St. John's Church

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Faith and Doubt

This coming Sunday is known as "Low Sunday". After Easter and the jubilant celebration that we had this year with the people, the breakfast, the egg hunt, the music, and the message, some people feel exhausted and out of breath and maybe decide not to come this Sunday. Of course, that is not the discipline or the attitude of people who take their faith seriously. For early Christians every Sunday was a day of resurrection. Every Sunday was Easter and remembering that event. It wasn't Sabbath; it was Sunday, the day of resurrection.Strangely enough, this Sunday deals with doubt, an interesting choice of subject, given the powerful message of last Sunday. We go from "He Is Risen", "He Is Risen Indeed" to "I Am Not So Sure", a rather fascinating switch of intellect and emotion. On the other hand, maybe it's perfect. Flannery O'Connor writes that faith is "trust, not certainty". I certainly agree with that. So many people flirt with faith, but never really take the plunge. From my perspective they are missing out on a whole lot. Once you step inside the circle of faith, you are always questioning but you have made a commitment that keeps you there, struggling with the questions and even at times loving them.I find it upsetting when I am dealing with fanatics, people who want to believe something so badly that they ignore the facts and reality. They refuse to see the other side - namely, they could be wrong. Of course, Christians make an audacious claim to the world - that not only there is a God, but that this God can be known in love through Jesus. These are faith statements, and on the other side of faith is always doubt.