Doubt Overcome Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 1:1-2:2; John 20:19-31

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is risen indeed!

 

Our message is Fear and Doubt Overcome, from our Gospel.

 

In this fallen world, with paradise lost, there’s an abundance of sin and evil, plenty to go around, and if sin, then fear, and if fear, then doubt.

 

Our Gospel tells us that on the night of our Lord’s resurrection, His disciples were hiding and afraid, even though some of His followers had seen Him alive that day. 

 

Fearing that what had happened to Jesus the previous Friday, would happen to them if they were found, they locked the door, hushed their voices, and hid inside, controlled by their fear.

 

This is the human condition since the fall into sin… we sometimes allow our fears to control us.

 

But the One who had the courage to suffer and die for us, and the power to rise, has overcome what would harm us, so we have no reason to shrink back from the world in fear.

 

He who has overcome sin, death, the devil, the hostile culture, and the fallen world for us, has also overcome fear and doubt for us.

 

Franklin Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” The idea being, as long as we don’t lose heart and give up, we’ll be okay.

 

Yes and no. With Jesus, yes… without Him, no. 

 

As long as we have Him, who has defeated the enemy and conquered our fears, and puts our doubts to rest, we need not lose heart…

… nor let fear overtake us... for our risen Lord has promised us: In this world you will have troubles, but take heart: I have overcome the world!

 

The world may consider us foolish and see us as chumps for believing in Jesus and His resurrection, but Jesus reminds us that He has overcome the world, so there’s no reason for us to be afraid of what the fallen world thinks

 

We need not hide behind locked doors… we need not let the enemies of the Gospel control us by fear and intimidation… and dictate how we live, what we believe, and what we do or don’t say.

 

Christ has won a life for us beyond locked doors, with us living as His bold and loving people in the world.  

 

So it was for the apostles… but it took them some time, and the help of God, to get there. 

 

Luke says, 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them… 

 

They desperately needed Jesus, so He came to them, to assure them, and commission them.

 

He, who could not be contained in the tomb, but rose, couldn’t be kept away from His disciples by solid walls and locked doors, and He can’t be kept away from us, His baptized children who need Him.

 

Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

 

Some had seen Him alive that day, but now they saw Him together, minus one, whom we’ll talk about later. 

There was a mutual assurance for them, in seeing Him together, just as there is an assurance for us, in hearing and learning His Word, receiving His Sacrament, praising Him and praying, together.

 

When Jacquie was in memory care, it comforted me just to see her and sit by her, even though she couldn't talk or respond. We comfort each other by our presence.

 

With His presence, Jesus comforted His disciples, who had gathered together for comfort and strength, and together He commissioned them. 

 

He said, As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

    

And to this very day, we have this gift of Absolution, forgiveness of sins for the faithful penitent, and all the gifts that flow from our Lord’s forgiveness.

 

Jesus won forgiveness, life, salvation, and every blessing from Heaven, not just for His disciples, but for the world, and so He said to them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 

 

And so, we are sent, beyond locked doors and brick walls, to our homes and schools and communities and places of work and more, to bring Christ to the world, to share the gifts He won, and to proclaim a sure and certain hope for all who believe in Him and the glorious resurrection and blessed reunion to come. 

 

One of the disciples, Thomas, was absent. And he was the skeptic among them… he didn’t trust what his friends were telling him. 

 

And perhaps his thinking was aligned a bit more with the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection… maybe.

 

Thomas was doubting his friends, but even more, He was doubting His Lord. 

 

He said, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 

 

Some time before His passion, when Jesus had announced to His disciples that He was leaving the relative safety of Galilee to go to Bethany, near Jerusalem, where He was a wanted man, to raise his friend, Lazarus, Thomas was the one who spoke up and said, Let’s all go there and die with Him.

 

That time, Thomas’ bold faith was leading the way, but this time, his doubt was leaving him behind. 

 

Not willing to leave Thomas behind, a week later, Jesus appeared to His disciples again, and He told Thomas to touch Him and see. Believing, Thomas exclaimed, My Lord and my God! 

 

Jesus responded, Blessed are those who have not seen… and yet have believed.” 

 

By my weak and sinful nature, I can’t help but doubt at times, but by my Baptism, by the power of the Holy Spirit in me, I rejoice to believe, in spite of my fears and doubts.

 

How much better it is to believe, than to doubt. 

 

Doubting our God just drags us down, and steals our Easter joy, but trusting Him lifts us up, calms our fears, frees our spirit, strengthens our heart, and empowers our witness. 

 

And so to overcome our doubts, His promises come to us, over and over again, to assure us of all that He has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us, through the death and resurrection of His Son, and the sending of His Spirit.

When, because of our sinful nature, and the influence of the godless culture, doubts toward God rise up in our minds, the Holy Spirit would pour the waters of our Baptism on those vain and foolish thoughts, to drive them back and wash them away.

 

Christ would assure us of Himself with Himself, His very body and blood, given and shed for us in the greatest of love. 

 

When the Tempter would try to take control of our mind with his worldly lies and accusations, God gives us His Word of truth and grace, which the devil has never been able to refute or stand up to.

 

As Jesus used death to defeat death, turning it on its head, so let us turn doubt on its head.

 

When the world hammers you with doubts, doubt the world right back. 

 

What has the devil and the fallen world ever done for us that we should trust them? 

 

On the other hand, everything Christ has done, tells me I can trust Him, always and completely.

 

He died for us, indeed… He rose for us, indeed… He will return for us, indeed… to take us from this world of doubt and fear, to abide, in peace and joy, in His Father’s home forever.

 

And finally, because He is risen indeed, we have His peace even now on earth, which passes understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, whom we need never doubt, for He keeps every promise indeed, is with us indeed, and will return for us indeed. 

 

Thanks be to God! Amen.