More Than Facts

The Rev. Joseph Winston

December 16, 2007

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
Generation after generation of children has been taught the basic rules of
arithmetic. Many of these children learned the basic facts of how numbers work
through the old fashioned routine of memorization. Now, there are many different
ways that one can master the basic facts about any subject but the one technique
that seemed to work extremely well for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division was the oral repletion of tables.
If you happened to drop into a classroom that used this time tested practice,
you would hear the students reciting in unison the different tables. The younger
children in the room worked on addition and subtraction. The ones addition table
that these young scholars gave their teacher would sound something like this: one
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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plus one is two, one plus two is three, one plus three is four, and so on. The older
students, who had mastered these basic facts, recited for all their multiplication
and division tables. Maybe these boys and girls needed to work on one specific
number, so the teacher would call out, “Please give me the multiplication table
for nines.” The children responded with: nine times one is nine, nine times two is
eighteen, nine times three is twenty-seven, until they reached nine times nine is
eighty-one.
During the recitation of facts, the teacher paid careful attention to every child
and if the teacher happened to see that one child was not participating, that specific
student would be called out, “Sally, what is nine times seven?” And if Sally did not
immediately respond with sixty-three, everyone knew what would happen next.
Sally would be asked to come to the front of the class. There, all alone, she had
to quickly and correctly repeat from memory the entire nines table. If she failed,
she would take home not only extra homework but also a note from the teacher
explaining that Sally was lagging in class.
This specific method of teaching mathematics has given humanity many dif-
ferent benefits. Since we know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, we can
create roads along with bridges that make traveling both safer and quicker, we can
design aircrafts and spaceships that rapidly traverse amazing distances, and we
can build computers to automate our repetitive tasks.
These wonderful successes with mathematics cause many people to apply the
concepts that they learned working with numbers to every facet of their lives. This
idea is doomed to failure because there is a finite limit to where these methods

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may be used.
Computerized dating is but one classic example that readily illustrates how
the rules of number let us down. The basic assumption behind this type of match-
making is that successful relationships between people can be completely char-
acterized by a set of equations. You tell me what you like and dislike and the
computer will find someone with similar interests. In our hearts, we all know that
this is nothing more than a scheme. There is something about an affair between
two people that transcends numbers. A life long commitment contains a certain
chemistry, a paring of a man and a woman encompasses differing goals through-
out the relationship, and a marriage of two individuals is more than the sum of its
parts. Numbers will never capture these nuances found in every house.
The tradition we routinely call Christianity also suffers from the same mis-
taken application of the rules we learned through mathematics. For example, we
must master the basic rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
in order to grasp how numbers work. Without this fundamental information, we
would be lost and could not perform many day-to-day activities like paying bills
or counting change. While these concepts completely work in the business world,
they fail miserably in the world of faith. One only has to look at our relationships
that we all have to understand why this is true. No one can completely understand
another person. We have some general ideas on how they think and act but they
continue to surprise us with their behavior. If you do not think that this is true, just
ask a married person. If they are honest, they will tell you that they never com-
pletely know what their spouse is planning to do. Practically, this means that there

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will always be some level of doubt in all our relationships. This also holds true
with our faith in God. Sometimes we will know what is happening and at other
times we will be confused.
The addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables teach us some-
thing else that does not carry over into our life in the church. When a young child
states one plus one is two, everyone can clearly see that this is a true statement.
There is no doubt when one item is added to another that the result is two. Like-
wise, when an older student says nine times three is twenty-seven, this fact can
be proved. Take three rows of nine items or nine rows of three items, it does not
matter, and see how many you have. The answer will always be twenty-seven. As
we have already seen, this level of certainty is not found in our relationships with
other humans so we cannot expect to know everything without a doubt in our walk
of faith. Because we do not have a complete understanding of what is to come,
we have two alternatives open to us. One path is to despair. This happens when
we feel that all is for naught. Friends, family, and even God Himself seem to be
against us. The opposite way is literally hope. We trust that God is in control of
the situation and will bring everything to the planned conclusion.
These three emotions doubt, despair, and hope are part and parcel of our life in
Christ. They make up our faith. Because of this fact, they cannot be ever removed
from faith. When doubt, despair, and hope are taken out of the equation of faith,
all that is left is certainly. Since we trust for something that we cannot clearly
see, this type of life is not one of faith. No hope at all means that God is not in
control of our destiny and this is not what we believe. Whenever doubt or despair

