Unbinding Our Doubts
John 20:19-31
March 22, 23, 2008, Easter Weekend

Last week one of our church members sent me an email with this story. A Sunday School teacher had just finished telling her 3rd graders about the Easter story. Then, she wanted to share the excitement and surprise of Easter morning. She asked: “And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when he came out of that tomb?” An enthusiastic little girl raised her hand and shouted, “I know, I know, I know.” Her teacher said, “Good. Tell everybody what Jesus said.” She extended her arms high in the air she sang out: “TA-DA!”

This is my hope and prayer for all of us… That we will have some sense of the joy and excitement of Easter! That we will have some sense of the mystery and majesty of Easter! Some of us hear these stories about the resurrection and accept them with a child-like faith—we take them at face-value. Some of us hear these texts and develop what one of my professors described as a “second naiveté”… An ability to believe in something that is beyond what any words can describe. A faith in the Truth that is beyond the page. Some of us think “it’s all about Jesus!” Some of us think “it’s all about God!” Some of us think “it’s all about us!” And some of us don’t know what it’s all about! Some of us have trouble with all of it. Some of us hear these passages and are perplexed and have doubts about all of the details.

WELL, TAKE A NUMBER—YOU ARE IN A LONG LINE THAT GOES BACK A LONG, LONG TIME! When news reaches Thomas of the awesome appearance of Jesus to his friends, he is not convinced.
Yes, this is the same Thomas who had been with Jesus and the disciples for quite a while. Yes, this is the same Thomas who had seen Jesus face to face—who had witnessed who knows how many amazing things. Yes, this is the same Thomas who had heard Jesus predict the predicaments and raise the possibility of the resurrection. Yet Thomas wants to see for himself, to touch, to know. And a week later, behind closed doors, his request is granted! Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounded body, to “see my hands.” “Thomas, do not doubt, but believe.” Thomas proclaims, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas comes around! But that moment of hesitation, that doubt in the midst of the disciples, that week of uncertainty… Leaves Thomas branded and burdened for the ages.

It reminds me of the story of the Texas rancher who bought 10 ranches and put them together to form one giant spread. His friend asked him the name of his new mega-ranch. The rancher replied, “It’s called ‘The Circle-Q, Rambling Brook, Double Bar, Broken Circle, Crooked Creek, Golden Horseshoe, Lazy-B, Bent Arrow, Sleepy-T, Triple-O Ranch.’” His friend said, “Wow! I bet you have a lot of cattle.” The rancher said, “Not really—not many survive the branding.”

“Doubting” Thomas has never survived the branding! But we have to be careful with this story! If we don’t watch it, we will assume that Jesus is down on doubters. If we aren’t careful, we’ll believe that if we are going to be a person of faith, doubt is out!

BUT DOUBT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS FOR A VITAL, GROWING FAITH! How can we live in this world and not have some serious doubts from time to time? Life is hard to understand—and sometimes it is just plain hard. I like the cartoon that shows a huge desk, a CEO is sitting behind the desk in a massive leather chair. He looks tired, worn, deeply concerned. Standing meekly in front of the desk is a man in work clothes, a lowly employee in the corporation, who is cleaning the office. The worker says to the boss, “If it’s any comfort, it’s lonely at the bottom too.” Life is difficult for everyone.

Someone mentioned that he was so glad Easter was here. He said, “I don’t like Lent, because I’m not into suffering.” I didn’t know that was an option! Can we skip that part? How can we not have a little doubt—how can we not be disheartened—when we see the condition of the world around us or the faults and failures of humanity? You are probably aware that after 1500 years, the Vatican has doubled their list of seven deadly sins in an effort to address social and global sinfulness. In addition to lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy, and pride, the new list includes polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, dealing drugs, abortion, pedophilia, and causing social injustice. Someone observed that the new list was released—probably in preparation for the Pope’s visit to the United States! And he may have an appointment with the former governor of New York. And Madame Dupre…and the new governor of New York. And a long, long list of others…take a number. How can we live in a Good Friday world and NOT have some doubt?

