April 10, 1994 BLACK HOLES AND ANCHOR LINES John 20:31 One afternoon several years ago I was fishing along the edge of Nantasket Roads-- the shipping channel that goes past the Boston Light. It was well into the fall and past the summer heat. I had a VIP guest in my little boat, and I really wanted to make sure he caught some flounder. (He was Sam Hunt, the biggest line backer in the NFL and a starter for the Patriots.) I was ready for a couple hours of good fishing over the high tide and I swung my boat around to face the tide and threw out my anchor. It was fifty to sixty feet deep and the tide was beginning to run, and I let the anchor line run out through my hands. As a matter of fact it ran out so fast that I came to the end sooner than I thought and I watched with a sick feeling as the end went overboard. I grabbed for it, and then I quickly started the engine and tried to swing back and grab for it but it was out of reach and the line was slowly sinking out of sight. We were drifting with no way to hold steady. How we finally got an anchor and had a good day of fishing is another story. [Should I tell you?] But I never will forget the sinking feeling when my anchor was lost. It was a mini picture of what it is like whenever things we really count on aren't there any more. Have you ever lost an anchor? THOMAS LOST AN ANCHOR WHEN JESUS DIED. When Jesus died something in Thomas died, too. Jesus simply had not performed according to Thomas's idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do. Thomas thought he knew Jesus. He found out he didn't know Jesus quite as well as he thought he did. Thomas loved Jesus. Make no mistake about that. Do you remember how when, before that last Passover when Jesus wanted to go to Jerusalem, and the rest of the disciples tried to tell Him it was too hot, too scary, too risky-- and Jesus insisted--do you remember it was Thomas who said, "Well- let's go with Him and die!" But when the actual death came it shattered Thomas. Thomas had seen Jesus calm the wind and sea. He knew that Jesus had stopped a funeral procession and given a mother back her son. He believed that Jesus was powerful. but then Thomas had seen Jesus die in weakness. Jesus was really dead! Thomas really wanted to believe Jesus is alive. The rest of the disciples had said they were convinced that Jesus was risen. They were all hyper about it. Two men said they had met Jesus on the road to their home in Emmaus; the disciples said that the Sunday evening three days after the awful crucifixion Jesus had suddenly appeared in the Upper Room with them, had actually eaten a little fish. They were so sure. But not Thomas. "I'll have to see-- no, I'll have to feel it for myself!" is what Thomas said. Did you ever get the feeling that just about everybody else had a closer, tighter faith than you? Did you ever wonder how they could be so sure, when you have doubts? It may just be that there is more of Thomas the doubter in each of us than we like to admit. The fact is that Christians are not always honest and transparent about the battles of doubt that we fight. We like to testify about our victories, and it is right and good that we witness to our faith. But also we need to be dead honest with ourselves and with God, never seeking to hide the places where we fail, or where we fight a running battle with temptation. We think 'I am probably the only one who fights the battle I fight like this. I am unworthy of being esteemed as a Christian.' Or, 'If "they" knew the thoughts that come to my mind! they would never have any faith in me.' What we may not realize is that every Christian has to fight the good fight of faith. The wars and battles of faith are not the neat, textbook, cut-and-dried black-and-white illustrations we hear in sermons. They are real, and they are often confusing. The only people who never fight battles with doubt are people who never address the problems faith presents in a real world. There is a name for these "ostrich people." It is "obscurantist." Only obscurantists never fight battles of faith, and they give up their inner core of integrity. They fight with everyone who dares to disagree with them. They become the true fanatics. In some ways fanaticism is only insecurity turned inside out. But genuine faith is forged on the anvil of honest doubt. It says I wish I could believe, but here is reality I cannot understand! Please, God, I want to know! THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEST DOUBT AND THE SIN OF UNBELIEF. Sometimes they superficially look alike. Perhaps sometimes they are hard to tell apart. Unbelief is grounded in a heart that will not give up its worship of self. It says to God "Show me and I'll think about it and maybe I will and maybe I won't!" Doubt, on the other hand says, "Show me and I will gladly own You as Lord!" I have based my entire life and my life's calling on the trust that God answers that cry! Hebrews 11:6 says that the faith that destroys doubt is a seeking faith. What do we do when we are seeking a Jesus who seems hard to reach? What do we do in the dark moments of life when it almost seems our God has failed us? Black holes of agony when we send our desperate prayers winging their way to the Father, while NOTHING is happening! What sort of proof does it take to dispel doubt? How many times do we have to break through again to spiritual reality? THOMAS LOST HIS ANCHOR, BUT JESUS AS HE REALLY IS CAME TO THOMAS AND BECAME HIS SURE ANCHOR! Thomas said, "I need proof positive!" Jesus came and I think that Thomas was almost embarrassed. Maybe not. But then Jesus told him that there would be people who could not see or touch Him that still would be able to believe. But still, we need that personal touch! We need Jesus to speak salvation to us! Others can help-- we can show you what the scriptures say. Here is where our text comes in. John said that personal touch is the very reason that he wrote his Gospel: "These words were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah; and that believing, you might have LIFE through His name!" Come to the Word, come seeking the Savior. Ask the Spirit to show you that Jesus died for YOU! And Jesus does come! He comes with His own assurance to those who seriously seek Him! We need Jesus to be our anchor in the storms of life. Even after we know Jesus, there are times when our faith is tested. It seems that from time to time we walk as it were in the dark by naked faith. As Dr. William Greathouse wrote years ago in a little book called The Fullness of the Spirit, "Again and again we need to break through to spiritual reality." In those times if we will trust Him, and cry to Him, He will not fail us! He hears us! I almost wish that I could share with you some of my darker moments-- the desperate prayers that I have prayed. Some are simply too involved with other people's lives. I have prayed those quiet prayers of desperation. And even though at the time I could not see His hand, God has been there. [This past week a voice out of the past; a time when there was a desperate prayer, and very little reason to think there was hope. After the confrontation - and tears there were a few years of, from my viewpoint, little spiritual progress. Imagine my joy to hear a clear testimony from a professional person, a leader in his field of science, saying: "My wife (he named her) and I have found the Lord. We're teaching the fourth grade Sunday School class here in our local church!] Conclusion I lost the anchor on my little boat because I failed to hold on to the end of the anchor line. But our eternal life does not depend on how well we can hang on, but rather it depends on our saying to the Savior who comes to us: "My LORD and my GOD!" God does not reveal Himself to unbelief. But God always reveals Himself to seeking, honest doubt. . . the doubt that wants to become faith. The God of the Bible has always been a God who sets before us the alternatives. Choose to live with CHRIST! The Resurrection is an invitation to us to choose life! Shall we pray: Hymn 264 Thine Is the Glory ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as | | the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit. You can access more | | of Dr. Metcalfe's sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives | | web site, which is generously hosted by Eastern Nazarene College. | | | | http://www.enc.edu/org/wollynaz/rmetcalfe/sermons.html | | Now with SEARCH capabilities! | | | | Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of | | of the Nazarene. Dr. Russell Metcalfe is available for pulpit supply | | assignments and seminars. For availablity and booking information, | | you can reach Dr. Metcalfe at eflactem@aol.com. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------