Day 370 - Weak Hands and Feeble Knees

A sermon* delivered Dec. 15, 2013 at First Presbyterian Church, Soddy Daisy, TN

OT Reading: Isaiah 35: 1-12.

NT Reading: Matthew 11:2-11.

It seems like human nature wants certainty in the worst way.  We fear the threat of hostile countries, or gangs because we want control of our destiny. Most of us fear change because change means the future is uncertain. We doubt the future is going to be better than the way it was.

Where does that doubt put faith? Faith seems to be the opposite of certainty. We have faith in an unseen presence of God who can’t be proved by measuring and touching. Doubt seems to be an ever present sister of certainty.

A lot of religious folks think doubt is a sign of weakness that threatens faith. I am not sure that is the case. It seems to me we do people an injustice to read and preach the Word but not recognize doubt can be present even in those with the strongest faith.

No lesser an authority than Martin Luther read the question brought from John the Baptists by his disciples to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” and refused to accept that John doubted who Jesus was. Martin Luther said John had to be acting on behalf of his disciples who doubted.

In his sermon on this passage Martin Luther said,“(Most preachers conclude) this Gospel (shows) John the Baptist (questioned) that Jesus was the true Christ, although this question is unnecessary and of little importance… it is evident John knew very well that Jesus was (the one prophesied to come), for he had baptized him and testified that Christ was the Lamb of God that (takes) away the sin of the world, and he had also seen the Holy Spirit descending upon him as a dove, and heard the voice from heaven: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ All four Evangelists tell us this. Why then did John ask this question?, he continued. Because it is certain …it is certain that John asked it for the sake of his disciples, as they did not yet (believe) Christ is who he really was. …John (was doing his job,)… to lead everybody to Christ and to make all the people subject to him.”

I am inclined to reject Martin Luther’s interpretation because this passage shows plainly the question,  “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” and its  answer was between John and Jesus, not Jesus and John’s disciples. Jesus replied to John that seeing is believing, do you see that the blind see, the lame walk, the sick are healed, the deaf hear, the captives are free?”

Martin Luther's rationalization seems to emphasize that we still seem to have a problem with doubt (especially when someone doubts us) because we feel it betrays our confidence in Jesus. After all, what does the Gospel of John say of Jesus: “John 3:18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

You might then ask, “How can we be saved if we doubt, or Can one believe and hold onto faith and still doubt?”

You may remember what happened after John had been executed by Herod (Matt. 14:13-33).  Jesus fed the crowds of 5,000 and he and his disciples got into a boat to travel to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for some rest. A storm came up in the night and the disciples see Jesus standing on the water calling Peter to come to him. “If it is you, Lord, I’ll come.” We know what happens, everything is ok until Peter feels the wind and looks down on water under his feet and sinks in fear.  Jesus says, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” If walking on the water wasn’t proof enough, Jesus stills the storm before the eyes of everybody in the boat. They say, “truly you are the son of God,” but in just a little while they will doubt again. What did Peter do in the courtyard the night of Jesus’ arrest? Where were the disciples when Jesus was crucified?

Jesus understands doubt is our constant companion.

You all may have heard the story of Mother Teresa. She dedicated her life to working in the slums of Calcutta as a penitent and devoted servant of God. There has been some criticism of her methods and from whom she took gifts, but her Christian piety and compassion are undeniable. She felt the call to ministry in early childhood and went on to become a sister in the Catholic Church. She founded and shepherded the “Missionaries of Charity,” into an order of 4500 nuns in 133 countries. She served her church for 68 years, and had an active ministry to the poor in India for 50 years. Yet through those 50 years she was tormented by doubt. (from "Mother Teresa: Come be My Light,") Near her death She said, “I am told God lives in me — and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul,… I want God with all the power of my soul — and yet between us there is terrible separation. I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing… If there be God—please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul ... How painful is this unknown pain—…If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.” She carried this doubt for 50 years all the while in loyal service and in conversation with the God she doubted.

Imagine John the Baptist in our scripture. He sat in a dark, isolated jail in the bowels of Herod’s palace probably tormented and harassed by the guards telling him his execution was imminent. He had to fear for his life just like Peter on the water who doubted that Jesus would save him. So John sends his disciples to ask Jesus to quell his doubt with assurance he was truly the Messiah and going to come save him.