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disappear from faith, we are left with a person with unrealistic optimism. This
outlook completely forgets the horrible price paid on the tree. Additionally, doubt,
despair, and hope all affect us in different ways. Sometimes we question what will
happen in the future, at other times we resign ourselves to what ever may come,
and yet at other instances we might be looking for a better day. But more than
likely, all three feelings will happen at the same time.
It then should come as no surprise that doubt, despair, and hope are integral
parts of today’s lessons. Isaiah tells us that the desert and all of creation waits for
the life giving rain from God. No one knows the hour that it will arrive, only that it
is coming. The uncertainty means that the stronger need to help the weaker. Mary
sings out with hope in her voice that God is giving her a Son and soon the entire
world will be able to see Him. He will continue to perform God’s mighty actions
for everyone but we all know the truth that the work has not yet been completed.
The letter from James reminds the congregation that they are to wait for the Lord’s
coming despite being discouraged. This action requires prophet like patience and
preparation.
Finally, we hear from Matthew about John the Baptizer’s faith. Frankly, he
is full of doubt and despair and has little hope for the future. Even though he
baptized Jesus, he wants a straight answer from Jesus, “Are you the real thing or
not?” (Matthew 11:3)
Who can blame John for these feelings, for his doubt, for his despair? He is
in prison, put there by Herod on account of John’s harsh criticism of Herod’s
marriage (Matthew 14:3). Additionally, he is out of touch with the rest of the

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world. John only hears what is happening second hand through his disciples. Both
of those facts would make just about anyone have second ideas along with being
very pessimistic. Finally, we all know that John will not be in prison much longer
because Herod will soon have John beheaded (Matthew 14:5-11).
Pay careful attention to what Jesus does not do. He never criticizes John for
his doubts about who Jesus is. Not at any time does Jesus tell John to lighten up
and be happy with his station in life. Instead, Jesus knows that John needs hope
more than anything else so He told John’s followers to report what everyone knew
(Matthew 11:4).
What did these disciples of John report back to their teacher? In a word: hope.
Jesus recounted all that He had been doing in the countryside (Matthew 11:5). The
blind had their sight. The paralyzed had the ability to walk. The deaf now could
hear. The dead lived. Most importantly of all, Jesus preached the news that God
saves ordinary people like you and I.
There are many people around us who would tell you that with faith comes the
gift of certainty of heart. They have phrases like, “Do you know that Jesus loves
you?” In their world, if you doubt Christ’s love for you for even an instant this
means that your faith is defective and it needs to be fixed.
Today’s Gospel lesson reminds us that faith is not as simple as that because
along with the gift of belief given to us by the Holy Spirit come the feelings of
hope, despair, and doubt. It is very probable that as some time in your life, you
will know with certainty that God loves you. But more than likely there will be
times when you no longer know the love that passes all understanding. No one

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can tell you how long these times will last. It might be very short or it could last
your entire life.
One fact that stays constant throughout our days of doubt and despair is God’s
never ending care for you. Jesus loves you no matter how you feel. If you doubt
Christ’s existence, Jesus does not disappear in some poof of logic. Instead, He
remains right beside your side to help you through time of uncertainty. If you
loose heart and no longer trust in God, Jesus never abandons you. Rather, He
prays that you once again will believe.
One plus one is two, one plus two is three, and one plus three is four. These
are but a few of the mathematical rules that young children learn. It is important
for their development as productive members of society that they can apply these
basic facts in daily situations.
In some way or another, we all have doubt, despair, and hope because the one
faith that we share is not based on the certainty that mathematics brings. Rather,
we trust in a God that loves us no matter what we do.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”2

2
Philippians 4:7.