One of the things
that happens when you read the Bible on a regular basis, like I am required to
do, is that even familiar passages are always speaking to you in new ways. It
happened again a couple of years ago when I read a text from the Gospel of Matthew, 28:16-20, that I had read many times. That was the first time I noticed the words,
“When the eleven remaining disciples (Judas had committed suicide) saw Jesus
after his resurrection, they worshiped even as they doubted.”
“They worshiped
Jesus even when they doubted?” That’s pretty much the opposite of what we
do. When we doubt, we quit worshiping. We assume that worshiping is only for
believers. People, in our experience, who doubt quit worshiping! So why would
these disciples worship Jesus, if they had doubts about Jesus? Why would the
writer even include their doubts in the story?
The first thing
many people assume about faith is that doubt is the opposite of faith. Not
true! Honest doubt is not the opposite of faith. There is faith even in honest
doubt. Honest doubt is actually an
integral part of faith. When Matthew tells us that the disciples “worshipped
even when they doubted,” he wants us to know this basic principle: honest doubt
was part of the faith, even for those who were closest to Jesus. The Easter
stories, we have been reading, are a mixture of faith and doubt. The disciples
are presented as very skeptical about Mary Magdalen’s report about seeing Jesus
alive on that first Easter Sunday. Thomas, flat-out refused to believe until he
saw Jesus with his own eyes and touched Jesus with his own hands. On the road to Emmaus, other disciples were
astounded by the report of Jesus being seen alive and did not recognize him
walking right beside them on the road. Even after many reports, even after
having seen him themselves, they worshipped, even as they doubted. Yes, the
message is simple: faith is never black and white, all or nothing, but always
mixed with a good measure of healthy doubt.
Doubt does not necessarily mean you don’t have faith. Doubt probably
means you do have faith!
“They worshiped, even as they doubted.” The bigger question than whether doubt is part of faith, is what do you do when you doubt. Many, when they doubt, think they should absent themselves from prayer and worship until faith returns or becomes strong again. They say to themselves, “It is hypocritical for me to pretend to believe when I really don’t believe. When I start believing again, when my faith is strong again, then it will make sense for me to start praying and worshipping again.” That may sound good, even reasonable, but that’s not how it works! The story of the doubting St. Thomas has a lot to teach us. Thomas says in today's gospel, Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Even in his doubt, Thomas did was pretty much the opposite of what we do when we have doubts. He kept going back to the community. When we doubt, we quit joining the community. We assume that joining the faith community is only for those who believe, for those without doubt. People, in our experience, who doubt quit joining the worshiping community! Not St. Thomas! He kept joining them, even when he doubted, until he believed!
As the doubting
disciples teach us today, what really works is for us to worship even
when we doubt, to worship until we believe. Like a coal, pulled away from a heap of
burning coals, that soon loses its heat, a doubter separated from the community
of believers soon loses even more of his faith. A faith community strengthens
faith and a doubting community strengthens doubt.
“They worshipped,
even as they doubted.” This may be yet
another version of the great truth: “fake it till you make it.” Even though
Alcoholics Anonymous made that idea famous, it actually goes back to the
ancient Roman poet, Ovid who said, “Pretend to what is not, and then you’ll
become in truth, what you are pretending to be.” The great philosopher William James put it
this way, “Act as if and the mind will produce your desire.” The idea is, if
you take something that feels impossible, or at least completely unnatural, and
pretend that it is the easiest, most natural things on the world for you to be
doing, eventually, it will become as easy as you have been pretending it to be!
I practice this
often in my own life. (1) As many of you know from me talking about my history,
I grew up pretty much crippled by bashfulness. Bashful people find it painful
to be in public situations. To cope, they are driven to avoid public situations
as much as possible. This is a sure way to keep bashfulness going. The solution
is to get out in public as much as possible, faking confidence, until one day
you wake up and find out that you are no longer bashful. The only way out of the fear of public
speaking is to “fake it till you make it,” to do public speaking until you are
no longer afraid to speak in front of crowds.
You cannot think your way out of bashfulness, you have to act
your way out of bashfulness. (2) When I was sent to southeastern Kentucky as a
newly ordained priest, against my will, somehow I was able to open my mind to
“faking it till I made it.” I decided, since I did not get what I wanted, I
would act as if I wanted what I got until I was able to really
want what I got. It worked. Those ten years were wonderful years in many, many
ways. I “acted as if” it was a great assignment until it actually became a
great assignment.
‘They worshiped,
even as they doubted.” My friends, all
of us have a good measure of doubt, even as we believe. The secret to making
sure that the scales do not tip too far to the doubt side, is to act as if we
believe until we believe, to pray our way out of doubt, to worship until we
feel like worshiping. So, when you are tempted to drop out because “I don’t get
anything out of it” or “I’m not into it today,” that is when you really need to
get into it, that is when you really need to act as if you are getting
something out of it until you get something out of it. Yes, even believers sometimes have to “fake
it till they make it.”
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