Doubt and faith
John 20:19 – 31 – Acts 5:27-32
JK Rowling once delivered a speech to Harvard graduates called “The fringe benefits of failure.”
Her theory is that it is only after failing that you can succeed.
And her Harry Potter stories and franchise must surely be an example of success.
Failure is a part of life,
we all fail,
what sets us apart though is how we deal with that failure,
and in what way it then continues to define us.
For example, do we see a failure as meaning we will nolonger be any good at something?
Or does it give us a drive to then do something differently next time?
One of her key quotes is:
“there is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction”
She goes on to say that in failure,
you learn things about yourself you can learn no other way.
– – – – – – – – – – – –
In a NZ example,
there was a great speech last year at Mt Roskill Grammar, called:
“Brown Brother” by: Joshua Iosefo, (eye-oh-see-foe)
This speech made it’s way to Youtube and Cambel Live.
Once again,
he looks at the failure of some of his family,
and says along the lines of: “Do I also need to fail?”
His conclusion is: “No. God created me perfect. And he quotes Philippians 4:13:
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Joshua says that we need to look inside the marrow of our bones,
and see that we are created perfect,
and to not dwell on what others might or might not see,
but rather to believe in the God who created us.
– – – – – – – – –
So where does all this link in to today’s readings?
Our readings today,
carry on directly from last week,
from the death and resurrection of Jesus.
These readings,
are readings of doubt, disbelief and denial.
Peter in the strong times with Jesus;
– boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the messiah.
– And he walked on water to Jesus.
Then on Friday we heard that Jesus said that Peter would deny him 3 times;
and he did.
Why would you want someone who would betray you?
What kind of person would deny you in your hour of need?
How could you ever trust them again?
The thing is though,
things go wrong,
we get things wrong.
Grace is the answer.
Jesus sees into the marrow of Peter’s bones,
he knew him and wanted him.
Jesus knew Peter was going to fail,
and he knew he would be stronger for it.
We need to remember that we often see failure as a negative,
that it is something bad,
something wrong,
but in the case of Peter it most certainly wasn’t.
We need to remember that Peter denied Jesus 3 times.
He denied Jesus 3 times because others recognised him as a Jesus freak;
they knew there was something wrong,
here was another of these Jesus followers.
Peter was only able to deny Jesus because it looked like he was following him.
And that surely is a testimony to him!
He hadn’t abandoned Jesus.
Peter was following Jesus very closely,
so closely indeed that he was in the courtyard of the officials;
now that is pretty dangerous stuff,
after-all it is very shortly going to lead to Jesus’ death.
And there he is boots and all,
this Jesus freak,
following his master.
And he fails,
he denies him,
but he was there;
he was there, so close that he could deny him.
So all is not lost.
And what Jesus sees in Peter comes full circle in today’s reading in Acts 5,
where Peter proclaims who Jesus is to everyone who is gathered.
Thomas is similar,
where his doubt is transformed into faith.
I reckon that if Peter and Thomas are anything to be going from,
then we should be praying for failure and for doubt!
Because it seems to be our moments of failure,
and our moments of doubt,
that the Holy Spirit is able to work most powerfully within us,
to transform our minds and consequently our lives into something amazing for God.
Just last week when Peter heard from the women that Jesus was alive he doubted,
he didn’t believe.
The theme of doubt carries on in a similar fashion today.
When Thomas heard from the disciples that Jesus was alive,
he likewise doubted, and didn’t believe.
Now it wasn’t that Peter and the others didn’t trust the testimony of women,
it was simply that they did not believe that the resurrection was possible;
they thought it was just a fairy-tale.
Their doubt though is transformed.
A good thing about doubt is that it shows we care.
It shows that we are thinking and concerned.
Jesus then speaks into our doubt, and says: “What must I do for you to believe?”
Jesus then graciously helps us to believe,
to Thomas he says: “Put your hands here and believe”.
And Thomas then confesses, you are my Lord and My God.
We have to think too that Jesus probably already knew what Thomas needed,
hence he turned up at the right moment.
For Thomas though,
probably the naming of what he needed was the turning point.
Sometimes we need to name our needs,
our desires,
our wants;
so that we know where our heart lies.
As Thomas names what it is he needs,
Jesus then meets him in that moment of need.
This then leads to a confession,
and this moment of change where Thomas then says who Jesus is for him,
leads to some certainty in his life,
and a new way of living.
We remember that this new way of living is an Acts 5 way,
where we are able to proclaim our faith.
Jesus meets our needs at times to give us faith,
faith that things will work our with God.
Peter then boldly stands up and proclaims the faith.
And he only got to this after denying Jesus and doubting.
So take heart,
the Holy Spirit can transform your doubt into bold faith.
The question for us today is: Will you allow God to do this in your life?
Will you name your need of God,
so that God may transform you?
Let us pray:
Gracious God.
We name silently before you now our need…
<pause>
Please transform that need within us,
so that like Peter we may live our faith boldly. Amen.
John 20:19 –
19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.
21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”
Jesus and Thomas
24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”
26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”
28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”
Why John Wrote His Book
30 Jesus worked many other miracles[a] for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in[b] him, you will have true life.