Doubt It Out

2013-04-07 John 20:19-31

"Doubt It Out"


Acts 4:32-35

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and
soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but
everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the
apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person
among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought
the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles' feet,
and it was distributed to each as any had need.


John 20:19-31

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the
doors of the house where the disciples had met were 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 his side.
Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to
them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send
you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."


24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin[a]), one of the twelve, was not
with them when Jesus came.25 So the other disciples told him, "We have
seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the
nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my
hand in his side, I will not believe."


26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was
with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put
your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in
my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord
and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have
seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe."


30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book.31 But these are written so that
you may come to believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah,[c] the Son of
God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.


---


So. In the Bible, there's Easter. The disciples discover Christ is
Risen. Christ is risen! It's news that will change the world.


But as soon as Easter's over, what do they do? They go home. They
wait. And they start to doubt.


A lot of disciples doubt. Even modern-day disciples, like you and like
me. A lot of Christians are scared of doubt. They think doubt is the
enemy of faith. They can be terrified that even the littlest doubt
puts their souls in peril.


But that's not what Jesus says. Jesus says there are many times, when
you just have to "doubt it out."


---


You're familiar with the laundry stick whose advertising tells you to,
"Shout it out!" You may have recently been told, "Take that off right
now and rub stain stick on it!" Maybe you were the one shouting it.


The very name, "Shout!" says you're gonna attack that ugly stain right
now. No you're not. The point of stain stick is procrastination. You
rub it on as fast as you can, so you can do the laundry later.


"Ah, I put stain stick on it."

"It can wait."


Shout it out? No. It's more like, holler at the person wearing it,
then pile it in a hamper, and hope everything comes out OK.


---


Easter is kind of like the church's annual stain stick.


Christ is risen! We shout it out. Shout it big. The music is big. The
crowds are big. The sermon's... the very best the preacher can do,
bless his heart.


Everybody gets cleaned and pressed - and comes. The Easter shouts are
applied vigorously to the accumulated stains of sin.


But then, 12:15. It's over. We head home. Head to lunch. Head back to
normal. Back to waiting. Waiting to see if the big sin stain stick
stuck. Waiting. Waiting to see what difference Easter makes, really.
Wondering if it makes any difference at all.


After the shouting comes the doubting. And that's not weird, or
abnormal, or evil. In fact, the Bible says that's exactly what the
disciples did, too.


---


Easter was over. The disciples went back home and locked the doors.
Jesus appeared with them and said, "Be at peace."


The Bible says,


24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not
with them when Jesus came.25 So the other disciples told him, "We have
seen the Lord."


[I imagine they shouted.]


But [Thomas] said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his
hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his
side, I will not believe."


So what happens next? Nothing. Another week drags by before Jesus
appears again. This time when Thomas was with them.


In the Bible, there's a lot of waiting. Anytime you've got waiting,
there's wondering. Anytime we get to wondering, we question. We doubt.
We all do. Doubt's the dirty laundry of all disciples that we step
over and pretend not to see.


The Bible says: Doubt it out.


---


The New Testament was written by and for the people of the First
Century church. Today's first reading, the book of Acts, paints a very
rosy picture. It sees the early church as a very collaborative,
socially-minded enterprise, where no one (quote) "claimed private
ownership" of anything. Everybody shared everything and no one had
unmet needs. They would have held hands and sung "Kum By Yah" if only
it had been written.


But the rest of the New Testament shows the church as more like a
fringe movement, of weird people, hanging together by the skin of
their teeth.


People took their lives in their hands to follow a crucified savior.
They claimed the true King of Kings had risen from the dead. Not only
that, they claimed he was coming back to rule the world. And they made
these claims without any visible evidence.


That became a problem. The first believers expected Jesus to come
back. Right away. Not next Sunday. Not tomorrow. Today. They didn't
have a plan for waiting. The Easter shout had rung out, but, where was
Jesus? Where was the evidence? After a few years, after a couple of
generations, even the most faithful insiders were beginning to doubt.


Is that so hard to understand? Not really.


I think this is the deeper meaning of the story of Doubting Thomas.
Because if you know that the church wasn't everybody holding hands and
shouting Easter all the time, then you can read between the lines.


