John 20:19-31
Introduction
Over the years I have learned, and heard, of children asking some of the most… thought provoking questions. For instance, a five year old boy asks, “Mom, my belly hurts… Am I pregnant.” Or, “Why did swear words get invented if we’re not allowed to say them?” One of my favorites has always been, “In the olden days, was everything black and white?” But thought provoking questions aren’t just asked by kids—adults ask them too. “If you could have dinner with three people—even if they were dead—who would they be?” “What superpower would you want to have?” “Do you like pineapple on your pizza?” And my favorite (on the Sunday after Easter) “I went to church last Sunday, why do I need to go again this Sunday?”
I’m a big fan of questions because when we ask questions we think at a deeper level, and we search out answers. And when we search out answers, whether we find them or not, I believe we still discover something worth discovering.
A similar belief is held by University of Maine science professor Dr. Neil Comins who devised a teaching method that consists of asking questions, specifically, “what-if” questions. Convinced scientists are stuck in a rut, he says, “We’re always looking at the world from the same tired perspectives.” This rut made Comins wondered if “what-if” questions could become a new catalyst for scientific discovery, and he started with the question: “What if the Moon didn’t exist?”
The result was a theoretically spectacular world that led to new discoveries.
Setting his theoretical world as a planet exactly like Earth but without a moon Comins and his students discovered… Without a moon ocean tides would be smaller because the moon accounts for high and low tides. Next, no moon would mean the planet would rotate faster, making a day just 8 hours long. This would mean the work day would be less than three hours, but unfortunately we would also age three times faster. No moon would mean regular 100 mph winds and horrifically more destructive tornadoes and hurricanes, which means we’d have to forget about any outdoor activities, as we’d be reduced to cave-dwelling for survival. But that doesn’t really matter because Dr. Comins’ believes a moonless world could not support any complex forms life.
A simple “what if?” question confirms the moon is essential to life on earth. But this “what-if” inquisition is nothing new— we put ourselves through such all the time. What if I never went back to that horrible job? What if I hit the lottery? What if I married the wrong person? What if my spouse married the wrong person?! Whether whimsical or painfully frustrating, we often ask ourselves “what-if” questions.
There is, however, one place “what if” questions are not as typical—the Church. “What if God didn’t exist?” No, no, we can’t ask that question. History shows the church has not handled “what-if” inquisitors, faith-teetering skeptics, or wearied doubters with gracious elegance and honest engagement—but instead with judgement and condemnation. But why is that? Because we all have doubts—and doubts can lead us to ask questions—“what if” questions—about the bible, about Jesus, about God. And, because no one wants to be a “Doubting Thomas.”
What so many of us fail to realize though, is doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is actually an important element of faith because when we doubt we ask questions, when we ask questions we think at a deeper level, and we search out answers. And when we search out answers, whether we find them or not, we draw closer to the divine.
And here’s another thing we fail to realize about doubt—which our text for this Sunday after Easter tells us— God and Jesus are always at work with a response to our doubt. And it’s not a response of judgement or condemnation. Rather it’s a response of grace and understanding, a response of love. It is a response of a vision of a future filled with hope and new life. This is the response Jesus gave to Thomas—the quintessential doubter. And it’s still the response Jesus gives.
Move 1
I think Dr. Comins and his teaching technique of asking “what-if” questions is fascinating. Not only does it reframe the notion that doubt isn’t a bad trait, it can actually lead us to learning more about where we are, who we are, and the blessings we have.
Therefore, if “what-if” questions can teach us and help us achieve a broader perspective and a heightened awareness then why not use the technique to grow our faith, instead of thinking it as some sort of degradation of faith.
So let’s try one… “What if Jesus had stayed in the tomb?” Of course, that one wasn’t just a “what if” for the disciples. Jesus being entombed was their soul-shattering reality. To consider this one, it would be helpful for us to stop and put ourselves into their experience—for by doing so we learn more about them, ourselves, and the blessings of doubt.
*******
Jesus was raised from the dead, but for the days after the crucifixion the Disciples had no way of knowing this. They found themselves suddenly living in a moonless Earth. Their rabbi was dead, and now they feared the same would happen to them. We can only imagine all the haunting “what-if” questions they thought of, each of them filled with doubt. And rightly so. Everything that could go wrong, had gone terribly wrong—at least in their minds. Even though Jesus had assured them this was the plan they still doubted—just like we do.
So how does God respond to these doubters—to us doubters? Not with condemnation and judgment; but with a life changing experience.
Move 2
In the midst of their shattered souls and doubt, the Disciples had a life changing experience with the resurrected Jesus. Sure, it involved seeing Jesus, hearing him, even touching him, but it went beyond the physical sensations and became a spiritual experience.
