Moments of Doubt
(Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16)
We all have them, those moments of doubt when we question whether or not we’ve made the right decision. Was that last big purchase wise, was it an impulse that I will later regret? This job I took on, was I over ambitious, did I bite off more than I can chew? This direction in which I’m going, the path I’ve chosen, will it really take me where I need to go? Is it too late to turn back? Panic sets in and we are overwhelmed by the questions and thoughts whirling around in our heads as we question the wisdom of our decision, and we begin to doubt the faith we had in our initial plan. Afterall, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
And it’s that questioning of faith and the decisions made by the early Hebrew Christians that I see in our scripture reading for today. The author of Hebrews is not known for sure, but the audience is decidedly early Hebrew Christians, perhaps second generation, who may have been having doubts about their decision to follow Christ and may have been considering a return to Judaism. They may have been experiencing fierce persecution from both the Jewish leadership who wanted them back and the Romans who now saw them as a threat to the empire. Christ had not returned to establish his kingdom as he promised, and the people were going into panic mode, questioning their decision, and contemplating going back to the old way of practicing their faith that seemed so much more familiar and less threatening. They were having moments of doubt and were questioning their faith in the New Covenant. They had to be reassured of the Biblical truths, what the early believers and prophets of old believed and stood for before the coming of Christ.
The author begins chapter 11 by stating that: Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. And he or she reminds them that the elders in the past were approved because they showed faith in the way they led their lives. The preacher states: By faith we understand that the universe has been created by a word from God so that the visible came into existence from the invisible. The preacher goes right to the heart of the matter by addressing the issue of faith. Two words describe faith: sure and certain. These two qualities need a secure beginning and ending point. The beginning point of faith is believing in God’s character, that he is who he says he is. And the endpoint is believing in God’s promise, that he will do what he says. God called the universe into existence out of nothing; he declared that it was to be, and it was. Our faith, therefore, is in the God who created the entire universe by his word.
The writer tells us that it was by faith that Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out without knowing where he was going. For an audience with deep Jewish roots this reminder of Abraham’s legendary, deep and abiding faith, was meaningful. They knew that Abraham’s life was filled with faith, and at God’s command, he left home and went to another land, obeying without question as he believed the covenant God had made with him. The writer points out that by faith Abraham lived in the land God had promised to him as a stranger, and that he lived in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were coheirs of the same promise. Abraham, we are told, was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. The writer then points to Sarah who, even though she was unable to conceive a child and was well past child-bearing years, had faith and believed that the one who promised was faithful and would do as he promised. And because God kept his promise descendants were born from one man that were as many as the number of the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore.
The author tells us that all of these people of faith died without receiving all that God had promised, the coming of the Messiah, but they never lost their vision of heaven, the promise of a life with God in eternity. They saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them. They confessed that they were strangers and immigrants on earth but were looking for a homeland. The preacher tells us that if they had been thinking about the country they had left, they could have just as easily returned to it. But at this time, the preacher says, they are longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. And because of this, God isn’t ashamed to be called their God and he has prepared a city for them.
And that’s the problem many Christians have today who become frustrated and defeated because their needs, wants, expectations, and demands are not immediately met when they believe in Christ. They become impatient and want to quit when they see everyone else getting ahead. We are a product of our immediate gratification society. We want it now!
John Wesley, the founder of our Methodist denomination, realized that faith also involves trust and confidence. His realization that having trust in God became so important to him that he eventually began to consider faith as the evidence of God’s love that could secure our trust and confidence. He talked of the degrees of faith people had that indicated how people could grow in the way they embraced the meaning of God’s love for them. The highest degree of faith was coupled with such assurance of God’s love that a person was completely filled with love in return. Our true reality is found in God in whom we live, move and exist, and our faith is founded not on a subjective feeling but on the objective substance of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. This is what grounds our hope on the dependable character of God who speaks and acts through Jesus to cleanse and restore humanity. This faith in God’s reality is not something new. Faith is a lived-out response as demonstrated by those in the Old Testament such as Abraham, Sarah, and Moses.
This confidence we have in God should be a hallmark of the congregation that is under pressure from the world around it to conform to society’s norms and values. The congregation of believers must press forward in faithfulness even though this may mean suffering in the current life of the church as we are reviled by the world. God wants our trust and faith, even while we ponder and wonder about so many matters that are mysterious to us. So, we mustn’t be discouraged because the achievements of our goals, our dreams, our desires, seems so far away. We need to take our courage from these heroes of faith who lived and died without seeing the fruits of their faith on earth and yet continued to believe.
So, when you feel pressed and your faith is waning, remember our centering prayer. Praise God for his glory and good name, ask him to bring in his kingdom and that his will be done, thank him for his constant provisions for your daily needs, show your appreciation for his forgiveness and his reminder that we should also forgive, and that we not be led into temptation if we continue to follow him. Once you’ve done that you can then have your conversation with God where you tell him what’s on your mind and have your confidence and faith restored, secure in the knowledge that you are one of his beloved children who knows their future is secure even when you experience one of your moments of doubt.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving Father, how grateful we are for your watchful eye that knows when we are discouraged and when our hearts are sad and lonely. We praise you for the path you have set us on that eases our doubts and fears during those dark times in our lives. And whenever we are tempted, whenever storm clouds arise, when our hope within us dies, we know we can draw close to you and that your loving care restores us and sets us free. It’s that loving relationship that we have with you through your Son, our brother, Jesus Christ, that allows us to overcome those moments of doubt when our faith is tested. We know that if your eye is on the sparrow that you also watch over us with your tender mercies. We sing your praises because we are happy and free. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.