How can we be sure?
This is Zacheriah’s question.
How can I be sure of any of this? How can I be sure that I can do what you say I must do? How can any of this happen… now? To me? Even me?
But maybe this is the question every parent asks. Even you… or even yours.
I want to tell you a story of a couple enduring years of infertility. When they began fertility treatment they asked themselves,
“how can we be sure that we can take care of this child?”
They decided to go against their doctors advice and they didn’t want to risk having too many babies so they only wanted to work with one egg at a time. Although this means they are less likely to have a child at all they thought this was a better decision for their family.
When this didn’t work they had a very honest conversation: twins would be the end of us. We’ll have a difficult decision to make if we do what is recommended.
They took the risk. And gave birth to twins.
So they asked themselves again: how can we be sure we can take care of these children?
They rearranged their lives to account for this miracle and things were going well enough until one night one of their little ones had a seizure. Before there was any kind of conclusive diagnosis their other little one had a fever that wouldn’t break. They were in the hospital, taking turns holding their babies,
rather than each other.
They learned that their little girl has epilepsy and their little boy had a sort of mysterious condition that comes and goes but can cause lasting heart damage.
How can they be sure these little ones will live long healthy lives?
They can’t.
Every time they go back to the doctor for regular check ups they ask:
How can we be sure?
Can you just tell us everything will be all right?
No.
You can’t be sure.
So should we even ask?
Of course we should because it’s an honest question… but we have to be willing to ask in humility.
You see, I’m all for the doubting Thomases-
I’m just not at all interested in the Debbie Downers.
Doubt is not a sign of disbelief and despair.
It’s a sign that we are emotionally and intellectually engaged. It’s a sign that we know our weaknesses and shortcomings. We know that our human experience is limited.
Faith doesn’t mean avoiding the hard questions; it means there are more good questions than there are good answers.
God knows that!-
what kind of God would God be if this wasn’t already a part of the plan?
But I’m a firm believer that
Doubt dipped in curiosity and surrendered to God
is much more faithful than doubt that festers, goes rancid and curdles into skepticism.
The messenger in the temple doesn’t strike Zechariah down when he doubts, but he doesn’t let him leave without turning down the volume on his skeptical remarks.
This is the part that matters to all of us-whether we’re parents or not. Whether we had good enough parents or not.
The messenger says, Now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.[1]
He doesn’t say, “how dare you doubt-Silence, undeserving sinner!” His remarks might very well be much more like a kind father telling a child, “shhhh. You have spoken nothing but truth and love your whole life. I want that pattern to continue so I’m going to make it impossible for you to say anything you will regret.”
There are consequences for our doubts, but they are not all bad. Sometimes our doubts come from genuine shock at the extent of God’s goodness and when that happens we are often struck dumb.
Think about the last time you heard something so hard to believe that you didn’t know what to say, you didn’t have anything helpful to add to the conversation… did you just kept flapping your gums anyway? Or did you really stop talking?
Did you demand proof?
Did you want to be sure that what you were hearing was true? Possible?
How can we be sure?
We can’t.
Many of you are past child-rearing age-what would you say if someone came to you and asked you to take care of a newborn child?
I’m sure you would be tempted to ask, “How on earth am I going to do this?! How can I be sure this is going to work? How are you going to make this happen?!
Zechariah’s story is not a simple morality tale:
“keep your doubts to yourself or else!”
No. It’s quite complex really.
Our desire to be sure of God’s goodness is sometimes so powerful that it clouds our ability to believe in God’s goodness.
We want it so bad that we can’t imagine it’s possible.
Sound silly yet?
Wanting something so badly that you decide it’s just too big to ask. Why hope? So you just fantasize and assume it will never happen.
It sounds silly but
It’s not. Most of our most intense desires come with serious fears that they will never come true and those fears seem more true, more real, than the possibility that God cares about those very desires.
John Wesley himself struggled with this. There is this great story in his journals. He didn’t really want to go to church one night but he went anyway. He wrote, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” [2] Until that moment he hadn’t really known he was loved. He had wanted it but he had also feared it. It seemed too impossible.
How can we be sure that God is answering our prayers?
They tell us that Christmas is a celebration of the Christ child coming to live among us.
How can we be sure that we can handle this event? God’s own son, living among us!
How can we be sure that we will recognize him in the strangers, the orphans and the prisoners?
How can we be sure we will have what it takes to follow him?
We can’t. Even when God is telling us exactly how all this is going to go down
We still might argue because we aren’t sure we’re ready.
Or we might not.
We might just be silly to think it is God’s love that finally sets our hearts on fire with the desire to welcome our brother Christ.
We might confess our doubts and then pray in silence for faith to believe without knowing for sure… to believe that what we really want for Christmas is exactly this:
To love and be loved,
In the name of the Christ who comes to us, even us. Amen.
[1] Luke 1:20
[2] Journal, May 24, 1738. https://jamespedlar.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/four-john-wesley-quotes-everyone-should-know/
This is Zacheriah’s question.
