Doubt and Worship

Gospel: Matthew 28: 16-20 

The disciples of Jesus come to the mountaintop at Jesus’ instruction.  They come to worship, and yet they doubt.  These people who have followed him for three years, who have seen his words and deeds, and who now stand before the Risen One come to the Lord for worship, and yet they also have their doubts.  What is more, the Lord does not turn them away, knowing of their doubts and struggles. 

There is something consoling for us in this scene.  We come each week to the Lord’s table for worship, and yet we have our doubts.  We have our fears and anxieties, our struggles and pains.  And the Lord does not turn us away either.  We need not be perfect to come before the Lord.  We need not have perfect clarity or understanding to come before the Lord.  We just need to come as we are in full openness.

Worship is not about accepting an intellectual proposition or understanding some esoteric truth.  Worship is an awareness of our need for God in our life, to come before God in full honesty of our condition and awareness of who God is for us.  And God accepts us in his presence, accepts our worship, imperfect as it is and imperfect as we are.  This is the entire dynamic of our Christian life.