Believing Is Seeing

Sermon preached at Our Savior on 4/11/10 for the 2nd Sunday of Easter. Sermon text: John 20:19-29

"I'll believe it when I see it." That's something that we say when we're very skeptical about something, when we think that something probably isn't true, and most likely won't ever be true. Will they ever build hotels on the planet Mars and make it a vacation destination? Well, I'll believe it when I see it. That doesn't seem very likely to me. Will the Sabres win the Stanley Cup and the Bills win the Super Bowl in the same year? I suppose it's possible, but...I'll believe it when I see it. Will the 219 expressway ever be completed to stretch from I-90 all the way to I-86? I'll believe it when I see it.

Of course, there have been many things that people never believed would happen, but then they did see them. I'm sure many people in the past would've never believed that human beings would walk on the moon. But when it finally happened and millions got to see it live on TV in 1969, suddenly people believed.

Some things we don't have the luxury of seeing, though. Who would ever believe that a man would be killed and then would come back to life? And not only that, who'd ever believe that that man's death and life would mean that we get eternal life in heaven?  It's pretty incredible -- almost unbelievable -- when you think about it.

But we believe it. As Christians, that's exactly what we believe. That's exactly what Easter is all about. Christ has died. Christ is risen! Christ will come again and take us to be in heaven with him forever. We've never seen these things. But we believe them. The Holy Spirit has worked through God's Word to give us faith to trust that Jesus is alive and that we are forgiven. For us, as Christians, believing is seeing. Our faith is the sight God gives us to see his love, to see our Risen Savior.

The disciples on that first Easter were given an opportunity that we don't have today: they saw the Risen Jesus with their own eyes. "On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" (Jn. 20:19)

Now, I mentioned this last week, but that first Easter Sunday wasn't this day of unbridled joy for the disciples that we'd think it would've been. Our text mentions they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who had arrested Jesus and eventually had him executed by the Romans. The disciples didn't understand Jesus was going to rise. Sure, he'd told them. Sure, they should have known and understood it from Scripture. But they didn't. And despite reports from several women that Jesus had risen, they didn't believe it. Instead, on the evening of Easter, the disciples were afraid and locked in a room together.

But then Jesus is there. And suddenly their fears are gone. Suddenly Jesus' words give them what they need: "Peace be with you!" And then they have the peace of knowing their teacher and Savior was alive, that their sins were forgiven, that all of Jesus' promises would come true. And Jesus even comforted them by giving them even more proof. "After [Jesus] said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." (Jn. 20:20)

Jesus' wounds on his hands and side -- the very things that would've inspired horror in the disciples earlier -- were now a source of comfort.  The nail marks in his hands and the cut in his side proved that Jesus had died, but that death had lost its power over him. No wonder the disciples were overjoyed. Death would have no power over them either, because of what Jesus had done.

They were all overjoyed, of course, except for Thomas. Our text tells us that for whatever reason, Thomas wasn't there on that Easter evening. (Jn. 20:24) The disciples told him that they'd seen Jesus, that he was alive. But listen to Thomas's response: "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (Jn. 20:25) In other words, Thomas said: I'll believe it when I see it.

Doubting Thomas, we hear him called today. He refused to believe not only Jesus' own words that he would rise, but he wouldn't even believe his fellow disciples when they saw Jesus for themselves. That's worse than doubting; that's the sin of unbelief.

But then Jesus appeared again. He showed Thomas his hands and side just like he'd asked. And he said to him, "Stop doubting and believe." (Jn. 20:27) And just as quick as that, Thomas did believe. He goes on to confess that Jesus isn't just alive, but he's also God himself. "Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn. 20:28) Then Jesus gives us the point of this story with his last words to Thomas in our text. "Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (Jn. 20:29)

And we hear that whole story, and we hear what Jesus says at the end, and we think, "Yes! Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed! That's us! We haven't seen Jesus, yet we believe in him. We must be pretty great. We're better than all the disciples, nothing could ever shake our faith."

Be careful. Don't look at Thomas as an example of a sin that other people fall into but you never could. Doubts are things that creep into our minds and our hearts when we don't expect it. And if we think we're somehow immune from ever having doubts, then those doubts are going to be even more destructive to our faith.

Think about the situation the disciples were in. It was high stress. They'd just seen their master killed. They were afraid of the Jews arresting them. At first, none of the disciples believed that Jesus had risen. They only believed when they actually saw him. Thomas was the same way. The other disciples doubted, too, we just don't usually think of it that way.