Jesus meets them behind closed doors, and their world-ending fear was turned back into joy and hope. Their secluded gathering is turned into a powerful commissioning. Their despair turned into a presence of the eternal that empowered them to go out from behind those closed doors, live again with faith that everything really had changed.
They didn’t just see Jesus; they had a spiritual experience because of Jesus—an experience that assured them all they had heard and seen and been a part of was still true, it was all still possible.
But only 10 of the 12 Disciples had that experience. One of them took his own life before he could have that experience. The other wasn’t present for the experience. And because he wasn’t, he could not believe those who had. Thomas’ skepticism and doubt remained, still locked in the tomb. But Thomas will soon show us that God’s response to our doubt is never “one and done”, “snooze you lose.” Rather God is always working to respond to our doubt with a life changing experience.
Move 3
We are all so much like Thomas—more than we are ever willing to admit. Thomas is tactile and needed tangible proof, and he’s merely expressing sentiments that countless followers after him will echo, especially… When we think our prayers bounce off of the ceiling. When we struggle with why bad things happen to good people. When life is hard and ugly and we wonder where God is. We are beset with disbelief as we watch hypocritical political and church leaders ensconced in scandal and double standards. We are in pain all the time; the supernatural is unnatural; the preacher is boring; the Bible is a confusing, constraining, contradicting rule book; we don’t know how to reconcile dinosaurs with Genesis; there are tragic occurrences like tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, children who get cancer; we’re judged for being Christians while others are judged for not being Christians.
All these doubts, all these questions, all these frustrations and vitriol course through our veins and we don’t know what to do because we don’t want to be seen as doubters. We want to be seen as those who have faith! Those who have it all figured out! Those who believe everything happens for a reason.
But that can’t always happen. What can happen though is we can ask questions…
What if God does hear my prayers? What if I trust that God is at work? What if God loves me and all people without condition? What if I seek to have an experience with God?
When we begin to ask our own “What if?” questions, then we open ourselves up to an experience that becomes God’s response to our doubt, an experience that can reset our lives to where we can keep going, keep moving forward—in spite of all our doubts and draw closer to the divine?
Move 4
Author, Philip Yancey asks, “How do you sustain a relationship with God, a being so different from any other, imperceptible by the five senses? Just how do you do this?”
The how is found when we do as Thomas did. Thomas shows us when we have doubts we should not hid from them—we should go deeper into them, voice them, and ask questions. For when we ask questions we seek answers, and when we seek answers though we may not find them, what will happen is we will have a faithful experience and discover God’s response to our doubts. And God’s response is never condemnation or judgement, but always grace, understanding, love, and a vision of a future filled with hope.
Conclusion
So what if we—like children and mold breaking scientists—go deeper into our wonder, our curiosity, our doubts, and start asking questions? What if we embrace, dignify, and journey with those inside and outside of the church who have doubts about God and Jesus and the Bible?
What if? Will we find answers? Will we eliminate doubt? Maybe. Maybe not. But we, and others, will have a faithful experience of discovering God’s response to our doubts.
What if we, and others, had that kind of faithful experience? What might come into our hearts, our spirits—even the world? What if? Amen.
Pastoral Prayer: April 24, 2022
Gracious God, you come into our midst with each and every new day. How much more do you need to do to reveal your presence and goodness in our lives? Admittedly Lord, we do need more for we are filled with questions, filled with doubt and uncertainty.
Holy God, we know of your miracles, we have experienced your work in our lives, and yet we admit we still have doubts and questions—hesitant to believe you are always at work for good.
So we pray you meet us in those doubts and questions. Show up when we hesitate, and reveal yourself already present in our spirits, already showing us your response to all the “What if” questions we are asking by asking the same kind of “what if” questions of us.
What if we did touch the markings of his hands and side?
What if we did proclaim we believe all things are new?
What if we did strive to love our neighbor as ourselves, to love our enemies, to love without condition, and forgive as we have been forgiven?
What if we didn’t so quickly forget the celebration we had last week and the truth of the resurrection?
What if we had the audacity to see the impossible and know you made it all happen?
What if we held fast and true to the great commission that we, just like the first Disciples, have been called to go and make disciples, knowing your son is with us always?
Meet us in our doubts O God—meet us there and give us another experience of your goodness at work so that we are moved to again, in each new day, put our faith in you and trust you are always at work for good—most especially through your children who dare to dream dreams that begin with the faithful wonder of “What if…”
We ask that you would listen now to the prayers from deep within our hearts and souls, as we share them in this time of holy silence.
All this we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, our risen and resurrected Savior, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”