WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:16.559 You know, I know I've told you all the story of Ignac Simel Weiss before, but it's a story that comes to me often because I find it one of the most fascinating examples of our human flaw of how we resist change. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:22.800 In 1847, Simel Weiss was a young obstetrician living in Vienna. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:28.719 And at the time, the maternal death rate of women who gave birth in his hospital was 20%. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:37.039 Almost a quarter of the women who gave birth in his child in his hospital died from what was called childbed fever. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:42.079 However, for women who gave birth at home, the mortality rate was 1%. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.960 So this is when Simon Weiss asked a simple question that no one had asked before. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:49.920 Why? 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.320 Or maybe his question was, what? 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.679 What is causing these infections? 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.240 Because this was before we understood that germs carry diseases. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.280 And actually the question he landed on was who? 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.920 Who is transmitting this infection? 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:12.719 I mean, if we haven't discovered the what yet, at least we could figure out who. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:20.480 If the mortality rate in the hospital was 20%, but only 1% at home, what is the difference? 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.200 Well, doctors and other patients. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:33.439 So Simon Weiss asked the question: could doctors be carrying the infection from one patient to another? 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.040 And as a good scientist, he tested his hypothesis. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:44.159 He required every doctor and nurse to scrub their hands with a nail brush and chlorine between each patient. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:50.079 And immediately the infections of childbed fever dropped to 1%. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:55.519 An amazing, irrefutable discovery. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:03.840 You would think this is when hand washing became a simple practice instituted in every hospital and saved millions of lives. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:06.879 Nope. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.800 Because this is not a story of how asking questions leads to solid answers and discoveries. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:20.400 This is a story of how questions make us uncomfortable and how they challenge us and disrupt us. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:33.039 Other physicians were offended that he would speculate that they were the cause of harm to their patients. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:34.639 They were there to help them. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.879 There's no way they could be the problem. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:42.400 And so instead, they blamed and scolded Simelweiss for his questioning of them. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:47.120 And he was fired from his hospital just for raising the questions. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:55.680 Regular hand washing between patients wasn't instituted for 20 more years after a British doctor published a study. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.280 Questions are the engine of discovery. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.439 They open up new possibilities. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:07.759 They allow us to wonder. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.039 They make us see things in new ways. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:17.759 Questions move us forward to see beyond what we know and understand now. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:23.599 So why are we so threatened by them? 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:28.240 Because questions are disruptive. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:35.360 They make us examine things we think are settled and want to stay settled. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:41.520 Questions spark change when we examine and test things. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.879 And for the most part, we often receive change as a threat. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:51.039 Just like Simel Weiss's colleagues. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:04:00.960 And if that's how questions can be received in a medical and scientific community, think about how much more of a threat they are in the arena of faith. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.719 I mean, Christianity doesn't have the greatest track record to embracing questions. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:15.759 Simel Weiss's rejection was a walk in the park in comparison to how the church treated other scientists like Galileo and Newton. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:26.399 The Christian church's fear of questions makes it seem like our beliefs are only built upon things that don't hold up under scrutiny. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:32.079 Creation, miracles, divine beings, life beyond the physical. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:42.879 And so instead of following curiosity to find more solid footing, we've tried to reject questions altogether. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:50.240 If we ask questions, it must mean we're doubting. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.639 In the faith arena, question and doubting are often used synonymously. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:02.319 We tell people doubt is corrosive and can lead to a crisis of faith. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:08.639 And we've come up with catchy sayings like, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:22.319 And at some points, and in some religious circles, even asking, did God say it, is considered doubt in the least and heresy at the worst. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.120 But I know this to be true. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:43.839 Whatever the arena, whether it's religion or government, science, education, business, any authority that doesn't like questions is the most fragile. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.600 And usually the ones trying to exert control. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.360 It's a wonder why Christianity is waning. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:59.920 It's not because people are uncomfortable with our questions, it's because they don't want to feel control. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.639 As one of my seminary professors said, if your faith is really that fragile, it might be an idol to begin with. