Sermon for April 11, 2010: From Reasonable Doubt to Faith

Just like we have gathered again one week after Easter, so did the disciples of Jesus. It was their second time to come together, according to the Gospel of John. 

The first time was in the evening of same day the empty tomb was discovered. It was then that Jesus appeared to the disciples and allowed them to see that it was really him. He offered them several greetings and some words of encouragement and instruction for the days ahead. But one of the disciples, Thomas, was out when Jesus appeared and he missed the whole thing.

When he got back the other disciples told him about their unbelievable experience of seeing Jesus even though Jesus had been crucified and was known to be dead. Thomas found their claims to be just that—unbelievable. He said that unless he personally saw Jesus and could actually physically verify that it was him by seeing evidence of the crucifixion that he would not believe.

Who could blame Thomas? Not the other disciples. According to other gospels, they too didn’t believe Jesus had risen and was alive after the women who had discovered his tomb empty and had personally seen him reported their accounts.

When a claim is really big or really important or really outside of common experience most of us are rightfully hesitant to believe it without some pretty solid reasons to do so. If you are at work and your teenage son calls and says he has opened some mail that just arrived and discovered that you have won a lottery worth a million dollars, you would be a fool not to have at least some doubt about what your son has told you. I’ve gotten letters like that, you probably have too, that seem to report that I have won a grand sweepstakes prize worth at least hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know it is too good to be true especially when the envelope is addressed to “Occupant.” Upon a little closer examination of the claim you can usually find something like this in the smallest of print, “If your number is picked as the winning number” or “if you are selected as the winner of the first prize.”

If you are going to make it in this world, you have to be skeptical of wild claims. You have to be skeptical of what others tell you. You have to be skeptical of news that is too good. 

I have had some fun teasing all my kids at various times, definitely at their expense, by telling them wild things and watching them get all excited only to realize it wasn’t true. For example, I would casually announce to one of them as we are sitting around some evening, “Did I tell you that I put a twenty dollar bill on your bed this morning?” They would answer, “No!” and then run back to their bedroom to look for the twenty dollars. In a few minutes they would come out and report that they did not find any money and I would respond, “Oh I didn’t say I actually did put money there. I only said, “Did I tell you that I put twenty dollars on your bed?”

There is a mild sadistic side to that kind of humor, which I must admit I occasionally enjoy, but I also have really felt over the years that I have taught my kids to be thoughtful, even a little cynical, when someone tells them something that is so good it seems like a dream come true, especially if it defies common sense or experience. I believe I have helped teach all my children to have a good head on them and part of that is not to believe everything they are told.

Maybe Thomas’ mother or dad did just the same thing. Maybe he was burned earlier in this life a number of times by believing things he was told only later to discover that he had been a fool, or had been taken advantage of or was the butt of some joke. So when the other disciples made this wild claim to him about seeing Jesus, right there in the very room where they were standing, he immediately doubted their story and understandably so. Which one of us could find fault with Thomas for how he responded and not convict ourselves in the process?

A good healthy dose of skepticism is a critical life ingredient.  

Yet skepticism can sometimes cause us to miss wonderful, amazing gifts right before our eyes. And certainly this is what is being conveyed in this story of Thomas. There was Jesus, right before him and Thomas struggled to believe. Eventually he came to believe, as he could see the marks of the crucifixion on Jesus, but Jesus said to him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

There are times in life when we are called upon to accept something on faith. Faith has been defined as belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. As much as the scriptures were written to communicate the goodness of God and God’s expectations of humanity, some people use the scriptures as if they were in a courtroom and are submitting passages as evidence to convince a jury of their peers about the truth of Christian claims so that people will come to faith. But a close reading of the scriptures makes it evident that faith is often presumed by the authors. The books of the Bible were formed and written to tell the stories, to remember what God has done, and to encourage readers and help give them directions for their own times. But if your heart is closed, if your mind is shut, then no amount of scripture passages, no declarations by disciples or anyone else, no reports of miracles or resurrections or new life is ever going to force you into belief or faith.

Have you ever tried to show or convince someone that you love them only to have them say that they are still not convinced. For every statement that you make or evidence that you provide they can offer some alternative explanation. If they are argumentative enough, eventually about the only thing you can say to them is that they have a choice – As long as your statements and other evidence is unconvincing to them, they can accept on faith what you say or they can live forever in doubt. The choice is really theirs.

That choice is a part of what following Christ is all about too. You can hear the teachings of Jesus about the kingdom of God, the importance of loving others, and the hope of life everlasting until you are blue in the face. You can develop a counterargument for every teaching. You can listen to your pastor preach until you have almost fallen asleep about the costs and benefits of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ and putting your whole trust in God’s goodness and still find plenty of anecdotal evidence to counter every point.

I find that the gospels as well as much of the Old Testament really make a tremendous amount of sense on their own merit but there comes a point where you have a choice how you are going to respond to certain propositions. It is the same choice I named earlier trying to convince someone that you love him or her – you either accept it on faith or live in doubt.

In the United Methodist Church we don’t believe in just accepting every thing you hear about Christianity on faith. We don’t support just blindly reading the Bible and believing everything you read as the literal truth. We don’t suggest you turn on your television at night and trust every preacher there as knowing what they are talking about or believe every healing you see as something authentic. In fact, I think that if you watch preachers and evangelists and faith healers on television that that is a perfect time to use that healthy dose of skepticism I talked about earlier.

But there comes a time when if Christ’s invitation to new life is to have any real meaning that you have to take some steps on faith, not everything will be proven conclusively for you ahead of time, and maybe not for some time, maybe not ever.

The first disciples had to get out of their boats and leave their professions for a time not knowing for sure what would become of their lives or their future.

For the last several weeks Angie Akmajian, our Family Ministry director, has led a confirmation class for seven of our youth. I have assisted her on several occasions and recently mentors have joined the process. Last night a banquet was held for the youth and their parents and mentors. After dinner during a final program, each Confirmand shared a statement of faith.  I was so impressed and moved to hear each of these young persons express in a variety of ways their growing recognition of God’s presence and love in their life and their sense of calling to be part of Christ’s body.

Obviously not all their questions about Christianity have been answered and they will certainly have times of doubt in their future. But for this moment, as they have reached 13 or 14 or 16 or whatever, they have been able to say, “This I believe . . . .”  Their statements were not creedal statements indicating theological understandings or proclamations. Their statements were more along the lines of Thomas’ declaration to Christ: “My Lord and my God.”

They have come to believe without seeing Jesus before them in the flesh and in so doing, I believe they are blessed. As Jesus said to Thomas and the other disciples, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

  What about you? Do you believe? Have you faith? For those of you who attend but have not been baptized or have not joined the church and publicly professed your faith as these young people did today, why are you holding back? What are you waiting for? And for those of you who have been baptized and are members but are largely missing in action in classes for which support faith formation and the ministry work of our congregation, when will you say not just with words but with your heart and soul, “Count me in! I believe in Christ.”