April 18, 2004

“Where Are The Signs?”

JOHN 20:19-31

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday. I woke up that morning with a song on my lips: “Hear the bells ringing, they're singing that we can be born again. Hear the bells ringing, they're singing 'Christ is risen from the dead!’”

I felt like running through the hallways of my house singing it at the top of my lungs. But since it was 6:00 in the morning, and none of the other members of my family were crazy enough to be awake yet, I just hummed it to myself J.

And then I came to church. It was Easter Sunday. It was a holy day. During the prelude I listened to our praise team sing “The Power of His Love” and I could hardly sit in my seat. And then we sang together: “Christ the Lord is risen today! Allelujah! Allelujah!” and my spirit soared.

We affirmed our faith together by saying: “I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ...” And then together all in unison we said: "ON THE THIRD DAY HE AROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD,” . . . and I was nearly in tears. I don’t usually cry during The Apostles’ Creed, but I was nearly crying last Sunday. It was Easter!

Then we heard read a powerful dramatic reading, and the choir sang “He’s Alive,” and then I did cry! And then I got up to preach, and my emotions were full to the brim, and I talked about the power of the resurrected life. We finished the service by singing “The Hallelujah Chorus” and a spontaneous ovation of praise to God. And I can remember thinking to myself: “Because it is Easter, EVERYTHING is changed! Because Christ has risen, EVERYTHING is different!”

It was Easter. It was a grand and holy day. It was Sunday.

But then I got up on Monday, and I read the newspaper, and people were still being killed in the Middle East. And on Monday morning there had been a mass murder somewhere in the city. There were still problems in Washington, and the Royals got beat again.

When I went to work this week, everything was still there. I was just as busy as the week before, in fact, maybe a little more so. I got to thinking that all of my friends who had cancer last week, have cancer this week. And almost all the people I know who were in strained and broken relationships last week, are in strained relationships and broken relationships this week. The people who were starving to death in Haiti last week, don't really have any more food this week. And I started to ask myself the question . . . “If everything's changed . . . then what IS different?”

I’m an analytic type of person, and I want to be able to line things up and have them make sense. I want to be able to see something, and have it make sense because this is different and that is different. What I really needed about the middle of this past week, as I was thinking about the high and holy day of Easter, and if everything really was changed was a sign. I needed somebody to place a sign in front of me to prove, or at least reassure me, somehow that things actually were different than they were before.

I can identify with Thomas. In fact, I try to go easy on the guy because he’s a lot like I am. We like to talk about his doubting, but the truth of the matter was Thomas really wasn’t a cynic – Thomas really wasn't a doubter. Thomas was just one of those kinds of people who likes to be able to see things clearly, line them up, and figure them out.

He demonstrated that on many occasions. There was the time when Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. Everyone was as excited as they could be. They had never seen anybody raised from the dead before. But then Jesus said: “O.K. it's time to go to Jerusalem.” Thomas knew what that meant and answered: “All right. If He’s going, I’m going, and we’ll all die together.”

Thomas didn’t believe there was going to be any resurrection in Jerusalem. Thomas believed they were going to give their lives for the greatest cause he had ever known. And for that reason I’d say to you, he was a man of great devotion, because he was prepared to go to Jerusalem and die if that’s what following Jesus was really all about. Think about it. Thomas was ready to die with Jesus! He was a man of great devotion.

There was another time that Jesus told the disciples: “I am going to prepare a place for you, but I will come back and take you to be where I am.” And Thomas said: “Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way?” Thomas wasn’t a bad guy. He just wanted to have things figured out. He just wanted to know what to expect.

Knowing a little of Thomas’ way of thinking, I would imagine that even after Jesus’ death, he was already strategizing about what he would say when he was confronted by the same people who had crucified Jesus. I believe he fully expected to be a martyr for the cause of Christ, and was prepared to die if necessary.

But then something unexpected happened. Following his resurrection Jesus appeared to a group of disciples.

Thomas wasn’t there, and their report to him was: “The Master is alive.”

Now for Thomas, that was real disequilibrium. He couldn’t handle that. That wasn’t the kind of information that fit his analytical way of thinking. And therefore, unlike some who might just get swept up in the emotion of it all, Thomas said: “No. Unless I can actually see those wounds in his hands and place my fingers in them, and unless I can actually see and touch the place they speared his side, then I can't believe . . . because I need that kind of proof to line things up for me.”

For Thomas it appeared as though nothing was really different. The other ten disciples were still huddled up in that little room for fear of their lives. The Romans were still in charge. The Pharisees were still celebrating. NOTHING had changed for Thomas! He needed a sign. Just like you and just like me, Thomas needed a sign.

But you know something? Thomas wasn’t the first one, because all the way through Scripture, when confronted with the impossible, great people of faith have asked God for a sign. When things didn’t fit into the plan, when things didn’t make sense at all, some of God’s finest have asked for a sign.

Abraham asked for a sign. He believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. He asked: “How can I know?” Abraham fell into a deep sleep, saw a vision, and God walked between severed carcasses and made a covenant with Abraham. Abraham couldn't believe his eyes, but it was God’s sign to him that he was faithful and true.

