Doubt (2)
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We are in the Psalms—
Psalms is the magnetic center, pulling every scrap and dimension of human experience into a prayerful response to God.
complaints and thanks, doubt and anger, outcries of pain and outbursts of joy, quiet reflection and boisterous worship.
If it’s human, it qualifies
Eugene Peterson. (n.d.). As Kingfishers Catch Fire.
They are some of the oldest and most beautiful poetry in history.
Largely the church ignores them to just a few lines here and there.
But if they were lost and recently recovered — they would be in the front pages of every newspaper
We want to sit with them this summer.
—-$————————————————
Asaph
History
Slipping
Lion king
History
Nature of doubt
3 examples
Jesus
Trapeze
Opener
Imagine the following scenario..
We are singing Worship…. God you are good…
— what if the leader was singing, directing… but within was doubting the very words they’re singing
Or preacher.
This was the world of Asaph...
He was the leader of worship for Israel.
He was and one of the great families or guilds of musicians and singers in the Jerusalem temple
He wrote 12 psalms
He leads the gathering to worship// God is good..
But Asaph opens up whats happening within and shares his little secret…
But as for me … I couldn’t buy it anymore.
— I had a hard time believing…
He was filled with Doubt.
Doubt can happen to anyone
Anybody relate??
You’ve been coming to church for months… years.
— and you’re gripped with the idea that you struggle to believe
the words of the song
a particular passage..
Faith
The whole god thing
Asaph Is leading worship and he comes to the realization that he doubts.
— listen to the way he describes it…
“My feet were slipping”
The image is a hiker going up a mountain—Yosemite … you don’t think about the next step..
but you slip and now you cant find your footing .
Loss of balance
and you hope that momentum wont take you far..
There is someone else who struggled with his feet slipping underneath him. —bear
My Feet were slipping… is there a better way to depict the nature of doubt.
— you trusted
— you believed
— you showed up
—
But now it feels like that foundation is slowly shaking…
Now you feel that your feet that have been standing our slowly giving way.
Asaph says, I was on the edge of letting everything go… my ministry, Fatih… belief.
There have been may studies done trying to figure out the faith of teens. — the insights are fascinating.
One study looks at what happens when they leave home.
When they’re on their own..
When they go off to college and get challenged.
Hear other points of view.
7/10 leave the faith
Those numbers are troubling
History
How do we understand this???
A secular age…
1500s———>2000s
1500’s Hard not to believe
Recited catchesim
Memorized verses
Everybody believed
Doesn’t matter if you’re a drunk on the side of the street— or a scientist in the lab.
2000’s — hard to believe
— skeptical
— we doubt
Everyone is a doubter… We believe while doubting,
Listen to Asaph's doubts
There’s an objection, he doesn’t like the way things are.
—I saw the prosperity of the wicked
—I’ve been washing my hands
—envied
I looked around me and people that did evil were thriving. Buying new cars…
What are some of our doubts???
— we grew up in a home… that might have been abusive and doubt if God even cares because you prayed for help.
— our fathers would read Jericho coming down. And would say… look at Gods provision and victory.
— today, I cant help to read and be troubled … Thats a few hundred or perhaps thousand people dead.
Person on drugs having kids—yet you’re infertile.
Creationism
Peter Berger- western culture is set up to make you doubt.
How do we live in such a cultural moment??
7/10
We believe while doubting
Western culture is set up to make you doubt.
Theres a movie that has the answers to many of lifes questions…. Lion king — akuna matata— no worries.. or just do you
Everything the sun touches is good.
But the darkness… stay away.
Many treat doubt this exact way.
Largely the church has presented a sunny, cheery posture, when the reality is many are living under the cloudy darkness of doubt.
Don’t entertain those thoughts
Stay away from reading books
Don’t listen to anyone that teaches differently than us.
And if you don’t understand something in the Bible….dont question
You can get into a bubble,
Doubt is not the enemy of faith
And the question is how can we live in moments of doubt?
How can we ….
Live between sunny skies of sac and grayness os San Francisco
A few thoughts on doubt
Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
and I was all torn up inside.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
().
Matters of the heart
Emotional reasons
Any married folks??
— what happens when you get in an argument???
— what kind of thoughts??
At best…this person is a reflection of the bride of christ and im not loving them as christ loves the church. And we shall shortly reconcile and live to the glory of God..
. At its worst… maybe I made a mistake of ever marrying them.
Are those thoughts rational or emotional???
When you make up… you think.. what an idiot I was… but at that time. Its so real.
Asaph sees all these rich people and he envies them.
He starts doubting because He thinks he should be the one getting rich. He serves god.
Doubt has the ability to strengthen or kill faith
Asaph is slipping but his doubt pushes him to see god, faith, the world in a whole new way.
For others— doubt turns into cynicism.
Not being able to believe
Wanting certainty.
But we never get certainty in this life in almost anything thats of worth.
What do we get???
Commit, trust, believe
— we aren’t certain of anything concretely
— all the best things require commitment..
marraige
vocation
Your health
———————
dosteyevsky
Baptism
dna
Sometimes obeying leads to believing
Now some of you might be wondering, how did Asaph change?
-he entered the sanctuary
We aren’t told what happened their.
Was it the singing?
Was it surrounded by gods people?
Was it the hearing of torah?
" reinforces the conclusion that the psalmist underwent a remarkable transformation of perspective"
He became aware of the presence and nearness of God.
He realized there is a different script than the one that he is playing in his mind,
Hes envying the wicked … he starts understanding that they’re on slippery ground as well.
A few practical takeaways for those doubting in this season.. I wanna assure you I belong in that group
God is my portion
Its a food term.
God is what I feed off of.
What you consume has the ability to define you.
Are you reading, surrounded, listening only to people that are cynical and opposed the faith?
— read some books that will strengthen
— Alapha course
— meet up with someone and share your doubts
God to church
You never know when God will show up in a powerful way in your life.
What this means for us as a church?
this has to be a place where people can express and share their doubts and we can make them feel at home
Yet I still belong to you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
There is grace for the doubter..
You still belong to Him.
How can we be sure?
Where did Asaph get sure knowledge of Gods grace and goodness even to those that doubt??
Until I went to the sanctuary /temple of god
Roughly a thousand years later.
There was a man who says… tear down this temple and ill rebuilt it in 3 days..
Referring to his death.
And the day of his crucifixion— we see in Jesus an Asaph of sorts.
— take the cup
— we have you forsaken me??
Jesus doubts.
Saturday inn the grave — is a day of doubt.
— can it really be true??
We believe in resurrection..
Closing Thought
17 Then I went into your sanctuary, O God,
and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.
18 Truly, you put them on a slippery path
(). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Everyone is slipping… Everyone has faith.
The question is… what will hold us even at the end.
When everything that we had. Is gone. When we take our last breath?
Henri Nouwen last years of his life Loved the trapeze,
There came a moment when the flyer has to let go … Into the catchers hands.
We all wait for the catcher…
We hold on to the trapeze.
And the God that Jesus embodied , worshiped and believed and trusted as the Great Catcher.
Into your hands I commit my spirit
And he Does Not have Sweaty Hands ..
May we believe ..
May we in our doubts, trust, commit.
May we give ourselves over to the Greatness of the Trinity— father, son and Holy Spirit.
They can keep you from stumbling.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.
().
Everyone is living ij faith of something….
What is gonna hold us at the end???
Jesus
?Only when he went in to temple…did he understand god is my portion forever…
He started to feed off him
Conclusion:
Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.
().
The scriptures and history is replete with individuals struggling with Doubt. Questing, wrestling and wondering.
Abraham — leaving home. No Kids,
John — sitting in prison