Sunday, February 22, 2009
2nd Corinthians 1:18-22
Senior Pastor
A man and a woman
are traveling on a train. They were
both married but traveling alone. They
find themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a trans-continental train
that is fully booked. Though initially
embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell
asleep quickly, he in the upper berth and she in the lower.
At 1:00 AM, the man
leaned down and gently woke the woman saying, “Ma’am, I'm sorry to bother you,
but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket?
I'm awfully cold.”
“I have a better
idea,” she replied softly. “Just for
tonight, let's pretend that we're married.”
He couldn’t believe
it. He doubted if she could be serious
as he thought to himself, “We just met a short time ago. But if she is interested, then why
not?” He says, “Okay, I think that's a
great idea!”
“Good,” she replied.
“Get your own blanket.”
Doubt is the issue
we are dealing with this morning.
Sometimes doubt is a good thing and sometimes it is troublesome. How we respond when we doubt probably
makes all the difference.
We have learned as
we have worked our way through these letters Paul is writing to the Corinthians
that a number of problems have emerged since Paul founded the church in
Corinth. In this passage we begin to
realize that not only are the Corinthians questioning some of his teaching, but
they are doubting his reliability and his sincerity.
Therefore Paul
begins to worry that if they are doubting him, then they are probably doubting
the gospel he proclaimed to them as well.
If they are doubting the Gospel then they may be doubting God also. You know that is not all that uncommon even
today – where doubting a person can lead to doubting God.
Someone gets mad at the preacher and doubts
that there is any good left in the church and leaves the church, but they leave
behind their faith practice as well.
Someone experiences a tragedy of some sort and this one incident
completely shatters their belief in God or at least casts grave doubt in their
mind. They quit coming; they
disengage. Depending on how we deal
with our doubt leads us in different directions.
Have you heard of
the movie Doubt ? It stars Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour
Hoffman. It is based on a Pulitzer
Prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley.
It is set in a Roman Catholic parish in the Bronx during the early 1960’s. The two main characters are a nun, who runs
the Catholic school, and the priest of the parish to which the school is
tied.
He is a young
priest; she is a seasoned nun. She
believes fear and discipline are good for the children. He believes warmth and compassion would be
better. She intimidates the children;
he hugs them. The nun comes to suspect
the priest of sexual misconduct with one of the boys in the school. She has no real evidence but she has a
strong sense of certainty.
She doubts his
actions are honorable. At the same time he doubts her motives
are pure, because he knows she strongly objects to the changes he is
striving to bring to the parish and to the school.
The play begins with the priest delivering a sermon on doubt. He tells the story of a ship that sank and all but one sailor perish. He is able to pull together enough scraps to make a raft. Being a sailor he looks up to the stars and sets a course for home. He falls into a deep sleep from sheer exhaustion. When he awakes clouds have rolled in and he can no longer see the stars.
He thinks he is on the right course, but he is no longer sure. He wants to verify. He wants reassurance, but for the next twenty nights clouds hover overhead and he cannot see the sky. He begins to have doubt. Had he set his course right? Could he possibly still be on course? Was he closer to home or was he horribly lost and doomed to a terrible death? No way to know.
The priest doesn’t tell the end of the story in the sermon and the movie leaves you with the same sense of uncertainty – with doubt about what is true and who is right. By the end of the movie for at least one, if not several, of the characters their faith is in doubt. It leaves you uneasy. It is difficult to determine where or through whom God is working.
But the author, Shanley, writes in the preface to the play that doubt is not always a bad thing. I would agree, because sometimes doubt can lead to greater clarity and conviction. It can cause one to think more deeply, to search more diligently, to ponder more deliberately.
If you allow your doubt to drive you to search more diligently, to do more research, surely it leads to greater knowledge. Researchers have studied how faith develops, and there are many different schemes people have developed to explain how faith grows. In many of them, doubt is a key stage that helps you move from a received faith to one that is your own. As you move through the searching and doubting you develop a clearer sense of what you really believe. The clarity can engender greater conviction.
I thought about people like C.S. Lewis, who was not a believer and set out to disprove Christian faith, only to become an ardent believer and defender of the faith. He now is known as one of the all-time great authors of Christianity. More recently there is a journalist, Lee Strobel, who set out like Lewis to debunk faith, only to become a believer who now writes and works exclusively for the church.
But for some of us it is not so much doubting that
there is a God, or that God cares but doubting whether God has the power and
the wisdom to lead us to the good life.
Too often we want to do it on our own.
Oh we come on Sunday, but during the week we sort of set God aside and
do it our own way. Don’t we? Haven’t you done that before?
I have a friend who
was in the ministry. He slipped into a
depression without even knowing it. He
allowed himself to become isolated, and the burdens of ministry weighed him
down all the more. In the search for
solace, he made several bad turns. He
began doing his job without God at the center – it happens, even to
ministers. He is not serving in a
church any longer.
He told me several
months ago that he was no longer talking to God. He didn’t even seem worried about it. I was worried about it.
Yet, he wasn’t running from his doubts.
He did some reading and did some counseling and recently told me he was
talking with God again. I think he is a
healthier man now. Working through his
doubt has strengthened him, I believe.
I think he will be a better minister for going through this.
Paul begins this section we read today by saying, As surely as God is faithful (v. 18) and then ties his faithfulness to God’s. He declares: For in Christ every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” (v. 20) These Corinthians may doubt Paul, but he wants to be sure they are not doubting God’s work done through Christ. God’s truth can withstand their questioning and our questioning. Paul goes on to declare more good news when he says, that this message and the coming of the Holy Spirit are only the first installment.
God will continue to work with us and in us and bless us and help us grow. Theologians call it sanctification or working out our salvation. It is growing in grace. It is growing in the image and likeness of Christ. You can trust God. God cares about you – even when you doubt. You can doubt and wonder and question. Or as the Bible says, you can ask, search and knock. Jesus puts it like this: Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7) Why? Jesus goes on to say because your Father in heaven give(s) good things to those who ask him! (Mt. 7:11) God cares about you and wants you to experience a good life, an abundant life.
How do you respond to your doubts? Do you hide them and try to forget them? Do you pretend that they do not exist? Or do you ponder them, think about them, search through them? Your Father in heaven is not condemning you, but is waiting to help you, when you are ready to ask, search and knock.
Amen and thanks be to God.
2nd
Corinthians 1:18 – 22
How we respond when we __________ probably makes all the difference.
…they are doubting ______ reliability and ______ sincerity.
…where doubting a person can lead to doubting ______.
Depending on how we deal with our __________ it leads us in different
directions.
Have you heard of the movie __________ ?
She doubts his ______________ are honorable.
…he doubts her motives are ________,
Was he closer to home or was he horribly lost and doomed to a terrible death? No way to ________.
…sometimes doubt ______ lead to
greater clarity and conviction.
…doubting whether God has the power and the wisdom to ________ us to the good life.
For in Christ every one of God’s promises is a “______.” (v. 20)
…this message and the coming of the Holy Spirit are only the __________ installment.
God cares about you – even when ______ doubt.
Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7)
How do ______ respond to your doubts?
Your Father in heaven is not condemning you, but is waiting to ________ you…
Kid’s Question: In Christ, how are God’s promises answered?