Too Good To Be True – May 1, 2022

Isaiah 35:1-10, John 20:19-29
May 1, 2022

We get many “enticements” these days, don’t we?  We get them in the mail, in our email, on our cell phones, and on our TV’s and radios.  I’m talking about “advertisements,” but they’re really “enticements,” aren’t they?  Think about it.  It’s always a great “offer,” or a great “deal!”  And I suppose that’s always been the case.  There have always been people trying to sell something.  But maybe it’s just that now there are many more ways for sellers to reach us and “entice” us.

When I think about that, I remember a phrase that maybe you’ve heard before.  It’s the Latin the phrase “Caveat Emptor.”  Do you know that one?  Who knows what it means, “Caveat Emptor?”  It means “Let the buyer beware.”  In other words, it’s up to the buyer to find out if something is legitimate.  And of course, it’s the business of the seller to convince the buyer it is legitimate – even if it’s not!  And, as I said before, they make it sound like you’re getting an amazing deal!

We don’t use that phrase very much anymore, “Caveat Emptor.”  But we have a modern phrase that carries the same warning.  Nowadays, we say, “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is!”  You’ve heard that one, I’m sure!  “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!”  I think that’s often the case, and is a good thing to keep in mind when we see all those “enticements” coming at us in our lives!

I use that as the title of my sermon today because some things seem that way, don’t they?  They seem “too good to be true.”  And I’m saying it today because I’m sure the disciples felt that way about the Resurrection of Jesus.  I’m sure to them, it seemed “too good to be true.”  Of course, the difference in their case is that it was true!  But, as I said last week, they didn’t believe it – at least not at first.  The “road to belief” for them was longer than we might realize.

If you remember, we read the part about the disciples being together in Jerusalem when Jesus appeared to them.  And there we read this interesting verse, “And while they still disbelieved in their joy and wonder…”  Jesus was with them, they were filled with joy and wonder, and yet they still couldn’t believe it.  They thought he was a ghost.  “Here, touch me,” he said.  “I’m not a ghost.  I have flesh and bones.”  “Give me something to eat!” he said, because they knew that a ghosts couldn’t eat!”  (It’s like the old joke where a skeleton walks into a bar and says, “Give me a beer and a mop!”)

He was there with them, and they didn’t believe.  And now today we have the story of one of them who didn’t believe, because he was not there when Jesus appeared.  Thomas didn’t see the resurrected Jesus.  He was only told about the Resurrection by his compatriots.  And we know he didn’t believe it when they told him, because he said, so!  And it labeled him a doubter for all time, ever since!  And as you know, I think that’s unfair!  Because they all doubted it!  To all of them, Jesus’ return seemed “too good to be true!”

Look at what happened with Thomas, though.  To his credit, he believed right away when he saw Jesus!  When he did, Jesus could have said, “Thomas, have you believed because you have seen me?  Well, these guys didn’t!!”  Because they didn’t!  His next words “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe,” could have been turned around on them.  Instead of “those who have not seen and yet believe,” they were “those who had seen and not believed!”  But not Thomas!  He believed when he saw!  So, a case could be made here that Thomas was less of a doubter than they were!  Do you see why I object to him being labeled as “Doubting Thomas” over all these years?

But that’s what people have called him.  And I think it’s interesting that They’ve built a whole personality profile of Thomas over the years.  And a lot of that has come from this story.  They’ve said, “Oh, Thomas was the practical one of the group.”  “For him, ‘Seeing is believing!’”  “He’s the one who wanted proof of things.”  And that may be true.  He did say he wanted proof.  He wanted to see Jesus’ hands and side!  And Jesus knew his words.  But when he called him on it, when he showed him his hands and side, Thomas believed!

To the others it seemed too good to be true, even though they could see it with their own eyes!  To Thomas, it seemed too good to be true, but only when they were telling him about it.  When he saw it for himself, that was all it took.

So, what about us?  Does the resurrection of Jesus ever seem “too good to be true?”  Those enticements the world gives us, the “offers” and “deals” that seem “too good to be true,” often seem that way because they come with so many benefits, don’t they?  Well, the Resurrection comes with many benefits, too!  It comes with God winning the victory over sin and death.  It comes with Grace, forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life.  And that makes it very good!  But is it ever hard for us to believe that it’s really true?  Does that thought ever run through our minds?  I’m sure it does!

And it’s been so long ago!  Think about it.  The earth has made its long journey around the sun over two thousand times since the time of Christ.  Do you ever wonder how something that took place so long ago could have any bearing on life now and in the future?  Sometimes it’s hard for me to picture that length of time.  And I try to think about all the various ages of earth that have gone by – the Classical Age, the Dark Ages, the Age of Enlightenment, of exploration, of industrialization, of technology.  And now we’re in Post-modern age.  The modern age is over, which seems kind of contradictory, doesn’t it?  And all of that since the time of Christ!  And yet we Christians say he’s as relevant today as he was in the first century.  And sometimes that’s hard to fathom!

As I said last week, the road to belief is a journey.  And at different times in our lives, we may find ourselves at different places along that road.  And it’s good to think about where we are, and to be sure we’re moving forward.  And, when we find ourselves in one of those times we aren’t sure we believe, the important thing to do is to choose to believe!  Then we act on that choice.  We live that belief, and we trust that the actual belief will follow.  Because it will!  Indeed, it was a very wise thing the man said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief!”

So, we believe the Resurrection, even though it often seems “too good to be true!”  The twist here is that sometimes things that seem “too good to be true,” really are true!  Sometimes we used those words to express how good they are!  We see something that’s amazing to us, and we say, “Wow, that’s almost ‘too good to be true!’”  And that’s the way I hope we see the Resurrection.  Not, “it’s too good, so it can’t be true,” but “it’s too good” meaning it’s that amazing!

Maybe you can think of that, the next time you get an amazing offer in the mail or see one on your TV or your computer.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  But next time you see one, think about those words as an expression of amazement about the Resurrection.  It’s so great, it’s almost “too good to be true!”

Prayer

Eternal God, help us when we struggle with belief.  Our faith in you and what you have done for us sometimes wavers.  In our weakness we can forget your power and doubt your love.  We choose to believe, so help us to believe, and help our faith in you to grow within us, as we consider the joy and wonder of the Resurrection of our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.