I have a hard time stretching this scene to conform to Martin Luther’s idea that John didn’t doubt.  I think Martin Luther could not balance doubt with the faith he thought John must have had. John baptized Jesus and heard that voice from heaven, “You are my son in whom I am well pleased.” But, Martin Luther chose to overlook the constant lament of Jesus about his followers, “Oh you of so little faith."

I think Martin Luther felt that way because of the way he found God. He was a budding young lawyer and one day was caught outdoors in a terrible storm with lightening strikes all around. He fell face down into the mud and driving rain praying, bargaining, “God spare me and I will devote my life to Your service.” Maybe that experience of surviving the lightening removed all his doubt, but you know what gas station wisdom says, “The bit dog barks the loudest.”  Maybe Martin Luther was afraid or uncertain of what he would do if he admitted his doubt.

Many people who talk to me about faith and doubt struggle with the contradictions of bad things happening to good people, or of wishes and prayers not being unfulfilled but fulfilled in inexplicable ways. The remarkable thing about many of these people who confront doubt is their Christian strength to work for the Glory of God and look to the day of resurrection that they doubt.

We all carry doubt. I am envious of those who face death calm and comfortably prepared to go. I pray that it will be that way with me. Maybe we all misunderstand God’s promise and are like Isaiah who said we see but not perceive, hear but don’t understand. When doubt gets to me, I hearken to Isaiah’s prayer to God to “strengthen weak hands and feeble knees.”

Isaiah knew that fear and doubt are in control in the time of waiting. He offered encouragement in our reading: “They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. ...(4) Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. … He will come and save you…(5)Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;...⁽¹⁰⁾And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; … and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

I also find comfort in the words of Jesus sent to John the Baptist by way of his disciples, “they have seen blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them as Isaiah said the Messiah would do.”  I also take comfort in the sure praise by Jesus of John to the crowd after John’s disciples had left, “John is more than a prophet, he is my messenger and no one like him has come before, but even for him, when he comes home to the Lord, he will find the least in heaven greater than him.” In spite of his doubt, John was OK with God.

Sitting in a jail cell worried and tormented by the prospect of death, John had doubts about how this new Messiah planned his Kingdom and how he would save John….He had to wonder, “Can you believe and harbor doubt?”  Yes you can.

Doubt, my friends, is a powerful human emotion motivated by fear or uncertainty. It sharpens the mind. Mother Teresa struggled with doubt even as she worked for 50 years in faith waiting for God’s comforting voice. Perhaps Mother Teresa struggled for the unknowable answer to the question only God can answer, "Why does God allows the misery that surrounded her, why can I not know God’s mind?"  Peter had a ringside seat to the glory of Jesus’ actions but when he saw he was walking on water he realized what an impossible thing he was doing. Even loyal Peter doubted, but he did get out of the boat.

This is Advent. We enter this season waiting for Christmas, and for the Kingdom of God to fully reveal itself. I believe it is coming…I really do, but doubt dogs me sometimes and I wonder when will it come. We should appreciate and be thankful if Advent causes only one thing, that we confront our doubt and refine our faith in the most outrageous and impossible events we can imagine, a man will come to us from the poorest of society, will challenge the powers of his world with his weakness and bring the worldly empire to its knees in his defeat of death by his resurrection, all this done by a man named “God is with Us,” Emmanuel. It is a story that defies reason and logic that we are called to accept on faith.

Advent ought to humble us. It ought to cause us to acknowledge honestly that our doubt does not extinguish our faith in the comfort of the home we await.

It is a time to remember the desperation, doubt and faith of the father of the epileptic son who had violent seizures that caused him to fall into the fire and injure himself. (Mark 9:14-29)The disciples could not heal the son, and the father begged, “Jesus heal my son if you are able. Jesus said to him, “If you are able! —All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” …and Jesus said, "This can only be done by prayer.”

Let us use Advent as a time to celebrate that Jesus Christ is the only one who can help our unbelief. It is a time to dream and to pray for the promise that Isaiah delivered, that the Lord will strengthen weak hands and feeble knees.

Merry Christmas and may Jesus Christ bless you all. Amen.

* Note: All scripture is the New Revised Standard Version, and links are to the Oremus bible Browser. I often draw on resources found in the url for "The Text This Week: http://www.textweek.com. The author does a wonderful job of connection many resources and views on the lectionary test for the week. Ideas in the children's lesson can also be found at this link. Further links in today's post are to Christianity Today and Time Magazine.