BIG DOUBT

July 31, 2020

In recent weeks, the Care Group that Kathy and I are a part of watched a series of videos where the presenter (Andy Stanley) cheered us on to what he called “big faith”. I needed the encouragement, since my “mustard seed” faith often seems stuck at sapling size. I’m more familiar with “big doubt.”

I haven’t made it a secret that before I believed in Jesus, I didn’t believe in God at all. I was a teen-aged, church-going atheist. But, when I was presented with the reality of my sin, the possibility of forgiveness, and the witness of some really good friends, I believed the seemingly too-good-to-be-true news that Jesus saves - and He saved me!

Having come to faith in Christ, though, my faith journey has included periodic strayings into the world of doubt.

On a doubting day, I am assailed by uncertainty about the existence of God and wonderings about the seconds after a person’s final breath.

My pre faith-in-Jesus mindset refused to believe in the spiritual realm, and I can still "go there" on a doubting day.

If you are one who doesn’t wrestle with doubts, I’m truly happy for you. But I know that I’m not the only “doubting Thomas/Dave” out there. There are plenty of others who are tempted to doubt the big and the small stuff of the Jesus way.

Today, I’m writing to those who doubt.

What do you do when you read in your Bible about a talking donkey, about a floating ax head, or about a day when the sun stood still - and you wonder…?

What do you do when you read, “In the beginning, God…” - and you wonder…?

What do you do when you read, “To live is Christ and to die is gain” - and you wonder…?

After all, you haven’t been to the other side. And you’ve never seen a Class A, “parting of the Red Sea” type of miracle. (Or maybe you have. The record of the Bible is that lots of people saw miracles and still didn’t believe. So, seeing a miracle isn’t a guarantee of a doubt-free faith, either. Just saying)

What do you do when you find yourself doubting any of the things that you might doubt? (the goodness of God, the truth of the Bible, the reality of heaven)

Here’s what I do on a doubting day and it is what I urge people I know and love to do when they wrestle with doubts.

Remember Jesus.*** (go to end)

You will read in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John of the words and works of Jesus.

As you do, notice His strength of character to speak truth to power. Notice His claims to be God in the flesh. Notice His love, especially seen in His giving Himself to die on a Roman cross. And notice His power, seen in every miracle over nature, disease, and demons, but most especially in His resurrection from the dead.

Recall that, with rare exceptions, the first disciples held to the story of Jesus’ resurrection when to do so frequently led to their deaths. Remember that the first generation of Christians risked their lives to take the message of Jesus to dangerous places. Why? Because they had seen Him, post-crucifixion, alive. Those who knew Him were thoroughly convinced.

Recall that early on, Christianity was a cult, despised by Greeks, Romans, and Jews, and that recording Jesus’ stories made the Gospel writers marked men. They did themselves no favors by promoting the stories of Jesus. Why write them down except that they were true?

What was it that caused the first Christians - who were all Jewish - to change the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday? What prompted them to abandon worship at the temple in Jerusalem? What drove them to welcome non-Jews to their Jesus-centered fellowships?

Nothing explains these dramatic changes - and many more besides! - better than this: An alive then dead then alive again Jesus turned their worlds upside down.

When my doubts hit, I remember Jesus.

 After remembering, I see that He clearly was who He claimed to be (God in the flesh) and that He obviously did what He claimed to be doing (winning salvation for all who believe in Him).

Doubts dissipate, not when I redouble my efforts to believe. They fade when I remember in Whom I have believed.

***Maybe you balk at this counsel because the primary source of our knowledge of Jesus is “the Bible” and you doubt the veracity of the Bible. Please know that by the standards applied to evaluate a piece of literature’s credibility, the Bible has been repeatedly vindicated. There is every reason to believe that what you will read in the four Gospels is historically accurate in what it asserts about the life, words, and works of Jesus. Give me a call or drop me a note if you are looking for resources toward which I can point you that will give you great confidence in the historical reliability of the Bible.

Friday

A couple of weeks ago I went down to the Chapel in the Woods, a simple, natural clearing on our church's back property where we have placed terracing and benches. It’s a great place for reflection and prayer.

I had gone there on a Tuesday evening a few minutes before others would come for prayer and found the benches already occupied. The threesome sitting there greeted me when I walked up. I told them that I was a pastor (and they didn’t run away, screaming). They introduced themselves, all high schoolers, and we chatted for a few minutes.

