The Proper Use of Doubt

 Luke 24:36-49

36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.' 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.' 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?' 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.

44 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.' 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.'

The week after Easter, as I was browsing through my Facebook feed, I saw that someone had posted an article in one of the groups I belong to.  The name of the group should tell you everything you need to know. The name of the group is: The Lutheran Nerd Clan.  Yes, it is everything both Lutheran and nerdy, and I am a proud member.  But that is beside the point.  The point is the article that was posted, and it’s title immediately intrigued me: “A Tiny Particle’s Wobble Could Upend the Known Laws of Physics.”  It was a science article in the New York Times.  I love science, and I know that oftentimes, science points us towards the majesty, wonder, and beauty of God.  Really.  If someone ever told you there was a conflict between science and faith, they are misguided.  Not just misguided.  They are wrong.  There is no conflict in the least, but that’s not the topic of this sermon.  The topic of this sermon has to do with what this article in the New York Times was all about.

Let me quote the article here, “Evidence is mounting that a tiny subatomic particle seems to be disobeying the known laws of physics, scientists announced on Wednesday, a finding that would open a vast and tantalizing hole in our understanding of the universe.”

Again, quoting the article, “The particle célèbre is the muon, which is akin to an electron but far heavier, and is an integral element of the cosmos. Dr. Polly and his colleagues — an international team of 200 physicists from seven countries — found that muons did not behave as predicted when shot through an intense magnetic field at Fermilab.

The aberrant behavior poses a firm challenge to the Standard Model, the suite of equations that enumerates the fundamental particles in the universe (17, at last count) and how they interact.”

Now, that’s all of the article I am going to read.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to push the science any further.  Some of you may be going, “Wow! This is cool,” but I know there are others out there who are thinking, “Man, I hated science.  Why in the world am I hearing about science at church?  I thought I was done with this stuff.  What in the world does this have to do with my life and my relationship with God?”  Patience.  I am getting there.  Really.  I am getting there because this experiment along with another one which had similar results back in 2001 has shaken the scientific community.  It has caused a lot of doubt.  Whereas they once thought they had most of physics figured out, it might turn out that they have to completely and totally rethink how they believed the atomic world operated.  There is still much data to be waded through, but if this experiment is confirmed, it will turn everything topsy turvy.  And now, there is much debate within the community about this matter.

The results of this experiment are very much like the results of Jesus coming and sitting in the room with the disciples on that first Easter evening.  Our Gospel lesson this morning is Luke’s account of Jesus’ first appearance to the disciples after the resurrection.  You may recall that last week, we heard the Gospel of John’s account of this appearance, and there are many, many points of connection between the two accounts.  The major difference between those two accounts is that John emphasizes the reaction of Thomas, one of the disciples.  That account is often referred to as the doubting Thomas account.  But as Pastor Casey said last week, we would do better to call it the disbelieving Thomas account.  The Greek is pretty clear there.  Thomas didn’t doubt, he was disbelieving.  In today’s account, there is a much better example of doubt.  We actually have the doubting disciples, and this time, the Greek wording matches up.

Let’s set the scene.  Again, like in John’s account, the disciples are huddled behind closed doors. The disciples who Jesus met on the road to Emmaus have just arrived and have shared their account.  Everyone is talking about this, and suddenly, Jesus appears.  Like in John, Jesus’ first words are words of peace, “Peace be with you.”  A bit of chaos ensues.  The disciples are startled and terrified.  That’s the wording that is used.  They think they have seen a ghost.  

Jesus then works to convince them that they aren’t seeing things.  He is real, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”  Let’s stop there because here is where the word doubts actually comes into play.  The Greek word here is dialogismoi, which has the definition of discussion, consideration, or debate.  Perhaps a literal translation would be, “Why are you frightened and why do you debate with yourselves in your hearts?”  This is true doubt.  This isn’t a “I believe!”  And this isn’t a “I don’t believe.”  This is a “I really am not sure what to do with this information.  If this is real, then everything that I have once thought I knew is now topsy turvy!”  I told you, this biblical passage is very much like what happened with the results of those scientific experiments.

But the disciples were having quite the difficulty coming to grips with Jesus being there.  They weren’t sure about what was happening.  So, Jesus keeps pushing. He keeps giving them evidence.  Look at my hands and my feet.  Touch me.  See, I am real.  

