Some Doubted
Easter 2 – Narrative Lectionary 1
April 12, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 28.16-20
Throughout my life, I have been blessed to have had a parade of good teachers, both official and unofficial. Of the official variety, Mrs. Wellington got me off to a good start in kindergarten with her love and care. In sixth grade, Mr. Corey was my first male teacher and was as good a role model as any I could have had. My high school French teachers, Mrs. Ballard and Mrs. Keller reminded us that learning can be fun. Seminary professor Rick Carlson showed me that no matter how much you know, God always has more to give you.
But I always think of Joe Michel, my high school Anatomy and Physiology teacher, when I think of greatness. He had a passion for appreciating the beauty and wonder of life and the human body that was contagious. And later, when I decided not to pursue a medical career and even later become a pastor, I think Mr. Michel was there in my mind. For Mr. Michel had also been vulnerable, sharing his life journey with us.
We now come to the end of Matthew’s gospel, which we had begun just before Christmas. During this time we have seen and heard that Jesus is a teacher par excellence. Now, his followers are told to do and be the same, teachers. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” Though remarkable in and of itself, what makes this “Great Commission” even more so is to whom Jesus directs the commissioning: scared and worshiping, faithful and doubting, loyal and abandoning followers.
I love this text in its simplicity: “When they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted.” That’s me. That’s my experience with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the life of faith! Other writers have said it more eloquently. Frederick Buechner: “Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.” This past week in a Facebook post, Anne Lamott reminded me of something Paul Tillich said: “The opposite of faith is not doubt, it is certainty.” Lamott then goes on to say, “Fundamentalism in all its forms is 90% of the reason the world is so terrifying.”
The Sundays following Easter explore Luther’s great question, “So, what does this [resurrection] mean?” For me, today’s lesson tells us that, although Jesus asks his disciples to meet him, he is the one who meets them in the midst of their doubts, hesitation and uncertainty about what the life in Christ means for them. Craig Koester says it this way: It means we set out on this journey into an unseen future with only a word of invitation. So, it means that we, like those early followers, stand at the edge of a world that is passing away and a world that is coming at us. The difference perhaps these days, is that it seems that those changes come faster and faster.
But that’s not all, because from beginning to end and everywhere in between in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is Immanuel, “God with Us.” I think that what E.L. Doctorow said about writing could be said of the life of faith: "It's like driving at night with the head-lights on. You can only see a little ways ahead of you, but you can make the whole journey that way." The greatest teachers somehow get us to trust this kind of journey. The greatest teacher of all, Jesus, is our light for the way ahead. This is true whether it is in our personal journey of faith, our life together as a congregation, and even our life as a society. Go therefore, in the midst of your worshipful doubts, sharing the good news: Christ is risen! Amen.
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