In fo Here...

Proper 26

22nd Sunday after Pentecost

Ordinary Time 31

Year C

October 31, 2004

DO YOU DOUBT THAT DOUBT IS OKAY?

· In our series, “Blessed Are the Merciful,” we have: Defined mercy as lovingkindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends. Remember that when you are offended. We also learned about two works of mercy—corporal and spiritual.

· The works of mercy we are called to be Jesus Christ are love in action as we come to the aide of our neighbor in his bodily and spiritual necessities.

· So far in our series, we have learned what it means to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned, sheltering the homeless, to visit the sick and bury the dead, and how to admonish people in sin both inside and outside the Church.

· Today God is leading us to learn how to counsel the doubtful as an act of mercy, and we need to begin with ourselves.

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good that we oft may win, by fearing to attempt." Shakespeare

Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any; but keep your doubts to yourself, for I have enough of my own. ---Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

INTRO

1. People don’t keep their doubts to themselves. In all our doubts, God’s mercy is abundant to carry us through times of doubt. God is not threatened when we question or doubt. In fact, He sees it as an opportunity to draw us into a deeper relationship of love.

2. When it comes to religion in general, and to Christianity in particular, people often have doubts. The question I want to ask us today is what do we do with doubt in ourselves and in others?

3. In light of Scripture, Jesus and the Apostles often call us to not have doubt.

Mark 11²³"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

Luke 24³⁸He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?

John 20²⁷Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

James 5 ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But 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. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

4. IN each of the scriptures, doubt and faith are seen as opponents of one another.

· In each case, Jesus and the Apostles always encourage people to have a kind of faith in God that is deeper than any doubt or question about a specific issue or matter we may be facing at the moment.

· FAITH in its most basic form is like faithfulness in a marriage. It is a trusting in one’s relationship that overrides times when we don’t understand what the other person in the relationship does, but nevertheless we still trust them and know that they love us.

· The kind of faith God gives us as a gift is a faith that IS OUR INTIMACY WITH CHRIST, faith is spiritual; it is the essence of our relationship with God and runs deeper than any doubt can ever take us.

· As human beings, we often doubt people and doubt God. We often have questions about specific beliefs, practices of the Church, doctrines, or traditions.

· Yet in all of this, somehow still end up believing. Let’s see how this can be so.

1. WHAT IS DOUBT?

DOUBT IS UNCERTAINTY OR REJECTION OF TO PARTICULAR CHRISTIAN BELIEFS OR THE FAITH AS A WHOLE.

· Some people totally doubt the existence of anything beyond the physical world or their own experience of life, so they doubt there is any God or religion that is true or real.

· Other believe in the possibility of these things but doubt you can know for sure.

· Other believe in God, but doubt certain teachings of the Christian faith, or are in doubt as to how to apply the moral teachings of God to their lives in ethical situations.

· Some people are uncertain about whether there could be a divine being, or that a divine being could become human, that a virgin birth is possible, that Jesus could walk on water, or perform other miracles. BUT BY FAITH WE CAN KNOW THESE THINGS ARE TRUE.

2. SO WHY DO WE DOUBT?

· To understand doubt, we need to understand that God created man in his Trinitarian image. St. Paul says in 1 Thess. 5:23 that we are “whole and entire, spirit, soul, and body.”

· Think of it like this—The Body is the vehicle, the soul is the driver, and the spirit is the passenger for whom the whole thing exists.

· We know our body and soul through the bodily senses, emotions, and thoughts. Yet, we experience our deepest level of knowing in the realm of the spirit by pure intuition.

· This is a knowing or sensing without the use of rational or sensory processes. It is an immediate knowledge, perception, or impression from outside space and time that is not sourced in our body or mind.

· Doubts arise because ORIGINALLY HUMANITY OPERATED WITH THE SPIRIT FIRST. When we saw something, we processed it spiritually then bodily. It is hard to imagine that…

· Back in the beginning of time, humanity got this all turned upside down. We call this original sin, the fall of man. Now, instead of the spirit being first and ruling over our soul and body, the body rules over the soul and spirit. This is what we call sensuality—our bodily existence and the five senses come first.

· When the body does not get what it wants, when our senses cannot see, taste, touch, feel, or smell something our emotions get upset. When the emotions get upset the thoughts of the soul and mind becomes clouded and confused.

· All world religions point to the way out. What do you think that is? LETTING GO OF ENSLAVEMENT TO THE PHYSICAL SENSES, EMOTIONS, AND THOUGHTS.

· In renouncing the right of the body to rule over the spirit, we enter into a death to our fallen old self so a new person can be reborn to function and operate in the original freedom of God’s plan for us as human beings.

· In Christianity, Jesus leads the way for humanity by DYING physically for us in payment of our sins and in showing us the example of the cross, death, and resurrection from the dead as the road to freedom.

· So why do people doubt? We doubt because finite humans knowing an infinite God cannot fully grasp and comprehend the infinite God. We doubt when our spirit is not first place.

· We doubt when mere physical emotional existence takes priority over our spiritual being, or when the information being translated from the spirit to the body through the soul gets hung up like a software program crashing.

3. HOW DO WE HANDLE DOUBT IN OURSELVES OR OTHERS? WITH GOD’S MERCY.

· I think that in our faith, if we have never had doubts or questions we really do not have much of a faith. We do not hold to a view of blind faith that refused to use the mind and brain God has given us.

· True faith has doubts, asks questions, and involves thinking like Mary did when the Angle Gabriel came and told her she would conceive a child in her womb without physical intercourse with a man, and this child bron of the Spirit would be Son of God. It says she had questions, she was perplexed, she pondered…How can this be? And she is the model of faith and discipleship for the Church.

· Remember, faith is a love relationship between God and us as individuals and as a community of believing people. Faith involves trust the way a loving marriage or close friendship involves trusting each other without fully understanding each other.

· We learn in love to accept the mystery of the person we love and place our trust in them without demanding a full understanding as a pre-requisite to trust.

· The same is true of faith. We must learn to give ourselves to Christ in love without demanding that we fully grasp the mystery of faith beforehand.

· When a person expresses faith related doubts, we need to listen and understand that person is simply saying, “I am human.”

· When doubts arise, mercy flows in abundance because we are human too, and we can listen sympathetically by sharing how we too have had doubts and questions.

· It is the ministry of mercy in the Church to encourage those who are going through hard times and struggling with doubt—not judge or condemn them.

· Then, we can share how we, despite our own doubts, have remained convinced of our faith in things not seen.

· May God grant us the wisdom and power to be patient and loving with God, ourselves, and others when in times of doubt. May we find rest in trusting in God even though we do not understand the mystery in full.

CONCLUSION

1. God's desire for us is not to waiver in unbelief, but to live by faith in Him. As we grow in our relationship with God, we can learn to trust Him more.

2. As a remedy for doubt, we must begin "taking up the shield of faith" (Ephesians 6:16 ) and remember that with God all things are possible.

3. When you’re looking at the obstacles around you and leaning on yourself to overcome them, the hindrances of life seem insurmountable. But God has a better way. He wants you to trust Him to do what seems impossible.

"Father, thank You that with You all things are possible and that I don't need to doubt You. Draw me closer to You, and help me to walk by faith. Remind me of Your past faithfulness, and keep me from living in doubt. Although doubt says, 'It's not possible,' I will remember that faith says, 'You are able.'"