Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The
Sermon on April 19th, 2020
Pastor Frank Rose
John 20:19-31
The disciples were behind locked doors. Skeptical was only one description of their state of being. Fearful, shocked, saddened. Anxious, worried, Angry. All day Friday as the terrible events unfolded, through a dark Saturday. Skeptical was added to the list only on Sunday morning when some women from their group said that his grave was empty and Jesus was alive. A few had investigated, and things just weren’t making clear sense. Then, while they were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; at a moment in time in a real place; the once dead but now living Jesus came. Without needing to unlock the doors. Without needing any of them to speak some remarkable prayer to summon him; on his own timing, Jesus came. He stood among them. With his human body and soul united and alive again, he physically planted his feet on the floor, God and man in one person stood among them. He spoke. Not suddenly in the language of angels; but in their language so they could understand. He communicated with them. The content of his words was this:Peace be with you. Fear started to change into amazement. Sadness to joy. Worry to wonder. And skepticism began the journey to certainty and faith. Peace was also theirs, all because Jesus came, and stood, and spoke; and gave peace. He gave peace to people who needed it. Their previous version of peace had been shown hollow and weak. They had a kind of faith in Jesus a few days earlier, but they also had a lot of confusion and misplaced trusts. Much of their former peace had really been self reliance. I know how things should go, I know I will stand firm and fight with Jesus. That peace had been violently ripped away from them by the betrayal and arrest, the refusal of Jesus to fight as some of them wanted; by their own desertion and helplessness to stop any of it. That peace was gone. But a new peace had come. This new peace was built on a much more stable foundation than self reliance. The peace Jesus gave, and still gives is built on his ability to endure the worst suffering and catastrophe and terrible painful turn of events that anyone has ever faced and to still come out of it living and loving. A peace which made them confident that life was going to be ok; that God was ok with them and for them. This peace began outside of them, in who God is and what God had done. On the basis of that peace already given, Jesus had a purpose for them. “Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” How did the Father send Jesus? He sent him to be a light in this dark world. He sent him to have the will of God as his food. He sent him to proclaim peace to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus said, “In the same way, I am also sending you.” They were sent to proclaim peace. Their sending was unique in this way: they were witnesses of the visible risen Lord Jesus, and they were to tell other that they had seen him alive from the dead. They would proclaim peace far and near. Peace to the high in society and to the low. Peace to the religious and the irreligious. To the perceived outsiders as well as to the perceived insiders. Peace in Jesus, not in your religious performances. Not in your ability to hack life into what it is supposed to be. Peace in Jesus, given first, then enjoyed and lived. They would proclaim what they had witnesses despite persecution, mistreatment, suffering. They had challenging moments, but a reliable peace through it all. You and I are not sent exactly in the same way; we are not visible witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And yet Jesus does send you to proclaim that he has risen from the dead. You are to proclaim this with your words and with a life motivated by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only sent them on a mission, he equipped them for that mission. What is needed to actually be what Jesus has sent us to be, what was needed for those 10 disciples? Did they need to work up the ability and dedication and skill and energy to do this? No, instead, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” My breath and your breath are meant to intermingle. My spirit and your spirit are meant to inter-relate. Your life
source is supposed to be me, and when it is, you will be able to be a person sent by Jesus to do the things Jesus has sent you to do. What is one primary thing he sends you to do? Forgive sins. How in the world can you forgive sins? Some wrongs done are offensive, they cause anger to spring up inside of us; how can you forgive, not just when it is easy, which isn’t really forgiveness, but also when it hurts? The breath of the one who gave up his breath. The spirit of the one who gave up his spirit. His spirit given to you so that you can forgive, and announce forgiveness. People need this. They need this at any kind of time. Including a time of some confusion, recalibrating, what is daily life going to be like? When am I going to get back to normal? What is normal? Can the new normal of a friend include, I am a forgiven person. I don’t have to carry around a weight of shame or a sense of indebtedness. I am forgiven. How can I be sure? Is God a forgetting God? No. Is God a God who is out to get me? No. He is a forgiving God who is both just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are sent to forgive; but also to know the proper and right