And again, we are told that the disciples were “in their joy disbelieving.”  Probably a better translation for us would be, “They thought this was too good to be true.”  So, once again, Jesus takes another step to show that he is real; that he is not a ghost.  He asks for something to eat and eats it right in front of them.

Now, I want to take just a moment before continuing to point out something that the Bible is showing us.  Sometimes, there are folks today who dismiss ancient people.  They will say things like: ancient people weren’t as advanced as we are today; ancient people were not as skeptical as we are today; ancient people were not as scientifically minded and so they would accept things back then that we would never accept today.  They just didn’t know any better.  And while that is true about some things, that is not true about every thing.  Just because ancient people didn’t know about atoms and protons and electrons, they knew that people didn’t just rise from the dead and appear.  They knew that once someone had been crucified and was buried, they stayed dead and buried.  The Bible here does not show the disciples just accepting the resurrection of Jesus without any thought or skepticism or doubt.  I mean, for heaven’s sake, Jesus appeared to them.  Jesus was in the room with them, and they didn’t just automatically believe it.  They didn’t just automatically accept it.  They doubted.  They wrestled.  They tried to figure all of this out.  They didn’t turn their brains off.  Instead, when confronted with this new reality; when confronted with this new information; when confronted with the risen Jesus; they turned their brains on and tried to figure it out.  They questioned.  They debated.  They wondered.  Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that we are more advanced than they were.  They were just as skeptical as we are.

But they had one advantage over us.  They had Jesus with them there in that room.  And Jesus took the time to convince them.  Jesus took the time to get them through their doubts.  Of course, we already heard that Jesus showed his hands and feed.  We heard that Jesus had them touch him.  We heard that Jesus ate food in front of them.  But that wasn’t quite enough.  There was more that was needed, and Jesus gave that to them too.  He opened the Scriptures up to them.  He explained the Scriptures to them.  He showed them how the entire Old Testament pointed to him and was fulfilled by him.  As Jesus taught these things, the disciples were convicted.  

Step by step, Jesus showed them that the Messiah was destined to come into this world and live the life that they were supposed to live.  Jesus showed them how he alone fulfilled the commands of God.  Jesus showed them how he loved the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus showed them how he loved his neighbor as himself.  Jesus showed them how he was the spotless lamb of God who had come to take away the sin of the world.  He was the sacrifice of atonement to end all sacrifices.  He was the one who had come to give his life as a ransom for many.  Step by step, he showed them that it was necessary for him to die for them; to take their sins upon himself and then give to them his righteousness.  He then showed them how his resurrection has defeated sin, death and the devil.  The gap that once existed between humanity and God is no more.  All of this Jesus showed them as he opened God’s Word to them.

As he spoke, I am certain the disciples’ hearts began to burn within them. Their eyes were opened.  Their doubts turned to belief.  And here is the crucial thing about doubts.  Doubts are healthy–they poke at us and make us think deeply.  They make us consider things we may not have considered before.  They make us ask questions that we may have been afraid to ask.  But, doubts are meant to lead us to answers.  Doubts are meant to lead us to find truth.  You don’t just say, “Oh, I doubt that.” and then stay in your doubts.  That’s pure laziness.  The disciples didn’t stay in their doubts. When Jesus offered them evidence; when Jesus opened their minds to the scriptures; they believed.  Their hearts became convinced.

And now, let’s bring this home.  Let’s talk about the Christian faith in the midst of life in the 21st Century.  Let’s talk about faith in a culture full of skepticism and unbelief and competing truths.  Let’s acknowledge that it is okay for us to have doubts.  Let’s acknowledge that it’s okay to wrestle with things deeply.  Even scientists who once thought they had things figured out have to do that in the light of new evidence.  But let’s not use that as an excuse to reject the tenets of Christianity.  Let’s not use doubt as an excuse to turn to internet atheists and others who claim to be more enlightened.  For you see, doubt is nothing new.  The disciples faced them, and Jesus answered them.  And throughout history, the church has faced doubters, and very smart people have been led by the Spirit of God to have answers to those questions as well.  How do I know?  Well, I have doubted.  I have sought.  I have found answers.  And I have been asked questions.  Sometimes I didn’t know the answers, so I had to learn.  And the more I have learned, the more I have studied the scriptures, the more I am convinced of the truth of Christianity.  The more I long for a chance to be a witness to the Gospel-just like he called the disciples to be in that room long ago.

