Sermon: I Doubt It.
Text: Matt 11:2-10, I Cor 4:1-5
Occasion: Advent III
Who: Mark Woolsey
When: Sunday, Dec 16, 2007
Where: Providence Reformed Episcopal Church
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I. Intro
Deck the walls with chains and torches
Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la la
Tis the season to be tortured
Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la la
Don we now our rags and beatings
Fa-la-la la-la-la la la la
Troll the ancient screams and pleadings
Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la la!
There! That should put us all in the mood for this season. And no, I don’t mean Halloween, either. It’s the third Sunday in Advent. It’s the season to prepare for our Lord’s second coming in judgment by studying His first. Rejoice – it’s the time to be miserable.
As Christians who take our seasons seriously, we have been learning over the last couple of weeks that this is not the Christmas season, but a mini-Lent. The world sings and we sigh. They rejoice and we repent. They feast and we fast. At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. So where do you fall on this scale of extremes? Where do your thoughts lie? Are you decorating or downsizing? Celebrating or solemnizing? Prancing or praying?
Well, Preacher Wet Blanket, you’ve made my day. I guess I’ll just go to the hardware store and buy my own Christmas present – a hammer so I can "rap" all the other gifts I bought. Do you think Penny’s still has their hair-shirts on sale?
Unfortunately, the lot of a minister is frequently to remind his hearers of uncomfortable truths. It’s a ministry of disillusionment, the tearing down of idols that dull our minds and hide from us, and us from, reality. It’s a ministry of calling people to go where they don’t want to go and confronting them with uncomfortable truths. And perhaps most difficult of all, these ministers must confront their own demons, even if that demon is the demon of doubt and despair.
I love the season of Advent!
Today I would like to focus on two ministers in the Bible, one from the New Covenant and the other from the Old.
II. New Covenant Minister
Outside of Jesus, who is the greatest minister of the New Covenant? If you are a Roman Catholic you might answer St Peter since he is considered to have founded the church at Rome and to have been the first Pope. Arguably he was the chief of the 12 Apostles; he led, they followed. And really, I can’t find much fault if you were to select him. However, as a Reformed, or perhaps better, a Biblical Christian there is one minister who takes the scattered rays of doctrine and focuses them into a brilliant point of light more clearly than perhaps all the rest. He takes the coals, as it were, of the facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and presents to us the multi-faceted diamond of its meaning and application to us in redemption, justification, sanctification, glorification, and adoration. When the church fathers, those patriarchs of the first eight centuries or so, refer to him, they sometimes simply call him The Apostle. He is, of course, St Paul. What pearls of wisdom does he lay out before us today? What jewel from the treasure of salvation does he polish and show us?
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. (I Cor 4:3)
Kinda grumpy, huh? The Corinthians, to whom St Paul had given so much, were questioning his credentials. Paul tells them they have no business judging him, and he doesn’t care what they think of him, anyway, when it comes to his ministry. It’s sad when this happens because our lives depend upon what is said in the pulpit. Perhaps you don’t think of church as a life-or-death activity. Sure, how you drive your car can affect you like that, but not church. Handle a knife incorrectly and there are serious consequences. But church? Church is a voluntary activity where like-minded people gather with nothing more dangerous than Aunt Martha’s week-old pot roast. How can that be close to life-threatening? Listen again to The Apostle:
In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes… (vv3-5)
There’s that Advent theme again, judgment at the second coming. If you get this wrong, the consequences are not only deadly, but eternal. That’s why what ministers say in the pulpit is so important.
the Lord … will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts (v5)
What is in your heart? What have you done that you hope stays hidden? Paul says all of it will be told. And when it is told, it will be judged. And when judged, sentenced. And when sentenced, carried out. Listen to your minister. He has the words of life. But what happens when even the minister himself starts to have second thoughts?