What about your doubts? Are you ever the one acting like Thomas? Maybe you're thinking, "no, I have no doubts. I believe in Jesus and that has never changed in the least." Well, that's great that you think that.

But what about when things aren't going well for you? What about when you're scared like the disciples were. Our fears might have to do with uncertainty about our life or our job. Our fears might center on our thinking that we just can't succeed, that we're bound to fail in what we're doing. Our fears might center on sickness that is affecting ourselves, or affecting our loved ones. When those fears hit us, the doubts aren't far behind.

Does God really love me? Does God really hear my prayers? Think about the problems and fear you've had in your life recently. When those fears hit, did you go to God in prayer? Did you trust that he would take care of it? Did you open the Bible and see what God might have to say about your problem? Or, did you just worry about it? Maybe you just got angry about it, angry at yourself or people close to you.

Yes, those doubts are never far from any of us. Maybe you've even doubted whether anything God says is really true. Maybe you've even doubted whether Jesus rose from the dead or not. Make no mistake about it, these doubts -- all of these doubts -- are sins. They're a bit of unbelief creeping into our hearts. And we all have these doubts at times in one form or another. The question is, what can we do about it? Where can we turn?

Jesus told us where to turn. Did you catch it in our text? Jesus was talking about it. When he appeared to his disciples the first time, he said to them, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." (Jn. 20:21) Even when Jesus was no longer visible in this world, his disciples would carry on his mission. And what was his mission? He tells that to his disciples, too.

"If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven, if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (Jn. 20:23)  Jesus told his disciples that they could announce his forgiveness. And how would they announce his forgiveness By announcing that Jesus had died and risen! By telling the good news of the gospel message. And the disciples did tell their message in writing down Jesus' story in the words of the Bible.

And when we read that message in the Bible of our forgiveness, we actually get that forgiveness. The Holy Spirit works through that gospel message to give faith and strengthen faith in that forgiveness. The same thing happens here on Sunday mornings. You confess your sins, and what do I say? "God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Those words aren't a sham. They're real. And they're not real because I said them. They're real because Jesus died and rose again. They're real because Jesus appeared to his disciples and gave them the authority to forgive sins. And when our sins are forgiven like this, it strengthens our faith. It builds up our confidence in what our Risen Savior has done. It reminds us that God does keep his promises, that our sins are forgiven.

Yes, we haven't seen Jesus alive with our own eyes. But we don't need to. For us, believing is seeing. We see the Risen Jesus by faith. Our faith is strengthened in his Word. Our faith grows when we hear that our sins -- even our doubts -- are forgiven. Our faith grows in the Savior who was dead but is alive forever and ever. And we look forward to seeing him in heaven, to see and touch his hands and side. To see, not just by faith, but also by sight, just exactly what God's love has done for us.

A Living Hope

Sermon for Easter Sunday – the Resurrection of our Lord – April 4, 2010. Based on 1 Peter 1:3-9.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Because this day happened -- because of Easter -- we never have to be afraid again. Because of Easter, we don't have to wonder what will happen to us when we die. Because of Easter, we know all God's promises will come true and we'll have all eternity to thank him for it. Because of Easter, we have hope.

But what is "hope" exactly? You hear the word all the time, from movies to political campaigns. We say the word ourselves. But what does the word actually mean?

It's a word that's used in different ways, with slightly different meanings. You could be talking about something that you have no expectation of actually happening. For example, you might say, "I hope I win the lottery." That's nice that you hope that, but I think we all know it's not going to happen. The odds are stacked against you. Hope all you want; you're probably not going to win the lottery anytime soon.

Sometimes we use the word for something that is a bit more likely to actually happen. "I hope we keep this nice weather up outside" or, "I hope it doesn't rain today." That might really happen. The weather might be great. But it also might not happen. Rain clouds could come, the weather could turn, and your hope would be wrong.

But there's another kind of hope. There's a hope for something that hasn't happened yet, but that we know will happen. It's something we're confident will happen. It's something we trust will happen. That's the "hope" that Easter gives us. Because of Easter, we have the sure hope that everything is going to work out for our good, because of what our Savior has done. He gives us that sure hope -- a living hope.

That's what our text is talking about. Peter wrote our text, and even though it was probably 30 years or so after the first Easter he's still just gushing with emotion as he writes, "Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Pet. 1:3) It sounds like Peter is still filled with the same excitement that he must have had when Jesus first rose.