I remember shortly after I started going to college and had started taking theology classes, I went home to visit my folks.  I remember going to church on Sunday and sitting in on the confirmation class.  One of the young men there asked me a terribly difficult question, “Why did God pick such a lame way to save the world?”  What I wouldn’t give to be able to respond to him now.  I had never wrestled with that question until he asked it.  I didn’t have a good answer.  I had nothing.  He wasn’t satisfied with my pastor’s answer, and I knew he wasn’t satisfied with mine–and I wish I could remember exactly how I answered it then.  I don’t.  I just remember it wasn’t good.

But through my doubts, I have had a chance to study.  I have had a chance to learn.  And if I had the chance to talk to that young man again, this is what I would say, “I don’t believe it was a lame way to save the world at all.  In fact, I think it was beautiful.  God cannot let sin go unpunished.  When you do something wrong, you deserve to face the consequences of your actions–that’s justice.  And you and I both know that we have sinned.  You and I both know that we haven’t done the things we should do and been the people we should be.  Deep down, we know that we are not right and have not done right.  We know that we deserve punishment–we deserve justice, and God should probably toast us.  But God also loves us.  God doesn’t want to have us be punished because that would mean complete separation from Him.  And so he somehow has to find a way to bring both love and justice together.  And here is how he does it. Instead of punishing us; he takes the punishment for us.  That’s what Jesus does on the cross.  Jesus is God taking the punishment that we deserve.  It’s like a parent paying to replace a broken lamp that their kid has destroyed.  The kid can’t pay the price and replace it, but the parent can.  Our heavenly parent pays for our sin by dying in our place.  And when you understand that. When you understand what God has done for you, and for the world, you will see that as a thing of beauty.  If you doubt this; if you are debating in your heart; seek the answers.  When you do, I know that you too will be convinced.  That Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  And Christ will come again.  Amen.

The Story Continues: Dealing with The Gospel of Mark's Abrupt Ending

  Well.  What a horrid way to end a Gospel.  Really.  I mean, picture this: Jerusalem 33 A.D.  Jesus has been crucified, died, buried.  This Jesus on whom so many had pinned their hopes and dreams.  They had either seen or heard the stories of his miraculous abilities. The ability to calm storms.  The ability to produce food out of thin air.  The ability to heal the sick.  The ability to cast our demons.  The ability to make the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the blind to see. The ability to raise the dead.  That was power.  That was authority.  Surely he was the promised Messiah–the promised one that was to bring about wholeness and peace and God’s kingdom on earth.  Ah, but all of that had been discarded; cast away; trashed.  This Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, condemned.  Hung on a cross to die on that hill called Calvary.  Wrapped in burial cloths.  Laid in a tomb.  Dead.  The movement he had started was all but finished.  Cut the head off a snake, and the rest of the body dies.  It had happened before.  It would happen this time.

But some women went to the tomb.  They didn’t have time to prepare Jesus’ body for burial after he had been taken down from the cross.  It was a rush to get even the body buried before the Sabbath’s restrictions on work kicked in.  So, now, they would come and do the job they would have done had it not been for those restrictions.  They would anoint his body.  They would place spices on it.  They would grieve appropriately.  And they found something they did not expect.  The stone that had sealed the tomb–an object of concern because of its size and weight; an object that stood in the way of these women’s mission was now rolled away. The tomb was not sealed.  It was open.  And walking into the tomb, they did not see the body of Jesus.  They did not see the body of the one who walked on water. They did not see the body of the one who rode into Jerusalem on the donkey.  They did not see the bloody, torn flesh; the thorn pierced forehead, the nail pierced feet and hands.  No.  There was no body.  There was only a young man; a young man dressed in white and sitting on the right hand side.   Who was he?  Was he an agent of Pontius Pilate there to catch any of Jesus’ followers and have them prosecuted?  Was he an agent of the Jewish Religious Leaders–there to spy out those who might be unfaithful; who they could charge with blasphemy and cast them out of the Jewish faith?  Were they in danger?