III. Old Covenant Minister
Let’s switch from New to Old Covenant for a while. Who do you think is the most important Old Covenant prophet/minister? David was probably the most powerful, and one who had a heart after God. His songs are still used in worship services today. Or what about Elijah? He called down fire from heaven and defeated 400 prophets of Baal single-handedly. His miracles are probably the most impressive in all the Old Testament. His story reads almost like a kid’s book the way the supernatural events just exude from him. Or consider Moses; he was called God’s friend. He delivered God’s Law in all it’s majesty to us. Abraham was the father of the whole nation of Israel. And yet, there was a prophet, a minister that was greater than them all. He had no political power and wrote nothing that we have as King David did. He did no miracles like Elijah and never even married. Yet he was greater than all these men. How do I know? Because Jesus testified of him:
Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist… (Mat 11:11)
Wait a minute! I thought you said Old Covenant. I did. You see, John the Baptist was the last of the Old Covenant prophets. He appears in the New Testament, but his ministry precedes that of Christ. In fact, John the Baptist has always been something of an enigma to me. For example, what is his middle name? "The", of course. ;-) Seriously, tho, how could Jesus consider him the greatest of the OT prophets? He was a crazy man who lived in the desert eating locusts and wild honey. He wore a camel hair jacket. That’s more out of style than leisure suits. What could make him more significant that Moses or Elijah? In and of himself, I think nothing. As we would measure it, he was not only less successful that those others, but he was an actual failure. He left no organization to continue after him. We hear nothing of his disciples shortly after his death. He blazed onto the world’s stage for a moment and then faded away with hardly a whimper. In fact, his end was rather pathetic. The one whose conception was the talk of the town, whose birth was attended by angels, the one who gathered his own disciples, who lived a life of notable asceticism, he who denounced king and queen, was defeated by a teenage girl. Teenage girls know how to talk on the phone, shop at the mall, and melt your heart, but I don’t know any who could defeat a man. And yet this man’s man was brought down by such a one.
IV. John Baptist
When Zacharias and Elizabeth Baptist conceived John, there were attending miracles. Not just any angel, but THE Angel of the Lord – which is identified with God Almighty Himself – appeared at the altar where Zacharias was ministering. He tells of John’s work – how’s that for knowing God’s will? Unfortunately, his work is not to be the continuation of the family business. Zacharias Baptist is a respected member of the community but John The is to be on the fringe. His report cards all say, "Does not play well with other children". Eventually he moves into the desert and ekes out a living there. Soon, however, thunder starts rolling from that desert:
Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand! Mat 3:2
When the local "bishops, priests, and deacons" of the day come out to hear him (where IS that front-row seat I always get!?), he says to them:
Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. v7-9.
And finally, in the greatest faux pax of all, he tells King Herod (that sweet man who had other people burned alive) that he really shouldn’t have bedded down with his brother’s wife:
It’s not lawful for you to have her. Mat 14:4
V. John’s perdicament
You’ve heard it said that a man’s house is his castle? Well, a prophet’s home is in a castle, but unfortunately the room is a dungeon. That’s where John was for 18 long months. Listen to Alfred Edersheim, a converted Jew of the 19th century, describes it in his excellent book, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah":
We pass on among the ruins. No traces of the royal palace are left, save foundations and enormous stones upturned. Quite at the end of this long fortress in the west, and looking southwards, is a square fort. We return, through what we regard as the ruins of the magnificent castle-palace of Herod, to the highest and strongest part of the defenses – the eastern keep or the citadel, on the steep slope 150 yards up. The foundations of the walls all around, to the height of a yead or two above the ground, are still standing. As we clamber over them to examine the interior, we notice how small this keep is: exactly 100 yards in diameter. There are scarcely any remains of it left. A well of great depth, and a deep cemented cistern with the vaulting of the roof still complete, and – of most terrible interest to us – two dungeons, one of them deep down, it sides scarcely broken in, ‘with small holes still visible in the masonry where staples of wood and iron had once been fixed’! As we look down into it’s hot darkness, we shudder in realising that this terrible keep had for nigh ten months been the prison of that son of the free ‘wilderness,’ the bold herald of the coming Kingdom, the humble, earnest, self-denying John the Baptist. p660
And it is here that questions start coming in unmitigated ferocity to that man that was so used, and seemingly used up, by God. Remember, John Baptist is the man who railed:
And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worth to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Mat 3:10-13
It certainly appears that John anticipated Jesus "cleaning house". In fact, Jesus was right behind John at this time, also preaching of repentance and the kingdom of God. On the strength of this, John boldly steps out and denounces the King, and gets thrown into the horrible dungeon. What does Jesus, the man John is the herald for, do about this? He leaves town. He doesn’t want to be caught. John, the great ascetic, asks his disciples what Jesus is doing. They reply something to the effect, "Well, He’s going to parties, eating with Pharisees (whom you called a ‘brood of vipers’) and generally having a good time. In fact, rumor has it, that He likes the ‘fruit of the vine’ a little too much – if you know what I mean. You know this ‘axe to the root’ and ‘unquenchable file’ stuff you told about Him – I’m not sure He heard you. He hasn’t said anything about the Herod/Herodious affair, nor denounced the moral mess in government." It’s as if John’s a Republican and he just found out that Jesus is a card-carrying Democrat! Did John miss God? His whole ministry was to point the way to the Messiah, and he bet the farm on his cousin, Jesus. Has Herod co-oped Him? Here’s the minister who preached to the multitudes – and now he has doubts himself. Where does he go?
