Christmas Questions: Doubt
Luke 1:34
Rev. Brian Bill
12/7/08
Can you tell me who said the following?
This person was asked if he believes that after he dies, he will hear God say to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ After a long pause, he responded, ‘I hope so.’ (Billy Graham)
“Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.” (Mother Theresa)
“How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (Zechariah)
“How will this be?” (Mary)
Last week we looked at the topic of discovery and learned that…
* Until you go, you’ll never know
* Until you know, you’ll never show
* Until you show, you’ll never glow
Once you head out on the road to discovery, sooner or later you will encounter some doubts. In his book called “Confessions of a Pastor,” Craig Groeschel writes this: “My first memorable spiritual hiccup was a time I doubted the existence of God. It happened, oddly enough, in church. I was probably seven or eight years old. The minister was preaching…and I was bored. Without warning, the question dropped into my mind: ‘Is God real? Or is He just something we made up?’ Fear and guilt overwhelmed me immediately. I tried to ignore the question and listen to the rest of the boring sermon.”
You know you have some doubts when your prayer sounds something like this: “O God, if there is a God, save my soul, if I have a soul, so I can go to heaven, if there is a heaven.” Here’s what I want to say right up front: When you have a bout with doubt, remember that doubt doesn’t disqualify you.
Definitions of Doubt
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines doubt this way: “The state of mind that hesitates between two contradictory conclusions.” The Greek word literally means “to go two ways.” It’s the idea of wavering between two positions. In that sense then, doubt is not the opposite of faith; unbelief is. Unbelief refers to a willful refusal to believe, while doubt describes inner uncertainty. This is described clearly in James 1:6: “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
We are so fortunate in this church to have such a wonderful student ministry. A month ago, Pastor Jeff and his team took the high schoolers on a retreat. One of the sessions dealt with doubt. Here’s the “Big Idea” or summary statement: “It is normal to doubt. What you do with those doubts makes all the difference.” Pastor Jeff then said this: “God is less threatened by doubt than His church is.” God can handle whatever doubt you are dealing with today.
I’m glad we have such a sharp church sign and that it has been recently repainted. We also have new signage inside the church to help people find the various rooms. I think we missed one though. There should be a big and bold sign over each entrance with the words, “Doubters Welcome!”
One of the hidden secrets in the church is that many Christians deal with doubt. While this topic is often not addressed, we want to establish that doubt doesn’t disqualify you. In fact, doubt can even lead one to deeper faith. Instead of throwing daggers at doubters, we’re called to be compassionate towards those who have questions. We see God’s heart in Jude 22: “Be merciful to those who doubt.” Entire books of the Bible delineate issues of doubt – Ecclesiastes, Job, Lamentations and Habakkuk come to mind. In addition, many of the psalms deal with doubt.
Elie Wiesel, when asked to describe his faith, uses the adjective wounded. “My tradition teaches that no heart is as whole as a broken heart, and I would say that no faith is as solid as a wounded faith.” Pastor Rodney Buchanan hits it on the head: “Doubting is a common experience among Christians. If you have never doubted anything, it may mean that you have never thought seriously about anything. The only way to never doubt is to never use your mind to question and try to figure anything out. So, not only can you be a Christian and still have some doubts, but you can hardly be a Christian without doubting at times. After all, if doubting was not possible, faith would not be possible either…doubting does not mean that your faith stops, it means you are trying to understand your faith at a deeper level” (www.sermoncentral.com). Another honest believer writes: “It’s is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt.”
Please turn in your Bible to Luke 1. I want us to look at two characters, a man and a woman, who both had angelic encounters with Gabriel. They both had some doubts. One was unwilling to believe; the other wanted desperately to believe. When you go below the surface there is either a will to believe or a will not to believe. One pastor declares that there are really two kinds of doubters – seeking doubters or smokescreen doubters. Let’s look first at Zechariah.
Zechariah’s Unbelief
When Gabriel tells him that he is going to be a father in Luke 1:18, Zechariah immediately asks for some sort of sign: “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Zechariah was really saying, “I can’t believe it.” The phrase, “I am an old man” is a very emphatic statement. In verse 19 Gabriel responds by using the same emphatic expression: “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God.” The angel’s name means “the power of God.” He was making a contrast between Zechariah’s faltering faith and God’s unfailing faithfulness. It’s as if Gabriel were saying, “You might be an old geezer, unable to have children, but I am Gabriel, and I stand in the presence of God. I’m the messenger of good news sent straight from God. Don’t you think God can handle this?”
