Jeremy L. Berg

Here’s the sermon Mike prepared for last Sunday when we cancelled due to 20 inches of snow! The main thing I’m DOUBTING these days is if Spring is ever going to come to Minnesota! Thanks for this thoughtful message, Mike!

The gospel lesson from the common lectionary for the 3^rd week of Easter invites us into a small house where we find the disciples hiding behind locked doors, frightened and confused.  Let’s listen as Luke tells us what happened.

Luke 24:36-49 NIV. Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you—that everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “This is what is written, the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

John’s account of this event gives us a few more details…

John 20:19-29 NIV.  On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”  Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”  Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

As I read this passage, my eyes were drawn to v. 38, Jesus said to them, “Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”  And to be a little more specific, my eyes were drawn to the end of that question, “…why do doubts arise in your heart?”

I suspect that most of us have at some point doubted scripture, doubted your salvation, doubted your faith.  But before I jump into scripture, indulge me while I take a short, but related, side trip.

My morning routine includes, after a work out and a shower, checking my email.  Yesterday morning I found the following email in my Inbox…

Subject:   Lose the Stubborn Belly Fat keeping your pants from buttoning.

Without a doubt, it might be one of the biggest weight loss breakthroughs in decades!!

Derek Evans, the leading researcher, discovered a “metabolic glitch” after witnessing fat literally coming out of fat cells in a Petri dish with just a few tiny drops of this nutrient.  

Just ask Jenna Leveille from Highlands Ranch, CO, who at 43 years old shed a whopping 122 lbs in the process and says, “People don’t even recognize me at work conferences.  They ask, where’s Jenna?“

For your free sample just send $5.95 for shipping and handling to…

Ultra Omega Fat Burn Team

I’ve gained a few pounds recently and I’ve been thinking I need to lose a little weight.  Losing that weight quickly and easily sounds really attractive.  Most of us know that this email is fake, the claims are not true, and sending the money would be foolish.

Most spam has a couple common characteristics.

1. The subject line always promises something we really desire.  I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of emails every day claiming a miracle solution to all my problems – “not enough money?” I can earn $2000/week in my spare time, “want six-pack abs?” I can build muscle faster with this simple trick and do it while I sleep, “lose weight?” I can melt fat away without exercise, and the list goes on and on and on.
2. The solution is always simple and requires little or no effort on our part.  We are always looking for a ‘good deal’, the easy solution, the maximum result for a minimum of effort and expense.
3. Lastly, there is always a testimonial.  Sometimes there will be an actual name like Jenna Leveille in my example, but often it is just a vague reference – “a process used by many of the biggest stars in Hollywood”.  The testimonial, of course, is to provide a “credible” witness to the “truth” of the claims in the email.

When handling spam emails, we should all take the advice from the adage, “If it sounds too good to be true then it’s probably not true”.

We live in the Information Age, so you would think it would be a simple thing to determine the truth of a claim.  But consider this – every day we humans create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data.

Quintillion is a 1 followed by 18 zeroes – 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.

To put that number in perspective the complete works of Shakespeare contains about 5,000,000 bytes, a pickup truck filled with books contains approximately 1,000,000,000 bytes, the Library of Congress contains 10,000,000,000,000 bytes.  2.5 quintillion is approximately 250,000 Libraries of Congress.

According to one source, 90% of all the world’s data since the beginning of time has been created in the last 2 years.  It is impossible to keep up with it all.  This makes it easy for the those who want to deceive us.  The internet is filled with “Fake news”, our email boxes are full of spam, and half the phone calls we get are from telemarketers trying to separate us from our money.  This is part of life in 2018.  We need to decide multiple times every day whom to trust.  It’s natural to doubt.  So what’s a person to do?

It’s time to go back to scripture.

Think about what the disciples have been through in just one short week.  Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.  People lined the streets waving branches of greenery and shouting hosannas.  A few days later, they celebrated the Passover meal with Jesus.  That night while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus was betrayed by one of His inner circle, one of their friends.  Jesus was arrested, convicted of things he didn’t do, and sentenced to death.  The disciples watched their teacher and friend die on a cross as a convicted criminal.  And now someone was spreading rumors that Jesus was alive.

