Christmas Doubts
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Tonight we’re wrapping up a series we’ve been doing called “The Christmas Dichotomy” which is all about bridging the gap between the culture and Christian narratives of Christmas. Every year it seems like these two narratives clash, they engage in a Christmas shootout over what Christmas is about. This series has been about bridging the gap between those two narratives, it’s been about finding elements of agreement regarding these two narratives, and showing people how these elements can have greater worth, value, and significance when aligned with Jesus. I mean there’s a lot our narratives actually agree on. For example both narratives see tonight, see Christmas Eve as a special night full of food, fun, family, even fighting and forgiveness. You know whenever you get the entire family together somebody’s gonna complain or fight about something. I know this because it happens in my family too. I grew up in an Italian family where we love hard and fight hard. It wasn’t a true Christmas in our house unless somebody was fighting. I remember one Christmas Eve my sisters and I were fighting so bad, that my father got off his chair, grabbed the Christmas tree, and threw it to the curb, tinsel and all. The neighbors were like “Oh look, the Tamburro’s are having Christmas again!”...Some of you had families that whispered when they fought, but in my house, even the neighbors knew when we were fighting. We fought hard, but we also loved hard, we always forgave. In fact my dad eventually brought the tree back in for Christmas, and we celebrated like nothing ever happened. But most of our Christmas narratives include things like this. They include food, fun, family, fighting, forgiving, and here’s another F word, faith...It’s faith...Both the culture and Christian narratives of Christmas include certain amounts of faith.
I recently came across a story of a little boy who had some faith. He had certain presents he wanted for Christmas, and he had enough faith to write Jesus a letter hoping to get those presents. Here’s what his letter said:“‘Dear Jesus, there’s some presents I want for Christmas, and I've been good for about 6 months now.’ He paused for a few seconds...then he crossed out 6 months and wrote, ‘I’ve been good for about 3 months.’ He paused again for a few more seconds ...then he crossed out 3 months and wrote, ‘I’ve been good for about 2 days.’ Then he paused one last time, only this time he was staring at the nativity scene. And after reflecting on the Mary figurine for a while, he got up, took Mary, wrapped her arms in tape, and wrote ‘Dear Jesus, I really want these presents. So if you ever want to see your mother again, you’ll give me those presents!’”...Faith...This little boy had faith. It was a twisted faith, but he still had faith. He had faith Jesus could bring him presents, and faith he could hold Jesus’ mother captive with a Mary figurine. He had faith, and you know what? So do you...You have faith too. In fact everybody’s narrative includes a certain degree of faith, even those who are atheists. I have faith God exists, an atheist has faith God doesn’t exist, but both require a certain degree of faith to believe those claims, because neither can prove empirically or scientifically that God does or doesn’t exist. Both beliefs require a certain degree of reason and faith to believe their claims, and today I’m gonna talk about being willing to examine our faith, and doubts about our faith. Nobody wants to invest their life in a faith that isn’t true, so all of us need to be willing to examine our faith and doubts about our faith, so lets turn to Luke 1:26-38 and get into it. The title of today’s message is Christmas Doubt. It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts...It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts. God’s grace is still available to us, even when we doubt.
Context:
Here’s your context. Luke’s the author of this book in the bible, and he was a medical doctor, investigator, and a historian who was highly concerned about the facts. In particular he was concerned about the facts regarding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So what we hold in our hands is his medical, investigative, and historical report of Jesus, and today we’re gonna study the part of his report where Jesus isn’t born, but an angel comes to tell Mary she’ll give birth to Jesus as a virgin. Mary’s immediate response isn’t faith, it’s doubt. Mary the mother of Jesus had some doubts, but she was willing to examine those doubts. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Luke 1:26 states this, “In the sixth month...” Dr. Luke’s talking about Mary’s cousin Elizabeth here. For years Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were unable to have children, but now they’re about to have a baby, they’re about to give birth to John the Baptist. God promised they’d have a baby, that promise is coming true, and at this point Elizabeth’s 6 months pregnant.
Again vs. 26, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” Notice Dr. Luke says Mary “tried to discern.” He says she tried to discern, but the English word “discern” doesn’t really capture what’s happening here. Dr. Luke wrote this in Greek and the Greek word for discern means “to reason thoroughly.” It means to reason thoroughly, to examine thoroughly, meaning Mary’s not immediately responding with faith, she’s thoroughly reasoning and examining what’s happening. She doesn’t have blind faith. Mary doesn’t have blind faith, and I think that’s important to know because a lot of times in our modern world we’ll read ancient historical books with arrogance thinking we’re the intellectuals and they weren’t. We wrongly assume people back then were ignorant, irrational, gullible people who were quick to believe anything without thorough reasoning and examination. But we know that’s not true, especially when it comes to Mary. She’s not immediately responding with faith, she’s responding with doubt just like you and I would if an angel talking to us. We’d be like, “Is this real, is it really happening, is this really an angel, or am I hallucinating?” Mary’s doing the exact same thing we’d be doing if we were in this situation. She’s thoroughly reasoning and examining what’s happening. Nobody can accuse Mary or the Christian faith of being a blind, ignorant, irrational faith, because Christianity’s built on numerous people like Mary who at one point doubted, at one point thoroughly reasoned and examined those doubts, but after doing their examination they were convinced of the truth and responded with faith. Christianity’s anything but a blind, ignorant, irrational faith, it’s a faith that includes some doubts, even doubts from Jesus’ very own mother. But it’s a faith that also includes thorough reasoning and examination of those doubts. It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts...It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts. God’s grace is still available to us, even when we doubt.