On one hand Zechariah’s question seems valid (he and his wife really were well past normal childbearing ages); on the other hand he should have known better. He was too busy asking questions and focusing on problems to really hear God. Now he would have nine months to listen. It’s okay to ask God questions if we’re simply wanting more understanding of what God is calling us to do but if our motivation is unbelief rather than doubt, we are on shaky ground.
Unbelief is a willful refusal to trust God or take Him at his word; doubt is honest misgiving or reservation, but also a willingness to be shown otherwise. Interestingly, Zechariah had asked for a sign; for nine months he had to use sign language!
Mary’s Doubt
Some say the tradition of gift giving started in Europe and eventually came to our country with the immigrants. Others propose that it goes back to the Magi, who gave gifts to Jesus after He was born. I’d like to suggest that it goes back a bit further. The first instance of gift giving took place between Mary and God. One came ready to give and was loaded down with presents. The other was caught off guard and had to make do with what she had. As we come to Luke 1:31-35, God gives 7 gifts to Mary through the angel Gabriel. Let’s see if we can unwrap each of them.
1. She will become pregnant. The first present God will give to Mary is a miracle. Though she is a virgin, she will “be with child.” This has to blow her mind. She was going to become pregnant outside the normal process of conception.
2. She will give birth to a son. While the conception was miraculous, Mary was going to have a normal pregnancy and give birth to a baby boy.
3. His name will be Jesus. The birth announcement is being dictated to Mary even before she is pregnant! The Hebrew here is “Joshua,” which means “Jehovah-Salvation.” In Matthew’s Gospel, when Gabriel appeared to Joseph to clear up some of his confusion, the meaning of Jesus’ name and His mission is clarified: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
4. He will be great. The word “great” means “exceedingly mighty,” “extraordinary,” and “splendid.” The one who will be held by His mother is the same one who holds everything together by the word of His power. The star that eventually led the wise men to Jesus was hurled into the heavens by His holy hands.
5. He will be the Son of the Most High God. Verse 32 refers to Jesus as the “Son of the Most High.” Verse 35 calls Him the “Son of God.” Here’s the mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus is the son of Mary and the Son of the Most High God. The title “Most High” in the Old Testament is el elyon in the Hebrew and refers to God’s surpassing supremacy.
6. His kingdom will never end. Mary is probably still trying to gulp down the fact that she is going to be pregnant, have a great boy named Jesus, who will Himself be the Son of the Most High God. Gabriel’s not done yet because now he tells her that Jesus will fulfill the prophecy given to David that someone will sit on his throne forever. Verse 33: “And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.”
When we come to verse 34, we get the sense that Mary can’t process any more data and so she verbalizes a question that has now hit a crescendo: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” She’s not really mocking the impossible, but instead is asking a very practical question. If you think about it, her response is really pretty amazing. According to verse 45, Mary believed but we find her now to be befuddled and bewildered. Her question had to do with “how,” not “whether” it was possible. With these bold declarations, Mary could have responded in a variety of ways and asked numerous questions. But she has only one concern, it’s a technical matter that she would like cleared up. Mary is engaged but not formally married. She has saved herself for her husband. How then can she become pregnant and have a son?
Zechariah wanted proof; Mary wanted to know the process. It’s interesting to note that Mary does not doubt the angel’s word, even though it must have sounded incredible. She believed what the angel said. Her only question has to do with how it would happen. In essence she says to Gabriel, “All right. I’m willing to do my part, but you need to explain how we’ll handle this one little problem.”
Let me say again that there’s a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is can’t believe; unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is content with darkness.
7. He will be the Holy One. Gabriel’s answer makes it clear that the Holy Spirit will bring about this wonder in Mary’s womb. Look at verse 35: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…” This answers the biological question. The word “overshadow” carries the sense of the holy, powerful presence of God and was used of the Shekinah glory.
After pointing Mary to the miracle that took place in the lives if Zechariah and Elizabeth in verse 37, we hear a verse that each one of us should memorize: “For nothing is impossible with God.”
* Are you in an impossible job situation? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Is the friction in your family ever going to end? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Are you afraid? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Do you feel lost and lonely? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Is your marriage melting down? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Are you too tired to go on? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Do you wonder if you can ever get over your anger? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Ever wish you could just be happy? Nothing is impossible with God.
* Do you feel unloved? Nothing is impossible with God.
If God can reach all the way down from the throne of Heaven to the body of a teenage virgin, if He can enter time from eternity, if the infinite can become an infant…what can He not do for you? What will He do in your life? Can you imagine what He wants to do with you?
