That Moment Becomes His Story-Lance Havens

Sunday's sermon presented by Lance Havens 05/31/26


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Brownwood, TX 76801
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello. Doug's gone. Some of you were thinking of leaving when you saw me, but then you thought, oh, there's a cut on there. So I'll wait it out. I'll listen to the beauty. Um, but I want to tell you about a man. He played baseball in the big leagues for 22 years. He won a batting title. He was an all-star. He played in four different decades, and he's in the Cubs Hall of Fang. And I would be shocked if anyone could guess who I'm thinking about right now. But if I tell you that he booted an easy ground ball at first base in game six and cost his team a shot at the championship, most sports fans would know the name of Bill Button. Let's play it again. A man rises from a humble background. He leads a nation to an absolutely crazy time. He passes laws that influence an entire country. He reforms banking and government and taxes. As a strategist, he's brilliant. He reshapes the map of Europe. And some of you maybe have a couple of guesses, but if I tell you he's mostly known for being short and for Waterloo, most of you know Napoleon, right? Back to sports. He was selected to the Pro Bowl twice. He was part of one of the most dominant defensive lines of the decade. They called him the big cat because he was good and he was quick. He has three Super Bowl rings. In one of those games, he forced a fumble at a critical time. But most of him, most of us only know him as the guy who Don Beebe chased down because he was about to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. And of course, I'm talking about the infamous number 78. Leon, right? Also, Thanksgiving Day, the golfness and touchdown. Um, okay, this is not gonna take long. I'm gonna say one word, and you're gonna say the name. For him, a moment becomes a nickname. And for us, that moment becomes his whole story. Now I've drawn a line in to say that I'm gonna preach Jesus. And today I'm going to do that. But we are going to use the words of Thomas to guide us into following Jesus more for. Here's the thing about the disciples in the Gospels. Those twelve guys are basically. They're a mixed bag of good and bad. And we can pick on them for their flaws, of which there are plenty. I mean, they can be petty at their pursuit of power. Is they jockey to be the greatest in the kingdom and they want to sit at the right and the left of the throne? They can be kind of, let's say, sectarian. Jesus, we found some people casting out names out demons in your name because they're not us, because they're not part of our whole group. We told them to stop. Are you talented from its Jesus? It can be kind of genocidal. When some Samaritans were not yet open to Jesus, they wanted to call that fire and bomb an entire village. They know this. When you read the Gospels, you are not the one doing the teaching, healing the sick, and showing love. It's Jesus who does that. When we read the Gospels, you and I, we are the twelve. We are the ones following behind, trying to figure out what all of it means. And so, yes, we can judge them, but we should keep in mind that we have had thousands of years to learn the stories and process what they mean. Those twelve followers were likely young men, maybe in their teens, maybe in their 20s, and they were learning all of this on the fly. They were willing to leave family businesses and fishing boats and nets. They endured the rebuke of the leaders of the day. They followed Christ, they labored with him. They were sent out to preach without coin, without staff, without breath. They healed the sick, they cast out the demons, they proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God. And sometimes some sincere faith and devotion comes from these young men. So today I want to walk around for just a little bit in the life of God. He was one of the twelve that Jesus chose. And that choice was made with prayer. Luke is going to tell us that Jesus went out to a mountain side and spent the night praying to God. And when morning came, he called the disciples to him, and out of that he chose twelve to be the apostles. Thomas was one of them. So Thomas is going to speak four times. All four times that he speaks are recorded in the Gospel of John. And like all of us, a lot of what he says is really good most of the time. But Thomas is still figuring in that. He isn't quite there yet, at least not all of the time. And so today I'm going to start with those words for Thomas and kind of lead us to Jesus. And so the first time that Thomas speaks is in John chapter 8, 11. So, verse the second. In John 8, which I preached about a couple of