time to announce a lack of forgiveness. Maybe that’s a surprise. When is that appropriate to say, your sins are not forgiven? It is appropriate whenever someone lives thinking one of 2 things: First, when someone thinks, There is nothing that is really needing to be forgiven. Nothing really requiring something so drastic as a horrible death of an innocent perfect substitute. I have some faults, but they can get cleaned up, I just need time to figure it out. When that’s your attitude, when that’s the attitude of another, there is no forgiveness. You’ve basically said, I don’t need a crucified and risen lord, I just need an advisor, a boost. That attitude fails to see the horror of what sin truly is; a break with God as life source, and a determination to be my own life source. A person who does not think their sins deserve God’s punishment both now and forever is excluding themselves from the forgiveness that Jesus wants to be theirs. Second, it is appropriate to announce a lack of forgiveness when someone thinks:My sins are bad, forgiveness for them must in some way include me doing my part to make up for my really bad sins. Maybe Jesus plays a part, his death is a big percentage of how my forgiveness gets done, but I have to do my part to; maybe 50 %, maybe 25%, maybe only 5%. If and when that is your attitude, you need to hear, your sins are not forgiven if you are relying on your ability to perform for God in order to earn the right to be forgiven, you have alienated yourself from grace, you are still in your sins. Sometimes we all need to hear that word of warning about trusting in a faulty form of forgiveness which is actually non-forgiveness, in order to be retold the word of true forgiveness. That’s always Jesus desire and goal; even when someone needs to be told you are not forgiven, he wants them to be led to the place where they can be told and believe that they are forgiven in him, by grace, through faith, as Scripture teaches. You are forgiven. You are sent to speak this word of forgiveness to others. But now we come to a problem. This type of life that I’ve been describing all hinges on one thing: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The idea that you should live with peace, and with forgiveness and with the purpose of being a proclaimer of this message, if Jesus hasn’t actually risen from the dead, if he’s not actually still alive and able to come, to stand, to speak; then the whole life-style falls apart. If he has not been raised, you are still in your sins, your faith is futile, you are actually to be pitied more than all others. So how can you know? Thomas faced that struggle. How can I know what these people are saying I should know? Thomas was not with them. Ever feel like you missed out on a group experience? I just went to check the mail, and I came back and they all said we saw the most amazing thing, and you weren’t there to see it. Thomas was around on Thursday with Jesus. Less than 24 hours later, Jesus was dead. He lived through that horror, that awful grief, and regret, and loss. He left for whatever reason, and came back to the group, expecting them to feel pretty much like he did; sad, fearful, apprehensive; and they kind of still seem a bit afraid and apprehensive, but not quite as sad. These other 10 and probably some of the women too tell you, “We’ve seen him.” And they most likely added, and he told us to
go and announce forgiveness in his name. Our lives are supposed to be ordered by this mission, all hinging on us seeing a dead person who is now alive. What would you think? Their minds had played tricks on them. Things like that happen when disappointment and crushing grief happens. But if he really were alive, why come only once? Why not stay here with us? Why not confront the enemies who killed him and show them? So Thomas said, “Unless I see and touch, I will never believe.” First of all, let’s give him credit for the honesty. He got stuck with the nickname, doubting Thomas, and once a nickname sticks, it’s hard to get rid of. But I want to encourage you to think of him as honest Thomas. If you have questions about Jesus, better to be honest about them, not hide them. If you have skepticism, doubts; tell God about them. In your prayer life, God is not waiting for you to figure out the right words, you don’t need to sound like Sunday morning Pastor for your prayers to be valid, just tell him what’s on your heart and mind. He accepts it. No honor in being quietly skeptical. Find the right time and place and tact. Doesn’t mean just blurt out any question you have whenever you have it, give it some thought, but it’s ok not to have everything figured out about Jesus. In fact, if you have zero questions, if you think you have everything about God nailed down perfectly, that’s not good either. Healthy to be refining your faith in Jesus, allowing to to be challenged and strengthened by the challenges. Don’t deny that the challenges to your faith are there, you may be missing out on faith strengthening opportunities. Jesus let this conversation between Thomas and the others to go one for a few days. Why do you think Jesus waited? Why not show up the first day Thomas came back and end his doubts? Jesus allowed Thomas and the others to work to try to figure things out. Why not “fix” your problems as soon as they become challenging? Why not answer every question you have as soon as you have it? He wants your faith to be yours, to be