Sermon from April 19, 1998

Sermon "Doubters Welcome"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Sunday, April 19, 1998

Doubters Welcome!

David Heller in his little book, Dear God: Children's Letters to God, has some questions children have asked...

Dear God,
What do you think about all those movies made about you around Easter time? I think they're kind of corny, myself. Your buddy,
- Charles (age 9)

Dear God,
When Jonah was in the whale, was it a he whale or a she whale?
- Mike (age 7)

Dear God,
What do you do with families that don't have much faith? There's a family on the next block like that. I don't want to get them in trouble, so I can't say who. See you in church,
- Alexis (age 10)

Dear God,
Want to hear a joke? What is read, very long, and you hear it right before you go to sleep? Give up? A sermon. Your friend,
- Frank (age 11)

Today's gospel lesson is about a man who was like a child when it came to questions. If he had one, he asked it. If he had a doubt, he expressed it. His name was Thomas. Most of us know him as "Thomas - the doubter" or "doubting Thomas."

I think we who live in an age that questions everything, can learn something from him about how to handle our questions and doubts. And we have them. It's not always easy for us to believe. We are more like Thomas than we know or care to admit. And I suggest to you that that's not so bad. For if we can use our doubts and questions like Thomas did - to help strengthen our faith - then we will be better at applying and living the Christian faith.

For some, doubt is the opposite of faith, I would like to challenge that notion by proposing that healthy doubt is the essence of great faith. But we need to understand the nature of healthy doubt, and we find that in Thomas.

First, some observations about the person. It was difficult for him to follow Jesus for he was a natural born pessimist. Someone has said that a pessimist is someone "who can look at the land of milk and honey and see only calories and cholesterol." It's easier for an optimist for he always expects the best. We should guard handing the leadership of our lives over to a pessimistic attitude.

At the same time Thomas wasn't afraid to ask questions, even to Jesus, when he didn't understand something. And Jesus never put him down for it or anyone who came to him with an honest doubt or question. For such a person is seeking to believe. The honest doubters and questioners did not bother Jesus as much as the know-it-alls, like some of the Pharisees who would not open their hearts and minds to the truth he taught. To be without any questions or doubts at all is to block ourselves off from the blessings of growth and the discovery of new truth and ideas. Thomas had questions. He asked them because he wanted to understand. Doubt, to Thomas, was simply faith seeking understanding. A question became a prayer from the mind for knowledge and understanding.

The setting of the story was the first Easter evening. The disciples had gathered behind locked doors out of fear of the authorities. Suddenly, Jesus is with them in the room. They see his hands and side. And they are filled with unspeakable joy. But Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. I think Thomas wasn't with them because his heart was broken. He was in deep pain. Just as he thought - it had ended in a disaster even worse than he had imagined. Jesus had been arrested, tried, crucified and been dead three days. It was over. The man he had followed for three years, the one who he loved more than his own life, was gone and dead. To gather with the others was just too painful a reminder of all this. So Thomas chose to withdraw and suffer alone. When we are hurt or in deep distress like Thomas, we have a tendency to do one of two things - withdraw and suffer in silence, cut ourselves off from others, or reach out and embrace our family, friends.

To withdraw from the fellowship of the Christian family is to miss out on that special sense of the presence of Christ that gives us tremendous peace and joy. And, I think, as Thomas discovered, it is only within that fellowship that we begin to have our questions and doubts settled.

There is a story of a pastor who heard that one of his church members announced that he would no longer attend worship services. The member was advancing the familiar argument that he could communicate with God just as easily out in the fields with nature as his setting for worship. One winter evening, the pastor called on this reluctant member for a friendly visit. The two sat before the fireplace making small talk, but avoiding the issue of church attendance. After a while, the pastor took the tongs from the rack next to the fireplace and pulled a single coal from the fire. He placed the glowing ember on the hearth. As the two watched in silence, the coal quickly ceased burning and turned an ashen gray, while the other coals in the fire continued to burn brightly. The minister's silent message was effective. After a long pause, the parishioner turned to the pastor and said "I'll be back at worship next Sunday ."

One way to set yourself up for a discouraging journey in the faith is to cease the discipline of regular worship attendance. An individual is not a choir. The talents and presence of others are needed for harmony. An additional coal brightens and empowers. We do this when we worship together. Next time you are discouraged and tempted to go it alone remember the image of the single coal. It cannot survive. There is no limit to what a church can do that decides to do it together!

The disciples, so excited, rush out and find Thomas. They use the very same words that Mary and the other women had used, "We have seen the Lord!" And Thomas makes that reply for which he has become famous or infamous, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

If Thomas were alive today he'd probably live in Missouri, the "Show me" state. "Prove it. I've got to have irrefutable proof that he's alive. Then I'll believe."

A week later the disciples gather again and this time Thomas is with them. Like before, Jesus appears to them, "peace be with you," he says. Then Jesus turns to Thomas and offers to allow him to touch his hands and his side. We're not told if Thomas did this. He fell on his knees and said, "my lord and my god!"

Thomas openly admitted his doubts, he faced them, and worked through them to the greatest confession of faith in Christ in the whole new testament - "my lord and my god!"

A question is a prayer from the mind for knowledge and understanding. The affect can be, "my lord and my god!"

After seeing Jesus Thomas moved from retreat to witness - from fear to joy - from doubt to belief - from not daring to hope to hoping! What about your doubts? Doubters welcome!

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