TD Jakes - Your Old Wounds, Perfection is Not Required
They saw him when he came through the door. The Bible records vividly that he came through the door. Jesus appeared in the room; he came in the room. They saw him when he entered through the door, but knowing that he was there did not bring peace because they were now uncertain of him. He said, «Peace be unto you,» yet it still didn’t bring peace because they were uncertain of him. So, he had to show the receipts. Now, Jesus is having to prove to the believers to believe in him, whom they had been with for at least three years. This is not the world; this is the church.
Now, Jesus is having to prove to the saints that he rose from the dead. Because on the other side of it, the evidence was so strong. Lord, have mercy! The evidence was so strong; it was so compelling. They saw him hung high; they saw him stretch wide; they saw the nails in his hands; they saw where they pierced him in the side. They had taken his rigor mortis-ridden body down off the cross, and they had pulled his dead, cold arm away from the nails with a thud. They had seen the blood congeal, and they knew that he was dead. They had forced his arms into the death position and prepared him for burial. They had wrapped him up in linen strips, as was the custom of the day, and surrounded him in linen. They were not sure that he was living, but they were sure that he was dead.
Once you get a mindset that is set in a particular direction, it is difficult to get you to change it; it is difficult to get it out of your head because it has almost been seared into your mind with a hot iron that what you saw with your eyes is true. And Jesus is trying to get them to look again. Respect your first look; it might be wrong. Your first look has to fight through your perspective, and you don’t have any respect for me because you have the wrong perspective. So, in order to get some respect, you’re going to have to look again. Because you can’t offer a medication with one test; you can’t do that. You can’t make a cake with one test. There are several ways you have to test that thing before you pull it out the oven, or you’re going to get embarrassed and have one of those cakes you’ve got to explain.
I know it doesn’t look good, but anytime you have to explain a cake, you have really made a mess. Jesus is trying to get them to look again. In my text, Jesus appears in the world with receipts to dispel the pervasive view that the resurrection was a hoax. Is anything real anymore? In the text, he makes two trips to ensure that all of his disciples would not doubt what most of them would die for. He was going to ask them to die for it; he knew they had to be sure of it. So, he gives them a chance to respect respect by showing receipts. The receipts of authenticity of his lordship are not in his crown; they are not in the ten thousand angels that he could have called from heaven. The receipts of authenticity of his lordship are in his wounds.
Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying. Thomas isn’t saying, «Unless I see his crown; unless I see angels all around him, I will not believe. Unless I see him walk on water, I will not believe. Unless I see him standing in clouds of glory, I will not believe.» No, Thomas required the receipt of the thing he had survived. Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying.
Jesus, you see, has appeared in fresh garments but with old scars. That’s a write-down moment right there: fresh garments but old scars. He doesn’t have on his grave clothes, which might have been admissible at some level of evidence, but Jesus has changed his garments. In other words, he doesn’t look like what he’s been through. There are people in this room who don’t look like what they’ve been through. They’ve got on fresh garments but old wounds. They changed their hair, but they have old wounds. They wear nice cologne, but they have old wounds. They got their hair cut differently, but they have old wounds. They don’t look like what they’ve been through, and they’re wondering why people don’t believe in them.
I will never believe in you as long as you change your garments and don’t show me your wounds. I will only believe in you when you get the courage to be transparent enough to show me your wounds because your wounds are the receipts that become evidence that build faith. Oh, y’all don’t hear what I’m saying. So, the problem with most of us, and preachers in particular, is that we have difficulty being effective in ministry because we keep showing them new clothes but we don’t have the power to show them old wounds. Are y’all hearing what I’m saying? Y’all with me? Y’all with me right now?
No receipts, no respect. Say it with me: no receipts, no respect. Say it again; say it again. It means I don’t respect anybody that doesn’t have receipts. I don’t respect a friend that doesn’t have receipts. You have to show me something. Don’t date anybody that doesn’t have receipts. If you haven’t got any wounds, I ain’t got no time. If you haven’t been through anything, don’t try to talk to me. You can’t be my pastor and be perfect; you have to have some flaws because I can’t relate to perfect people. I have to have somebody who has been through the fire, through the flood, and has been broken sometimes, doubted sometimes, and cried sometimes. Oh, y’all don’t hear what I’m saying. No receipts, no respect. Look at somebody and say, «No receipts, no respect.» I’m scared to death for people who try to convince me that they have no receipts. I’m not impressed by your new clothes; I want to see your old wounds.