Shipwreck - Cry Out - Doubt

Cry Out

Doubt

Matthew 14:25-33

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Good morning and welcome to worship. It is great to see all of you with us today. And for our families joining us online, thank you for gathering in worship.

We are in week 2 of our new series called Shipwrecked where we are looking at those things that can shipwreck our faith: Those emotions, those feelings, those outlooks on life that can interfere with our relationship with God and with one another.

Last week we looked at anxiety and we learned that Paul was a man of Prayer, he was in close relationship with God. And we saw that Paul was a man of action - doing what needed to be done to accomplish God’s mission, and finally we saw that Paul was a man who trusted God. He didn’t fear living, he didn’t fear dying. He trusted God. I would also add that Paul was a man of the Word. He knew God’s word and lived it. Those are the prescription for anxiety that we can learn from Paul… Prayer, God’s Word, Action, and Trusting God.

Today, we are looking at something that can cripple our faith. Doubt. If we don’t understand what doubt is and address it, then it can shipwreck our faith and our life.

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We are going to look at one of the more popular stories of Jesus ministry. In a moment we will read the passage, but let me set up what has happened leading up to Peter walking on the Water with Jesus.

Jesus has just fed thousands of people and spent the day teaching them on a gentle sloping plain overlooking Lake Galilee. It had gotten late so Jesus sent the disciples on up the lake a few miles while he stayed back to pray in private.

In January 2020, Renee and I were sleeping with a view of this lake. There were a few others with us on that trip and I’m sure they remember this beautiful lake. It is a 705’ deep spring fed lake that the Jordan River flows through. It sits 700’ below sea level making it the lowest fresh water lake in the world and the 2nd lowest lake in the world (Dead Sea is the lowest). To give you an idea of the size, it is about 7 times the size of Lake Brownwood. Beyond the immediate shores the land around the lake is very hilly and rugged.

This topography makes this lake very unique. With the current of the river flowing through it, the winds coming off the hills, and the barometric change from the fact that the lake is 700’ below sea level... it has a tendency to create occasional sudden treacherous storms.

Galilee Storm Video

This is what a typical windstorm on the Sea of Galilee might look like.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I want to be in a little boat on that lake.

So, With that in mind, let us hear the description of one who lived and worked around the North East portion of the lake before he became a follower of Jesus. Matthew writes:

Matthew 14:25-33>

Very early in the morning he came to his disciples, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” They were so frightened they screamed.

Just then Jesus spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

Peter replied, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus said, “Come.”

Then Peter got out of the boat and was walking on the water toward Jesus. But when Peter saw the strong wind, he became frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, rescue me!” Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him, saying, “You man of weak faith! Why did you begin to have doubts?” When they got into the boat, the wind settled down.

Then those in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “You must be God’s Son!”

<Prayer>

So, What is doubt? Again, we are full of enough of it that we probably don’t need a definition, but

<Doubt is a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something.>

Peter got out of the boat. He walked on the water, but when he let the wind and waves around him interfere with his focus on Christ, he began to sink. The wind and waves said, this isn’t possible, and he began to doubt.

His faith was weak, but he still had faith. That is an important thing to notice.

Doubt is not the opposite of faith.

Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat. It wasn’t that he had no faith, his faith may have been weak but he had faith.

In fact, I do not think we can have faith without doubt. Yes, that is what I said. We cannot have faith without doubt. To drop this pen and know that it is going to fall to the floor does not take faith. There is no doubt that the pen will fall. Yes, we could change the setting, go to the International Space Station and drop the pen and it’ll float … Yes, yes, yes… OK, I concede that to you post-modern thinkers and analytical debaters. But here… right now… if I drop the pen it will fall. It takes no faith… I have no doubt.

Now, let’s stay with gravity here. You can go and get on an airplane. Thousands upon thousands do it every day. You can believe that the plane will fly. You can have faith that Bernoulli’s Principle will work. You can trust that the pilot knows what he or she is doing. But there is that moment, as the engines rush and the aerodynamics overtake gravity that you have a hint of doubt.

Without the possibility of doubt, I do not believe you can have faith.

Now, can our faith grow and our doubt decrease? Absolutely. You are exemplifying that right now. You sat in that pew without a second thought.

When I served at a different church several years ago, the Contemporary Service used this old orange plastic chairs from the 1970’s. You know the ones… they are supposed to look like they came off the Starship Enterprise or something, but what they were was suction cups. Right… you sit in them for 30 minutes and when you get up the chair is stuck to your behind.

Well, these were our fellowship hall chairs and our Administrative Council chairs and our contemporary worship chairs… and they had used them for decades without any problems. Then, one Wednesday when we were having a churchwide meal, a large gentleman sat in one of the chairs and it collapsed. A week or two later another one collapsed under another gentleman. In the weeks that followed anyone that weighed over 100 pounds would carefully sit down, kinda testing the chair before they put all their weight in the chair. What was a strong faith had become strong doubt.

Sermon Slide

You have overcome the doubt of the pew holding you to the point that you do not even recognize the doubt. But if the pew in front of you collapsed…. Then that doubt would be renewed and the faith would be weakened. Am I right?

So, let’s look at what we can do to overcome doubt. I believe there are 3 kinds of doubt… three ways doubt is manifested in our lives:

First, let’s look at factual doubt.

Factual Doubt grows from questions about the facts surrounding belief.

Keeping the earlier examples in mind, factual doubt is seeing the plane, understanding the weight and mass, and knowing that there is no way the thing can fly. It is failing to understand the facts of Bernoulli’s principle; that as the wind travels over the wing it decreases pressure, causing an increase in the pressure below the wing, thus causing lift.

