems that says quite a lot about the transformation that took place in his life after seeing the risen Christ. Believing changes everything. It changed everything for the other disciples and it changed everything for Thomas. Hopefully believing changes everything for us as well.
Believing turns…
I. Fear to Joy
The disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid… suddenly Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. John 20:19-20
It peaked my interest when a student asked me about zombies while we were talking about the resurrection of the dead. It was a serious question. There seems to be a zombie renaissance of late.
I’ve seen and I have very little knowledge of zombies because I refuse to watch that kind of stuff. Zombies and zombie entertainment do quite fall into that “whatsoever things are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable” guideline for things we let our minds fixate on. In Philippians 4 the Apostle Paul concluded this concluded his teaching on what we think about by saying, “Put into practice all you learned and received from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” I learned from experience a long time ago that a person can lose a lot of sleep worrying about stuff that does not exist.
A year ago the Miami Herald ran a column, “Fear, anxiety drive zombie craze.” In the article the reporter noted that “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an official reassurance: no zombie apocalypse. The CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead”
It was Sunday evening. On Friday Jesus had been crucified and buried. On Sunday morning they discovered his body was missing from the tomb. Later Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and asked that she tell the disciples he would be ascending to the Father in Heaven. Mary had raced to tell the disciples. However, our text finds the disciples hiding behind locked doors. If the Jewish leaders had gotten Jesus crucified then what might they do to them? They were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. They feared for their lives. And as we all know, when you are living in fear of anything… you do not sleep well.
It was into this room filled with people huddled behind a locked door and fearing for their lives that the post-resurrection Jesus appeared and said, “Peace be with you.” Jesus was no reanimated cadaver. He was no lurching zombie. The sight of the risen Christ and the sound of the voice of the risen Christ dispelled all their fears and they were filled with joy.
Believing turns…
II. Anger to Forgiveness
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:21-23
The murder of Colorado Prison Chief Tom Clements on March 19 has been in the news and on our minds of late. In a recent interview with Mrs. Clements she said, "Last Tuesday night, Tom and I were watching TV and the doorbell rang. And my life was forever changed.”
She said her husband believed in the cause of corrections and felt that anyone can be redeemed - even his own killer.
"Tom believed in redemption, in the ability of the human heart to be changed," she said. "We pray for forgiveness and peace for the family of the man suspected of taking Tom’s life, and we pray every day for forgiveness and peace in our own hearts."
"He would want justice, certainly," she said, choking back tears. "But moreover, he’d want forgiveness.” (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/25/memorial-service-colorado-prisons-chief/2016847/)
During Lent our Confirmation Class watched “The Passion of Christ.” Despite the fact that Mel Gibson’s film was a film depicting the cruel and horrendous suffering heaped on Christ. By design it was intended to drive the nail home that Christ had indeed suffered terribly for our sakes… Our Confirmation students were deeply touched by the suffering of Christ but they were also deeply touched by the level of inhumanity that people are capable of doing to another person. I think we all felt a measure of outrage at the religious leaders that would perpetrate such an injustice and at the Roman soldiers who treated Jesus so maliciously and sadistically.
While the disciples were indeed fearful for their lives I have to wonder if they were not also enraged by what had been done to Jesus. It is easier to hate than you might think.
Following many tragedies I have noticed that the sorrow of loss quickly turns to outrage and anger and the desire to see that someone pays and that they are personally compensated. The desire for revenge and for some kind of restitution is powerful.
When Jesus came into the room, the second word of peace he spoke to them was a word of forgiveness. Jesus wanted his disciples to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and as such to demonstrate forgiveness toward others… including his tormentors and those they now feared.
Believing also turns…
III. Doubt to Faith
As you know, when the other disciples told Thomas they had seen Jesus, Thomas relied, “I won’t believe he is risen unless I see [for myself.” Then Jesus said, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” John 20:24-29
This part of the story kind of irks me. The story is told from the Apostle John’s perspective which is kind of interesting. Because of the way the story is told Thomas has had to live with the moniker “Doubting Thomas” for two thousand years. Whenever someone is doubtful, those who are hopeful call them a “Doubting Thomas.”