Now, let’s go back to verse 38 where we read, “He [Jesus] said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” With the whirlwind of activity, the rollercoaster of highs and lows, is it any wonder that the disciples doubted?  My first stop in trying to understand “doubt” was the dictionary.  According to Merriam-Webster the definition of doubt is…

• Definition: to be uncertain about, to believe something might not be true, to have no confidence in
• Synonym: distrust, uncertainty, disbelief
• Antonym: trust, belief, faith

Then I went to the internet to find the Greek word translated as “doubt”, to see if the original Greek would tell me something different.

The Greek word in verse 38 that is translated as “doubt” is dialogismoi (dee-al-og-is-mos’).  It means – thinking, reasoning, questioning.  This lends a slightly different feeling to verse 38.  The disciples doubted, but not the “distrust or disbelief” kind of doubt.  Their doubt was the “uncertain or questioning” kind of doubt.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t like uncertainty.  When I am uncertain, I test, I research, and I question.  I will keep at it until I am no longer uncertain.  This is exactly what the disciples did.

The disciples find themselves in need of advice that they can trust.  Their lives have just been turned upside down and they don’t know where to go or what to do next.  They are frightened and hiding behind locked doors.  A man has just appeared in their midst.  He is claiming to be Jesus, but they know that can’t be true.  They saw Jesus die with their own eyes and people don’t come back from the grave.  So what do the disciples do?  They test this man, trying to determine if he really is who he says he is.  They test him with the tools they have available to them, their 5 senses.

Jesus, knowing that they doubted, invites them to test Him.  Jesus says, Look, See, and Touch.  They could see His scars.  They could see that He looked like their friend.  They touched Him and felt that He was solid.  The disciples know that ghosts don’t eat, so when Jesus eats a piece of fish, the disciples finally believe.

Sherlock Holmes, a famous fictional detective, once said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth” (Arthur Conan Doyle). No matter how improbable, the disciples are finally convinced that Jesus is alive.

Look at what happens next…AFTER their doubt is removed, Jesus moves on to the real reason He appeared to them.  Luke says Jesus opened their minds and they understood scripture.  In the John version of this meeting it says Jesus “breathed on them” and they received the Holy Spirit.  Jesus then commissions them.  John says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

There are consequences for everything…even doubt.  So, what are the consequences of doubt?  What does scripture have to say about doubt?

First, let’s take a look at a few verses that talk about faith – the opposite of doubt.

Mt 9:29-31, “As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”  When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied.  Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”;  and their sight was restored.”

Acts 3:2-7, 16, Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

Mk 2:3-5, Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

There are more passages similar to these 4, but from this sample it seems pretty obvious that faith, either your own or that of others, plays a significant role in miracles.  Now lets look at a few verses that deal with doubt or lack of faith.

Mt 14:29-31, “Come,” Jesus said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Mt 8:23-26, Then Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “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.

Mk 6:5-6, [Jesus] went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Just as faith plays a significant role in many of the miracles, so also doubt or lack of faith can prevent us from receiving a full measure of God’s blessing. If we stop here, this conversation about doubt seems pretty black and white: faith is good and doubt is bad.  But, scripture has more to say.

Sometimes a little doubt can be a good thing.  Doubt can motivate us to ask questions and seek out answers and, in the seeking, our faith will be made stronger.  James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete…”

Listen to what scripture has to say about testing.

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Thessalonians 5:20 – Do not treat prophecies with contempt  but test them all; hold on to what is good.

Malachi 3:10  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Let me leave you with one last scripture.

Mark 9:21

 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

We need to remember that scripture is not just a recounting of events that happened long ago.  This is our story too.  We experience doubt just as the disciples did.   Doubt is not a bad thing, but doubt should be a temporary state.  When we choose to dwell in a state of doubt, when we use doubt as an excuse for not making a decision, it can be an obstacle that prevents us from receiving a full measure of God’s blessing.   But, when doubt drives us to seek answers, drives us to test our faith, we will find that God is faithful.  Our faith will be stronger.