And then God called Gideon. He said: “Lead this nation into battle and I will give you great victory.” But Gideon said: “I am the least of the least of the least. How will I know?” God said: “You prepare the sacrifice and I’ll provide the fire.” And God consumed that animal with fire from heaven.

Gideon said: “Well, that’s a pretty good sign, God. How about another one.” God said: “What do you want me to do?” Gideon said: “How about a fleece? You make the ground dry and the fleece wet.” And sure enough, it happened.

Gideon said: “That was pretty good. How about just one more time?” God said: “O.K. What do you want me to do?” “How about ground wet - fleece dry?” The next day it happened just as God had said. Gideon said: “I get the message.” But, you see, even great Gideon asked for a sign.

And we could say the same for Elijah, and Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, and Mary, and Paul, and literally dozens of others. Times when someone needed assurance, NOT IN A MOMENT OF DOUBT, but just needing the sense of assurance that things actually were the way God said they were, great people of faith have cried out for a sign.

Even the one Jesus said was the greatest born of a woman, John the Baptist, asked for a sign. His message was: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. I am not the Messiah.” And when he saw Jesus approaching the Jordan River to be baptized he said: “Behold The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Because John believed that when Jesus came everything would be different.

But when Jesus started to preach and heal and do great miracles, there were still some who didn't believe. In fact, there were some who even hated him. And John’s life surely didn’t get any better – John's life got worse. Herod threw him in jail. And from that cold, dark, wet, jail cell, John sent a few of his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you really the one, or should we look for another?”

Do you know what he was asking? “Give me a sign, Jesus. Help me to know if you are really who you say you are.” And Jesus said: “Here’s your sign. Go back and tell him that I'm preaching to the poor, and that the blind see, and the lame walk.” . . . A sign.

Thomas was no doubter. Thomas was no small-minded, faithless man. He was a man of great faith! Thomas is not to be scorned by us today. No, we should probably be thanking him for helping to reveal a little bit about ourselves. Because there are times when we sure could use a sign.

Last week was great. Last Sunday was wonderful! We soared in our spirits and we cried and sang and shouted: “Hallelujah!” But Monday came, just like Monday always does. And we need a sign on Monday, that what happens on Sunday is real.

And so I started asking myself: “David, where are your signs? Where are they?” And I began to think about some of the moments where signs were given to me.

And I remembered the checks in the mail at just the time we needed it. And I reached out and I put my fingers in the hands of the crucified Christ.

And I remembered the time God brought healing to my physical body. And I reached out my fingers and placed them in the hands of the crucified Christ.

And I remembered the moments of discouragement, when a friend has come, not to give me great advice, but simply to place their arms around me, and to say: “I am here. I don't know what to do. But I am here.” And in that moment, I have placed my finger in the hand of the crucified Christ.

And I remembered when I stood over my father's casket, and the pastor proclaimed: “Your Father has been healed.” And I felt the peace and even joy, in a moment of grief and sorrow . . . I took my finger and I placed it in the hand of the crucified Christ.

And when I come to this altar and kneel to take communion and I hear the words: “This is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you. And this cup is his shed blood given for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Drink to your soul's comfort and joy.” I place my fingers in the hands of the crucified Christ.

And in just a few moments, we will watch some people go into the water to bear witness of the changes that Christ has made in their lives. And they’re going to go down into that water and get wet, and they’re going to come out with their hair messed up and sputtering for air. But instead of all of us saying: “Look how weird that is!” Do you know what we’re really gonna say? “Praise the Lord,” A SIGN IS BEFORE US. These new Christians are a sign!

And when I have friends that I care about, and I see their lives transformed by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and I see them renewed . . . I place my fingers in the hands of the crucified Christ.

You know . . . God’s really good to give us a sign. The signs are all around us. The signs happen to us every day and every week.

My friends, the fact that you and I are gathered in this church this morning is a sign. Because of the very fact that we are coming here together and trying to build a community that reflects his character, every Sunday morning that we walk into this sanctuary we might as well place our fingers in the hand of the crucified Christ. For you and I are a sign that He is risen! Last Sunday was Easter . . . and WE ARE BACK!

And our response is the same as Thomas’ response. The Scripture never records that he put his fingers in Jesus’ hands, or that he put his hand in Jesus’ side. He didn't ever get that far.

The one who had to be so analytical, and logical, and literal, and had to line everything up, came up short of really fulfilling what he said was the criterion for believing.

All Jesus had to do was talk to him and say: “Thomas, here I am.” And did not Thomas cry out: “Lord and God” – he cried out “MY Lord and MY God.” And our cry is the same.

Oh, there are many other signs. More than can be written in this book. And if we would share the signs of the risen Christ among us this morning, it would take us a long time, and we would all miss lunch and dinner today, tomorrow, and the next day after that. But these signs are given to us that we might believe, and that by believing we might have life in his name.

Do you need a sign this morning? Look for one. Oh, not up in the sky. Look for one next to you – across the aisle from you – in your own home. For wherever God’s people are . . . God has a sign.

*This sermon has been adapted from a sermon preached by Dr. Ed Robinson at Shawnee Church of the Nazarene, April 26, 1992.