Do you ever think that God might not be real? 

Do you ever think that God doesn’t love you?

Do you ever think that God could never love you because of your past?

Do you ever think that you may be wasting your time on Sunday morning’s with a child’s fairytale?

What doubts about life and the universe do you currently struggle with?

In an article describing some of the history of The New York Public Library, the author shared this amusing story:

Before there was the Internet and Google, the only way to find answers to a pressing question was to visit the local library and ask the all-knowing Librarian. A few years ago, the staff at the New York Public Library discovered a box of cards containing questions posed to the librarian by members of the public. The telephone “Ask A Librarian” service was set up in 1967 and operates to this day. And surprisingly, despite people having information at their fingertips these days, the New York Public Library receives roughly 30,000 calls per year.

Help line manager Rosa Caballero-Li said, “People have been reaching out to librarians for as long as there have been libraries. Often time people do not have access to the technology at home, and I think some just want somebody to talk to.”

Some of the questions discovered were:

“What does it mean when you dream you’re being chased by an elephant?”

“Why do 18th Century English paintings have so many squirrels in them?”

“If a poisonous snake bites itself, will it die?”

Somebody in 1962 was looking for “Charles Darwin’s book. Oranges & peaches.” The librarian politely directed the person to On the Origin of Species.

One person just wanted to know how to put up wallpaper. “I have the paper; I have the paste. What do I do next? Does the paste go on the wall or the paper? I’ve tried both and it doesn’t seem to work.”

“There are no stupid questions,” Caballero-Li said. ”Everything is a teachable moment. We don’t embarrass people; we try to answer any questions they have with honesty and we try to refer them to appropriate resources that they might find useful.”

If God had an, “Ask the Creator,” hotline, what would call up and ask?

What are you confused about?

What doubts do you have?

Last weekend, we celebrated both Good Friday and Easter.

Good Friday and Easter were confusing.

Good Friday and Easter were wild.

But, Good Friday and Easter were glorious.

We are entering back into the Biblical narrative this morning with a text from John’s biography of Jesus that was chosen for us by the lectionary.

This morning’s text tells us what happened on Easter night, and then 8 days after Easter, with Jesus’ disciples who were still feeling the effect of the confusion, the wildness, and the glory of Good Friday and Easter.  

Let’s hear together what happened immediately following Jesus’ resurrection.

John 20:19–31 tells us this:

[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” [22] And 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 withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

[24] Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, 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 in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

[26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, 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 believed.”

[30] Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (ESV)

In the early 1950s teenage Lyle Dorsett and his family moved to Birmingham from Kansas City, Missouri. They were outsiders, often labeled Yankees by peers. But one summer evening in 1953, Dorsett was walking to his house after work and decided to take a shortcut through the campus of then-Howard College (now Samford University).

He was immediately intrigued by the sight he saw: a large tent on the football field featuring a magnetic preacher. As Dorsett drew near, he could hear evangelist Eddie Martin preaching on the parable of the prodigal son, calling other prodigals to come home. Dorsett said, “I knew I was the prodigal and … needed to come home.”

Martin asked those in attendance to return the next evening. Dorsett came early, and this time was seated near the front. When the call came, “the evangelist led me through a sinner’s prayer. I confessed my need for forgiveness. While being led in prayer, I strongly felt the presence of Jesus Christ. I sensed his love and forgiveness as well as his call to preach the gospel.”

Shortly thereafter, Dorsett and his parents joined a local Baptist church. However, 18 months later, Dorsett’s family moved back to Kansas City. On his return, gradually he drifted. During his time in college, he embraced a materialistic worldview. He received a Ph.D. in history but despite professional success, he began to drink heavily and became an alcoholic. His wife, Mary, who became a Christian after their marriage, began to pray.

One evening, he stormed out of the house after Mary asked him not to drink around the children. He found a bar and drank until closing. While driving up a winding mountain road, he stopped at an overlook and blacked out. The next morning, he woke up on a dirt road at the bottom of a mountain next to a cemetery not having any memory of the drive.

Dorsett cried out to God, “Lord, if you are there, please help me.” 

At that moment, he recognized that the same presence he had met in Birmingham was with him in the car and loved him. The prodigal son had finally, truly come home. He said, “Although I made countless mistakes, the Lord never gave up on me.”

God then called Dorsett to full-time ministry, ordination in the Anglican Church, and eventually to the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, where he had first heard God’s call to preach.

He concludes,

“Over the years God has proved to be a gentle Comforter—like when my wife underwent massive surgery for cancer, and when our 10-year-old daughter died unexpectedly. Certainly, the most humbling and reassuring lesson is his persistence in drawing me to himself. And it was he who pursued me and sustained the relationship when I strayed in ignorant sheeplike fashion, doubted his existence, and then like the Prodigal Son deliberately moved to the far country. And it is all grace—unearned, undeserved, unrepayable grace.”

