Seeing is Believing?

I've got to be honest, I've always felt quite sorry for Thomas.

And the reason I felt sorry for Thomas is that he's gone down in history as doubting Thomas.

It seems like from one episode that might not have been his finest hour,

that he's now become synonymous with the concept of doubt.

I mean, any one of us can have a not-so-good episode,

and would we want to be remembered forever on the basis of that one episode?

But when we look at Thomas, we see somebody whose story doesn't actually end with doubt.

It actually ends with belief.

And I think that's actually really, really important there,

because his story tells us something really important that I think we can probably connect with

in terms of our own experience, namely, what does it actually mean to ask questions,

to have a sense of doubt?

Because the way that doubt is processed can actually form a really positive and healthy part of belief.

And there is a huge difference.

There's a huge difference between doubt in a healthy kind of question-asking kind of way,

in a searching authentically after truth kind of way.

There's all the difference between that and unbelief.

See, doubt is not necessarily the opposite of faith.

Properly understood, a certain type of doubt can actually be quite a healthy part of a healthy kind of faith

that is growing and that is earthed.

It was in 1887 that the preacher Henry Drummond preached a sermon called Dealing with Doubt,

and he said this,

Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief.

Doubt is can't believe, whereas unbelief is won't believe.

Doubt is honest, whereas unbelief is obstinacy.

Doubt is looking for light.

Unbelief is content with darkness.

Now, loving darkness rather than the light,

that is what Christ attacked and attacked unsparingly.

But for the questioning of Thomas,

Philip,

Nicodemus,

and many others who came to him

to have their great problems solved,

Jesus was respectful, generous,

and tolerant.

So what I want to suggest is that

it's worth asking the question,

what can we learn from Thomas

and how he handled that experience of doubt,

in terms of what can it tell us about how to believe?

Because Thomas effectively really ought to be remembered as believing Thomas,

because that's how he ended up,

not as doubting Thomas.

I want to suggest there are two things.

The first thing,

quite simply, is this.

Thomas refused

to say that he believed

when deep down inside he knew he didn't.

See, it's not that Thomas didn't want to believe,

of course he wanted to believe,

it's just that he couldn't.

And he was honest enough

and he had that integrity about him

to stay with those questions,

to be real with them

and to lay them out there

and say, look,

I just can't accept this at the moment.

It's not that I don't want to,

I just can't.

And he had that concern

for honesty and for integrity.

And when we look at Thomas,

we see somebody actually who was,

someone who had both feet on the ground.

When Lazarus died,

Lazarus, who was subsequently raised from the dead,

incidentally,

we don't quite know exactly what happened to Lazarus,

but we can presume that he eventually died.

His resurrection was a sign

pointing towards the ultimate resurrection,

the resurrection we see in Jesus.

And what we see,

just like everyone else

that was healed within the New Testament,

was a temporary healing,

but a healing that highlights the power of Jesus.

But Lazarus died,

and before he was raised,

before Jesus and his friends went to see him,

when the news broke that Lazarus had died,

it's Thomas who actually says to Jesus

and to the other disciples with him,

he says, let's go then.

So before Lazarus has even died,

when he was,

when he is sick,

it's Thomas that says,

let's go and die with Lazarus.

It's also Thomas when,

in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

with that conversation between Jesus

and his disciples,

and Jesus is saying to his disciples

about the promises of eternal life

and telling them that how he is the way

and the truth and the life.

It's Thomas who says to Jesus,

Lord, we do not know where you are going,

so how can we know the way?

So there was a real honesty

and an openness about Thomas.

There was an earthness,

a groundedness about him.

I think that's really important.

And it tells us something really vital

and relevant about the way he responded

when he heard everybody else saying,

well, you know, Jesus is alive.

And he said, well, come on.

Really?

Really?

I'd love to think that is true.

It's not out of skepticism or cynicism.