And even though we weren't there when Jesus rose, even though we didn't get to see him and the nail marks in his hands and feet, just maybe we can feel that excitement a little bit, too. If there's any day where we'd feel it, it'd be today. The Easter lilies, the feeling of an Easter Sunday morning, the hymns and songs we sing, it might fill your heart with that excitement, that living hope, that Peter is writing about. It might remind you that we do have a God who loves us, and a Savior who died and lives for us.

But it's hard to keep that excitement, that feeling going. How can you keep hope in your heart when the more you see of life all around you, the more things seem hopeless? There's so much talk about a recession and unemployment and "tough times" in our world today. You call that hopeful?

Our individual lives have their own problems, too. It could be not enough money to pay the bills. It could be fighting and turmoil in our relationships in our families, with our spouse, with our friends. It could be our work or school that just isn't going how we thought it would. It could be our plans that just never seem to amount to much of anything. And we wonder if God even loves us at all. You call that hopeful?

Peter, who wrote our text, would've understood these feelings. Sure, he'd been there on the first Easter. We heard about him in today's Gospel running to the tomb and seeing the burial cloths laying there. But was he overjoyed? Was the excitement just pouring out of him then? No. The Gospel of Luke tells us that when the women told the disciples about the empty tomb, "they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense." (Lk. 24:11) Then after Peter gets to the tomb himself, we hear that "he went away, wondering to himself what had happened." (Lk. 24:12)

That first Easter didn't start out full of happy excitement, not for Peter. He and the other disciples, though Jesus had told them about it several times, still didn't understand or believe that he would rise from the dead. Peter himself had extra reason to feel bad. He had denied Jesus. He had abandoned his teacher, his Lord, and he had denied even knowing who he was. Who knows? Maybe Peter could have stopped this horrible tragedy from happening. Maybe he have done something. But he didn't. And he felt the guilt. How could God love someone like him?

Our mistakes and sins can bring that feeling to us. You might have that one sin that you know is wrong, but you keep doing it anyway. And every time you think...I failed again. And I really call myself a Christian?  God must really hate me at this point. What's the point of even trying anymore? And that guilt of our sin robs us of our joy and takes away our hope, leaving us empty.

But look! There at the tomb! It's empty, too! Friends, Peter might not have understood what that meant at first, but we do. An empty tomb means a living Jesus! A living Jesus means that our sins have been forgiven! Sins forgiven mean that we, too, will live forever in heaven. No matter what happens to us now, eternal life is the reward Jesus won for us! His empty tomb gives us a living hope!

And our hope is not just for heaven. Our living hope also means everything in our lives now. Peter recognizes the struggles we face. "Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." (1 Pet. 1:6) Yes, life in this sinful world won't be easy. But since that tomb is empty, we won't be going it alone.

Think of it this way. Imagine you needed a ride from here to the airport. That's a bit of a drive, about an hour. But imagine that someone not only agreed to drive you to the airport, he also said he'd give you a ride whenever you need it. So later on, if you need a ride again, even if it's just a few blocks here in Springville, would you hesitate to ask that person? Of course not! He already drove you to the airport, of course he'll drive you a few blocks.

Now think of Jesus. He went to the grave. He went to hell and back -- for you! He died and rose -- for you! If Jesus did that much for you, won't he also be willing to be with you in the struggles of this life? If he fulfilled his promise of dying and rising, won't he also fulfill his promise of hearing your prayers and taking your burdens? Of course he will! Because the tomb is empty, because Jesus rose, we have comfort in our trials. We have a living hope!

In fact, our troubles actually benefit us now. Peter reminds us of this. "These [trials] have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Pet. 1:7)

Think of it, as you go through problems and struggles in your life. Because Jesus rose, he promises not only to be with you through those problems, he promises to use those problems to strengthen your faith. He uses your problems to drive you back to his Word, to rejoice again in how he died and rose for you. He uses your problems to remind you of your baptism, where God made you his own dear child forever. He uses your problems to drive you back to the altar to receive his true body and blood for your forgiveness! He blesses you, even through your problems -- all the way to eternal life. That's the living hope that only Jesus can give us.

And he gives that living hope to us freely. I hope you're excited today, and you have that Easter frame of mind. I hope it's a day that you're excited to be a child of God and believer in Jesus. But if you don't have that excitement, or if the excitement fades, don't worry. Jesus' love doesn't depend on your excitement. It depends on what he has done. And he has left his tomb empty.  And he's promised that your tomb will be empty, too. He has solved the problem of your sin and promised to be with you through all your problems in life. He is your Savior, and he's given you a living hope.

We close with Peter's words, just as true today as they were when he wrote them. "Though you have not seen [Jesus], you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Pet. 3:9)