WE NEED A LITTLE DOUBT. One theologian put it this way: “The believer who has never doubted will hardly convert a doubter.” Faith is not belief that removes all doubt. Rather, faith is belief held in the presence of doubt—in the face of darkness and despair and chaos and questions. Last Thursday evening, a wonderful group of women presented the drama Will You Wait with Me?One of the characters in the play was Corrie Ten Boom. From her painful experiences in the concentration camps, by the grace of God she was able to speak of a place “where the fire cannot reach.” She said, “In the forest fire, there is always one place where the fire cannot reach.” “It is the place where the fire has already burned itself out.” “Calvary is the place where the fire of God’s judgment against sin burned itself out completely.” “It is there that we are safe.”

How profound—and oh, how we need Easter in this Good Friday world! Faith—in the presence of doubt. In fact, being able to speak the language of doubt is as important as being able to speak the language of faith. If we are going to continue to grow in our personal journey of faith… If we are going to continue to grow as a congregation… If we are going to be effective in sharing the Good News with people who have never heard these stories… We’ll need to become bilingual. We’ll need to able to speak the language of doubt and faith. During the season of Lent, hundreds of people participated in the Unbinding Your Heart series. I have heard inspiring stories about prayer experiences and faith-sharing—some amazing things have been happening to people in the congregation. But I have also heard inspiring stories about doubts and serious questions with regard to matters of the faith. Why are those kinds of stories inspiring to me? Because it means that at least we’re talking about them.

As Dr. Straub reminded us—we need to create a community where we can be honest before God and before each other. Diana Butler Bass, scholar and author of Christianity for the Rest of Us, studied 50 healthy mainline congregations. She discovered: “Almost to a person, people would testify that being in a mainline church was a different kind of spiritual experience for them.” “It was the place where they could go where they didn’t have to park their brains at the door.” “The talked about a connection between their minds and hearts and their hands.” “They talked a place where they could think about God, ask questions, and experience God.” “They talked about a place where they could actually enact what they think is God’s dream for the world in serving the poor, or taking care of the homeless, or whatever the mission of the church was.” Bass says, “There are many people in our country who are looking for an open spiritual community in which they can ask their questions.” “We heard that over and over again in our studies.” People described their churches by saying: “This is a Christian community where I can ask questions, where I can still have doubts, where I can explore a variety of answers…” “And yet God is still present here—and I feel it.”

IN THE PRESENCE OF DOUBT, WE NEED A LITTLE FAITH. Last Tuesday, March 18th, marked the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s “faith experience” at the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville. He wrote: “In the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people…” “That they were mine and I was theirs…” (I realized) “That we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers...” “I felt the immense joy of being human, a member of a race in which God became incarnate.” “As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are!” “If only everybody could realize this!” “But it cannot be explained.” “There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around…” “Shining like the Sun!” In the midst of doubt, faith! In this Good Friday world, we need a little Easter!

One of our Sunday School classes is studying a book by Rob Bell. Bell proclaims: “We all fall short and that’s the beautiful part.” The politicians we poke fun at, the celebrities we see crash and burn, you and me—we all fall short. But Bell reminds us: “Broken, flawed, vulnerable people like you and me, are invited to be the hands and feet of a Jesus who loves us exactly as we are…” “And yet, loves us way too much to let us stay that way.” “May you be a ‘yes’ to the question, ‘Has Jesus risen from the dead?’” “And may you come to see…” “May you understand that you are the good news.” “You are the gospel.” Jesus wonders, “Do you believe because you have seen me?” “Blessed are those who have not seen—and yet have come to believe.” John adds: “If only I could tell you all of my stories!” “Stories of doubt… and stories of faith…” “But stories that have been written so that you may have life, a connection, a community, a place, a purpose, a relationship.”

So, friends, go ahead! Go ahead—and unbind your hearts! Unbind your lives! Unbind your prayers! Unbind your conversations! Unbind your church home! Unbind your doubts! In the presence of doubt, unbind your faith! In this Good Friday world, unbind the Good News! In this Good Friday world, unbind Easter! In this Good Friday world, unbind your joy! Go boldly from this place, “Shining like the Son!”