He longs for this to be true,

but he just cannot bring himself

to say that he agrees,

that he believes in something

when deep down inside,

he knows that he hasn't satisfied that thing.

And that's really important.

It's really important

because it is too easy

to just go along with the crowd.

Now, I can remember,

growing up as a young person

in a youth group,

I can also remember as a student

involved with student missions,

seeing people who would come to faith

at big events, big gatherings,

would come to,

would respond to a call

that might have been made,

a big gathering,

a Christian message was presented,

and seeing people come forward

in their droves

to make a commitment to Christ.

And then it wasn't actually

that long afterwards

where they were saying,

actually, you know,

I'm not really sure I believe this,

and just dropped off.

And the problem with that

is that the danger can be

that if we make it go along

with the crowd,

commitment in a way

that actually doesn't engage

with all of those deep,

deep questions that we have,

is that sooner or later,

what is effectively something

of a brittle faith will snap.

It can have the outward appearance

of something that's strong,

but it doesn't take a lot of pressure

to snap.

And if that's been our journey,

then, in fact,

we can then come out of that

and say, well, you know,

Christian faith,

to be honest,

it's not for me.

It just doesn't work.

It's just,

it's got too many holes in it.

But the problem is not with faith,

it's just that we haven't

really engaged seriously with it.

Too many people

come to faith

at a very surface level

and give up too soon

because they have not stayed

with those questions.

Genuine Christian faith

is unafraid to ask questions.

Genuine Christian faith

recognises

that the reality of God,

the reality of the claims of Christ

are far bigger and greater

and deeper and wider

than the questions

that we have about those things.

And therefore,

it is right

to hold those questions

and to stay with those questions.

You know,

we live in a world

that will just tell us

that there is no God.

And it's very easy

to be picked up

by those voices,

to be picked up

by that cultural move.

And there's nothing new

about it, of course.

But it's very easy

for us to be swept along

with the narrative

that, well,

nobody believes in God.

Nobody really takes that seriously.

You know,

my experience has been

that so many people

who would claim

to be atheists,

when you get into a conversation,

it doesn't take very long

to expose the fact

that, in fact,

it's never really been thought through

in an awful lot of depth.

But even among those

who have thought it through

in a lot of depth,

actually,

we need to be very,

very wary of...

You know,

I remember when I was

a student,

a theology student,

we had a particular tutor,

a philosophy tutor,

who was an atheist.

And I remember,

forget,

he started off

beginning of one term.

He walked into this lecture room

and he said,

inhale deeply.

And he said to this whole group

of students,

inhale deeply.

And he took a deep breath.

And he got everyone

to do the same.

And he looked around the room

and he said,

can't you smell it?

It's a stench in the room.

He really knew

how to draw people in.

He said,

it's the smell of God.

He said,

it's the decomposing smell

of the God who is dead.

And then for the next term,

he took us through

this series of lectures

telling us

how God is dead.

And it's not credible

to believe

in a living God

in any size,

shape or form.

He quoted a number

of contemporary

atheist thinkers.

One of them

at the time

he subsequently died,

but somebody

called Professor

Anthony Flew.

And Anthony Flew

was one of the leading

atheist philosophers

from as early

as the 1950s.

And I knew

of so many people

that actually

were swept along

with the mood

of those lectures

and lost their faith

in God.

Of course,

you never lose your faith

because you always have

faith in something.

If it's not in God,

it would be in something else.

In this case,

it was putting faith

in Anthony Flew's teaching.

Now,

this was in the early 1990s.

2003,

Anthony Flew,

again,

very prominent

atheist philosopher,

was one of the signatories,

big humanist manifesto

that was published.

The following year,

2004,

Flew,

along with another writer,

published a book together

actually announcing

that he'd changed

his mind.

And in fact,

he decided

that he did believe

in God.

He said this,

he said,

I had to go

where the evidence leads.

DNA research

and other scientific evidence

has shown

by the almost

unbelievable complexity

of the arrangements

which we needed

to produce,

which are needed

to produce life,

that intelligence

must have been involved.