Again vs. 29, “But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” The word “favor” means “grace” or “unmerited favor,” and it’s the 2nd time the angel tells Mary she’s found favor with God, only this time it’s after she has some doubt which shows us God’s patience. God’s patient with Mary despite her doubts, and He’s patient with us despite our doubts. But some Christians are afraid of doubt, they see it as negative, as threatening, as disbelief, instead of as an opportunity to thoroughly reason and examine what you already believe for the deepening of your faith. Christians with this mindset create homes and church environments where people can’t express their doubts, and it causes people to either bury their doubts and struggles, or leave the faith to find answers elsewhere. This past year alone I’ve had several people in Orlando tell me the reason they stopped going to church was because they felt they couldn’t ask tough questions. They weren’t trying to play Stump The Pastor, Stump The Christian, they were asking genuine questions about Christianity. But people got frustrated with them and even said things like, “You shouldn’t ask questions like that, you should just believe.” But is that what Mary’s doing here, is she just believing? She isn’t just believing, she’s thinking, she’s thoroughly reasoning and examining her doubts, and that’s the type of church we’re building at City Awakening. It’s a church where we want you to feel comfortable with asking tough questions about life, faith, even doubts about your faith. Jude 1:22 states, “Have mercy on those who doubt.” We want to be a church that has mercy on those who doubt, because God’s had mercy on us despite our doubts. God’s not offended by Mary’s doubt, He has mercy on her despite her doubts. He’s still pouring out His favor, His grace despite her doubts.
Now the kind of doubt we’ve been talking about is an open minded doubt, a doubt that’s open to belief in God and God’s promises. But there’s another kind of doubt the bible talks about which is a close minded doubt, a doubt that’s not open to belief. If we were to read the beginning of chapter 1 we’d learn God promises Zechariah and Elizabeth a baby, but Zechariah doesn’t believe God. He has a close minded doubt, a doubt that’s not open to belief, as a result God makes Zechariah mute. He disciplines Zechariah for his close minded doubt, for his disbelief. But God’s still patient and gracious towards him despite his close minded doubt and disbelief. God still pours out His grace on him allowing him to still have a baby and to no longer be mute after the baby’s born. It’s one of the great things about the God of Christianity, it’s that He’s far more patient and gracious than we are. I mean we tend to dislike close minded people, we tend to avoid close minded people, but the God of Christianity’s willing to draw near to close minded people and pour out His grace on them like He does for Zechariah. God’s still patient and gracious with Zechariah despite his close minded doubt, and God’s still patient with those of you who have closed minded doubt. Like Zechariah there’s consequences to a close minded hardened heart, and God’s not gonna put up with a close minded hardened heart forever. But God’s still patient and gracious with those of you who have close minded hardened hearts. His patience is being shown in His willingness to draw you to this church so you can learn about His patience and grace towards you, and His patience is being shown in that He’s still allowing you to breathe, despite your close minded hardened heart towards Him. God most definitely is patient and willing to pour out His grace on those who doubt, even those who have close minded doubt. He did it for Mary, He did it for Zechariah, He’s doing it for all of us. It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts. God’s grace is still available to us, even when we doubt.
Again vs. 30, “And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34 And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’” It’s a fair question right? The angel’s like, “You’ve found favor with God.” Yeah we need to talk about that. “Sure we can talk about it. By the way, you’re gonna give birth to Jesus as a virgin.” Yeah we DEFINITELY need to talk about that one...I love it. I love how Mary keeps examining things. She doesn’t have blind faith or closed minded doubt, she has an examining faith and open minded doubt. She’s open to faith, but has some questions, some doubts, and is willing to thoroughly reason and examine those doubts. It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts. God’s grace is still available to us, even when we doubt.
Again vs. 34, “And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35 And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.’” Nothing will be impossible with God, not even the virgin birth of Jesus. But our culture teaches us to believe the opposite of this, to dismiss the possibility of things like miracles, angles, or Mary giving birth to Jesus as a virgin. Our culture teaches us to dismiss such things on the basis that if we can’t see it, experience it, or repeat it, then it isn’t true. But even if we can’t see it, experience it, or repeat it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I mean there’s about 7 billion people in the world and there’s been billions of people before us, but there’s only one man in history who’s ever been able to run the 100 meter dash in 9.58 seconds, Usain Bolt. He’s the only guy to ever do it, and just because it’s never happened before in history, even if it never happens again by anyone else in the future, that doesn’t mean 2,000 yrs from now people should dismiss it. It still happened even if 2,000 yrs from now people haven’t seen it, experienced it, or been able to repeat it. God’s far greater than Usain Bolt, so of course He’s gonna break some records we think can’t be broken in our world. He’s gonna break some records, do some pretty incredible things that aren’t repeatable, and we should be glad for that, because it means there’s always hope for your life...even in your darkest situation, even in your darkest hour...The angel says nothing’s impossible with God, and this should bring us comfort, like it did Mary. The angel’s reminding Mary of God’s power, he confirms it by telling Mary about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and this becomes the last piece of reasoning and examination Mary needs, to respond with faith.
