Brother! You Missed Him! - Pastor Stacey Shiflett
- Pastor Shiflett
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Brother, You Missed Him!
John 20:24-29
I. The Costly Mistake
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
This morning, we looked at WHAT Thomas missed.
He missed:
· The Peace that was Timely – vs. 19
· The Proof that was Thrilling – vs. 20
· The Purpose that was Timeless – vs. 21
· The Presence that was Tender – vs. 22
· The Priority that was Transformative – vs. 23
It always breaks my heart when people miss all that God does in a church service.
As a pastor, I often wonder why people miss church.
I try to understand what they are thinking or how they are feeling in order to help them.
One thing is certain – they all gathered together at one place – and Thomas WAS NOT WITH THEM.
Here are some reasons WHY he may have missed.
A. He may have been Horrified
They were all afraid of the Jews.
They were hiding behind closed doors.
The threat of prison or death may have been too much for Thomas.
B. He may have been Heartbroken
Jesus had died; things didn’t turn out how he had hoped.
· Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”
C. He may have been Hurt
He may have been hurting from the fact that Judas had betrayed him.
Maybe it was the cursing Peter at the trial; denying that he even knew the Lord.
I never cease to be amazed at how many people get out church because they got hurt
D. He may have been Humiliated
It might have been that he was ashamed of himself for abandoning Jesus at the time he was needed the most.
A lot of people get out of church because of personal failures.
They are ashamed at their lack of spirituality.
They are frustrated with their constant failures.
They are tired of trying.
E. He may have been Headstrong
It’s possible he didn’t want to hear someone else preach/teach with Jesus gone.
I’m always amazed at people that won’t come to church if they find out I’m preaching out of town.
Somebody is going to preach, and God is still going to work and to speak and to move.
Not coming to church because your favorite preacher isn’t preaching sounds like the church of Corinth.
“I am of Apollos. I am of Cephas. I am of Paul.”
You should be in your place – regardless of who’s lined up to preach.
II. The Collective Mission
25a The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
I love this statement.
It is a powerful display of Christian love for a number of reasons:
A. They were Unified in their Response
One of the first things they did after the service was agree that Thomas should have been there!
They all were in agreement that the service would have been much better if Thomas has been there.
B. They were Unified in their Reach
They didn’t draw straws to see who would reach out to him.
They all went.
The Bible says, “The other disciples said unto him…”
They didn’t dispatch someone; they all went after Thomas together.
C. They were Unified in their Reason
They didn’t chew Thomas out for missing.
They didn’t vote him out of the church.
They were excited to tell him that they had seen the Lord.
They didn’t convince him to come back to church by talking about the music or the fellowship.
They focused on the main thing – WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD!!
III. The Contrary Misery
25b But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
It’s amazing how stubborn we are in our disobedience and faithlessness after missing church!
He is surrounded by a group of men that are sharing their personal testimony of what God did.
And he refuses to believe it.
It is so hard to explain to someone that misses church what they missed.
There is a part of us that gets defensive and tries to deny reality.
What Thomas was saying in essence was, “I didn’t miss anything. Staying home was the right thing for me to do.”
IV. The Corrected Mindset
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
You can say all you want to about Thomas, but he didn’t make the same mistake twice.
He was in church the next week.
And you can say what you want to about the other disciples, but they did a great job convincing him to be there!
At some point, he realized where he needed to be.
V. The Compassionate Mercy
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
What a great opportunity Jesus had to make an example of him.
He could have preached on the sin of laying out of church.
He could have fussed at him for all the stuff he missed last week.
Instead, Jesus extended his hand and invited him to let his faith be strengthened.
Conclusion: What was the result of this group of disciples going and finding Thomas and making sure he was in church the next week?
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Our attitude as a church should be a concentrated, collective desire to see our brothers and sisters back in church.
Call them. Text them. Email them.
Go visit them.
Let them know what God is doing and that we miss them.
You’ll never know what God might do for those that you and I take time to reach out to with a simple, “Brother! You Missed Him!”