Mary’s Gifts to God
For that first Christmas, God gave Mary seven gifts. Mary didn’t really have much she could give to God, but what she did have, she gave. The only thing she had was her life. Look at verse 38: “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you said.” Her gift giving involved two things:
* Voluntary servanthood. A servant has no rights of ownership. Mary is saying that she is the property of God.
* Submissive obedience. This is radical commitment. Whatever God wants her to do, she is willing to do.
Are you ready to give yourself into God’s hands to serve and obey Him the rest of your life? Share the gift of yourself with the One who created you, who was born for you, and who died for you. Can you say, “Do with me as you please because I am your slave? Use your omnipotent power to put me where you want me, when you want me there, doing what you want me to do?”
It’s been said that for many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. Christmas is all about God entering into the lives of ordinary people who are willing to let Him enter.
When you have a bout with doubt, remember that doubt doesn’t disqualify you.
John Ortberg has written a new book called Faith and Doubt. I really like the subtitle: “What if the most important word is the one in the middle?” Check out this insight: “I marvel at the last words to describe the disciples in the gospel of Matthew – our last glimpse of the men who followed Jesus for three years, learned from him, and saw him crucified and resurrected: “Then the eleven disciples went to…the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28:16-17). This is an amazing picture. They have seen him, listened to him, followed him, studied him, and seen him crucified and resurrected – and the last thing we read about them is ‘and some doubted.’”
Biblical scholar Frederick Dale Bruner says, “The Christian faith is bi-polar. Disciples live their life between worship and doubt, trusting and questioning, hoping and worrying.” Then Jesus gives the disciples what is called the Great Commission…Jesus looks at these worshiping doubters and says: “You go! You doubters, go. You risk your lives for me. You change the world for me…” Disciples are not people who never doubt. They doubt and worship. They doubt and serve. They doubt and help each other with their doubts. They doubt and practice faithfulness. They doubt and wait for their doubt one day to be turned to knowing (page 176).
Check out this statement and see if it resonates in your heart: “One who has never doubted has only half believed.” If you’re having a bout with doubt, let me mention seven ways to move from doubt to faith (from Ray Pritchard).
Dealing With Doubt
1. Admit your doubts and ask for help. I love Mark 9:24: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
2. Recognize that faith is a choice, not a feeling. When Jesus recognized that his disciples were faltering because of their feelings, He asked this question in Luke 24:38: “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?”
3. Don’t be afraid to “borrow” some faith. When you’re struggling ask someone if you can borrow some of their faith. I’m reminded of the man who was paralyzed and was brought to Jesus by his friends who lowered him through the roof. I love Mark 2:5: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
4. Act on your faith, not your doubts. As Jesus turned to Thomas, he turns to each of us today and says, “Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27).
5. Doubt your doubts, not your faith. Someone said it this way: Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts.
6. Understand that there are some things you will never understand until heaven. It’s important to struggle with God and seek answers but if you are waiting until you have everything figured out before you’ll put your faith in Him, you’ll be waiting forever. One courageous pastor said it like this: “God is bigger than you, so get over it!” Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
7. Keep going back to what you know to be true. Don’t doubt in the darkness what you know to be true in the sunshine.
God never turns an honest doubter away. It’s a wonderful truth that the greatest doubters often become the strongest believers. I like what Hudson Taylor said: “God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.” Henry Nouwen captures it better than I can: “So I’m praying while not knowing how to pray. I am resting while feeling restless, at peace while tempted, safe while still anxious, surrounded by a cloud of light while still in darkness, in love while still doubting.”
One of the most helpful things I have heard in this regard is this: Biblical faith is belief plus doubt and then acting on the belief part. I want to end by sharing something that you can be totally confident about. If you receive Jesus Christ into your life by faith, you can know for sure that your sins will be forgiven and that you’ll go to heaven when you die.
This past Wednesday we had a funeral service for Scott Rutledge. I’ve been so impressed with how tightly Marvin and Rosie are holding on to the Lord and I was moved to tears (again) after the service when just Marvin and Rosie and Suzie and her husband Joe were gathered around the casket. I was standing about 10 feet away when I heard Marvin begin to pray. His first words were: “God, thank you for this day…and thank you for giving Scottie to us.” When he finished then Rosie started praying. This is what I heard: “There is no doubt, Lord that Scottie is with you…” There is no doubt. There is no doubt. There is no doubt.
If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus for forgiveness of sins, you can know without a shadow of a doubt that you will go to heaven when you die. 1 John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Are you trying to go two ways today? There’s only one way and His name is Jesus. Let’s lock into the certainty of our salvation right now as we celebrate communion.
