Matters of Faith and Doubt This Christmas

Luke 1: 19-20 Then the angel said, "I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn't believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time." (NLT)

We can be such doubting Thomases. Even the expression "doubting Thomas" derives from Scripture when Thomas said he would not believe in the resurrected Lord unless he could put his hands in the very wounds of Christ. We are very untrustworthy by nature. Perhaps after a lifetime of disappointment stemming from the world, we can easily translate that onto God. Because the world will always make promises it cannot keep, provide dreams that cannot be realized and offer hope where it cannot deliver. God however, never does.

Within the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke, there is a picture of the correct way to approach God and the incorrect way. One way is filled with doubt and uncertainty and the other is filled with faith confidence. The way of doubt is fraught with consequences we would not have foreseen or wanted and the way of faith is laden with the promises of God being fulfilled in our lives. The events portrayed here from thousands of years ago are played out in our lives over and over again. Maybe not with the angelic visitation but certainly with what we know God has said and spoken for our lives and what the devil wants to whisper in our ears. It is always our choice who we want to believe and who we want to doubt.

Luke starts with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth:

When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God's eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord's commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. Luke 1: 5-7 (NLT)

So Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous followers of God. The world had convinced them that their days of conceiving a child had passed. They were old and Elizabeth was barren. But those man-made restrictions do not apply to Almighty God. He can always bring life into situations the world has declared dead. But Zechariah had probably given up on the notion even though he had prayed earnestly for some time. As the years went past and Elizabeth remained without child, he probably assumed his prayers were simply unanswered or that it was not meant to be. But God sent the angel Gabriel to let him know that what he had given up on, God was ready to deliver:

While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly." Luke 1: 11-17 (NLT)

Zechariah clearly recognized that this was an angelic visitation. The angel tells him that God has heard his prayer! Now maybe it had been a long time since that prayer had been offered up, but God was waiting for His time, the right time, to answer it. The angel goes on to tell him how great his son will be and what great purposes God has in store for him. Zechariah is faced with a decision we all face who should he believe? His common sense and everything the world has taught him says that there is no way what the angel is saying can be true. How many times are we faced with similar circumstances; minus the angelic visit? I have seen people miraculously healed only to question how the healing could be possible after they had prayed for it! It reminds me of when the believers were praying for Peter to be freed from prison. The Bible says they were "praying earnestly" for it. Yet when Peter is delivered from prison by God and appears at their door, here was their reaction:

"You're out of your mind!" they said. When she insisted, they decided, "It must be his angel." Acts 12:15 (NLT)

We can be such doubting Thomases; even about things we earnestly pray for! Zechariah was in a position to believe God or believe the whisperings of the enemy in his ear. Could God be the deliverer he always professed to be? Could He shatter the worldly wisdom? It was a matter of faith or doubt for Zechariah that day and Mary would be faced with a similar visitation and challenge.

Later in the same chapter, the angel Gabriel would also visit Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph. He would tell her that the Lord was with her and address her as "favored woman." Here was the reaction of the teenage girl:

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. "Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!" Luke 1: 29-33 (NLT)

I am sure that this decree from Gabriel did little to assuage her confusion. Nevertheless, Mary is now at the same point that Zechariah was at. Standing before the Angel Gabriel and having to decide to believe God by faith, or the world and the doubt it sells. First, here is the answer of Zechariah:

Zechariah said to the angel, "How can I be sure this will happen? I'm an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years." Luke 1: 18 (NLT)

How can I be sure? I know God has sent one of His angels to me to tell me what will come to pass...but how can I be sure? I mean, there is no way this could happen look how old my wife is! I am no youngster either! I want to believe God...but how can I be sure?

We have all been there too. We know that God has spoken because we have read His Word and know that it is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. We know He has spoken because we have had a Word spoken over our lives. We have been healed before. We have been delivered before. But maybe we find ourselves where Zechariah did that day. Too far removed from the promises being prayed for. Too far entrenched into the thinking of the world which dictates its own set of what is and is not plausible. We trust God, we believe God, but...how can we be sure? The doubt overtakes our faith and we approach God with a wavering heart. Asking for assurances from the creator of the universe! The response is the key verses today. Gabriel would shut the doubting mouth of Zechariah until the promise is brought to pass. There are always consequences for our doubt. Sometimes it is the doubt that causes the very delay we lose faith over! Mary however, exercises the faith God is looking for:

Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin." Luke 1: 34 (NLT)

At first glance, we might fall into the trap of thinking Mary was doubting here but not if we examine it closely. Mary is not asking for assurances. She is not expressing that what the angel said could not be done. She is asking how it will be done, since she was a virgin (and a young teenage girl as well). Here is the answer from Gabriel:

The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1: 35-37 (NLT)

Now picture this for a minute. You are a teenage girl who is still unmarried. You are visited by an angel of God who tells you that you will become pregnant. Confused, you ask how that will occur and the answer is that not only will you be pregnant, but you will be pregnant with God and His spirit will be the Father as well. Do you think for one second this clarified anything for Mary? Do you think she now understood what was happening? I would venture to guess that this response furthered her confusion. Faced with an opportunity to approach God with faith or doubt, Mary chooses faith:

Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her. Luke 2: 38 (NLT)

Was Mary sure of everything that was going to happen to her? No. But she knew who she was a servant of. Was she basking in peace, knowing that she would have to explain to people, including Joseph, that her baby out of wedlock was from God? I would not think so but she knew that when you receive a Word from God you can rely upon that Word. The result of her faith was God's hand directing the affairs of their household, fulfilling the plan He had for all mankind through the faith of a teenage girl. You know the enemy was whispering in Mary's ear. "What is everyone going to say?" "Virgins can't get pregnant; it's impossible!" "You must have imagined it."

Likewise, we are often confronted with these moments of faith versus doubt. And likewise we too will hear the whisperings of the enemy. "God must not have promised that to you; it's been too long." "You cannot be healed from this; you heard what the doctor said" "The Bible is just words; believe your eyes!"

But Mary had a Word from God and so do you today. For every lie the enemy wants to whisper in your ear there is a verse in the Word of God that assures you he is lying. It is always our choice who we will believe. Zechariah couldn't get his faith to overcome his doubt. Perhaps it is because of his age. The older we get the more cynical we get. The more hardened we can become by life. Zechariah must have had at least 50 years on Mary. Remember the words of Jesus:

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10: 15 (NIV)

A little child trusts God. There is no doubt. There is only childlike faith. A faith that says it doesn't matter what lies the world wants me to believe I am going to believe my God. A faith that says it doesn't matter what the natural world tells me because I serve a supernatural God! This Christmas will come and go beloved. We will exchange presents, trim the tree, and maybe even share the Gospel the greatest gift we could ever give someone. But the lessons from the first Christmas we need to take with us well into the New Year.

Because the devil is still out there, prowling about seeing whom he may devour. He only succeeds when we believe him over God. And realize this today Zechariah was not a bad guy. The Bible says he was righteous in the eyes of God. Matters of faith and doubt apply to all of us. It is not a one time test either. But it is one that we can safely face and pass if we simply believe that God is who He said He was and can do what He said He can do. Forget timing. Forget what the world sells us as "fact." Faith can always rise above doubt. Who will you believe today? Merry Christmas to all.

Reverend Anthony Wade December 21, 2010