New Concord Presbyterian Church

April 19, 2009

2^nd Sunday of Easter – Year B

First Scripture Readings: Acts 4:32-35 (p. 1143-4); 1 John 1:1-2:2 (p. 1278)

Second Scripture Reading: John 20:19-31 (p. 1136-7)

Sermon: Unbelief and Doubt

In an online forum and in other contexts this week, I posed the question: Is there a difference between doubt and unbelief? I got a few responses. Some people responded simply "yes" but gave no further explanation. So I got out my trusty dictionary and read the definitions of doubt and unbelief:

There is a difference between the two but what is the importance of the difference? Recently a movie came out with the title "Doubt." This film is set in a Catholic school in 1960’s Bronx. A nun is trying to figure out if a priest has done something wrong. Throughout the movie we have great juxtapositions between the nun who seems so sure of herself, even without any hard evidence, and the priest who is only able to cast doubt upon the nun’s certainty. It is a powerful movie set during a time when the whole world seemed to be changing. Some of the characters seem content to go with wherever the changes take them. Others are working for change while yet others seek to hold on to how things have always been and resist change with every fiber of their being.

The world in which the disciples find themselves on this Easter evening is changing all around them. It must have been a very disorienting weekend for them. It began with Jesus being arrested, tried, and crucified. All of the disciples had run away because they were afraid of what might happen to them if they stay beside Jesus as his loyal followers.

The Passover meal that the disciples would have celebrated that Sabbath day would have been rather somber as they knew that the man they had followed around for three years was lying dead in a tomb. Then as the sun came up on the first day of the week, the disciples were greeted by Mary’s words that the tomb was empty.

Peter and the other disciple ran to see if what Mary said could really be true. Peter went inside of the tomb and noticed that it was empty. The other disciple looked inside the tomb and believed. Mary stayed behind at the tomb and Jesus appeared to her. Since she has seen the risen Christ with her own eyes she believes.

Then we have the rest of the disciples and followers of Jesus. They are gathered together in a house in Jerusalem. They are gathered together and they are afraid. That’s when Jesus appears – in the midst of their fear. Jesus speaks a word of peace to their fear and they are assured that this is the Jesus whom they followed around and had died. He is standing before them – alive. They believed.

They bring this news to Thomas when he returns. They have seen the Lord and they believe. But Thomas refuses to believe until he receives the same evidence that the rest of the disciples were given. He wants to see with his own eyes, hear with his own ears, and touch with his own hands.

So one week later Jesus appears to the disciples, including Thomas this time and allows Thomas to see, hear, and touch him. Jesus then says to Thomas, "Do not doubt but believe." Or at least that’s how most of the English translations put it. But if we look back at the Greek, that is not what it says. The Greek reads, "Do not be unbelieving but believing." It is not doubt that Jesus is asking Thomas to throw aside but unbelief.

So is there a difference between doubt and unbelief? [leave time for responses.]

As a part of my discussions this week I came to the concept of belief as a continuum. Belief and doubt can exist in the same person. To doubt something is to be uncertain about it. Perhaps you have some questions or are wrestling with how something could be. You doubt it. But to be in a state of unbelief is to say that you have made the decision that something could not have happened, it is just not possible that this is true.

Jesus seems to be saying that Thomas is not doubting that the resurrection is a reality but that he has already made up his mind that the resurrection was not a possibility. Jesus is calling Thomas to come out of unbelief and into belief.

I have been reading a powerful book called, The Dream of God by Verna Dozier. In this book Verna argues that the opposite of faith is not doubt but fear. Fear will not let us move forward. If we are afraid then we are unable to take the next step forward on our journey of faith. However, if we doubt we can question. We can wrestle with the limited understanding that we have before us.

Think of it this way. Imagine that you find yourself in a pitch-black room. You know there has to be a door out somewhere. If you are afraid you cannot move forward. Fear roots you to the spot. You do not know in which direction the doors lies, but if fear has not overtaken you perhaps slowly you can stretch out your leg and feel for solid ground. You can reach out your arms and search the wall for a doorframe. You start in one direction, searching for the door you know has to be there. Maybe you have to try a few different directions before you find it. You can doubt your sense of direction or perhaps you can even begin to doubt that there is a door at all but as long as you keep moving and searching, belief is still there and fear cannot root you to the floor.

On that first Easter evening, the disciples have locked themselves in a room because they were afraid. Fear keeps them cooped up inside. When Jesus appears to the disciples, they rejoice. Immediately their fear is replaced by joy. Their fear has been released and the next week when Jesus appears to the disciples, they are no longer locked inside a room out of fear.

To be unbelieving is to say that the decision has been made. To doubt is to say that you are wrestling with your belief, not that you have given up on it. In our Bible study we have had some excellent conversations. As a result of some of these conversations, many of us in the class, myself included, have wrestled with various aspects of our faith. To take the time to wrestle with our faith – to doubt certain aspects of our belief system – is to move along the journey of discipleship. To wrestle with your faith is not to stop believing. To ask questions and explore different possibilities is not to give up your belief.

The issue that Thomas was dealing with was that he was unable to believe that Christ had been raised from the dead and that the disciples and Mary Magdalene had seen him. It wasn’t doubt that plagued Thomas but unbelief.

The good news of this passage is that Christ provided for Thomas exactly what he needed to turn his unbelief into belief. In joyful release, Thomas confesses, "My Lord and my God!" Thomas has received what he needed in order to believe. His fear was dissipated as he came to belief.

Christ wants us to believe as well. Just as Christ provided for Thomas what he needed to believe, Christ will provide us with what we need to believe. At the end of the reading today, the author tells us that reason this gospel was written. It was written, "so that you may believe." If we are provided with what we need to believe, then what prevents us from taking that next step forward? Are we afraid? Are we afraid that if we unlock the doors that something bad will happen? What have we got to fear? What’s holding us back?

Do we have to see everything laid out before us before we are willing to commit? Do we have to see the end result before we take a step forward? The disciples had no idea what following Jesus would lead to when they dropped everything to follow him. They had no idea what the result of believing in the resurrected Jesus would lead to but nevertheless, they believed, they gave up their paralyzing, insulating fear and believed.

Jesus breathed on the disciples there in the locked room in Jerusalem. He breathed upon them, like God breathed upon the waters of creation. Jesus was breathing his spirit into them. He was giving them the opportunity to begin a new creation – the church. God’s Spirit permeates the church and blows within our presence in this place on this day. Will fear root us where we are? Or will we move forward feeling out the way to where God is leading us next? Do not be unbelieving but believe: Christ is risen and leads us forward through the movement of the Spirit.