Of the disciples, Thomas gets the bad wrap for doubt because of his factual doubt of the resurrection. Really, none of the disciples believed until they saw Jesus. But we expect that Thomas should have believed based on their story of what the others had seen, yet, Thomas still doubted. Then Jesus appeared to him and said…

“Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!”

Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:27-28

Factual doubt is the easiest to overcome. Once confronted with the facts, it is diminished. Thomas was confronted with the fact that Jesus lived, died, and rose again. Thomas had seen the injuries to Jesus… he touched the wounds… and he believed.

For us, we may not see with our eyes or touch with our hands, but we have our own experiences and the stories of others experiences that help us overcome this factual doubt.

When I have doubt, when my faith gets weak, I think back to the times where I have felt God’s presence with me. I think back to the times where I have seen God move in ways that are unexplainable. I think back to miracles I have seen. I consider the difference God has made in my life as I have followed Jesus through these years. As I confront myself with these undisputable facts, my faith is renewed.

But Factual Doubt is not the only doubt we face.

The next doubt is possibly the most dangerous. It is called Volitional Doubt.

Volitional Doubt arises from the question of will and the motivation to follow God. Volitional Doubt is the choice of doubt. Regardless of what you see, experience, or know… you choose to doubt. One walks up to an airport, sees the plane on the runway, hears why it will fly, sees a plane flying, but still does not believe it will fly. The choice is made to not believe.

Think of the Pharisees all through the New Testament. They saw the miracles. They heard the testimonies. They met Jesus and yet still they chose not to believe.

This is the most dangerous because it involves our will. It involves our choice, our willingness to believe. If we choose not to believe, if we decide not to have faith, regardless of the facts, then there is little that anyone can do to resolve the doubt. It is between them and God at that point. Some of you may be dealing with this. You have chosen not to believe. You have come across some other religion or philosophy or ideology and decided that all you have seen and experienced with God was just a coincidence, just a figment of your imagination, just some fantasy dreamed up by people to control others – as Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” And that you will believe, but not that a loving God created you, came to be with you, lived, loved and gave himself for you that you may have an abundant life.

My prayer for you is that God will show you… that God will work in you to overcome that doubt.

So, we have seen Factual Doubt and Volitional Doubt…

The last type of doubt we will consider is Emotional Doubt.

Emotional Doubt stems from passions and moods intensified by suffering. “Emotional doubters usually judge the facts surrounding their beliefs based on how they feel about those beliefs.” Emotional doubt is going through a horrific illness and wondering

“if there is a God, why would this happen?”

Emotional doubt is hearing about the tragedies around the world and feeling sorrow for those that suffer and questioning God’s goodness or power.

Often those with emotional doubt think they are asking about the truth of Christ, but what they are doing is reflecting on their own feelings and emotions.

Whether it is anger, sadness, shame, disgust, or any other emotion, if we let it get the best of us, then doubt will begin to creep in.

We do experience God with our emotions. Like I said last week, “I believe that everything, every emotion, every feeling, every mood is from God and is good and right. I also think that the devil will take everything good and use it against us.”

John Wesley explained that we experience God in 4 ways, We call it the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.

We experience God with our Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. There is a reason that experience is last in the list. It is the one that is driven by emotion and personal happenings in life… we need Reason, our intellect to balance our Experience and we need the years of tradition to balance our Reason and Experience and finally we need to be people of the Scripture so that we can balance the Tradition, Reason, and Experience.

So, when we only consider who God is based on our experience, based on our moods and emotions, especially these days as we live through this pandemic, doubt will be a natural outcome. We need more!

We can respond to doubt. We can seek to lessen the doubt and build our faith.

How can we build faith and lessen doubt?

Response to doubt

First thing we can do is simple…

1. Do not silence your Doubt… God can handle it.

In the Old Testament book of Habbakuk, we read of a prophet who was questioning God. This is a man of God, and he isn’t silent about his doubt, he says:

Habbakuk 1:2-4

Lord, how long will I call for help and you not listen?

I cry out to you, “Violence!”

but you don’t deliver us.

Why do you show me injustice and look at anguish

so that devastation and violence are before me?

There is strife, and conflict abounds.

The Instruction is ineffective.

Justice does not endure

because the wicked surround the righteous.

Justice becomes warped.

If you want more scripture that expresses doubt just start reading through the Psalms. People of faith have been arguing with God and expressing their doubt to God for thousands of years.

God can handle your doubt. And often, that doubt… when we take it to God, will build our faith stronger than anything else.

So don’t keep your faith silent, in fact

2. Cry out to God with your doubt.

We see Peter, in the midst of his doubt, sinking in the water… we see Peter cry out to God:

But when Peter saw the strong wind, he became frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, rescue me!” Matthew 14:30

So, don’t hold your doubt back. God can handle your doubt. Don’t be silent, Cry out to God.

When everyone around you seems to be sick and you are scared, or tired, or just done with this virus, Cry out to God.

When you are missing your loved ones and you are lonely…

Cry out to God.

When it seems that nothing is working in your life…

Cry out to God

When you turn on the news and see the pain and suffering around the world…

Cry out to God

And when you wonder if God is even there… when you doubt…

Cry out to God.

I want to close with the words from the psalmist

Psalm 57:2–3.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.

He will send help from heaven to rescue me,

disgracing those who hound me.

My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.

When we cry out to God, regardless of our doubt, regardless of our pain, regardless of our suffering… when we cry out to God, Our God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.

And that is something we could all use right now.

Amen…