In the final chapter of his newest book, Post-Traumatic Jesus: A Healing Gospel for the Wounded, David W. Peters says,

“…our wounds are our calling cards for inclusion, not marks of estrangement and alienation.”

I share this quote with you because it points us to the universal truth of our humanity the very thing that connects us.  That connecting point is our internal and external brokenness caused by the corruption of sin that poisons our thinking and understanding.

All of our hearts and minds are broken and corrupted by sin. 

Therefore, we all doubt. 

We doubt, like Thomas, if God is real.  

We doubt, like Thomas, if God loves us. 

We doubt, like Thomas, if Jesus is who he says he is—God in the flesh.

We doubt, like Thomas, if Jesus death on the cross can actually forgive our sin.

And, we doubt, like Thomas, if resurrection from the dead is possible.

Now, you may have been spiritually abused, as I was, by churches, pastors, and/or Christians, along the way.  You may have been told the lie that Christians NEVER doubt God’s existence or power or His Word, the Bible.  You may have been told that you don’t really have faith or trust in God because you raise questions about some of the facts found in the Bible and find yourself confused from time to time, or most of the time. 

If you have ever found yourself crushed in spirit by these false teachings and have been hurt, traumatized, or pushed away from Jesus by these wolves in sheep’s clothing, these minions of Satan playing dress-up as the holy and righteous, I am truly sorry.  I know that kind of pain and suffering is very hard to walk away from and get out from under. 

But, you are in a safe place now, gathered together under one roof, just like the disciples, including Thomas on that second night, where God comes to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ to answer your questions and provide you with the proof you need to have peace today and peace forever.

Here is the beautiful thing that is shared with us in this morning’s text:

The peace that Jesus brings to the disciples, with a special focus on Thomas, around the Easter event, is both imminent and transcendent. To say it another way, the peace that Jesus brings surrounding the Easter event is both for the here-and-now and for the eternal. It is a peace for today.  It is a peace for tomorrow. And, it is peace forever. 

The peace that Jesus brings to you is the peace that comes from knowing that Jesus is who he says he is. He is God wrapped in the flesh. He is the fulfillment of every last thing that is spoken about in the Holy Scriptures. And, He is able to do more than you can ask or imagine. 

Jesus’ care and concern for His followers is incredibly grace filled. He knew every last fear that was causing anxiety for the disciples.  He knew every last question and point of confusion in Thomas’ mind. And in all of that, he went to meet them where they were.  He was persistent and pursued them out of love for them. They did not have to find Jesus. Jesus found them afraid, doubting, and hopeless and he gave them exactly what they needed to see, hear, and believe and in turn receive both the forgiveness for their sin and eternal life—Jesus gave them the holes in his hand and the hole in his side from crucifixion, and he gave them his physical presence after death, where he ate a piece of fish from their dinner plate to demonstrate his full bodily resurrection. 

In the room, the night of Easter, and in the room 8 days later with Thomas, Heaven met Earth for the disciples and they repented, believed, and shared the good news of Jesus Christ alive, dead, and resurrected with the world around them so that others could receive the peace that Jesus offers through faith in Him.

Jesus’ care and concern for you this morning is incredibly grace filled. He knows every last fear that is causing anxiety for you.  He knows every last question and point of confusion in your mind. And in all of that, he comes to meet you where you are. Jesus is persistent and pursues you out of love for you. You do not have to find Jesus. Jesus find you. And, sometimes like the disciples in our text, Jesus finds you doubting, and hopeless and he gives you exactly what you need to see, hear, and believe and in turn receive both forgiveness for your sin and eternal life. In the Gospel, the Good News, the Word of God, the Bible, Jesus gives you the holes in his hand and the hole in his side from crucifixion, and he gives you his physical presence after death, to demonstrate his full bodily resurrection. 

Yes, Good Friday and Easter were confusing.

Yes, Good Friday and Easter were wild.

But, Good Friday and Easter were also glorious.

In this morning’s text Jesus gives the disciples meaning and purpose for their lives when he says to them:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Jesus also gives you this same meaning and purpose right now.

Jude, the writer of one of the letters in the New Testament part of the Bible, understands this all very well when he wrote this exhortation to the Christian Church during the 1st Century A.D. (or C.E. for you scholars out there):

[17] But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. [18] They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” [19] It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. [20] But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, [21] keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. [22] And have mercy on those who doubt; [23] save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. (Jude 17-23, ESV)

Let’s leave this room today, where God has gathered us, after the crucifixion and resurrection, so that Jesus can give us peace, with both Jesus’ words and the words to The House that Doubt Built by A Day to Remember reverberating in our hearts and minds:

Jesus says to you:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

And, then A Day to Remember Sings:

“Let’s believe that if we all stand together;

We’re a force that could shake the whole world”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace and Peace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

April 16, 2023