How can I be sure of any of this? How can I be sure that I can do what you say I must do? How can any of this happen… now? To me? Even me?
But maybe this is the question every parent asks. Even you… or even yours.
I want to tell you a story of a couple enduring years of infertility. When they began fertility treatment they asked themselves,
“how can we be sure that we can take care of this child?”
They decided to go against their doctors advice and they didn’t want to risk having too many babies so they only wanted to work with one egg at a time. Although this means they are less likely to have a child at all they thought this was a better decision for their family.
When this didn’t work they had a very honest conversation: twins would be the end of us. We’ll have a difficult decision to make if we do what is recommended.
They took the risk. And gave birth to twins.
So they asked themselves again: how can we be sure we can take care of these children?
They rearranged their lives to account for this miracle and things were going well enough until one night one of their little ones had a seizure. Before there was any kind of conclusive diagnosis their other little one had a fever that wouldn’t break. They were in the hospital, taking turns holding their babies,
rather than each other.
They learned that their little girl has epilepsy and their little boy had a sort of mysterious condition that comes and goes but can cause lasting heart damage.
How can they be sure these little ones will live long healthy lives?
They can’t.
Every time they go back to the doctor for regular check ups they ask:
How can we be sure?
Can you just tell us everything will be all right?
No.
You can’t be sure.
So should we even ask?
Of course we should because it’s an honest question… but we have to be willing to ask in humility.
You see, I’m all for the doubting Thomases-
I’m just not at all interested in the Debbie Downers.
Doubt is not a sign of disbelief and despair.
It’s a sign that we are emotionally and intellectually engaged. It’s a sign that we know our weaknesses and shortcomings. We know that our human experience is limited.
Faith doesn’t mean avoiding the hard questions; it means there are more good questions than there are good answers.
God knows that!-
what kind of God would God be if this wasn’t already a part of the plan?
But I’m a firm believer that
Doubt dipped in curiosity and surrendered to God
is much more faithful than doubt that festers, goes rancid and curdles into skepticism.
The messenger in the temple doesn’t strike Zechariah down when he doubts, but he doesn’t let him leave without turning down the volume on his skeptical remarks.
This is the part that matters to all of us-whether we’re parents or not. Whether we had good enough parents or not.
The messenger says, Now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.[1]
He doesn’t say, “how dare you doubt-Silence, undeserving sinner!” His remarks might very well be much more like a kind father telling a child, “shhhh. You have spoken nothing but truth and love your whole life. I want that pattern to continue so I’m going to make it impossible for you to say anything you will regret.”
There are consequences for our doubts, but they are not all bad. Sometimes our doubts come from genuine shock at the extent of God’s goodness and when that happens we are often struck dumb.
Think about the last time you heard something so hard to believe that you didn’t know what to say, you didn’t have anything helpful to add to the conversation… did you just kept flapping your gums anyway? Or did you really stop talking?
Did you demand proof?
Did you want to be sure that what you were hearing was true? Possible?
How can we be sure?
We can’t.
Many of you are past child-rearing age-what would you say if someone came to you and asked you to take care of a newborn child?
I’m sure you would be tempted to ask, “How on earth am I going to do this?! How can I be sure this is going to work? How are you going to make this happen?!
Zechariah’s story is not a simple morality tale:
“keep your doubts to yourself or else!”
No. It’s quite complex really.
Our desire to be sure of God’s goodness is sometimes so powerful that it clouds our ability to believe in God’s goodness.
We want it so bad that we can’t imagine it’s possible.
Sound silly yet?
Wanting something so badly that you decide it’s just too big to ask. Why hope? So you just fantasize and assume it will never happen.
It sounds silly but
It’s not. Most of our most intense desires come with serious fears that they will never come true and those fears seem more true, more real, than the possibility that God cares about those very desires.
John Wesley himself struggled with this. There is this great story in his journals. He didn’t really want to go to church one night but he went anyway. He wrote, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” [2] Until that moment he hadn’t really known he was loved. He had wanted it but he had also feared it. It seemed too impossible.
How can we be sure that God is answering our prayers?
They tell us that Christmas is a celebration of the Christ child coming to live among us.
How can we be sure that we can handle this event? God’s own son, living among us!
How can we be sure that we will recognize him in the strangers, the orphans and the prisoners?
How can we be sure we will have what it takes to follow him?
We can’t. Even when God is telling us exactly how all this is going to go down
We still might argue because we aren’t sure we’re ready.
Or we might not.
We might just be silly to think it is God’s love that finally sets our hearts on fire with the desire to welcome our brother Christ.
We might confess our doubts and then pray in silence for faith to believe without knowing for sure… to believe that what we really want for Christmas is exactly this:
To love and be loved,
In the name of the Christ who comes to us, even us. Amen.
[1] Luke 1:20
[2] Journal, May 24, 1738. https://jamespedlar.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/four-john-wesley-quotes-everyone-should-know/