No. Not by a long shot.  The young man looked at them with a look of peace; with a look of confidence; with a look of unfettered excitement.  “Don’t be afraid.  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.  He has been raised.”  Let that sink in for a minute, y’all.  It’s the reason we are here this morning.  It’s the news that changed the world.  It’s the most shocking thing that has happened in all of history.  “He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place that they laid him.”  Oh my; oh my.  Oh my, oh my.  If this is true; if this is real; then oh my, the implications are astounding.  Reality is changed.  If he is raised, then everything he said was true; every teaching he pronounced was trustworthy; he was and is the Messiah; he was and is the redeemer of the world; that teaching about giving his life as a ransom for many; well, that’s true too.  Oh my, oh my.  This, this is too good to be true.  This is an amazing occurrence.  He is not here, he is risen.  Death could not hold him down.  God has righted the injustice that was committed against Him, and wait...if God righted the injustice against him and death could not hold him down, does that now mean that the same thing will happen to all of his followers?  Does that mean that we too will be raised from the dead?  Does that mean that we too will have our injustices reversed?  Surely it does!!  Surely this is good news!  Surely this good news demands that we tell it.

Well, that’s exactly what that young man says. That’s exactly what that young man calls upon those women to do.  “Go.  For God’s sake.  Go!  Go and tell his followers and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee.  Go!  There you will see him, just as he told you!!  Go!  Go and tell!  Let them all know!!  Stop waiting around here!! Go!”

And they went. Yes, they went.  They hurried away from the tomb for terror and amazement had seized them.  They were overwhelmed.  And they went and told...they went and told...no one.  Wait.  What?  This can’t be right.  That can’t be the ending.  They went and told no one?  Possibly the most earth shattering news they had ever come across; quite possibly the most hopeful thing that they would ever encounter, and they told no one?  Are you kidding me?  By God, they must have been Lutheran!  Okay, that’s a joke.  Please don’t take it personally.  But you gotta admit, it’s kind of funny.  I mean, we do have a reputation out there.  They make jokes about us.  What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s witness and a Lutheran?  Someone who goes around knocking on everyone’s door but doesn’t know what to say.  

Okay, enough poking fun.  Gonna stop that.  It’s Easter.  We are not here to be made to feel guilty.  We are not here to be made fun of.  We are here to hear the proclamation of the Good News that Christ is risen!  And we hear it.  Loudly and clearly, we hear it. We hear it in the spoken word.  We hear it in our hymns.  We hear it in our lessons.  We hear it.  Yes, we hear it just like those women heard it, but I have a nagging question.  I have a question that bothers me some.  Why didn’t those women go tell the disciples?  Why didn’t they burst forth with excitement?  With this earth shattering news, why did they tremble in fear?  Why do we?

I mean, maybe they thought everyone would think they were crazy.  Maybe they thought that everyone would look down on them.  Maybe they thought no one would believe them.  It’s all a possibility.  But maybe, just maybe it was something else.  Maybe just maybe it wasn’t a matter of fear of how others would react.  Maybe it was because things hadn’t sunk in yet.  I mean, despite the evidence they saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears, it wasn’t enough to convince their hearts.  Despite seeing the evidence of the stone rolled away; the absence of the body; the words of the young man; the teachings that Jesus himself had told them; despite all this evidence, it didn’t sink in.  It didn’t hit them deep down within their soul.  I mean, I am sure they wanted to believe it.  They wanted to believe that their Lord had conquered the grave.  They wanted to believe that he was risen, but they just couldn’t get there.  They just couldn’t bring themselves to that point.  Their fear was too great.