Now,

he didn't go quite so far

as to say

that he had become

a Christian believer,

but he did go so far

as to say

that after decades

of not only

believing

that there could

not be a God

and persuading

others with passion

and with intellectual

rigor

that it was impossible

with any credibility

to believe in God,

that actually

it made sense

to believe in God.

A point I'm making

is this,

we can hear

all sorts of

very persuasive voices

within our culture,

within our world,

within the workplace,

within the home

that says,

what are you doing

believing in Jesus Christ?

it makes no sense.

Now,

it's worth engaging

with those questions.

An authentic faith

does engage

with such questions.

But not at surface level.

Let's beware

that danger

of just being

swept along

by the cultural

currents around us.

Thomas didn't do that.

Thomas refused

to go along

with what everybody

else was saying

was true

as long as he had

this deep sense

inside him

that said,

but I just find

that so hard to believe.

But he stayed with it

and he stayed with it

in a sense

that was longing

and had an authenticity

and an integrity

about it.

And because he did,

he stayed there.

It wasn't that long

before he met himself

with a risen Jesus.

The second thing

that Thomas teaches us

through his experience

of processing doubt

and coming to belief

is that

when he

when he did

come to belief

he really came

to believe.

When he encountered

the risen Jesus

the conversation

didn't kind of go

something like this.

Hi Thomas,

I know that you

didn't actually

find it that easy

to believe

that I'm alive

but I'm here.

Oh, right, yeah,

okay, well I suppose

I probably

sort of might

think about

believing in you then.

That's not what happened.

Jesus appeared,

showed him his scars

on his hands

and his feet

and in his side

where he had been crucified,

showed him

that he was alive

and still

I'm quite sure

with this sense

of absolute shock

and not quite sure

how this could be true

but Thomas' response

is one where he says

my Lord

and my God.

That's what happens

when we come to believe.

You see,

becoming a Christian

is not just

giving intellectual

assent

to a set

of philosophical

propositions

that God exists.

It is about

a living encounter

with the living

Lord Jesus Christ

in a way

that transforms us.

You know,

we tend to make

a separation

between

our head belief

and our heart feelings.

we might call

one belief

and the other

faith.

But in the New Testament

there is no such

divorce.

The one word

is always used

to describe

both faith

and belief.

It's a holistic

reality.

It's something

that we do

with our hearts

and with our minds.

And that is

what we find

with Thomas.

And as he does

so,

it exposes

the reality

that all the while

he was doubting

and asking

those questions,

it was not

because he had

closed himself off

that he was cynical

and that he didn't

want anything

to do with it.

But precisely

the opposite.

It was precisely

because deep

within his

questioning

was a longing,

a longing

to know

the truth

and a longing

to know

the reality

of God.

That when he

was exposed

to that reality,

he accepted

that relationship

which is what

faith is all

about.

My hope

and my prayer

is that we

would doubt

like Thomas

so that we

can believe

like Thomas.

Do you know

there is one

thing that

stands out

in this story

that I think

Thomas did

get wrong

and it's a

helpful wake

up call

to every

single one

of us.

putting it

bluntly,

he wasn't

around when

Jesus showed

up the first

time.

Now we're not

told why he

wasn't there,

we're just

told that he

wasn't there.

If he had

been there

with the other

disciples,

he would have

encountered the

risen Jesus

at the same

time,

but he didn't.

Now he did

eventually,

but it wasn't

until he was

with the others.

That's really

important because

it reminds us

in no uncertain

terms that if

we want to

meet with the

risen Jesus,

we need to

be with others.

That's not to

say you can't

have an experience

of God on your

own, of course

you can.

It's not to

say that you

can't be a

Christian unless

you come to

church.

But it is a

reminder that if

we are really

to grow as

Christians, if

we are to

keep on meeting

with Jesus and

to grow in

Jesus, we

need to be

with others.

