People can be pretty gullible. Faith is not gullibility. It is OK to question the claims of those who teach you, provided you take steps to resolve your doubt. Actually, some doubt can produce deeper understanding in us, something that God wants.

Please join me in your Bibles at John 20:19-29

And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

We all know Thomas as "Doubting Thomas." Actually, he was not known by that dubious title among his friends. With them he was called Thomas the twin. His other name was Didymus. And he was not as big a skeptic as some have made him out to be. It was simply that he was not with the others when the risen Christ appeared to them.

In this message I want to point out to you three characteristics of Thomas' situation that serve to give us instruction about doubting. You may have some doubts yourself about some aspects of the faith. Or, you may be one who would never allow yourself to doubt. Either way, I believe you will find something relevant to your situation in this passage.

The first thing to notice about Thomas as John points out his doubt is that he was:

Notice verse 24:

Thomas had not witnessed Jesus' appearance in the locked room with the other disciples. He had not seen the nail prints in Jesus' hands and his side. His last remembrance of Jesus was His dying on the cross and being put into the tomb. So Thomas was absent when the evidence came. Isn't it understandable then, that he would have some doubts? He had only the verbal account of what happened that was given to him by the other disciples.

Absenteeism is the cause of much doubt today. People start missing church. Only a Sunday or two at first, then worship and assembly becomes the exception, not the rule. Finally, like the proverbial ember removed from the fire, they cool. They lose their zeal. Faith becomes more difficult to rekindle.

That kind of serious loss had not yet happened to Thomas. He had not yet lost his faith to the point that it was difficult or impossible to rekindle. He was simply missing on a significant occasion from the life of the followers of Jesus. He had missed out on the faith building experience that Jesus had intended for him.

I don't know why Thomas was missing. We aren't told. Perhaps he had such a heavy heart that he wanted to be alone in his grief. I know people like that today who just want to withdraw for awhile until they get over a sense of loss. Maybe Thomas had returned to his own family in the aftermath of the crucifixion. Maybe he felt he could find more comfort among them than among the bewildered disciples. I can imagine such things happening because I see them today when people are deeply hurt.

Certainly we can understand his absence. The twelve had placed so much hope in Jesus as the Messiah. They really believed that He was going to establish the kingdom on earth. But then, from their limited perspective, it seemed like it all blew up in their faces. He was taken from them and crucified like a common criminal. Now He was gone.

I can understand Thomas' absence. He probably had a good reasons for it. Yet it still had its effect. Because he was elsewhere, he missed that first dramatic appearance of Jesus to the disciples and the result was doubt and despair. That is a good warning to us.

When we are absent from the fellowship of believers, we miss significant things that God does among His people and we also miss the support and faith building that being in the group provides.

A lady had previously been faithful to the Lord, but in recent months had drifted away. She described to the preacher how, after suffering numerous personal and family problems, God had become distant to her. She felt she had lost contact with Him.

The preacher answered her this way: "Not only now but even in the future, there will always be times when God seems distant; when it looks as if God has forgotten and doesn't care; when prayers go unanswered and life is difficult. And at such times you must learn to hold onto your fellow Christians. Your difficulty is that you tried to hold onto God alone, and man was never intended to hold onto God alone. That is why He built the church."

Over and over again I have seen people miss a very special event in the life of the church and they never are able to understand the significance that event has for others in the fellowship. It might be a special meeting, or maybe just a regular Sunday morning worship service in which God moves to touch the hearts of the people present. I remember a time in Sacramento a couple of years ago that the entire congregation present came forward in an emotional service. Afterward, it was said by many that their direction had changed in that service. But those who weren't there missed it. Their faith was not built up. And there was no way for those present to reproduce that moment of God's moving. It would be nice if we could predict such things and announce them ahead of time, but the movement of God's Spirit isn't that predictable. God cannot be programmed. If you are not around, you will sooner or later miss out.

I appreciate so much those of you who take church attendance seriously - not only at times where events are appealing, but every time the doors are open. Those who don't miss so much!

Thomas got a second chance. But some things happen only once in the life of the church. If you miss them, you miss God's intended blessing for your faith. And because God is in charge, those things are not always predictable.

I know, sometimes some of us have no choice. Our boss says "work" and we have to work if we are to keep our jobs. I know that faithful saints sometimes are bedridden and cannot come to the assembly, though they desperately want to. But even a good reason for missing the assembly like that doesn't keep us from missing out on many of the things God intends.

This sermon isn't intended to be a guilt trip. If that is the way you take it, then you've missed my point. What I am getting at is that you should strive to miss as little as is humanly possible. Get a tape of the service if you just cannot be present. Tapes are not a substitute for church attendance, but at least you can keep up on the life of the body and not be an outsider to what is going on, and perhaps keep your faith from growing dim.

There is a second thing to be said about Thomas in John's report of his doubt is that he was:

There are some people who are quick to tell you that they pride themselves on identifying with Thomas. "I'm a skeptic," they boast.

I have observed three approaches to doubt. One is the cynic who says he or she is a doubter and proud of it. That is a very convenient approach to life. In the name of skepticism, such a person can avoid any kind of commitment or responsibility. Doubt to such a person becomes a tool with which to deflect the conviction of God.

The second approach is that of a person afraid to doubt at all. A voice inside his or her head suggests that doubters will fry in hell if they entertain even the slightest doubt that everything they are taught is true. Such a person can be very gullible. Religion is full of them.

A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26, 1997. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."

And for plenty of good reasons, since it:

1. Can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.

2. It is a major component in acid rain.

3. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.

4. Accidental inhalation can kill you.

6. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.

7. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

Forty-three said yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was H2O (water). The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"

People can be pretty gullible. Faith is not gullibility. It is OK to question the claims of those who teach you, provided you take steps to resolve your doubt. Actually, some doubt can produce deeper understanding in us, something that God wants.

The third approach to doubt is like that of Thomas - and I hope, like you and me. It is the same as that of the father of the demon possessed boy in Mark 9:24 who, wanting to believe Jesus could heal his boy, said, "I believe. Help my unbelief."

Thomas was willing to believe if he could see sufficient reason to do so. Without sufficient reason, though, he doubted. "Unless I see for myself the mark in his hand and place my fingers in his side, I will not believe." Who among us could condemn him for that? Actually, that is really what it takes to be a believer today - a willingness to look at the evidence, and, if sufficient evidence is found, a willingness to believe.

Some people don't want to believe, so they're not too hot on considering the evidence because of what they might find that might make them have to change their life. For all intents and purposes, they've already decided before the evidence is looked at.

It was Thanksgiving a certain lady was about to cook her first turkey. Before serving it, she announced to her husband and their son, "Now I know this is the first turkey I've ever cooked. If it isn't right, I don't want anybody to say a word. We'll just get up from the table, without comment, and go down to the hotel for dinner." Then she returned to the kitchen. When she came back into the dining room, carrying the turkey, she found her husband and son seated at the table - wearing their hats and coats.

Some "seekers" have already put on their hats and coats before they consider the evidence.

No, no one can place a hand in the side of Jesus today for evidence, but to the willing investigator, there is a wealth of historical material available in book and tape form today that can produce faith - provided, of course, one considers it with his or her hat and coat off.

So why doesn't God just once for all reveal Himself to us in such a way that never again would we have to struggle with doubt? Perhaps there is something necessary for us in the challenge of faith that we could not grow without.

What if God answered every prayer we prayed? What effect would that have on us? Wouldn't God be reduced in our minds to a mere servant or an indulgent Father - a giant "sugar daddy" in the sky? Wouldn't we just develop an unhealthy reliance on Him rather than developing our own abilities and initiative? Like a child never allowed to fall, we would never learn to walk or cope or conquer. We would never reach maturity in Christ. Faith that came too easily would just as easily be washed away in the trials of life. As is so often the case, "No pain, no gain."

It is no shame to have a season of doubting, provided we keep on seeking until we break through the clouds of doubt. Indeed, by doing so, we develop stronger faith.

This brings us to the third thing to be said about Thomas and his doubting – he kept:

The promise is made several times in scripture that if we keep seeking God, we will find Him. My favorite is Jeremiah 29:13 which says,

Thomas did that. Eight days later he was in a room with the other disciples. The doors were shut as before, and Christ appeared to them again. "Peace be with you," He said to them. And then he turned specifically to Thomas, as recorded in verse 27 and said, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing."

Then Thomas replied, "My Lord and my God!"

Thomas hung around for eight days with the other disciples until the evidence became available. He wanted to believe. He hung in there. He kept seeking. Otherwise he would have been long gone.

I have a very good friend whose wife of 17 years decided she was going to leave him and his teenage kids. He didn’t see it coming. None of the rest of us did, either. It was a devastating thing for him. Can those of you who have been married for a long time imagine what it would be like to suddenly be deserted by your mate? My friend, a mature Christian, was very sad. He walked around in a daze for several months as the divorce proceedings transpired and they divided up their belongings and worked out the custody of the children. He didn’t want her to leave. By this time she had a new boyfriend (or perhaps it finally became known) so there was no reasoning with her. She stiff-armed every attempt of the church to call her to repentance. Finally she was gone. He was alone.

Through all this my friend told me that he was numb. He told me his faith didn’t seem real anymore. He admitted that he was just "going through the motions." But he didn’t quit. He hung in there. He kept seeking the day when the joy of his faith would return. Today, several years later, the feelings of strong faith have returned to him and he has a deeper trust in God.

There will likely be times in your life and mine when faith wears thin and we have to run for a time on the faith of others or the raw hope of finding the answers until the evidence once again becomes available. During those times, will we stay or will we leave? Will we keep seeking or will we cease?

Are you struggling with doubt today? Ask yourself why. Is it because, you, like Thomas, have been absent from the fellowship of other Christians and missed out on the things God has given that could have built your faith? If that is the case, what are you going to do about it? Go home and forget this sermon? Get upset at me for bringing it up? I hope not. I hope that you will at least begin to consider what action you might take in order to be among the saints more often. And if you just cannot see a way that your current situation can possibly change, why not make it a project of prayer and fasting that God would change those circumstances. Or maybe you just need to restructure your priorities so that you are seeking His kingdom first. That could be what you need. Whatever it is you need, make up your mind right now to do it.

Are you troubled that you have doubts? Remember, some doubt can be healthy if it becomes the motivation to dig deeper into God's truth.

Finally, I hope you keep seeking and are not one of those who uses doubt as an excuse to do only what you want. If you do not wish to seek after God, then there is nothing I or anyone else can ever say that will help you. You will never come to saving faith as long as you do not seek.

There will always be issues that will challenge the faith of the faithful. To some they will be excuses that give those who do not want to seek God what they consider good reasons for their lack of faith. To others they will strike terror and cause them to pull the blinders over their eyes all the more tightly, lest they should entertain any doubt at all. But to some, I hope you and me, such issues will be the challenges to our faith that cause us to dig deeply into the available evidence and the things that produce strong, lasting faithfulness to God.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

[Archive]    [Home]   [Comments]   [Search]