And I think many of us can resonate with those women.  Many of us struggle too. I mean, let’s be honest.  Let’s be truthful.  Let’s be real.  Some of us have heard this news for years–since we have been small.  And we know we should be telling the story; we know we should be engaging others with the Gospel, but when we think about even starting that conversation our insides turn to absolute mush.  We are sore afraid.  And for others, I mean, some of you out there might not be so sure about this whole Christianity thing. You might think that this resurrection business is simply something we believe without evidence.  And that’s not true.  In fact, there is some pretty good, reasonable evidence to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead.  But event that won’t necessarily bring anyone around.  Even that won’t necessarily convince anyone to walk out of here with bravery and bravado to engage those who are not worshiping this morning.  I mean, I can stand up here and share with you those very good reasons why the resurrection is an actual historical event.  I can lay out the evidence: first, there was an empty tomb–all the authorities would have had to do is produce the body, and the movement would have ended.  Second, the authors of the Gospels said that women were the first witnesses–if you were writing fiction back in that day, you would have never used women.  Their testimony wasn’t even allowed in court.  You would have used men if you were writing fiction.  Third, the disciples believed they saw Jesus raised from the dead.  You could excuse one or two of them, but hundreds, as Paul tells us about in Corinthians?  No.  Mass hallucinations like that just don’t happen.  Fourth, those same disciples died without recanting.  Have you ever, ever heard of a lie being kept so well.  Yeah, me neither.  Criminal justice folks will tell you someone always cracks.  And finally, every single other Messianic movement died out; went away; disappeared after the Messiah figure was arrested or killed.  Every.  Single.  One.   There is only one that didn’t.  The Jesus movement.  All of these things are historical fact.  All of them.  And the question is: What overarching story puts all of these facts together?  What does all of this evidence point to?  The simplest and best possible explanation is that Jesus really did rise from the dead.  Jesus was resurrected by God the Father.  That’s the best possible explanation by far.  It’s the explanation that fits the evidence.  You would be hard pressed to come up with better.

But, like I said, even this evidence; even all of this put together cannot make you or me go out into the world and tell all.  Even though our heads right now might be thinking, “Oh, yes.  I can see this. Jesus really did rise from the dead.  He is alive.  The things he said must be true...”  Even though our heads might be thinking this, when we head out into the world and confront the world, knowing we might face hostility; knowing we might be laughed at; knowing we might face rejection; we clam up.  We stay silent.  We tell no one because we are afraid.  Oh, my, we are just like those women.

And that’s just great.  I’ve just come to the same place as the ending of the Gospel of Mark.  And this would be a horrible way to end the sermon.  Ah, but wait.  Just wait.  There is more.  Sorry if you are disappointed.  The ending is not quite here.  It will be here shortly, but there is just a little bit more that we have to put forth.

You see, even though the women sitting in fear and telling no one was the ending of the Gospel of Mark, it was not the end of the story. For you see, those women didn’t stay huddled in fear.  Eventually, their hearts were convicted.  Eventually, their fear disappeared, and they went to Galilee.  They and the disciples saw the risen Christ.  Their hearts became convinced that Jesus was raised from the dead.  But they were still afraid.  They still did not move out into the world.  Their fear was still too great.  Because even though they had seen the evidence; even though they had seen Jesus; something still had to give them the conviction and the fortitude to move out into the world.  Something more had to happen, and eventually, that something did.

It was the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost that transformed their fear into boldness.  The Spirit moved among them and in them, and they unlocked their doors; they stopped trembling; the knowledge of Christ’s death and resurrection and his redemption of the world by grace moved from their heads into their hearts and they fearlessly proclaimed it to the world.  

They were persecuted.  They were killed.  They were hunted.  And yet, they kept proclaiming.  They faced rejection.  They faced skepticism.  They faced scorn, but they kept proclaiming.  Why?  Despite all the resistence, why did they persist?  Because of what St. Paul says in the book of Romans: faith comes through hearing.  Faith comes by hearing the good news.  Yes, we point to the evidence, as I did earlier, but for the Gospel to move from your head to your heart, you must hear it over and over and over again.  And that is why countless people have passed this good news down throughout history.  Beginning with those women, and then the disciples, and then the evangelists; and then the Church Mothers and Fathers; and then countless pastors and preachers, teachers and mothers and fathers, and grandparents and aunts and uncles–all of them kept telling the story.  They kept passing down the good news.  And even though it took time for people to believe; even though it sometimes took months or years or decades, they kept preaching and teaching.  Their conviction led them into the streets; they went into the synagogues; they climbed into pulpits over and over and over again.  They read and prayed to their children and grandchildren.  They taught children and adults who seemed to be preoccupied with other things.  And slowly, but surely, they watched hearts change; and they saw courage build.  New generations became convinced that this news was true, and then they stepped forward to  tell the news.  And so the story continued, and it continues.  The good news continues to be announced by those who are convinced that through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has changed the world and that He is the only hope of the world.  And that is why I stand before you today.  And that is why you are here this morning: to hear the proclamation and have ours heart convicted as we become the next generation to continue the story; to continue the announcement of the good news: Christ is Risen!!  Christ is Risen indeed!! Amen.  Alleluia!!