Truth be told, interestingly, Thomas was not the only doubter.
• When the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him – but some of them doubted. Matthew 28:17
• Still later Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their disbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead. Mark 16:14
• The story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. (Later) and suddenly standing among them… the whole group was startled and frightened thinking they were seeing a ghost. Luke 24: 11 and 37
However as John tells it, when Jesus showed up the disciples were all filled with joy and it was only Thomas, who was not there at that time, who said he needed to see for himself.
I think I kind of identify with Thomas. I am by nature a cynic, a doubter and critic. I am suspicious and look for reasons to question things. I know people who refuse to entertain a doubt when it comes to matters of faith, but I think a closed mind is a sign of deeply hidden doubt. A closed minded person simply does not want to deal with or wrestle with a question. Plus refusing to work through doubts means you never have to admit you are wrong or have to change your mind or change the way you live.
Doubt is really just another form of curiosity. It’s in asking questions that we find understanding and certainty. We expect our children to be curious and ask questions. Curiosity is a good thing.
One of my favorite commercials that came out of the Super Bowl is the Kia Sorento commercial. A nice family is driving along in their Kia Sorento with the sunroof open. The little boy in the back seat asks, “Daddy, where do babies come from?” And the dad explains that somewhere way out there is space is a place called Babylandia where all the babies are… human babies, baby birds, baby animals – all kinds of babies. And when the time is right the babies all wave goodbye to Babylandia and shoot off in shiny rockets to earth where they float down to earth in parachutes. Animals land in Africa and fish land in the oceans and babies land at their new parent’s house. Then the camera focuses on the baby in the car seat. But the little boy is not satisfied. He says, “But Jake says we get babies when…” And the father immediately launches into a rousing round of “The Wheels on the Bus go round and round…”
You can be sure the kid in the backseat was not buying it just as Thomas wasn’t buying it and just as we don’t buy it until we see for ourselves as well.
Dr. Mark Roberts says we should not call Thomas “Doubting Thomas.” We should call him “Honest Thomas.”
Interestingly, earlier Jesus rebuked the disciples for not believing when they were told he had risen from the dead. But with Thomas there is no rebuke. Jesus does not rip into Thomas for his doubts. Rather he gives Thomas what he needs.
Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look my hands. Don’t be faithless anymore. Believe!”
Conclusion:
I don’t know if you’ve ever been disillusioned but I find myself disillusioned at times. There are things in life that cut so deeply we wonder if Christ is alive and well and is as he promised, “with us until the end of the age.”
• I feel for the family who set out to do a good thing by adopting three children from Adam’s County foster care only they were not told that all three children had been so severely abused and traumatized that they would need years of extensive treatment…
• I feel for those who did their very best at parenting but find themselves wondering what went wrong.
• I feel for those who set out to live for and honor God only to find themselves dealing with a terrible illness.
• I feel for those who thought their Christ-centered marriage would last forever but it didn’t…
• I feel for those who thought their savings and investments would be there when they needed it.
• I feel for those who thought they were secure in their employment but aren’t.
You get the idea…
So we find ourselves hiding behind a locked door, all fearful and frustrated with life and wondering what happened to God… is he alive or not?
But Jesus comes into the room this morning, a powerfully risen Christ and he still says, “Peace be with you.” Jesus comes into the room this morning to say, “Don’t be faithless anymore. Believe!”
There is a faith or belief that requires seeing to believe… and there is another kind of faith that Jesus commends that believes and trusts without seeing. That is the faith of the Non-See-ers… you and me.
Jesus said to Thomas, “You believe because you have seen me, blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:29
For us Non-See-ers…these things are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. John 20:30-31