During our brief time together I mentioned that Easter was coming and invited them to the 6:30am Sunrise Service that would be held right there in the Chapel in the Woods. They seemed genuinely interested. Then I told them about our Good Friday evening service.

When I said “Good Friday” one of the teens had a quizzical look on her face, so I explained, “We call the day Jesus died ’Good Friday’”, immediately realizing how incongruous that must sound to someone who doesn’t know the story.

So, I proceeded to explain (the two minute version) that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He paid the price for our forgiveness. He invites everyone to place their trust in Him for eternal life. Good Friday is good for us.

When I finished, the gal with the quizzical look on her face turned thoughtful and said, “I’ve never heard that before.”

On this Good Friday, listen to the story as if you’ve never heard it before.

Jesus of Nazareth lived a perfect life. He taught as no one had ever taught, loved as no one had ever loved, and performed miracles by the power of God.

At the end of the His three year public ministry, Jesus turned His face toward Jerusalem and walked into what He knew would be a crucible of unparalleled suffering.

On the last night of His life (Thursday) He was betrayed by a friend, delivered over to His own people and condemned for blasphemy. During that trial He was denied three times by another friend.

Early on Friday morning He was turned over to the civil authorities who condemned Him to death by crucifixion for treason.

He endured a brutal beating called “scourging” (called “the halfway death”) and then was force marched from the place of beating to the place of execution. There, soldiers nailed His hands and feet to a wooden cross and raised the cross to an upright position.

Jesus hung on the cross for six hours on Friday. While on the cross He took care of His mother and gave salvation to a fellow sufferer. He spoke a word of forgiveness to His tormentors, suffered physically like few ever have and suffered spiritually like no one ever has.

At the end, having accomplished the work He came to earth to do of offering Himself as a sacrifice for your sins and mine, He cried out, “It is finished” - and breathed His last.

Today is Friday. We call it Good Friday. At first blush it is an odd name for us, Jesus’ followers, to give to the day our Lord died.

On THAT Friday not one of Jesus’ disciples would have dreamed of calling it “good.” Not then. But that was Friday.

By late on Sunday morning, of course, everything had changed! Jesus was alive!! And today you and I now see the events of that Friday in a whole new light.

Nothing has changed concerning the suffering of Jesus. It was still an unfathomably terrible day of torment for Him. But now, in light of the empty cross, we see the redemptive meaning behind the cross. And we call it good.

On the cross, Jesus suffered and died to bring us to God. He died, not as a martyr and not as an example. He died as a sacrifice. He took the punishment that was due us. And now, anyone who believes in Him (John 3:16) has eternal life.

Good Friday is good for you IF you have believed in Jesus. If you have never placed the treasure of your trust in Him for eternal life, do so now.

Run to Jesus and find mercy, forgiveness, a clean slate and a fresh start. Let His, “It is finished” be applied to your soul. Trust Him for salvation and you will understand just how GOOD Good Friday really is.

Thursday

We expect loyalty from friends. We expect friends to have our backs when life turns sour. And in the same way, we want to be loyal to our friends. We want to give the gifts of support and presence when our friends face hardship. We want them to know that we will be there for them. They can count on us when the chips are down.

Jesus’ Thursday revealed friends who were NOT there for Him. On Thursday we get a glimpse of the lonely road He travelled to meet His destiny with torture and crucifixion.

With little more than twenty four hours of life left, Jesus gave His disciples orders to prepare a room for them to enjoy a meal together. All thirteen of them gathered in that upper room in a home in Jerusalem to eat. During supper, Jesus rose to take care of the important detail that none of the twelve had wanted to do. He - the Lord and Master - washed their dirty, grimy feet.

Then, resuming His place at the table, He spoke of a betrayer in their midst. He predicted loss of courage for them all. He predicted Peter’s denials. He told them of His own soon-to-come departure and of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He told them of persecutions to come and of their secure future in Him. (See John 13-17)

Late on that Thursday night, they moved from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemene. There Jesus prayed, asking Peter, James, and John to watch and pray for Him. They promptly fell asleep - x3.

