Lord, help my unbelief
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on Sunday the 15th April 2007 by Rev Delroy Hall
Readings: 2 Kings 7: 1 - 16 and John 20: 19 - 31
Sermon:
How often have we heard about something exciting? It can be so hard to visualise an event when we were not there. People can make an attempt, by using picturesque language to draw an image in our minds, but often it fails to capture the reality of the event. Just how many times have we have missed out on an event just to be told, 'man, you should have been there'? The problem is, we were not there.
This is the scene that we encounter today in the scriptures. The scene begins with the women going to anoint the body of Jesus and discovering that the stone was rolled away. Mary meets an angel who explains the miracle of the resurrection and in her grief she begins to cry. Someone talks to her, and she thinks that she is holding a conversation with a 'gardener.' This 'gardener' calls her name, and instantaneously, Mary recognises that this 'gardener' is Jesus. After a brief discussion, Mary goes and tells the disciples that she has seen her Lord.
The story teller carries us away from the tomb and leads us into a room with a locked door, housing several frightened men. They were frightened because they feared the reprisals of the Jews. Jesus appears in the room and offers peace to the men who are presently filled with anguish and timidity but will, one day be instrumental in creating havoc throughout the known world for preaching the gospel.
Right there in the midst of our fears and anxiety, despair and uncertainties, Jesus enters, almost uninvited, unexpected, unannounced. Almost like a quiet gatecrasher Jesus makes his way into the chaos and trauma of our private lives.
Jesus pronounces a blessing on the lives of the disciples and gives them peace. He speaks and shows them the scars in his hands and his side that indeed, he is the risen Christ.
Why Thomas was not with the disciples, the scriptures do not tell us; however, it is important that the writer includes him in the story. You can imagine the disciples bursting to tell Thomas what they had just seen, the excitement, the apprehension, they could not contain themselves. Thomas, (not sure if this is a theological quote) pooh poohs their claims with disbelief. He is not risking all just on there say so. For me to believe I must handle the master by putting my hands into his wounds, only then will I believe it.
I cannot imagine what took place over the next seven days. The constant 'to-ing' and fro-ing' and the intense discussions that may have taken place with the disciples, trying to convince Thomas of their experience all to no avail.
After seven days the disciples have returned to the house. Again the door is locked and this time Thomas is with them. Jesus appears on the scene again offering words of peace. This time, Jesus targets Thomas. He calls Thomas and asks him to place his finger and hand into his various wounds. Thomas responds not with 'a praise the Lord' or other church clichés, but he states 'My Lord and my God'. A deep recognition of whom Jesus is, that truly he is the risen Lord. This acknowledgement leads to a change in Thomas' life.
However, Jesus said that because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
For years Thomas has been stigmatised and victimised and rarely seen in a good light. The question that I may pose at the moment is, can Thomas be rescued or redeemed from his scripture? I will return to this matter shortly.
As we have looked at this text how does the story relate to us in modern 21st century Britain, and might how the scripture relate to us in the University of St Andrews chapel today?
Bible exposition, exegesis and the like is good, because it helps us to understand the Bible and who God is, but the real engagement of the scripture is about being open to what God might be saying to us as an individual in our particular context.Maybe you relate to Mary distraught and grieving the loss of a love one. Jesus will offer you comfort and hope
Maybe you relate to the disciples. Your life is full of fear, anxiety and you are timid. Events have overtaken you, and you lock yourself away from the world. You cannot go on anymore. You cannot go on your marriage; you cannot go on in your ministry. Even the career that you dreamed of doing is now filling you with disillusionment. Yet in the midst of your crisis God intervenes almost mysteriously. He comes, not to take you out of your crisis, but he comes to led your through it. God breathes on you he offers words of comfort through a song, a poem. He scratches you where you itch. He may send someone who will encourage you in such a way that you feel uplifted.
Maybe you relate to Christ. (If I dare push that idea). You have suffered much in your life, and you have the scars to prove it. But God is calling you with your broken self, disappointments, despairs, wounds and scars to comfort others. Consider this chapter closely. In all the scenes, Jesus is offering comfort, peace or hope. Maybe that is what God is calling you to do. In fact, as believers, he calls all of us all care for other people, but he may be calling you into a particular ministry.
Maybe, you identity with Thomas the doubter, but you dare not say, that there are moments in your life that you have huge periods of doubt and episodes of uncertainty. Its not that you don't trust God, but so much has happened in your life and you have problems believing in him at the moment. You could deal with one problem at a time, but this year you have had so many? You have plodded on, but each problem, each event has taken its toll on you. So much so that you dare not tell anyone how you really feel. So the traumas in your life have caused you much unhappiness and they have tested your faith, so at the moment you need a deeper experience with God, whatever form that will take.
But faith, mature faith, does not happen overnight. We must wait. One of the hardness of this present age is that we live in an instant society. For us modern folks, tings must happen in an instant. We do not enjoy the pain of waiting. We easily give up if we don't get want now.
Developing of faith is not a quick fix answer to temporary problems. The faith that grows and matures happens over a long period of time as we wrestle with some of life's difficulties.
Maybe you an unbeliever. I am reminded of story of a financial advisor. We met several years ago, a day or two into the New Year. He asked me how I spent my New Year's Eve and I told him that I spent it in a church service. He said, 'Are you a Christian'? I said that I was. I asked him about his faith position. He said that he did not have any because he had too many questions about the universe etc, etc. When I asked him about the universe he said that he did not reminder. He then went on to say that his brother was an evangelist and his parents became Christians shortly after that. He said that he need a bit more time to understand what the gospel was about. It happened that he never understood and since then he felt sidelined by the family. I responded to him by saying that it was not questions of the universe that was bothering him, but what fuelled his unbelief was the pain and hurt by being excluded by his family. He admitted that what it was the case.
You may recall I made reference to a 'telling question' a few moments ago. I asked, can Thomas be rescued from this story after years of stigmatisation and victimisation and ridicule? As a pastor, most of my work is helping people to work through things in their lives, not as it should be, but as it is. For example, the young lady who gets married and three years later her husband tells her that he does not want to be married anymore to her because he is gay and he has found someone else. Example number two. A mother dies at the age of 40 years old leaving two small children both under the age of eight and the husband's faith shipwrecked. The list is endless. Jesus makes provision for all of us when we go through our doubting Thomas experience because according to verse 30 and 31, whether we believe because we hear or see, believing leads us to everlasting life. Amen.