And if we admit it, don’t we face these questions, too? Haven’t you questioned either God’s existence, goodness, or relevance? Has God left you in the lurch, being unwilling or unable to help? Have you been, or perhaps are you right now in prison and your only ticket out is thru a trail of tears, blood, and ripped flesh?
O blessed Advent!
VI. Doubt & Grief
C.S. Lewis went thru a time like this when his wife died of cancer. He kept a journal of his feelings after this time and eventually published them in the book, "A Grief Observed". The entries are very raw and truthful:
What chokes every prayer and every hope is the memory of all the prayers H. (that’s the journal entry for his wife) and I offered and all the false hopes we had. Not hopes raised merely by our own wishful thinking; hopes encouraged, even forced upon us, by false diagnoses, by X-ray photographs, by strange remissions, by one temporary recovery that might have ranked as a miracle. Step by step we were "led up the garden path." Time after time, when He seemed most gracious He was really preparing the next torture. pp34-5.
Ok so God doesn’t always rescue us. But He does comfort us, right? Here’s C.S. Lewis again:
Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand. p28
If you are going thru times like this, I would recommend "A Grief Observed". If you are fighting doubts, I recommend, "In Two Minds" by that great Anglican scholar, Os Guiness.
VII. Lamb of God
Here’s what John the Baptist did. After hearing all this and wondering if he had made a mistake, he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask Him point-blank, "Are you He?" This is what I recommend to anyone. If God is really God, and if He can do what He claims He can do, then no new "truth" is going to unseat Him. Your faith may be extremely weak, and you may be afraid you are about to lose it. But your faith is in God, and He is stronger than you are weak. Your fears and grief may make Him seem distant, but He will not let you fall off the deep end. When John’s disciples quizzed Jesus, He didn’t send them away in a huff. Instead, He gently pointed out that He was fulfilling the very tasks that the Messiah was to do. Then He praised this "doubting Thomas" as the greatest man to have been born to date.
I love what C.S. Lewis said. "Reality is iconoclastic". An iconoclast is one who goes around smashing images that themselves have become the object of worship. Reality is like that. We have our images in our minds of what the world is like, but God frequently smashes those images. That’s what happened to John. That’s what happened to C.S. Lewis. Lewis cries out,
"If only I could bear it, or the worst of it, or any of it, instead of her." But one can’t tell how serious that bid is, for nothing is staked on it. If it suddenly became a real possibility, then, for the first time, we should discover how seriously we had meant it. But is it ever allowed? p51
Lewis was saying that it would have been much better if he had born the cancer rather than his wife, his lover. He said he wished to bear the pain instead of her. But is it allowed? He then continues:
It was allowed to One, we are told, and I find I can now believe again, that He has done vicariously whatever can be so done. He (God) replies to our babble, "You cannot and you dare not. I could and dared." p51.
Lewis is saying God came down and bore our sins and griefs.
So it turns out John the Baptist was right after all. Maybe he didn’t understand how Jesus will put the axe to the root, nor how all His judgments will be meted out. But what John said at one point in his ministry is the pinnacle, the apex, the highest point of his whole life. When we consider our sins, when we see how we have built our own prison and locked ourselves up in it, when we see that we have truly offended God and deserved the full brunt of His punishment, consider what John said:
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29
For all of you who believe on Him as God and Man, of one substance with the Father, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away your sins. He so identified with you that your sins became His, and His righteousness became yours. Your faith may be weak, but He is mightier than you are "weakier". Study the judgments to come when Jesus returns with all His angels to execute vengeance on His enemies. Know that when He comes it will be in wrath. Know that just like His first advent, few will be ready. But you who believe in Him are ready. He has clothed you with new garments. When He comes back, it will be to take you not to the slaughter, but to the feast.
VIII. The Feast
But we don’t even have to wait until then. We can taste that feast today. Not in it’s fullness, but we do get some decent "appetizers". Here at the table today I invite all you who believe, weak or strong, to take of this stout wine and hearty bread. What, you think you are just getting a sip and a nibble? Not if you believe in Him. To you, He lifts you up to His throne and you will heartily eat there with all the "angles, and arch-angels, and all the heavenly host". Come, feed, be filled, and feel your faith be strengthened.
In spite of all your sins and vices
Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la la
You have Christ’s own sturdy rightness
Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la la
Join we now our voices ringing
Fa-la-la la-la-la la la la
At that second Advent singing
Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la la!
This is the word of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria!