Once you know who the Bible was written for, and what they were
enduring, you can see Jesus isn't shaming Thomas as much as he's
encouraging the people who do have doubts.


Jesus says, "Peace be with you," to the people who missed him the
first time, and the second. People who are left waiting, waiting,
waiting, for the his return. You can hear it in what the Bible says.


Jesus said to [Thomas], "Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."


From the days of the Apostles, from the days of the first believers in
the first churches, Easter works like this:


After the shout comes the doubt.

Through the doubt, comes blessing.


---

Doubt is nothing to be afraid of.


So much of the Bible is about waiting. In fact, you could read the
whole Bible as encouragement for people who doubt God is really going
to work.


The Bible says, so many, many times, "Wait for the Lord."


"Wait, for the Lord is hiding his face..." says Isaiah 8:17.

"Wait for the Lord and take courage." Psalm 31.

"Wait with patience," says Romans 8:25.

"Be patient for the coming of the Lord," says James 5:7.

Second Peter, 3:14 says, "While you are waiting, strive [strive!] to
be at peace."


So very, very much of the Bible is about waiting. Waiting. Until the
next big thing. Waiting. Until the day when you know that it worked.


After the shouting comes the doubting.

But through the doubting comes blessing.

Doubt it out.


---


Doubt can be a very good thing. It makes us sharpen the spear before
leaving the cave. Makes us look both ways before crossing the street.
It protects us. It's probably instinctive. All people doubt. Even
people who come to church.


But any good thing can be taken too far. These days, doubt's epidemic.
It makes us physically ill. We doubt the government. We doubt the
banks. We question our health care. We can't trust what's in our food.
We worry that someone's going to steal our identity.


It's good to be aware of the dangers out there. But after a point,
doubt turns inward. We begin to doubt ourselves, at the most basic,
spiritual level. Chronic doubt is identity theft.


How can we, as people who believe - How can we appreciate our healthy
doubt and feed our faith at the same time?


Can you shout, "Christ is risen!" but still use your brain?


Well, if you wonder about that, you've got a lot in common with
Thomas, and with all the other saints of the early church. They
discovered - and maybe you can discover, too - doubt isn't the end of
faith. Many times, it's the waiting period for enduring faith.


---


After the story of Doubting Thomas, John writes some of the most
grace-filled words in all the Bible.


Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which
are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may
come to believe....


That you may COME TO believe. Not instantly and overnight. Over time.


In the silence. In the waiting room. By the bedside. In the lunchroom,
at the table NOT populated by the cool people. Late at night, when you
can't sleep. In the real world. When you don't want to sing, "Kum By
Yah." In the doubt.


These things are written so that you may COME TO believe, even though
there are so many good reasons not to.


That you may come to believe, over time, that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his
name.


After the shouting. In the waiting. In the in-between. The peace of
Christ grows slowly, in the stains of doubt's dark, fertile soil.


---


After Easter, the disciples went home and locked the doors. Don't you
think they've been locked long enough?


It's time to unlock the doors. If you're afraid that your faith isn't
strong enough, unlock the doors.


If you're scared that your doubts make you less of a Christian than
someone else, unlock the doors. There are a lot of other people just
like you, waiting outside.


The great mystery of faith and doubt is this:


When you're OK coming to faith through your doubts, instead of hiding
them in shame... when you're OK accepting your doubts instead of
hating them... THAT'S when you're ready to welcome the people out
there with their doubts. And let me tell you: they don't come any
other way.


In this time between the shouting and the next big thing, try this.
Instead of waiting for Jesus to reach out his hand to you, reach out
your hand to someone else who's got doubts. Tell the truth about what
you don't get. But also be honest about the peace and love of Christ
you do get.


Wait for the Lord.

Doubt it out.

Come to believe.

Together.


Let's pray.


Oh Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief. We have doubts. It's true. You
know that. So why are we so afraid to admit it to ourselves, and to
you? Help us to come to faith through our doubts instead of shoving
them aside and pretending that we're bigger than we are. Bless us,
bless us who have not seen, and yet have come to believe. In Jesus'
name. Amen.