weeks ago, the leaders have rocks in their hands, and they want to stone Jesus. They try to get the temple guards to grab him, but the guards didn't do. And so in John 8, everybody is at this feast on the grounds of the temple, and the leaders are ready to do the beauty. They're ready to kill Christ. And Jesus too gets away. So in chapter 10, okay, just a couple of chapters after that, Jesus and his followers are back at the temple for a different feast. And basically the same thing happens again. In verse 31, they have stones in their hands. In verse 39, it says, again they tried to seize him. So for all we know, it's the same guys, maybe with the same rocks. You see the pattern. Bad things start happening to Jesus when he shows up at east at the temple. And then verse 40 says that Jesus went back across to the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. Verse 42 is going to tell us in that place, away from the temple, in the country, across the Jordan, many believed. Now, I'm not super smart, but if I'm one of the twelve, I would simply point out, I would say, hey, Lord, have you noticed that when you stay out here in the country, crowds come out and they hear you preach and they believe in this place, away from the temple, on the other side of the Jordan. But when we go over there to the temple, to that place, they pick up stones and they try to kill you. So, Lord, okay, let's just stay problem solved. I mean, I wouldn't reach, I wouldn't cross the Jordan. Now, it's only a 20-mile trip. So for us, if every time I go to Colvin and people tried to kill me, I simply wouldn't go. I would stay in battle. And that seems to be the plan for them. Until they get to do Lazarus. And John tells us that Jesus loves Lazarus and Isaiah. But these are people who are close to him. John's going to point out that Mary's sister to Lazarus, and she's the one who poured to be him on the feet of Jesus and wife Jesus' feet about people. This is not a passing creation. This is a family that is near the heart of the past. So Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick. And yet he stays two more days. Is Jesus scared to go back to Bethany because it's basically a suburb of a place that wants to kill him? Does Jesus wait for Lazarus to die so that he can show his power over death? I mean, there does seem to be something bad. Then Jesus says he's going back. And the disciples, they try to stop him. They're like, hello? They just tried to kill you there. But Jesus says, it's for your sake. And he's talking to God. For your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there. I'm glad I wasn't in Bethany. I'm glad I wasn't at the bedside of one of my friends who was sick and dying. I'm glad I wasn't there so that you may drink. These are people Jesus chose. These are people who have seen the water turn to the wine. They watched Jesus walking on the sea. They watched to feed the crowds from just the cross. They've heard the teaching, they've seen the signs. And Jesus says, I'm going back there so that you may believe. Then Thomas, speaking to the 12, not to Christ, says this. What are we making this? I mean, Jesus is talking about belief. And Thomas is talking about death. Jesus says, okay, we're traveling back across the Jordan because of the love I have for this family. And so you may believe. And Thomas says, well, I guess we're all going to happen. On the one hand, I'm like, Thomas, you're my boy. If Jesus says we ride, we ride. And if that means that we get killed in a blaze of glory with rocks and shouts, as long as Jesus is with me, then let's do it. I'll land somewhere. I like that heart. I hope I have faith like that. I hope I'm willing to follow my Lord even to the point. But here's what's going on. You could imagine death. You can imagine the death of Jesus, the death of Lazarus, the death of all of them. What he failed to imagine is not death, but life. And not only life, but resurrected. Jesus was going not to prevent death, but to imagine. Imagination. Jesus says unless the seed falls to the ground, he dies and remains only a single seed. But if the seed passes through death, it yields a hundredfold. It makes abundance. And we need imagination. Jesus isn't taking the trip so that they will believe in death. I don't even think being faithful to the point of death is the lesson. I think Jesus wants them to clearly see that death will be. He holds the keys to death, but also Thomas had the death part. Lazarus is dead. Thomas is ready to follow Jesus into his own tomb. We all know death. How many caskets have sat in this very place right here in front of me? We all know death. We've all dead into the tomb. Lazarus is in the tomb. Jesus will enter the tomb. Thomas is preparing to enter into his own tomb.

