Raul Garcia III
Sunday, April 8, 2018
John 20: 19-31
John 20: 19-31
Let us pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing
to you Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
A little pop quiz on nicknames and if you know who they are:
Ike - Dwight D Eisenhower
Ole Blue Eyes - Frank Sinatra
First Lady of the Civil Rights - Rosa Parks
The Great Bambino - Babe Ruth
Moses - Harriet Tubman
The Doubter - Thomas, Doubting Thomas.
Can you imagine having that as your nickname or how history
will remember you? You know Thomas the doubter the one who
doubted his disciples that they saw Jesus. Oh you mean
Doubting Thomas. I know him. He lives right around the corner
with the orange painted door. I just made that last part up. But
imagine. Being Doubting Thomas. Was Thomas really doubting
or just skeptical? Can you imagine when Jesus was crucified.
Thomas saw it with his own eyes like the other disciples that
Jesus was tortured, beaten, ridiculed, nailed to the cross and died.
The authorities were after the disciples. The Romans wanted to
find the disciples. So all the disciples besides Thomas were locked
in a room the same room but Thomas was not there. I don't know
what Thomas was doing. Was he the smart one who didn't hide in
the same place as the other disciples as he didn't want to get
busted by the Romans. We have no idea what Thomas was
doing. But suddenly Jesus appears to Mary and the other disciples
minus Thomas. Can you imagine being Thomas and all the
disciples are excited and trying to tell you that they saw Jesus.
Jesus is alive dude.
You missed it. This is where I think we are all like Thomas.
Come on really… You saw Jesus. No way. We just saw him
get beat, tortured, hung and died and now you are telling me
He is alive. I doubt it! I need to see this with my own eyes. It's
like having a friend tell you that you should watch this movie
they just watched because the acting was great and the plot
of the movie was great. And they go on and on about how great
the movie is. And your skeptical about it. I'll be the judge if this
movie is good or not. I need to see this film for myself. Most of
us would do that. So most of us are like Thomas. I think that it
is okay to be skeptical. I know I am skeptical of a lot of things.
For example when I receive an email that a prince wants
to give me 10 million dollars because he doesn’t know anyone else
to give money to and whom he trust. All he would need is my bank
account number and my social security number and he’d transfer
the money. Really! I'm very skeptical about that.
We live in a world where there are people out there trying to
take advantage of our older generation or everyone because they
are in need of money, or your cousin is stuck in another country
and need money to get back home, or promises you a free
vacation to a tropical island. We have to be careful. We have to
be skeptical. We can't believe everything.
Have you ever felt yourself doubt? Do you ever feel that this
all is really true? Did Jesus really die on the cross and rise back
again? Why am I a Christian?
We look at doubt today and figure out why we doubt. When
we doubt it is because we want to know more. We just don't
want to scratch the surface with the typical, Jesus is the answer.
We want to go deeper. We want to know. We all struggle with
doubt and believe from time to time. We need to know that it is
okay.
Can you imagine we have Thomas who had the best
Christian schooling for three years following Jesus, knowing what
Jesus did and observing miracles, seeing people raised from the
dead. Thomas was a believer. But Thomas also doubted.
Why was Thomas so skeptical? You see, Thomas had trusted
that Jesus was the Messiah. But then things happened that made
him think that he had put all of his trust in the wrong place. Jesus
had been arrested, even though he was all-powerful. Jesus had
been tortured, even though he was God. It didn’t make any sense
to Thomas. Jesus had been crucified, even though he could walk
on water and heal people of their diseases. And then he died, even
though he could raise people from the dead. None of this made any
sense to Thomas. He had trusted in Jesus, but then all of these
things happened that made it look like he had put his trust in the
wrong place. Now he was skeptical. Now he was doubting.
(Excerpt Taken from Stop Doubting and Believe by Don Schultz, Mar 29, 2012)
Would you have been any different? Can you see yourself
in Thomas? Why do you and I sometimes have doubts? Isn’t it
because there are things that happen in life that make us
wonder if we are putting our trust in the wrong place? I believe
in Jesus. But then a child dies. My brother dies. My sister is
diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. Yet, I still believe in
Jesus. With the bad things happen in my life, and they make
me wonder – is there really a God? All these things I have
learned from the Bible – are they really true? Have I put my
trust in the wrong place? Why am I a Christian?
Do I really believe?
Where can I go when I have doubts? What should I do?
Jesus is the only cure. Jesus cured Thomas of his doubts.
Jesus is the only cure. Jesus cured Thomas of his doubts.
A week after Thomas doubted, Jesus appeared to him and
said. “Stop doubting and believe.” Jesus made Thomas’ doubts
go away. “My Lord and my God!” Thomas said. Then Jesus is
talking to you and me when he says to Thomas, “Because
you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who
have not seen and yet have believed.
When I'm having one of those doubting days I open up my
mind and open the bible and read. There I read in John,
Peace be with you! That is amazing. We come up front for the
bread and wine, we come with doubts and questions and open
hearts and know that we are forgiven for what we have done.
We walk away with faith.
There is a song I want everyone to listen to and I had the
words printed in the bulletin. The name of the song is
I Can Only Imagine. I want you to listen and read the words.
When I'm having one of those doubting days or a tough day I
put this song on and wonder what it would be like when
I walk by his side, when his face is before me.
How am I going to react?
Words below: Link to video for song: https://youtu.be/N_lrrq_opng
I Can Only Imagine
By MercyMe
I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk, by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When you face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by You glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I would do is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk, by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When you face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by You glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I would do is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine hey ya ah
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine hey ya ah
I can only imagine yeah yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine ey ey ey
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine
Songwriters: Bart Marshall Millard
I Can Only Imagine lyrics © Music Services, Inc
I can only imagine
I can only imagine hey ya ah
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine hey ya ah
I can only imagine yeah yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine ey ey ey
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine
Songwriters: Bart Marshall Millard
I Can Only Imagine lyrics © Music Services, Inc
Today Jesus is invisible physically. But He is in all of us. We
are his hands and feet. We can't see Jesus with our physical
eyes but he is as real as the oxygen we breathe. Just as real
as the cell signal we can't see. I may have never seen Jesus
with my own eyes. But I do see Jesus in every single one of
y’all. He will forever be my Lord and my God. And I know we
will have doubts that will come up. And know that it is okay
because we will open up the scripture and read and when we
come up for the Lord’s Supper and receive the bread and wine
we restore our faith in him.
Amen.