Vs. 38, “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” Mary responds with faith...Mary responds with faith...It’s not a blind, ignorant, irrational faith, it’s a faith where she’s thoroughly reasoned and examined her doubts. She doesn’t respond with faith because she now has all the answers, but because God’s grace gave her enough answers to respond with faith. It’s God’s grace that leads Mary to faith, not her intelligence. Mary responds with faith not because she’s intelligent, but because God’s grace worked through her intelligence, through her reasoning and examination. You don’t have to be an intellectual to have a relationship with God, but God’s given you an intellectual mind so your relationship with Him won’t be blind or shallow, rather it’ll have depth.
Okay so here’s what Mary’s story teaches us, it teaches us 3 things. It teaches us:
#1 The Claims Of Christianity Aren’t Built On Blind Faith = The claims of Christianity aren’t built on blind, ignorant, irrational faith, they’re built on the faith of numerous people like Mary who at first doubted, but after thorough reasoning and examination responded with faith.
#2 God’s Patient and Gracious With Us Despite Our Doubts = God’s patient and gracious with us despite our doubts, just like He was patient and gracious with Mary and Zechariah despite their doubts. He was patient and gracious with them, He’s patient and gracious with you.
#3 Faith Happens In Stages = Faith happens in stages. Mary didn’t respond immediately with faith, it took time, it took thorough reasoning and examination for her to respond with faith. Sometimes people respond immediately, but usually it takes time, and because it takes time we need to be careful not to beat ourselves up when we stumble in our faith. We need to remember that sanctification isn’t an arrival, it’s a process. It’s a process that takes time. But we also need to be careful not to beat up others when they stumble in their faith. Sometimes we expect other people, especially newer Christians to already be sanctified instead of celebrating their growth in sanctification. We need to be careful of turning the gospel into a moralistic or legalistic to do list that burdens the hearts of people, instead of trusting the gospel to work on transforming the hearts of people. We have to remember that faith and growth in our faith happens in stages. And God’s patient and gracious with us in each of those stages, like He was with Mary and Zechariah.
Look I don’t know if you’re a person who believes in Christianity or not, but regardless I want you to know our church is willing to walk with you in the examination of your doubts. In fact some of our team members are gonna come around at this time and give you a gift. It’s our Christmas gift to you. It’s a short little book that’s easy to read, but has depth in content. It’s a book that’ll address questions like: Why we can trust the bible? Why we can trust Jesus is really God? Why we can trust Jesus really rose from the dead? It’ll address all kinds of questions like that using things like history, science, archaeology, and reason to help you in your examination of doubt. It’ll help the non-Christian have some convincing reasons to believe the Christian faith, and it’ll help to strengthen the faith of the Christian so they don’t have a blind faith. If you’ve already read this book, then read it with someone else who hasn’t, and walk with them in the examination of their doubts. Regardless it’s our Christmas gift to you.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts. God’s grace is still available to us, even when we doubt...It’s okay to doubt, but be willing to examine your doubts. God’s grace is still available to us, even when we doubt...Both the culture and the Christian narratives of Christmas include doubt. We have people in our culture who doubt the Christmas message, who doubt the gospel message, and we have some Christians like Mary who at one point doubted the Christmas message, doubted the gospel message. Both narratives include a certain degree of faith and doubt, and both need to be willing to thoroughly reason and examine their faith and doubts. Christianity’s a faith that invites people to do that...Christianity’s a faith that invites people to do that, and it’s a faith that invites people into a relationship with a God who’s patient enough to give us some time to do it.
So what doubts do you have?..What doubts do you have right here, right now?..Do you doubt Christianity, do you doubt the gospel, do you doubt Jesus is God who came to live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of your sins?..Do you doubt God can forgive you of sin or a particular sin?..Do you doubt God’s provision for your life, especially financially?..Do you doubt God can care for you in your health issues, emotional issues, singleness or loneliness?..Do you doubt God listens to your prayers or even cares about you at all? What doubts do you have right here, right now?..Look it’s okay to doubt, even Jesus’ very own mother doubted, but be willing to examine your doubts, be willing to go to Jesus despite your doubts, because He’s a God who loves you, who’s patient with you, who’s willing to pour out his grace despite your doubts. Nothing shows this more than the celebration of Christmas, than the gospel, than the birth of Jesus who came to live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins. He came not because we had it all together and never doubted. He came because we didn’t have it all together, he came because we did doubt...and despite our doubts, hardened hearts, and sin...he still loves us and is willing to pour out His grace upon us. He did it for Mary, he did it for Zechariah, and he’ll do it for you. So let’s go to him in our doubts, and worship him for being patient and gracious despite our doubts. It’s not blind faith, it’s a faith like we just examined, in Jesus’ very own mother.