A group of scientists got together and decided that mankind no longer needed God. So they drew straws and picked one scientist to go and tell God that they were done with Him.  The scientist walked up to God and said, “God, we’ve decided that we no longer need you. We’re to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don’t you just go on and get lost?”

God listened very patiently to the man. After he had finished, God said, “I see.  How about this? Let’s say we have a man‑making contest.”  To which the scientist replied, “Okay, great!” But, God added, “Now, we’re going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam.”

The scientist said, “Sure, no problem” and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.  God looked at him and said, “No, no, no. You go get your own dirt.”

This morning we remember Thomas, the doubter.  It’s a good Sunday to talk about those who think they can get along without God.  It’s also a good Sunday to talk about those who think they can get along without science, too.

Our lesson this morning is a wonderful story about an honest and devoted disciple for whom the resurrection seemed simply to be too good to be true. He couldn’t believe until he saw for himself.  This lesson teaches me that it’s alright to doubt, to have questions, to not have it all figured out.

That’s one of the reasons God gave us a brain - to wrestle with the meaning of life and faith.  You may have read recently about the doubts that plagued Mother Teresa.  Most of us understand that, because we, too, have had doubts.  The important thing I take away from her example is that, even in the midst of her doubts, she never gave up serving God while serving others.

Christ himself never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is can’t believe; unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is being content with darkness.

Some of the greatest saints who have ever lived struggled with doubt. In fact, I believe that the more committed you are to God, the more intensely you’ll struggle with faith. Persons for whom faith is nominal never struggle - because they don’t really care. But when you really care, if you’re truly seeking to give up everything to follow Christ, you’re going to wrestle with the meaning and the reality of life

I believe that Thomas really wanted to serve Christ, and that desire caused him to struggle to believe.

There’s another incident in the New Testament when Thomas is prominent, this time before Jesus went to the cross. After the raising of Lazarus, Jesus announced that he had to go to Jerusalem . The disciples were upset by this, because Jesus’ enemies were gathering in Jerusalem and they knew that there was great danger for Jesus.

But Thomas said, “Let us go also that we may die with him.” (John 11:16) Thomas didn’t have a nominal faith. He really cared. And so he struggled, as many great saints since have struggled.

I would like to give you a couple of principles that might help you if you struggle with the questions of faith verses the seeming reality of science.   The first principle is that science deals with “how,” whereas faith deals with “why”--and there’s really no conflict between the two. 

There are some who believe that everything happened by chance.  They’ve been taught that this is an enormous universe, and that in an enormous universe, anything is possible. And they’re right. This is an enormous universe.

But if we simply evolved by chance, how do they explain beauty.  And why don’t our eyes and brain see in black and white? That’s all we need for survival, that’s all evolution should have given us. Yet we live in a world of incredible beauty, and that beauty satisfies something deep down in our soul.  Who hasn’t been taken aback by the beauty of a sunset? Nature is an amazing force indeed if we came to this place by chance.

And if we simply evolved by chance, how do you explain four-part harmony? That may seem frivolous, perhaps, but think about it. Four-part harmony is certainly not required for survival. Oh, to be sure, it is helpful to hear a range of pitches, but why do our voices make such a wide array of sounds and why, when those voices are blended, can they make such an awe-inspiring sound?

Alto, soprano, bass, tenor—when put together in just the right way produces music that can transport us right to the gates of heaven. The Hallelujah Chorus alone ought to win over the most cynical skeptic!  All, I believe, created by God, not by chance.

Science tells us how; faith tells us why. Here’s the second important principle: there are two kinds of truth in the Bible--historical truth and spiritual truth. When the writer of Genesis wrote about the creation of the world and said that it occurred in six days, and God rested on the seventh, he wasn’t giving a historical chronology, as understood today. That a day today is as a day was in God’s timing.

The writer of Genesis was writing about two spiritual truths. One was, of course, that God created everything that is. “God spoke and there was light!”  The second is the importance of the Sabbath. God worked for a period of time, (six days) and rested on the seventh - and so ought God’s people.

The Bible is a mixture of historical truth and spiritual truth. The important thing is that God speaks through the scriptures, and we need to heed what God says. If we try to make the Bible into something it’s not, we make the faith look foolish.

Back in the 1600s most people believed, quite naturally, that the sun revolved around the earth. The sun rises and the sun sets, so naturally it must revolve around the earth. When Galileo said that was not so, the religious people were in arms. After all Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 all include text stating that “the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.”

Psalm 104:5 says, “[the Lord] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that “the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.”

Galileo claimed that it was never his intent to dispute to the Bible. In fact, he said, this was not contrary to those Scripture passages. He stood by Augustine’s position on Scripture: that we should not take every passage literally, particularly when the passage in question is from a book of poetry or songs, not from a book of instructions or history.

So, science tells how; faith tells why. And the bible contains both historical truth and spiritual truth.  Here’s the final thing that needs to be said: we walk by faith, not knowledge.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face . . .” He’s saying that there’s little certainty in this world.

Notice Jesus’ words in response to Thomas’ acclamation of faith: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  That’s a powerful statement. “Because you’ve seen me, you believe; blessed are those who haven’t seen and yet have believed.”

Comedian Woody Allen asked why God couldn’t give us some kind of sign that He exists, like depositing a million dollars in a Swiss bank account in his name. That’s not the way God works. Any of you who have ever sat beside the bed of a loved one in a time of crisis know that God sometimes hides Himself from us. Why? I don’t know.

Maybe it’s because that’s one of the ways God chooses to help us grow spiritually into souls worthy to spend eternity with Him. People who do not struggle with their faith remain spiritual adolescents forever.  The important thing is this: all saints of God go through times of doubt. But as we sang earlier:

“This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears

All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise,

The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker's praise.

This is my Father's world: He shines in all that's fair;

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;

He speaks to me everywhere.

Who can doubt that this world was created by an everlasting and all loving God?

Science tells us how; faith tells us why.

There are historical truths and there is spiritual truth.

We walk by faith, not knowledge.

Jesus said to Thomas: “Because you’ve seen me, you believe; blessed are those who haven’t seen and yet believed.”