When a mob of soldiers and priests and servants came to arrest Jesus (Judas’ kiss of betrayal identifying Him as “the one”), the disciples all fled into the night, leaving Him alone to stand trial all night long where He suffered numerous indignities and illegalities.

The indignities included mocking, blindfolding, and slaps in the face. Certainly mild physical abuse compared to what He would suffer later. The illegalities included the place and time of the trail, a too-quick verdict, conflicting testimony by the witnesses, and much, much more. While His trials were going on, Simon Peter - Rocky! - was denying that he even knew who Jesus was.

On Thursday we look at Jesus and see raw courage and undeterred resolve and unalloyed love.

No doubt Jesus would have enjoyed prayer support in the Garden.
No doubt watching the disciples flee into the night was painful.
No doubt that listening to Peter deny Him wounded Him deeply.

But none of that trumped His loving commitment to continue with the plan that would have Him offering Himself on Friday as a perfect sacrifice for people like me and you, people who so obviously need deliverance from the power and penalty of sin.

Today, we worship a loving Savior who was willing to go it alone, to bring us to God.

Wednesday

Sabbath rest. In 2014 we know little of Sabbath rest. Ours is life-on-the-go, always on the move, pedal to the metal, in touch, online, connected, 24/7.

To say the least, this is not what God intended. He orchestrated a week that included rest to give time to recuperate from work and time to refresh for more work.

The normal pattern was six days on, one day off, a pattern that followed God’s creative design. (Genesis 1-2) But rest is helpful and useful and allowable when necessary, even when it doesn’t follow the 6/1 pattern.

Jesus’ final Wednesday was a creative exercise of Sabbath rest.

Tuesday was a breathless rush of activity to activity, confrontation to confrontation, teaching to parable to equipping to rebuke. On Tuesday Jesus went hard from sunrise to sunset with no rest.

Not so Wednesday. Wednesday is the silent day.

There is no record of Jesus teaching on Wednesday. No prophecies and no confrontations, no parades and no parables. Jesus used Wednesday as a Sabbath rest for His body and soul before the suffering of the cross fell.

That is not to say that Wednesday was not productive. It was VERY productive. He rested on Wednesday. On Wednesday He regained energy lost from an over-busy Tuesday and on Wednesday He refueled for the ordeal ahead.

Wednesday marked two days and counting, forty eight hours, before His passion. He rested to be fully prepared to do what He had come to earth to accomplish, to offer Himself as a sacrifice on a Roman cross for your sins.

On Wednesday we worship a Savior who loved us so much He rested so that He could give Himself when the time to give came.

TUESDAY

I’m easily distracted. Maybe it’s due to living in a world of constantly updating social media, newsfeeds, blogs, and Facebook. For me, focus is a perpetual challenge.

In fact, if it is true (as I was told years ago) that the main thing in life is to keep the main thing the main thing, then I am clearly struggling with the main thing.

According to the author of the book of Hebrews, Jesus knew every temptation we will ever face (2:18), which means that He may well have been tempted to lose focus on the main thing. Unlike me, Jesus never lost focus - even when constantly bombarded with the attempts of enemies to derail Him.

On His final Tuesday, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others tried to trip Him up with tricky questions. He remained fixed. Tuesday was the busiest day of the last week of Jesus’ life. He goes hard from very early until very late and much of His Tuesday activity took place in the Temple.

Sandwiched in between intense confrontations with religious leaders and His final scathing indictment of them for hypocrisy (see Matthew 23) is one of the most touching scenes of His life.

From the far side of the Court of the Women, Jesus watched as a “poor widow” gave a tiny amount of money as an offering at the Temple in Jerusalem.

After watching her, He showcased this woman’s generosity, telling His disciples that she “put in more” than all the other wealthier people who gave that day because she gave sacrificially. (See Mark 12:38-40; Luke 21:1-4)

Sacrifice.

Jesus was especially focused on sacrifice on Tuesday, knowing that His own sacrifice on a Roman cross was only seventy hours away. On this Tuesday we worship our self-sacrificing Savior.

Monday

I suspect that all of us have had the experience of coming close to something we have anticipated for a long time. The Spurs enter the week before the long-expected playoffs. A woman with child begins to feel Braxton-Hicks contractions. A marathoner passes the twenty mile mark.

