Stop doubting and believe!

sermon by Manfred Schreyer

John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" :20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. :21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." :22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. :23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." :24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. :25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he 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 it."

:26 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!" :27 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."

:28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" :29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." :30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. :31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

      You may ask me why do I preach at least once a month a sermon on salvation. And my answer is simple: I want us to be well equipped to give the Gospel to those who are not saved.

 

The trouble about man is twofold. He cannot learn truths which are too complicated; he forgets truths which are too simple.

~Rebecca West

 

      How often have you heard the phrase: "I can’t believe this"

      You are saying it when you are late to an appointment, you are saying it when something unexpected happens in your life, you are mentioning it when something radically different appears in your concept of the world.

      About a year ago I said the same words when I was unable all summer to clear the water of my pool. (For whatever reason) "I can’t believe this"

      Similarly Thomas must have been in the same situation. I can’t believe it is you Lord.

      Now there are a couple of things which I want to clear up, before I go on. When Jesus asked Thomas to place his fingers on his wounds, we assume that he did. But the Evangelist John does not tell us that. In fact I believe that he would have told us. . .but Thomas cried out to Jesus: "My Lord and my God!".

      Thomas said it like a sorrowful statement.

      Why do I believe that Thomas did not touch him? Because Jesus says later: "Because you have seen me, you have believed"

      Why is that important to know?

      In our attempt to bring people to Christ, unbelievers always ask us for evidence of God.

      To bring evidence is a very difficult thing.

      But even if you had evidence. I mean material evidence it would change very little, because we as human beings always want to be our own master we even sway away from the evidence. (Repeat Rebecca West) The best examples are how God lead the Israelites into the promised land, how God fought on the side of Joshua against mighty armies, how Jesus had raised a dead person, how he had given sight to the blind. . .. The list goes on. . .. You would think that with all the evidence all people on earth would believe. -"The proof is in the pudding," as Americans like to say. . .

      But really evidence means nothing, because evidence is a concept that is humanly constructed and in fact it is dangerous. Why are some people healed who pray to God and others continue to suffer?

      Why are some believers showered with blessing while others suffer in their daily lives?

The answer is: Because evidence of God is not manifested in demanded acts of God

      Evidence is NOT found in believing:

Heb 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

      I will tell you why I am coming to the conclusion that evidence is less important then allowing God to come to you: Even if Thomas had touched his wounds and he would have believed Jesus, all other issues would have still been in question by Thomas: The issue of God in heaven, the eternal life, hell, you name it . . .Thomas could have easily questioned it also. Evidence will never satisfy the hunger for truth.

      God’s Truth lies deep within us and it reveals itself when we allow it to come to us. In fact we have to discover it within us.

      God’s Truth is sleeping in us deeply. And we have to believe; believe in the possibilities of life and the assurance of life thereafter.

      But we as humans try to overrule the truth because we do not want to accept truth. . .because that Truth did not come from us. Our ego does not allow the truth to step up. . . .

      I recently heard a show on NPR where scientists made a tremendous discovery. They studied Buddhism and the impact of meditation. They studied what happens when we focus our inner being on the unseen, the unknown. They asked a group of people to meditate each day for at least for half an hour. They told the group that doctors would inject them with the flu virus. Then told them that they should meditate and focus that they would not get the flue. He also did the procedure with a second group, except he did not tell them to meditate. The outcome was amazing: The group that meditated did not get the flu the other group got the flu.

      I am not telling you the story to start meditating, but to show you that we as humans are very powerful even when we seek the unknown. The meditating group had no evidence that it would work but it came true.

      You see people are willing to believe that they may win the lottery, that they may stay healthy forever, that nothing will happen to their family structure. . . .But they are not willing to follow the Christ. They want evidence.

      First you must believe in the possibilities that lie deep within yourself, but if you do not believe in your self, then you have no strength to believe in the Christ. Peter tried to walk in the water, but he failed. . .he sank. He did not believe in himself that he would be able to believe that Christ would give Him the power to walk on water.

      I recently talked to a congregation member whose kids did not follow Christ and the member was very saddened. Their life was/is in turmoil.

And every time the conversation was about the Christ, almost hatred surfaced and the kids would turn away. You see when Christ touches your soul the inner ego places a barrier up, so the ego cannot be defeated. The world can burn and the ocean can flood the surface of the continents. . .people will still show resentment against the Christ. As they are swallowing the water of the ocean they will still yell for evidence. . ."Show me your wounds. . ." But then as they slowly come the ocean’s floor and if they still can. . .they may cry out: My Lord, My Lord it is you.

      I want you to know that if you resent the Christ and if you have never given your life to Christ you are not really the person who you were meant to be. The bible tells us that we are created just like God. God breathed His breath in us. Jesus was just like God. But because we have the power of choice we rebel against that which does not come from us.

       


It will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute truth.

~Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy