Sermon Tone Analysis

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TITLE: Finding Our Way Out of the Dark Place       SCRIPTURE:    John 20:19-31 \\ \\ SERMON:     \\ \\ We call him Doubting Thomas, but we could call him Honest Thomas.
Thomas had honest doubts, and didn't hesitate to express them honestly.
\\ \\ The other disciples had been as certain as Thomas that their hopes had come to an end with the death of Jesus.
Our scripture reading tells us that, on Easter evening, they locked themselves in a house for fear of the Jews.
They had seen Jesus crucified, and were afraid that they, as his disciples, might be next.
\\ \\ We might be surprised to see the disciples so fearful.
Peter and another disciple have seen the empty tomb -- and Mary Magdalene has seen the risen Christ-- and Mary told the disciples that Jesus was alive.
By this time, on Easter evening, the disciples should have been celebrating in the streets, but were instead locked in a secret room because they were afraid.
\\ \\ We can understand them being afraid after the crucifixion -- but it seems surprising that they are still afraid after the resurrection.
But, then, they have only the testimony of two disciples that the tomb was empty -- and the testimony of one woman that she has seen Jesus.
\\ \\ So what if the tomb were empty!
That could mean anything!
It didn't necessarily mean that Jesus was alive.
And what if a woman said that she had seen Jesus alive.
In that time and place, a woman's word didn't amount to much.
A woman seeing a crime wasn't allowed to serve as a witness in court.
These men must have discounted Mary's testimony that she had seen Jesus alive.
Jesus was dead and buried, and they all knew it.
\\ \\ But then Jesus came through the locked door -- came into their locked room -- entered their fear-filled prison -- and said, "Shalom!
Peace be with you" -- and the fear drained from their faces to be replaced by skepticism -- and then by joy!  Mary was telling the truth after all.
It was one thing to hear her tell that Jesus was alive, but it was another thing to see him in the flesh.
\\ \\ But Thomas wasn't with them.
At this point, there were only eleven apostles, because Judas was dead (Matt.
27:3-10).
And then there were only ten, because Thomas was missing.
\\ \\ So the ten disciples told Thomas, "We have seen the Lord."
But Thomas said: \\ \\ *"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."*
\\ \\ "I will not believe."
That is why we call him Doubting Thomas.
But we could call him Honest Thomas, because he is simply expressing honest reservations about Jesus being alive.
After all, when a person dies, that is it!
You can be injured and come back.
You can get sick and come back.
You can be in a coma and come back.
But you don't die and come back.
That just doesn't happen.
\\ \\ If we are honest, we will have to admit that, had we been in Thomas' shoes that day, we would have had trouble too.
So instead of calling him Doubting Thomas, maybe we should put a more positive spin on things and call him Honest Thomas.
That is certainly how we would want people to treat the story if we were the doubters -- and we have all been doubters at one time or another, haven't we.
\\ \\ Doubting Thomas!
Honest Thomas!
We might even think of him as Courageous Thomas, because it takes courage to be the lone dissenter -- courage to stand up and be counted when there are ten of them and one of you -- courage to stick with unpopular doubt in the face of popular opinion.
Thomas did that.
He stuck by his guns!
\\ \\ So we could call him Doubting Thomas -- or Honest Thomas -- or Courageous Thomas -- but that wasn't the end of the story.
Doubting Thomas became Believing Thomas when Jesus came to visit again.
This time Thomas was present.
Earlier, when he was Doubting Thomas, he had said that he would have to see the wounds in Jesus' hands and side -- that he would have to touch the wounds to make sure that they were real.
When Jesus came back for a second visit, he told Thomas: \\ \\ *"Put your finger here and see my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it in my side.
Do not doubt but believe."*
\\ \\ And Thomas responded, "My Lord and my God!"
In this Gospel of John, nobody says it better.
\\ \\ And Thomas did more than to say, "My Lord and my God!" The Bible doesn't tell us what happened to Thomas after that day, but we think that he took the Gospel to India.
Doubting Thomas became Believing Thomas, and belief changed his life.
He who had been depressed and unbelieving became a pillar of faith.
\\ \\ That was true for all of the disciples.
One glimpse of the risen Lord transformed all of them, because it proved that they had been right to believe in Jesus.
It proved that there was no difficulty too great for Jesus.
It showed them that they had no need to be afraid.
And they weren't!
They weren't afraid anymore!
Now the disciples were faith-filled -- ready to face a hostile world with the Good News of Jesus' resurrection.
They had seen him!
They knew what they were talking about!
\\ \\ I like this story of the Doubting Disciples.
I like it because I am a doubter too.
When things are going well, I am tempted to doubt that I need Jesus.
Then, when things are going badly, I am tempted to believe that Jesus has let me down.
I am always in danger of bouncing between those two poles -- either doubting that I need Jesus or believing that he has let me down.
\\ \\ But Jesus always tries to help me out of that miserable place.
He never stops trying to coax me out of that dark hole into the light.
When Thomas had trouble believing, Jesus came to him.
Jesus said: \\ \\ *"Put your finger here and see my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it in my side.
Do not doubt but believe."*
\\ \\ In other words, Jesus came to this man who was having trouble believing, and gave him what he needed so that he could believe.
\\ \\ Jesus does that for me too.
He comes to me.
He gives me what I need so that I can believe.
He helps me past my unbelief.
\\ \\ Sometimes I am slow to move out of my dark hole.
Sometimes, when things are going badly, I wonder where God is.
Sometimes, when I read the newspaper, I wonder why God allows so much evil.
Sometimes, when I see the kind of people that get rich, I wonder if there is any justice.
Sometimes, I get angry with God and want to stay in my dark hole.
\\ \\ But Jesus never stops trying to coax me into the light.
He never fails to give me what I need so that I can believe.
At that point, it is up to me.
I can doubt or I can believe.
Jesus always leaves me that choice.
He never forces me.
But Jesus always does his part.
He always gives me what I need so that I can believe -- if I will.
\\ \\ Some people would say that a preacher should never admit doubt.
But I confess my struggles with doubt and my temptation to stay in the dark place, because I know that those are common experiences.
\\ \\ Most of us experience doubt at some point -- especially when we are young.
When we are young, we have so many unanswered questions.
We don't know where life will take us.
We don't know if we will amount to anything.
We don't know whether our lives will go well or badly.
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