In each case, there is a sense that we have turned a corner. We are on the homestretch. One last push and there will be a payoff for all the discomfort, effort, pain and waiting.

After the Triumphal Entry of His last Sunday, Jesus went back to Jerusalem on Monday. Among the events of that Monday was a visit that He considered as noteworthy as any boxer considers the bell sounding the final round.

Philip and Andrew approached Jesus with news that some non-Jews (Gentiles) were seeking Him. “We wish to see Jesus” were their exact words.

That - being sought out by people who were not the people of God, prompted Jesus to say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

We remember that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. When the lost came seeking Him, He knew the time was upon Him. Less than ninety six hours and He would be hanging from the cross. His race was almost run.

What GOSPEL (good news!) that Jesus didn’t stop at mile 20. His last week has begun. He’s not finished yet and He will press on until the work He came to accomplish is finished. On Monday, we worship our faithful, persevering Savior.

Pastoral Malapropisms

James writes, [3:1] Let not many of you become teachers. He is warning of a stricter judgment on those for whom excessive gum-flapping is a vocation. Over the years, I have had occasion to wonder if I should have taken James’ counsel to heart...

There was the time when I was describing from the pulpit the attire of the High Priest when he went in to the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle/Temple to offer sacrifice on the high and holy Day of Atonement. Part of his dress included bells attached to the hem of his robe, the silence of the bells being a signal that God had judged him and struck him dead. What I said was, “The people listened for the sound of the High Priest tinkling in the Holy of Holies.” Nice turn of phrase, that.

Or the time just recently when I was describing the empires that had occupied the land mass that is currently Iran, mentioning Assyria and Babylon and the “Peeds and the Mersians.” Nice touch.

More troublesome was the time that I was describing the leadership roles that Jesus’ disciples were to have in the coming Kingdom. I intended to tell the congregation that Jesus said, “You shall sit on twelve thrones...” I got my mords wixed up and said something more like, “You sall sh** on twelve thrones...” Needless to say, I pretty well lost the teenagers at that point. (Shall sit. Shall sit. Shall sit. Shall sit.)

There is no question that teachers and preachers need to be careful about what they say. My propensity for malapropisms prompted me to manuscript sermons many years ago. While not totally eliminating blunders, I can only imagine how I would have mangled things had I not become more intentional about word choice.

However, word choice in messages and silly mistakes in a sermon are not what James had in mind when he issued his warning.

In a number of places in his short letter he writes about using the words we choose to bring blessing to those around us.

Any observer of human interaction could come up with a list of examples of people using words to curse (James 3:9-10). Sadly, that’s easy, like shooting fish in a barrel and I could join the party with a few illustrations of curse-words.

But from the observation deck of serving as a pastor I’ve had the privilege of seeing words bring great blessing, too. I’ve listened in on conversations where someone was blessed because of the words a speaker used, as in the time when:
a recently widowed mother of four knelt at the bedside of another young mom and tenderly urged her to trust the Lord in a season of despair;
a group of Elders prayed in the home of a family suffering from diseases and other hardships, anointing members of that family with oil as they spoke words of genuine encouragement;
a leader of youth used his position to mentor those in a Sunday School class in the things of God;
another youth group leader used her words to bring hope to a hopeless young man;
a woman offered a sincere apology for an unthinking remark that caused pain to someone she dearly loved;
a group of people wisely “ganged up” on a pastor (yes, that would be me) to lovingly confront him about his workaholic ways;

On and on and on I could go and not even scratch the surface of the times I've listened to the power of words bring refreshment to weary souls, exhortation to rebels, and instruction to the naive.

You are aware that there are lots of ways to express love and care. We could offer financial assistance to the poor, help someone with a move, offer the gift of childcare and/or meals when a family is overwhelmed - and more. But we are missing a huge opportunity to bless if we neglect the way we use words.

I take advantage of the time I’ve been given to manuscript the messages I bring on the weekend to the church I serve. But nobody has the freedom to manuscript the chance conversations that come our way every day. What we can do is enter each conversation with a heart eager to bless, with an aim to encourage, with a desire to do good.

Over and over again I’ve proved James comment that [3:2] we all stumble in many ways. (Amen!)

By God’s grace may we all be those who [3:3] do not stumble in what [we say], proving to be agents of grace to those who hear.