That's important

because we live

in a highly,

highly individualistic

world in the

West.

There was a

story a few

years ago about

a famous

actress, I

can't remember

her name now,

she was known

for lying about

her age and

in an interview

she once said

to somebody at

some sort of

gathering, her

son was at the

same event and

the interviewer

asked how old

she was, she

said, well I'm

68.

He said, well I

was just talking

to your son over

there and he

says he's 60.

She said, well

he lives his

life and I

leave mine.

But we do

live in that

deeply, deeply

compartmentalised,

highly individualistic

world, in

isolation from

one another.

Now there are

times when we

need to be on

our own, of

course we do,

especially those

of us that are

extroverts that

struggle and find

big crowds, hard

work, we need

time and space on

our own.

Some of us will

need that more

than others.

There's no getting

away from the

fact that we're

wired to connect

with others, not

necessarily big

crowds but with

small numbers.

If we really

want to grow and

keep on growing,

and keep on

growing, which is

what God wants of

us as long as we

are in this world,

we need to

connect with

others.

My challenge to

each and every

one of us is

that wherever we

are at in our

own spiritual

lives right now,

what might we

do to take

just one more

step now to

reconnect a little

bit more with

others?

Maybe you're

listening to this

online and for

whatever reason

it's been really

really difficult for

you to actually

get to a physical

place of worship.

And I want to

say to you, I

want to challenge

you with that

question, why

not?

What might you

be able to do?

Even if you

cannot physically

be in a place

of worship on a

Sunday, might you

be able to

connect with

somebody else in

some way to

talk with, to

pray with?

But you know,

even if we are,

let's take the

other extreme,

let's say that we

do come, we're

gathered, we're

part of a local

church, and that

means an awful

lot to us.

What might we do

to connect that

little bit more?

If we're not in

a home group,

consider joining a

home group.

Maybe there might

be an area of

ministry in which

as a local church

you're really

needed and you

have gifts and

skills and

abilities that you

could offer that

you could actually

connect in more

deeply.

Maybe it's with

our youth and

children's work.

Maybe it's music.

Maybe it's joining

a host team.

Maybe it's helping

with administration.

Maybe it's helping

with driving.

Maybe there are so

many different things

that you could do,

but I want to

challenge each of us

with that question.

Because very often,

if we feel that we're

in that place

spiritually where we

feel we're drying up,

where that sense of

encounter with Jesus

Christ is not as

strong or as bright

or as vivid as we

long for it to be,

maybe that is God's

invitation for us

just to step that

little bit further,

that little bit more

deeper into his

people and to

connect more with

others.

May we learn to

doubt and to

question and to

wrestle like

Thomas, that we

might come to

believe like

Thomas.

of the

Father.

Let's pray together

now.

Lord, we thank you

that you long for us

to grow and to go on

growing.

Lord we thank you that you don't call us to suspend all the questions that we're asking

but you invite us to bring those questions and to connect with you

to stay with those questions

that we might really wrestle and grow and go on growing in you

and know you more and more and more

as our living Lord

so Lord help us like Thomas

to stay with those questions and to bring them to you

that we might meet with you

Lord as we reflect on our own journey with you

help us now and over these coming days

to take that step closer to becoming more connected

with other Christians

whatever that looks like

whatever that means for us

Lord help us to be really open about this

maybe you might be calling us to serve you in a particular way

that we've been thinking about for a long time

and it's unsettling it makes us feel nervous

makes us feel quite vulnerable

Lord help us to be open and honest with you

and with ourselves

and whatever it may be

help us to take that one step closer

to connecting more with others

we can connect more closely with you

help us to do that this day

help us to do it every day

in Jesus name

Amen

Lord help us to brauch you

thank you

that way

for you

thank you

thank you

for doing

for us

thank you

thank you

thank you

for you

to take that day

thank you

thank you

and call you

to take that day

and call you

to talk about yourself

next time