Finicky Faith Series

During World War II, a congregation in London faced bombings nightly. In the midst of fear, their pastor encouraged them to gather for prayer. One night, after a particularly intense bombing, he found a soldier praying with fervor. When asked why he prayed amidst such chaos, the soldier replied, 'Because I can still believe in a good God even when I don’t understand why this is happening.'

Last week, we began reflecting on the question that plagues so many of us - “why do bad things happen to good people?” or “If God is good, why does he allow bad things to happen?”

While we can come up with pithy replies to provide some hope, we have to recognize that the faith we live out will often be encompassed by tragedy and suffering. As we’ll see today, sometimes that suffering will lead toward doubt, causing our faith to become finicky.

Open your bibles to Luke 7. Right on the heels of Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant and raising the widow’s son from the dead, we run into a situation where one of Jesus’ biggest advocates finds his faith faltering.

Luke 7:18–35 ESV

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,

“ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

I find this passage particularly interesting because we have one of the heroes of our faith experiencing a bit of doubt and yet Jesus seems to challenge or even encourage him very specifically. Then, in response Jesus talks about John and how people responded to him and then concludes by talking about the fickle nature of the generation.

It seems like, through all of this, we are urged to have a persistent faith in Jesus. First of all, we should…

Trust in Jesus…

...when faith and doubt reside together (18-23)

As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, Jesus has been busy in ministry. From appointing apostles to instructing disciples; from healing the sick and raising the dead, Jesus has been making an impact in the region. John the Baptist had been the forerunner of Jesus - preparing the region for Jesus’ ministry. In the process, John’s bold witness landed him behind bars (Luke 3:18-20). Now, some of John’s disciples had witnessed a bit of Jesus’ ministry and went back to the prison to report to John about all that they had seen.