Painting above: The Incredulity of Thomas, Carravagio (1571-1610)
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(…continued…) This is why I am concerned. Many of you probably pay no attention to any of this kind of news, but I know that some of you do, and some of you see the TV specials; and, I know how much this skepticism has permeated our culture. I would get questions from people who hear this kind of thing and wonder why the church has not been upfront with them. But pastors welcome these questions; and, I do want to address this because I know how easily someone can be misled in an area they know little about. For those untrained in theology, it is easy to pull the wool over their eyes and make the New Testament accounts look silly. I know something about biblical studies, so I can immediately see how outrageous these reports are. But I know what it’s like to be in the dark on something. I am not very knowledgeable about car engines and other things mechanical, and in that area, I could be easily misled. Let’s say I am in for an oil change and the mechanic comes out with a serious look on his face and tells me I need a new “muffler belt flywheel for my knooder pump,” I might say, “Okay, you better put one in.” In the same way, many people who hear about an authentic 8th century document saying that Jesus had a wife, might say, “Oh well, I guess that ruins the whole story.” Sad to say, this ongoing assault of irresponsible scholarship and sloppy journalism has taken its toll on the faith of many people.
In our men’s Bible Study the other night, someone commented on the high percentage of funerals that are not held in churches anymore. Nowadays, many people in life and in death are totally disconnected from Jesus. In the 1980’s when I began my ministry, almost everyone had a church funeral, because almost everyone had some connection to a church. And even if it was a very thin connection, they wanted to at least be buried with God’s blessing. But not anymore. What has happened? There are, of course, many factors. But one of the factors, I am sure, is that many people have given up believing in this story, the truth of which has been so relentlessly attacked and undermined.
I know of one guy, an old farmer, who was a faithful member of his little country church. He and his wife raised their six children in that church, and the whole family was in the same pew every Sunday. In time, the kids grew up and moved away, the old farmer retired, his wife died, and he had lots of time to read and think. And he read just one of these fake news articles in one magazine, and he believed every word of it. He decided his faith was not based on truth and he abandoned it, right at the end of his life, right when he needed the comfort of it the most. He came to believe he had been deceived all his life by the church; when in truth, he was deceived by one magazine article by someone who had an anti-Christian agenda, but had no knowledge of or concern for the truth.
I know how this can happen. It almost happened to me. I was 17 years old, I read one book that challenged my faith, and I almost gave up on it all. But then I kept asking and searching and reading, and now I realize how false and misleading that book was that almost destroyed my faith.
Today is the first Sunday after Easter, and the traditional text for this day is John 20:24-29, the Gospel passage that I read earlier. It is the familiar story of Doubting Thomas, and this day in the church year has sometimes been called ‘Doubters Sunday.’ On the evening of Easter Sunday, the resurrected Jesus made his first appearance to all the disciples—that is, all except for Thomas, who was not with them that evening. And despite what his ten best friends were telling him, Thomas did not believe Jesus was back from the dead. In this text, Jesus does not rebuke Thomas, but deals with him gently, even inviting him to touch his wounds.
This story has given comfort to doubters around the world ever since, and it fits in well with what I have been saying. We do not see Jesus in person, and even though he said in today’s reading, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” there are many things that do cause us to doubt. Troubles in the world, afflictions in our own lives, the seeming absence of God, and, deceitful magazine articles, books, and movies, can all create doubts in our minds. But mere doubt doesn’t mean there is no faith. Doubt is a part of faith, or as one of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner said, “If you don’t ever have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ‘ants in the pants of faith.’ They keep it awake and moving.”
But we have to watch how it is that our doubts move us. That old farmer read one article and gave up. When I went off to college, my head was full of doubts, but I had the desire to look into my doubts, talk to others, read books, and see what others might have to say about it. A lot of people have believed this story, and they weren’t all fools. Maybe I was missing something. It turned out, I was missing quite a lot. With only a little reading, I found a whole field of study, filled with brilliant people, who had powerful evidence and arguments for the truth of the Christian Gospel. And that search has confirmed and strengthened my faith, again and again. Doubts are inevitable for you, but don’t ever stop there. Doubt whatever you want, but look into it. Accept that doubt will always be a part of faith. Don’t let doubt move you too quickly to unbelief. Rather, have the wisdom to also “doubt your doubts,” and look into it.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians (15:14), “If Christ has not been raised then our faith is in vain.” Our faith is not in vain, but is built on the solid foundation of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. And Peter said, “We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” And then Peter, and thousands of others, gave their lives to proclaim that message.
Believe it, and you will be saved.
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John 20:24-29 — Now Thomas , one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you have prepared a place for us beyond this life and this world. Prepare us also for that place, by keeping us strong in our faith, now and until our life’s end. In your name we pray. Amen.
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There’s a kind of doubt that really is seeking more information—that ‘wants’ to believe if it’s possible. There’s also a kind of doubt that really is looking for a way out, that doesn’t want to believe or submit, that’s looking for a way to keep control of one’s own life. In Scripture, there is a wonderfully nuanced approach to doubt. The Bible doesn’t view doubt as always rebellious, nor does it encourage people to live in doubt perpetually. That’s why we’re told to ‘be merciful to those who doubt’ (Jude 1:22). –Tim Keller
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