Honest Doubt That Leads To Faith
What a phenomenal Easter service we had last Sunday!
More than 20 different faces on stage, an amazing amount of coordination, young voices, old voices, people sharing authentically on stage, lots of laughter, joy, worship, and flower-crowns, all for our resurrected King!
Click here to watch our Easter service and sermon, “The Shape of our Story”
Surprisingly, our Easter sermon focused on the “doubting” of Thomas and his struggles to believe surrounding rumors of the Resurrection (see John 20:19-30).
For whatever reason, Thomas had missed the disciple's first encounter with Jesus after his resurrection and when they tell him that Jesus is back, he makes a bold statement,
“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails…and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25).
Only eight days later, Jesus appears again. This time Thomas is in the room, and Jesus’ attitude toward Thomas’ doubt is so revelatory.
After greeting the group, Jesus looks straight at Thomas.
He engages Thomas’ doubt with the evidence of His wounds.
Jesus holds Thomas’ hand with His scarred hands.
He places Thomas’ hand on His wounded side.
And, as the mechanisms of doubt whirr and click in Thomas’ head, suddenly his seemingly faith-less heart erupts in a cry, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28).
Thomas’ honest doubt leads to a faith that soars far beyond the others, as he declares Jesus’ Lordship and divinity.
We are all full of doubt.
Our doubt often roots from deep places in our lives.
And Jesus doesn’t shy away from us either.
He actually engages our doubt as the rough ingredients for great faith.
As Thomas is rewarded with greater intimacy and greater confidence in Jesus, we also can cultivate moments of transformation, too, as we bring our honesty to Him.
Jude 1:22 says, “Have mercy on those who doubt.”
What a profound command.
Let your mercy pour out on those who doubt.
What if you gave this mercy to the world around you?
What if you gave this mercy to yourself?
What if Jesus really met you in your doubts with this kind of mercy?
Well, this Sunday we’ll be considering the powerful mission of Jesus to reach those who, like Thomas, are spiritually curious in our area.
And we’ll especially consider how our own connection to one another, to our church, and to Jesus’ healing presence will create a culture among us for the crucial conversations that Jesus wants with those not-here-yet :)
Looking forward to Sunday!
Pastor Dave