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.920 If our faith can't withstand questions, what's the purpose? 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:25.279 And I've seen how those who refuse to question their faith fall into crisis the fastest when the normal things of life happen. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:33.439 Because to them, faith is not seeking understanding of God, but a force field that's supposed to keep them from harm. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:41.360 So when they do get that diagnosis or that prayer isn't answered, their faith withers like flowers in the summer sun. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:52.160 Anne Lamont said it this way: the enemy of faith is not doubt, it's certainty. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:59.279 The problem is thinking we already know it all and we have it all figured out. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:02.720 That's usually when things start to crumble. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:09.279 But doubt or questioning is actually courageous curiosity. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.040 It's the engine of discovery. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.920 Questions allow us to chase after truth. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:30.879 In fact, all throughout the Bible, just when someone thinks they've got everything settled or they've got everything figured out, God comes along and starts asking questions. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:36.800 Questions in the Bible come not from those who are doubting anything, it's usually from God. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:44.240 And one day, Abraham and Sarah are camped by the oaks of memory, and God comes to visit. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.839 God appears as three mysterious travelers. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:55.600 And Abraham has a great feast prepared for them, and as they eat, God says, Your wife Sarah is going to have a son. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:02.079 But Sarah is past childbearing age, and so when she hears this, she laughs. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.560 It was probably more like a scoff. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:07.680 And she's certain it isn't possible. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.240 She's lived her whole life waiting for a child and has resigned herself to it. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.399 It would be impossible. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:25.680 But when God hears her scoff, God asks, Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.639 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:36.240 That's a question that invites possibility. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:54.480 It immediately sparks wonder as to what God is capable of. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.039 It certainly doesn't spark the doubt. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:05.120 In fact, the doubt is already there in Abraham and Sarah who scoff at what God has told them. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:12.639 God's question takes them beyond their doubt to explore what God can make possible. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:22.480 Questions are not the threat of our faith, they're the engine of it. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:45.600 Back many years ago when I was in college, I was taking a theology class and I was preparing for a presentation, and I was going over my presentation with my professor the day before, and in it I said something like transformation and growth always come through struggle or suffering. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.960 And my professor interrupted me and said, Do you believe that? 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.399 And I said, I don't know, do I? 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:03.200 And she said, Well, it's a bold statement, so you might want to think about it deeply before you make it. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:06.639 This professor was notorious for this kind of thing. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:10.879 In fact, she had a sign on her office door that said, question it. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:18.720 And so she and I spent a long time that afternoon just asking ourselves questions about that. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.360 Does transformation always come through struggle? 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:28.000 Can we experience growth without some form of struggle? 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.879 Is all suffering redemptive? 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.759 Meaning, is there some suffering that's just suffering and doesn't offer relief? 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:40.399 Does God cause suffering so that we will be transformed? 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:46.000 And if so, is some suffering a gift rather than a punishment from God? 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.919 Does everyone who struggles experience transformation? 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.360 Or can you simply fall into despair? 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.840 Is despair a form of transformation? 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:09.440 I stayed up most of that night reworking that presentation, wrestling with those questions, cussing my professor. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:15.120 And I never landed on any answers. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:21.600 In fact, after 30 years, I still don't have solid answers to those questions. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:27.360 But it's never been an issue of doubt or a crisis of faith. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:33.279 In fact, at times I think these questions have been what have held me together. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:42.559 In those times that I have struggled or suffered, it's been these questions that have helped me see the possibilities. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.799 Is there anything redemptive in this experience? 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.320 Will I be transformed by this? 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:53.840 Where is God in this? 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:58.399 Is there meaning in all of this? 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:06.639 Asking questions kept me open to what may be beyond my struggle. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:14.960 And instead of staying stuck on answers that don't hold up anymore, the questions have kept me chasing after truth. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:19.200 They aren't settling or comfortable. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:26.240 But these questions have allowed me to explore all the possibilities of what God can do. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.879 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:35.919 I don't know. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:38.720 We should ask. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:40.799 Amen.