unknown 12:15

It's also part of the story.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Death has. Amen, church? Thomas knows death is up ahead. But Jesus knows that it is a detour and it's not the final stop. The only way out of death is through it. And Thomas gets to see his Lord read over there. John is going to point out that Christ is deeply wounded in this mind. Standing at the tomb, Jesus commands the stone be rolled away. Other people warn's thinking there is. The second time Thomas speaks in the gospel of John. So we're going to jump into John 14. And right now I just want you to imagine the most intimate time of Jesus. At night, in a couple of room, Christ, your rabbi, the master, kids of Rash. When Jesus says in the most precious words, do not let your hearts you believe in God who has a father's house as an initiative.

unknown 14:30

And I'm going to say I would have to know that I ate that. But you can know the happy.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

But Thomas sounds like someone who has lost the person he loves the Lord. John tells us that Thomas is also called Didymus, which means. And so the group of twelves had several brothers and possibly a set of cousins. And so it would not have been strange at all for Thomas to have followed Christ along with his twin. But that twin is never there. And maybe Thomas had a twin who didn't share his name. And maybe his twin was no longer alone. Maybe there's no story there at all. The text doesn't tell us. But even the name twin makes us think about connection, closeness. Somebody's just always been there. Now, I'm a parent of twins. I have a brother who's pretty close to me. Jamie has a brother who was born 10 months after. So I know something of what it is like to closely share a child with life. They're just always there. Peter and Anne, James, possibly others in the group share this time. A similar time. Thomas sounds like someone who knows what it is like to watch your life. Because you depend on the people around you. You know they're sounds. You share life with them. Maybe you even start to take on that. You just get used to them always. Basically, everyone here has lived through the loss of somebody like that. It doesn't have to be simple. It doesn't have to be. Someone close to you has died. And you come out and you're sick and table. Maybe the kids have got off of college and the room that was full of life is now dusty until spring, right? Maybe you moved and all your old friends are in a different state. Maybe you change jobs and no one at the new job knows for sure. That type of vacuum changes a person. That type of fracture can lead sadness into a sense of wanting to hold on. So if Thomas is a twin, if there is no twin in his story, maybe he has led to some kind of last. And that sounds beautiful. And Jesus knows how to. Because Jesus has loved and lost his brother. Most assumed that Joseph died during the teenage years of Christ or sometime after that, simply because Joseph doesn't appear anywhere in the test after Luke 2 when Jesus was born. The man who provided for the Son of God and raised him as his earthly father, and Jesus properly. We also know at some point in the ministry of Jesus that his relationship was strained with his mother and his brothers. We know that Jesus went away to mourn when he found out that John was Baptist. We just talked about Jesus weeping to his last week. Jesus knows what it feels like to love and believe. And I bet he felt a certain string of this force Thomas's belief because connection is a part of Thomas's question. Jesus needs Thomas words. And he tells them the way to be with me, it's not a place, it's a person. Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. If you really know me, you will know my father as well. And you do know him and you've seen him. Church, I have great news. There's no place we have to travel to. There's no mountain to climb, there's no ocean to swim, there is no test to take, there is no feat to perform. There is a person, and that person is Jesus. Thomas is so fearful. He's scared of losing. And that fear comes from a place of tenderness and a place of God. And Jesus wants Thomas and all of us to know that we don't have a base to the curve.

unknown 19:55

We have a person.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

And that gets us to the first time. Jesus has been the tomb for three days. Suddenly wording word starts to spread. On Sunday night, Jesus shows up in a locker room. He shows his closest followers his hands and his side because he greets. And this points us back to Genesis when God pour a man from the dust of the earth and great, right?

unknown 20:34

Wow. What would you watch a command?

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Would you cry? Would you whisper? Would you be speechless? Would you just hold on to Jesus and just stand over and let go of you? Thomas is like all of that. Maybe he was a bit of a long-term one in God. Maybe he was praying and mourning in solitude. Maybe he was not believed in that. And then Thomas gets mad. The rest of the world's like, Thomas, Thomas, you're not gonna believe this. We've seen the Lord. He was right here. We hugged him! We saw the scars! Thomas, he's alive! He's not dead! It's true.

unknown 21:38

I feel like that. We need comes from that place of pain. And Thomas says, unless I see the gunmarks, it's a little side.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

That's so true. Thomas is asking for everyone else. Everybody just got to sequence.

unknown 22:12

Thomas. Thomas is a very good idea. Every time you see Jesus God. I wonder if that's not like Jesus. I wonder if that was a special kind. It's not in there special.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

So a weekly. They're in the same house with the same rock direction. And Jesus appears with the same greed. Peace be with you. Shalom. Peace. I renade in the Greek. Thomas, you get scared. You felt lost again. You felt forgotten. Thomas, Thomas, peace. It feels like Jesus showed up.

unknown 23:27

I lost people. I felt like that God showed up for everyone else. I felt like I needed proof that God loves me as much as he loves everyone else. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Maybe. But Jesus will show up behind your locked doors in your private place of pain. And he will proclaim peace to me. Jesus says, see my hand. Reach out your hand. Put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. We don't know what Thomas actually needed to touch the side. The text doesn't seem.

unknown 24:24

But we know what he said.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

I said the followers of Jesus are all in this bad. There are some ways they seem so danced, so wrong, but occasionally they didn't exactly. And this is one of those times. Five Jewish words, Thomas, acknowledgment, and authority of Jesus, and indeed are Jesus. Jesus is called.

unknown 25:00

He is friend, brother. He is shepherd in charge.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

There are so many times for so let's get out of that. Jesus is Lord. He has a forest, there is the person, whereas the power to appeal to his body. Revelation 4 shows these 24 elders that are dressed in white and have crowns on their head. And in the throne room, they take them off and they lay them down before the throne, which means in the presence of God, no one else gets to wear a crown. I don't get to wear one around on this earth, and neither do you. Because all authority and all power are him. And if Jesus is Lord at all, he is Lord of all. And you better crown him in your life and in your heart. And if you have a crown as Lord, don't wait. Don't wait because Christ is Lord and He is God. He took on flesh. He lived as fully man and remained fully God and will reign forevermore.

unknown 26:17

And that is God last man.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Thomas is not the case we saved. He's a disciple who loved Jesus here at God. He faced death bravely. God talks about death, loss, and hell and righteous death.

unknown 26:43

It's a watering brain.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

But it's not the final death. It is a death passed through God. And when you're baptized, you proclaim that you believe in Christ and both Lord and God. You proclaim that death is not the final act of life, but indeeds are on the way to eternal. And if you need the courage of the church, or if you want to confess Christ's both Lord and God, I want to invite you to come things.