vibrant, strong, able to respond to challenges with skill and agility. So be honest with God about your questions. Yet Thomas is not entirely admirable. Notice that he sells himself short. I will never….. I can never… unless…..He was placing conditions on his ability to believe in something about God. He was selling short what God was able to do not only in Jesus, but what God was able to do in him. Is God able to cause faith in the risen Lord without people needing to visibly see him? Of course. What’s impossible with man is possible with God. He can produce the miracle of faith in him without visible sight and physical touch being required. He’s been doing it for a few thousand year with multitudes of people like you and I. Jesus can mingle breaths without being visible, can interrelate in spirit without being touched. And yet, even though he didn’t have to, Jesus met Thomas in the way Thomas needed. After 8 days, inside again, doors locked again. Again Jesus came. Again Jesus stood. Again Jesus spoke. Again the content of his words was, “Peace be with you.” Almost an exact repeat, so that Thomas would not miss out on anything the others had experienced. They got it twice, that’s beneficial, but he got it once. The coming, the standing, the speaking, the peace which only the risen Lord can give. Now he like them could be a visible witness of the resurrected Lord. Jesus even turned his attention to Thomas. Now, imagine that you’ve just been to hell and back for someone. You’ve suffered agony unimaginable not for yourself but for other people, and not only that but you’ve come back to life in such a way that you will never have to die again, something that no one has ever done before, you’ve done everything and more not for yourself but for other people, and now one of those people has been saying basically: If he wants me to believe; he better show up and prove himself to me. What would you say to that person? You of little faith? You snake? You ungrateful, deserter, coward, doubter. None of that comes from Jesus. Instead Jesus turned to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, look. Take your hand and put it here. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Jesus allowed the tests which Thomas had set up in his mind to be passed. He
allowed himself to pass the test that Thomas had set up for himself. Jesus gave Thomas reason to believe, despite his doubt. He gave victory not only over sin and death, but over skepticism as well. Jesus victory over doubt, skepticism, questions comes in the form of belief, trust, faith. Not because faith says, just blindly close your mind to your questions, deny your doubt. Instead faith is based on knowledge. Doubt is overcome for very good reason. Having seen Jesus, it would have been illogical to not believe. If Jesus has risen from the dead, it would not make sense to not order your life around him. To not breath him in like the very air in your lungs, to not allow your spirit to be deeply affected by his. To not act as if forgiveness were real and peace were not already yours. Faith is rational, faith is based on knowledge, faith is not blind, but has eyes wide open to the risen Lord Jesus, who comes, who stands, who speaks, who gives peace. Thomas did the only thing he could. He said, “My Lord and my God.” This has been called the greatest statement of faith in the entire Bible. No one else spoke as clearly and confidently about Jesus as Thomas. Seems that he dropped the conditions and simply worshipped Jesus. No longer doubting Thomas or honest Thomas, but believing Thomas. Then Jesus spoke a word of acknowledgement to Thomas and to you. Your faith is connected to what you have seen. And that’s ok for you; but not everyone will see me in the same way; yet there is still blessing. But blessed are those. Blessed = Filled with peace, filled with every reason to believe that everything will work out well, that everything is working out well. That even death will result in continued life. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Though you don’t see him now, you love him and are filled with a great inexpressible joy and hope and peace. You have the words of men who saw Jesus risen from the dead; people like Matthew, Peter, John. Even Mark and Luke and Paul had their own unique connections to the risen Lord Jesus. These men suffered persecution and kept bearing witness because they saw him. You have their words all for one reason: That you, like Thomas may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. You may now have faith, trust, belief that is based on the solid foundation of Jesus, risen from the dead. Your faith can be honest, like Thomas was. Your faith can have questions come up. Questions like, why this virus, why this social distance? Why now? Yet your faith along with those questions can experience a living Lord who still comes to you, and stands among you, and speaks peace and forgiveness even in the midst of such doubts. Let your faith even with the questions give you your purpose; to speak peace and forgiveness to others, so that their skepticism might also meet the one who can give faith, the risen Lord. Even with some questions, you still believe, and you still have life in his name, a life which you could not have on your own, but is so much better than life on your own, its life with him. A life of victory over death, victory over doubt, faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. The