Doubting Christian
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
This week many people will celebrate the evangelization of Ireland through a man we have come to know as Saint Patrick. However, there's another so-called "saint" that we wish to highlight - the disciple of Jesus who, according to church historians, was the first missionary to take the Gospel to India. The story is told that when all the apostles were in Jerusalem, the regions of the world were allocated by lot - each Apostle would go into the region that fell to him, the nation to which the Lord sent him. By lot, India fell to Thomas. However, he protested, saying that he was not able to go, due to the "weakness of the flesh". He reportedly said, "How can I, being an Hebrew man, go among the Indians to proclaim the truth?" While he was struggling with these thoughts, the Savior appeared to him in a dream, and said to him: "Fear not, Thomas; go away to India, and proclaim the word; for my grace shall be with thee." For this reason, St. Thomas has been called the "Apostle of India", and is said to have founded the Christian communities in India who still call themselves by his name. (This may be a mistake, for there was another Thomas who was a Manichee.) They say that Thomas was a builder and helped to build a palace in India. One version of the story is that Thomas, instead of using the money to build the royal palace, spent it for the poor. When the King demanded his palace, Thomas told him that God had prepared one for him in heaven! Consequently, the pagan priests became outraged, and Thomas was martyred by being thrust through with a spear. According to another tradition, after an active career as a preacher and healer, Thomas was put to death by order of a King Misdeus, on the charge of heresy. Tradition provides this account of his death: "And when he had prayed, he said to the soldiers: 'Come and finish the work of him that sent you.' And the four struck him at once, and killed him. And all the brethren wept, and wrapped him up in beautiful shawls, and many linen cloths, and laid him in the tomb in which of old the kings used to be buried." Thomas appears in all four New Testament lists of Apostles. In the Gospel of John, his name is listed as "Thomas Didymus". The word "didymus" is Greek for "twin" or "double". Because the name Thomas is linked with Matthew in the three apostolic lists in the Synoptic Gospels (see, for example, Matthew 10:3), some scholars have postulated that Thomas and Matthew were twin brothers. However, this disciple has become famous by another name, "Doubting Thomas". Why? Because he found it hard to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. Thomas had not been present when Jesus made his first appearance on the evening of the resurrection. When the others told Thomas, he made his famous statement: "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Eight days later when Jesus appeared again, Thomas was convinced, and declared, "My Lord and my God." As one commentator states, "The hardheaded insistence of facts made the others call him doubting Thomas. Doubter he was, a man slow to make up his mind, one truly born with a thirst for honest inquiry and one who dearly loved a fact - yet once doubts were resolved, his loyalty was simple, fixed and unshakable." Remember also, Thomas has the distinction of asking the question that prompts one of the most famous answers in the Bible: "Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:5,6 NIV) During my college years, when I would introduce myself at the beginning of choir concerts, I would say, "My name is Neil Edward Ronald Michael Timothy Anthony Joseph Chadwick - - the Third!" (The idea was from a high school Roman Catholic classmate who actually had three middle names.) I don't know about you, but I could well add the name "Doubting" to my other names, for I too have had seasons of doubt. For example, there's a very distinct memory of sitting on the bench by the entrance lane at the Bible College in Green Lane, PA. I had just completed my first full year of college - a strong, Bible-Based, Christ-Centered Pentecostal school. I should have felt at the top of the world, for I was at the head of my class, chosen to tour the country with choir and quartet, and even, as an 18 year old, had been invited to preach and sing for a youth revival in upstate New York. But I sat on the brink of despair as the doubts flooded over me. It seems that in my first year in college, I had learned many more questions than answers, and my doubts caused me to wonder if I could be a Christian at all. You see, at that time, I thought that doubts were of the devil, and it was sinful for me to even ask the questions. How well I remembered the song we often sang in my home church in Willimantic, CT:
Don't be a doubting Thomas, Just trust upon His promise; Why worry, worry, worry, worry; When you can pray."
2. When fear of the storm immobilized the hardened fishermen Jesus said, "'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." (Matthew 8:26) 3. In a later similar event, Peter found himself walking on water for a few steps, but when he began to sink, "Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'" (Matthew 14:31) 4. During another lake crossing, the disciples were fretting because they had forgotten to bring bread on their trip: "Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, 'You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?'"(Matthew 16:8) First, note that doubters keep good company.
The Prophet, Jeremiah, had his doubts: "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?" (Jeremiah 8:22) And the Prophet Habakkuk also had questions: "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" (Habakkuk 2:13) In the New Testament, there was the father who brought his son to be healed. He said, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) Jesus healed the boy, even though his father confessed his unbelief! Most obvious of all, after the resurrection, all of the disciples, not only Thomas, could be named among the doubters.
A little more doubt in the minds of the followers of the Jim Jones cult may have saved their lives.
Doubt makes faith more valuable, even as sorrow enhances joy, and as pain causes pleasure to be better appreciated.
Doubts are not bad as long as we don't get stuck in them - if they lead us on the search for truth. So then, what are we to do with doubts? Here's an A, B, C, D response to doubts: A. Admit doubts.
All of us have doubts sometimes. We may doubt God's very existence, His power, His love and concern for us as individuals. Have you heard the saying, "To err is human - to really mess things up you need a computer"? We'd like to say, "To doubt is human". I believe it was the philosopher, Descartes who said, "I think, therefore I am." I'd like to say, "I doubt, therefore I am." Call doubts by the right name - is there a doubt here, or is it something else, such as insecurity, anger, or misplaced expectations? Furthermore, "doubt your doubts" and remember that doubts are not the same as denial.
Also, read the biographical stories of the great men and women of faith, those recorded in or out of the Biblical record
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." (James 1:5-8) "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:8)
For example, when doubting God's presence, consciously remind yourself, "I know He is here, loving me even when I cannot feel it, even as I know the sun is there on a cloudy or stormy day." When Satan asked Eve, "Hath God said?" she fell for the temptation rather than argue with it. We may blame Satan for asking the question, but the problem is not with the asking, but with the answer. Eve could have said, "Yes God did say that, but it's not all He said - He also made it clear that we were not to eat of that fruit." When it comes to doubts concerning our doctrines, we need to study Christian evidences. Christianity is not based on "a blind leap of faith," but upon specific evidences such as the empty tomb, the testimony of over 500 witnesses to the resurrected Jesus Christ, and much more. When Peter writes, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope" (I Peter 3:15), the implication would be that we first must convince ourselves. Most of us are familiar with the standard of justice which says that a person is innocent unless proven guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." This standard pushes prosecutors to search harder for evidence, it ought to do the same for us - doubts pushing us to search for evidences of the truth of God's Word. 2. Study the Bible. Faith gains strength by hearing or reading the Bible. A regular, systematic reading of the Bible is the best way to stock up on doubt defeating arguments. 3. Be reminded, that Jesus is praying for the strengthening of your faith (Luke 22:31-32). Notice that Jesus did not say He had prayed that Simon Peter would be exempt from Satan's attack. No, Jesus prayed that Simon's faith would not fail during that attack. Finally, look at how Jesus dealt with "Doubting Thomas". He provided what it was that Thomas needed to help him overcome his doubts: "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." (John 20:27) And then listen to what Jesus said at the end of His dealing with Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29) There's hardly a Christian who has not, at some time or other, gone through what has become known as the "Dark Night of the Soul". When you go through yours, know that Jesus is praying for you, a "cloud of witnesses" is cheering you on, and by God's grace, you will soon come to the other side of the "valley of the shadow of death."
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