Permission to Doubt — Honest to God, Week 1

Detailed Sermon Outline

Primary Text: Psalm 22:1-2, Mark 15:34

Supporting Texts: Psalm 13:1-2, Job 3:1-26, Lamentations 1:1-3

Big Idea: Even in the depths of abandonment, God's people can cry out honestly. Doubt itself can be a prayer.

Target Length: 35-40 minutes

Introduction

Psalm 22 begins with words of utter despair: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?'

And then Jesus, on the cross, speaks these exact words. God the Son experiences the reality of abandonment. And he gives voice to the cry of doubt and pain.

This tells us something profound: Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Honest questioning is not rebellion. The cry 'Why?' is not a rejection of God—it's a conversation with him.

I. The Psalmist's Cry of Abandonment (Psalm 22:1-5)

'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer.'

The Psalmist is in pain. He's calling out. And God isn't responding visibly. That's the reality he's naming.

'Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.'

Notice: Even in doubt, the Psalmist remembers who God is. He remembers God's faithfulness in the past. This is faith mixed with doubt.

'To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.'

The Psalmist knows the history. He knows God comes through. But right now, in his crisis, he doesn't feel it. So he holds both: God's past faithfulness and his present pain.

II. Jesus' Experience of Abandonment (Mark 15:33-37)

'At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' (which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?')'

Jesus quotes Psalm 22. He experiences the reality of abandonment. Not pretended. Real. The abandonment of bearing the sin of the world.

'And someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 'Now leave him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take him down,' he said.'

Even at the moment of his agony, Jesus is mocked. His cry for help is treated as a joke. His pain is not relieved.

'With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.' And yet, after his death, Matthew's account says the veil of the temple tore. God was present, even when Jesus felt abandoned.

Jesus validates the cry of doubt. He says it's okay to feel abandoned. He experiences it. And in that experience, he transforms it.

III. Doubting as Praying (Psalm 22:1-2, as prayer)

When you cry out your doubt to God, you're doing what the Psalmist does. You're praying.

A prayer doesn't have to have faith figured out. It doesn't have to resolve the tension. It just has to be honest.

'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' is a prayer. 'Where are you?' is a prayer. 'I don't understand' is a prayer.

The opposite of faith isn't doubt. The opposite of faith is silence. It's giving up on talking to God altogether.

When you bring your doubt to God—when you say 'I'm struggling, I don't understand, I'm angry'—you're maintaining the relationship even while questioning.

What doubt are you carrying that you've been afraid to voice to God? Will you bring it to him as a prayer?

Conclusion & Appeal

The Bible includes Psalms of lament, cries of anguish, accounts of people who questioned God and doubted his goodness. These aren't shameful. They're sacred.

Jesus himself cried out in doubt and abandonment. So your doubts don't make you less faithful. They make you human. They make you honest.

Bring your 'why?' to God. Cry out your confusion. That's the beginning of an authentic faith—not faith that has everything figured out, but faith that trusts God enough to ask hard questions.

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