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Yeah. A reading from the Gospel of Matthew, The 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which jesus had directed them and when they saw him they worshiped him. But some doubted, and jesus

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came and said to them all, authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and

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of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you and remember, Mhm. Remember I am with you always even to the end of the age holy wisdom, holy word, thanks

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be to God. Mhm. It is a joy and an honor for me to stand in this pulpit today. I have been in this space for lots of events and services over the years Since I began

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the Doctor of Ministry Program at the Seminary in 1997 . Over the past six years, I've spent considerable amount of time in this space assisting with the introduction to preaching course. I've heard lots of sermons in

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this room. Hundreds of sermons, including sermons from several of you. A few years ago when I was teaching the course with Casey Tomi and he had to be away. I heard 13 sermons in this

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room in one day. Mhm. I have parishioners who will not hear 13 sermons in one year, but for all the sermons that I've heard in this chapel, I myself have never preached a sermon from

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this pulpit until today. And it is humbling to stand here in part because I know well the faith and the passion of many who have stood here before me, including several of you, The Lord be

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with you. Let us pray, Yeah. Oh God, let the good news come now, not only in word, but in power in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance through jesus christ our risen

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Lord amen a lot of what I have learned about preaching over the years is anecdotal. A sifting through comments and impressions, hints and hunches. I've learned that if a sermon of mine is going to get

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any better, it's likely because I take something out of it rather than put more into it. I've learned not to cling too tightly the comments at the end of the service following sermons that I have preached

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. I've heard people say at the door, things like john, how come we don't have guessed preachers anymore or john I heard I missed a really good sermon last week or john I think a person would

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have to be stupid not to understand your sermons. Yeah. I've also learned in this post christendom era , people really seem to respond to sermons about doubt . Okay. And so I've developed a special eye

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for an interest in Passages like this one, we just heard from the final chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Mhm. Now of course that 28th chapter of Matthew begins with Matthew's account of what happens at

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dawn on the first day of the week and they're , Matthew gives us the dramatic story of what happens in that morning, three days after jesus death and the women go to the tomb expecting to find a

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dead body, his dead body and instead they find an angel who tells them what has happened, but he has been raised. Now go and tell his disciples to go to galilee, tell them he is

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going ahead of you to galilee there, you will see him and then a sentence or so later the women meet the resurrected jesus himself and he confirms all that the angels said, including the instruction to go

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to galilee Until the passage today begins with adverse 16 and the disciples have made it to galilee. This is the big finish of the gospel of Matthew right . It's the final paragraph. The disciples are there

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on the mountain, Jesus risen from the dead, is also there on the mountain. We anticipate the happy reunion verse 17 sets it up very nicely when they saw him they worshiped him. Of course they

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did. When they saw him, they worshiped him . They bowed down, offering God thanks and praise for God's faithful and mighty deeds. But that's not all that verse 17 says the full verse reads when

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they saw him, they worshiped him but some doubted mm but some doubted isn't it something that these three words would be included in the bible. But some doubted, I mean, given what we think we

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know about the transcribing of texts and the process by which the stories of jesus were told and retold and recorded. Isn't it something that some well meaning editor along the way didn't just let these three little words

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fall out of the text. I mean, after all, this is the big finish of the Gospel of Matthew, here are the 11 folks with whom Jesus was the closest they have seen him preach and

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heal. They have seen him speak and act with the power of God. They've seen it all, they've heard it all And now in this moment, which should rightly be the climax of the entire story

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, Jesus risen from the dead, victorious over death , reunited with the 11 people who knew him the best. Even there, they doubt, right even then they doubt, even as they worship him,

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they doubt why wasn't this rough place smoothed out in all those years of transcribing and transmitting? Why weren't these three little words just overlooked? And what does it say about the inspiration of these texts? That

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the doubters should be acknowledged and included? What does it say about God? That the doubters should be acknowledged and included? Mhm. Could it possibly be that these words were left in Because Well, because

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they are so true? Could there be faith without doubt? That's Frederick Buechner has put it doubts. Are the ants in the pants of faith? Mm They keep it awake and moving. Could there really

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be faith without the presence of doubt? Let's face it. We know something about faith, especially at this place. We know something about faith, but we likely know just as much, maybe even more

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about doubt. And my hunch is that people respond as they do to sermons about doubt because that's where we live. Mhm. And even as we worship today or sunday or any day, some are doubting

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, even as we worship, some are doubting that God notices or cares especially given the calamity and the tragedy that are as close as the next few people are doubting that the church could be any more than

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a social club. That the values of faith and hope and love have any significance in a world of conflict and greed and stress. People are doubting that the pain will ever go away, that the relationship

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will ever be restored, that things will ever get better. Even as we worship. Some of us are doubting that in jesus christ, we are forgiven . Others of us doubt that God's love could be

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broad enough to include all of us and all of them. Yeah, yeah. Others of us are doubting that the story of the bible, the story of God's way in the world might indeed have a

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place for us. Yeah, I mean I know there is faith in this room. There is great faith, deep faith in this room and I have been sustained by this faith inspired by this faith for

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years. Yeah, but I believe if we could be honest we would also discover that there's a good bit of doubt in this room too and I hope we would understand that. That's okay. Indeed.

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It's it's biblical. Yeah, But of course the gospel of Matthew does not end with this verse 17 , doesn't they? See there isn't jesus, they worship him some doubt, but the story goes on

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, Jesus has more to say mhm go and make disciples of all nations, he says to them, Mhm. Apparently doubt is not such a great obstacle for this. Even greater commission. Mhm go and

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make disciples, Jesus says to them all the doubters are included in this task to it's apparently Jesus can work with doubters just fine, go and make disciples all of you doubters too, but Matthew doesn't end

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the story there either. Mhm Because Jesus has more to say and remember he tells them I am with you always, even to the end of the age , Mhm. He doesn't qualify this statement. So

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presumably the doubters are included in that promise to doubt can't keep jesus from being with us. We can doubt all we want. His commitment to us is unchanged. I am with you always, he says

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Mhm, doubt can't separate us. Mhm. Death can't separate us, nothing can separate us. Yeah , I am with you always, undoubtedly, yeah